January 2010 CA Caverns Camping (formerly Mar 2010)

[Shari G-E]

Mike and I have been planning a trip to California Caverns, near Angel's Camp. I have never seen stalagmites and stalagtites and the other remarkable underground mineral phenomena, and I really want to go! While Moaning Caverns, etc. sounds more exciting, California Caverns is/are more generally accessible (for those of us such as myself, who is missing a significant amount of cartilage in the left knee and has a hardware store in the right).
http://www.caverntours.com/CalifRt.htm
As far as camping, Bigtreeway and Westywoman know the Gold Country camp areas near Angel's Camp way better than I. Anybody wanna go Jan 23-24?

[westywoman (Melissa)]

I am happy to pick up maps for the local folks. Let me see how useful they are, I'll buy enough for those who have indicated interest (Shari & Regis so far) and we'll settle up at the next GTG or I will mail. The Mother Lode BLM office has maps for Placerville & San Andreas districts...I don't know how far north they go, but if they have 'em, I'll get 'em. I will be there either Wed or Friday afternoon. Just to be clear, these are not NFS maps, just BLM.

Shari Goforth-Eby said:

If you are on a map quest, I'm interested in Plumas, Lassen, Shasta-Trinity, Sierra. I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a map today; I can send $$ to your home address if you like.

[westywoman (Melissa)]

If you all get a bit chilly, and want to migrate to warmer quarters, if not to Marble Quarry RV Park in Columbia, then how about a casino in Jackson?

http://www.jacksoncasino.com/lodging/rv_park.aspx

Funny, they don't post their rates...

[Shari G-E]

I'll have to try it on the other computer, but it sounds good to me!

Regis said:

So I'm looking at a map from the BLM peoples. Go on this link and get onto the Calaveritas map http://www.klofas.com/topo/7.5/ and get onto block 18. It's pretty much center. Block seven is right above it. Clicking the map will blow it up. The dotted line road that goes up over and back down is pretty much open land. In block seven, there is a mine , Lucky Jim mine, then the road heads east/west for a bit along the ridge then goes south back down to the main road. This area could be user friendly. It is along the way to the Cavern from San Andreas. A phone call to the BLM people about camping near Lucky Jim mine would let us know if there are any road restrictions. Might be cool to camp near the mine itself at least for a photo op and maybe see if 'ol Jim is still digging around.

[westywoman (Melissa)]

Glad you are enjoying those maps, Regis!

Regis said:

And... In block 17 it shows the South fork with a road heading SE to Starlite Mine and on into block 20 past Blue Eagle mine. At the end of this road it appears to follow a creek. This last bit of road is also BLM land.

[westywoman (Melissa)]

Yessiree, Bob, didn't they arrive in the mail yet?

Regis said:

Yes I am. Did you get the San Andreas map?

[westywoman (Melissa)]

I haven't looked at the map yet, but I recall it was a pretty steep descent to the caverns from the main road, in some places a single lane, a little touchy. So, the terrain on backroads in those parts could also be difficult. Just thinking out loud.

Shari Goforth-Eby said:

I'll have to try it on the other computer, but it sounds good to me!

Regis said:

So I'm looking at a map from the BLM peoples. Go on this link and get onto the Calaveritas map http://www.klofas.com/topo/7.5/ and get onto block 18. It's pretty much center. Block seven is right above it. Clicking the map will blow it up. The dotted line road that goes up over and back down is pretty much open land. In block seven, there is a mine , Lucky Jim mine, then the road heads east/west for a bit along the ridge then goes south back down to the main road. This area could be user friendly. It is along the way to the Cavern from San Andreas. A phone call to the BLM people about camping near Lucky Jim mine would let us know if there are any road restrictions. Might be cool to camp near the mine itself at least for a photo op and maybe see if 'ol Jim is still digging around.

[westywoman (Melissa)]

Not to be a party-pooper, but since there are so many competing events in January, perhaps we could re-frame this for March? After all, we don't have a No Cal GTG in March. And now some of us have our BLM maps...oh, BTW, nice write up of an RV park at Columbia, CA at Roadhouse.com. Sounds like it might be nicer than Marble Quarry RV park.

Description follows:
49er RV Ranch
23223 Italian Bar Rd
Columbia, CA 95310
Campground Type: Private Park
Phone: [phone]RV (4
Website: Click Here
Reservations: Yes
Reservation Method: http://www.49rv.com/reservations.html

[Shari G-E]

I think Romy and Jenn are in because of their finals the week before, as well as Regis. March begins our frenzy of looking for and moving to a neighborhood about an hour north of you--it'll be a crazy for us, we're holding our breath and trying to act normal until then. The camping helps (with the waiting, that is; what is normal?).

I saw 49er park in an RV magazine. I'm all for plugging in, too, since we'll have had a wonderful Death Valley adventure two weeks before. Maybe BLM in March? I was just getting your number--is it too late to call?

[Joe]

"our frenzy of looking for and moving to a neighborhood about an hour north of you"


WHAT???!??

[Shari G-E]

N. of westywoman's locale; it's all up in the air right now. That's why we'd really like to go camping in the Gold Country in Jan.


Joe Ehrlich said:

"our frenzy of looking for and moving to a neighborhood about an hour north of you"


WHAT???!??

[Romy]

Jenn and I would like to go, but it can be Jan or March; either is fine. I'm pretty excited about the BLM camping (with a group for once...we do it often, but it gets lonely) as well as seeing the Gold Country in January.

When you guys move up there, maybe you could hold a campout on your newfound expanse of land...*wink*wink* :-)

[Shari G-E]

Jan works great for us, and Regis is looking at BLM land near CA caverns; I haven't looked at my BLM maps yet. We could go plug-in camping if needed, I'm flexible. I'm with you, I really like the BLM idea, too.

BTW: With the VW Camper Fam in mind, when we move, we will be right on the hub of the North State (approximately Marysville, CA) and we will, at least, have a driveway to park in with electricity, water, tools and a hot shower if needed :-)

Romy said:

Jenn and I would like to go, but it can be Jan or March; either is fine. I'm pretty excited about the BLM camping (with a group for once...we do it often, but it gets lonely) as well as seeing the Gold Country in January.
When you guys move up there, maybe you could hold a campout on your newfound expanse of land...*wink*wink* :-)