Ruby's Rocky Adventures: The Shakedown

After months of impatient waiting we picked up our new Four Wheel Camper just before the long Labor Day Weekend! We had family commitments, so the first two nights of our shakedown trip were spent in C's parents driveway. It worked out since we were able to burn off the furnace, prep the water system and read the gazillion manuals that came with our rig.

Sunday morning we set off for the real shakedown. We took highway 49 to Camptonville and then bumped along Henness Pass Road. "Even at 6,920 feet, Henness Pass Road is the lowest pass through the Sierra...Henness Pass Road was the primary emigrant trail from Virginia City, Nevada as early as 1849 and the only mountain pass that existed at the time. During the Gold Rush, this often forgotten highway served as a supply road for the Comstock silver mines in Nevada. In 1852, Henness Pass Road was a wagon toll road from Nevada to the gold field of California. Between 1860 and 1868, traffic was so heavy at times during its heyday that freight wagons traveled by day and stagecoaches drove at night. The road continued to be used until the the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1868. Today the road is left off many maps in favor of traveling Interstate 80, Highway 49 and Highway 20 by car." via Sierra Nevada Geotourism

We stopped several times to check out plaques, Forest City Cemetery, and Forest City.

Most of the graves here were from the late 1800s, but someone was buried here just this year! I looked for information on Ursula Flache online, but I wasn't able to find anything.

Gold was discovered in Forest City (then Brownsville) in 1852. Within 9 months, the population swelled to 1400 people. In 1864 the Bald Mountain Mine was the largest and one of the most profitable drift mines in the US. In 1883 a large fire destroyed over 80 buildings in the town, most of the mines were depleted, very few buildings were rebuilt, and the town is now a ghost town.

Leaving Forest City we came around a corner and found cows in the road! This reminded us of the time this happened to us in Chile, and we all were on the lookout for a gaucho!

After a bit of back tracking, and some bumpy road, we found a gorgeous place to be our first family boondocking site! Ryan enjoyed looking at the watchtower on top of the Sierra Buttes knowing that he had hiked up there last summer.

While cooking dinner we decided we should submit photos to Weber for their ads!

There was tons of great exploring for the kids & Ruby. They especially enjoyed collecting 'treasures' (old rusty cans, bottles and lots of shotgun casings).

This was the view from the camper door the next morning while C cooked an amazing breakfast!

Wishing we could stay longer, we packed up and continued on to check out Milton Lake and Jackson Meadows. We will definitely plan a return trip here!

We back to highway 80 via Bowman Lake and the Grouse Ridge area. We would have spent longer enjoying lunch at Bowman, but thousands of yellow jackets forced us to eat lunch cowering in the truck!