September 25
The California coast was being pelted with rain and wind this morning (which is why the Drury Parkway was closed yesterday). No sense to go back to Redwood National Park just to get soaked. Yes, there are more gigantic trees I could view (and one waterfall which was on my agenda), but I saw plenty yesterday. So, I headed eastward on CA 299. This goes straight to Whiskeytown NRA. Well, not so much straight as it is up and down, and sideways. Eventually you do arrive in Whiskeytown.
This park made headlines in 2018 when the Carr Fire burned nearly all the entire land inside the park boundaries, with over 100 buildings perishing. The NPS has never fought a larger fire in its 105 years history. The Tower House Historic District is open for visitors to enjoy. The Camden House is the centerpiece, having survived the fire. The family lived here from 1852 until 1945. Aside from the house, Charles Camden built a toll bridge one hundred yards from his home, going across Clear Creek. It was the only means to get across the water. He made a small fortune charging people, until the State built a road/bridge across the creek in later years. The bridge did not survive the 2018 fire.
The staff in the park’s VC were enthusiastic in greeting me to the premises. It was mentioned that later this week (September 28) the 60th anniversary of the Whiskeytown Dam dedication will take place. President JFK came here in 1963 to honor all the men and women who conceived, designed, and built the dam, which would then create the reservoir. A memorial to JFK is near the one end of the dam. An information sign is near the memorial, explaining the circular formation near the front of the dam, out in the middle of the water. This was quite interesting, the “Glory Hole”. The hole mitigates any potential flooding over the top of the dam. If the water level gets too high, water goes down the hole and out to Clear Creek. How ingenious.
Camden also make a fortune in recovering gold from Clear Creek. You can mimic his operation by obtaining a panning permit from the VC. My family tried this 12 years ago. Our problem was we did not have any pans or other gear to look for gold in the streams. We found a few specs which looked like gold, but they probably were not. For today I passed on the opportunity. But if you have kids (or even if you don’t) and are driving to Redding, CA (nearest city), or are on CA 299, and have a couple extra hours, get a permit and go to one of the tributaries in the park to pan for gold. You never know what you might find.