The travels of the Rambling Roses: Columbia State Park

Saturday, October 26.......When I was in this area, either in 1963 (third grade), or 1968 (eighth grade), I visited a gold mining town, that was preserved from the Gold Rush in the 1840s and 1850s. We are in the heart of California Gold Rush country, and all it took was a little research, and I found the town that I remember visiting. Pam was feeling better, the weather was wonderful, so we Jeeped 56 miles on Rt 49 from Mariposa, through Sonora, to the town of Columbia. I was told that it would take about two hours to get there, and it was true, because of the crazy climbing and falling, twisting and turning and snaking road we had to follow through beautiful mountains, that have a history of being filled with many types of minerals, not just gold.

Upon arriving, I saw the gold panning area that I remember more than anything else from that trip during my childhood, and I knew we were in the right place. We spent the afternoon walking through the historic buildings, riding a stage coach (and being robbed), and enjoying the kids who were trick or treating in the town. We learned a lot about the gold rush, and had fun. On the way home, we stopped in the mining town of Coulterville, and had a drink in the oldest continuously serving bar in the state of California. We got to walk through swinging bar room doors, and there were pictures of the bar from 1899, and bullet holes in the woodwork around the bar. It was very historical, but they were getting ready for their Halloween party, so it made for a crazy mix of old and new. The entire town (about a hundred and fifty yards long), was having their trick or treat, and cars lined the street as people handed out candy from their trunks. That's how they do it in the Wild West. We got a pizza in Mariposa, and called it an early night, before the Halloween parties got started in town.