Day 11: San Andreas to Sonora

May 21, 2021

Today I cross one major river and see two awesome gold rush towns. I'm feeling strong after the rest day, and today has plenty of hill climbing.

Breakfast was a banana and an apple fritter from the donut shop a block away. It was fast, but I still didn't get on the road until almost 9 AM.

CA 49 has a bike lane in San Andreas. But road conditions change dramatically just south of town. The center line of CA 49 was rumble-stripped for many miles before San Andreas, but suddenly the fog line was also rumble stripped. Continuous rumble strip alley for 9 hilly miles.

There is no pavement to the right of the rumble stripped fog line. Most places have a steep dropoff or a steep uphill immediately to the right of the fog line, so it's seldom possible to pull over. I had no choice but to ride several inches to the left of the fog line/rumble strip.

Overtaking traffic made extremely loud noise when tires crossed the center line rumble strip to pass me. Lines of overtaking vehicles usually had to wait behind me for long time while a long line of vehicles passed in the opposite direction. Then gaps would open up where a few cars at a time could pass me.

It was impossible for me to use the road without obstructing the flow of traffic. So I obstructed the flow of traffic. For at least an hour. A highway patrol car went by in the opposite direction while a long line of vehicles were queued up behind me. He didn't gesture or otherwise indicate that I was doing anything wrong. A few other motorists did, of course.

The fog line rumble strip ends at the CA 4 turnoff 3 miles before Angels Camp. Then back to normal, a narrow paved shoulder that disappears in hill cuts. Traffic decreased after the highway turnoff.

No sign, but maps call this Calaveritas creek.

A sign said the Calaveras County Fair is the 3rd weekend of May. That means it was last weekend!

I stopped to look at Altaville Grammar School 2 miles north of Angels Camp. Built in 1858 and exquisitely restored. Great views looking in the windows.

Altaville Grammar School, built in 1858.

I stopped to look at an interesting looking church in the countryside. I seldom see Serbian Orthodox churches.

St. Vasilije Serbian Orthodox church, built in 1910.

I stopped in Angels Camp and spent a long time exploring the downtown area. I had an excellent but slow lunch in Angels Camp. No hurry.

Angels Camp is a very charming town. One of the best. The Mark Twain history is widely promoted.

Angels Camp is a growing town of 3800 people.

The name Angel's Camp originated because a man named Henry Angel paid a fee to have the town named after him. He opened a trading post in 1848.

Angels Camp peak gold rush population was 4000 in the 1850s, but dropped to 330 by the 1880 census.

Angels Camp is growing steadily. The historic charm makes it a desirable place for people to live.

Angels Camp is a more desirable place for a rest day than San Andreas. Lodging is more limited and expensive, but I think it would have been possible for me to take a rest day in Angels Camp instead of Sonora.

Stereotypical gold rush architecture in Angels Camp.

Angels Camp widely promotes its Mark Twain and frog heritage. Samuel Clemens, a local gold miner who lived on nearby Jackass Hill, claims he heard the jumping frog story in 1865. In 1872 he published The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County using the pen name Mark Twain. The short story was a huge hit, making Mark Twain and Calaveras county famous. The story is silly, pointless, and probably not true. But he's a gifted and entertaining storyteller. The short story launched a long and successful literary career for Mark Twain.

Mural in Angels Camp. The town is all about mining, Mark Twain, and frogs.

Just south of Angels Camp I stopped to look at an abandoned structure with incredibly thick walls.

These ruins are not likely to be restored.

Today I had several miles of a new and very wide shoulder in the vicinity of New Melones lake. I presume the Bureau of Reclamation paid to widen the road in the recreation area.

Bureau of Reclamation money upgraded the shoulder of CA 49 near New Melones lake.

Today's big river crossing is the Stanislaus river. Here the river is a reservoir called New Melones lake.

The lake level is lower than normal. This time last year the water level was 49 feet higher. A year earlier the water was 59 feet higher. Melting snow failed to fill the reservoir this spring.

New Melones lake is one of many reservoirs in the Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley project. The sole purpose of the reservoirs is water supply for farms and some cities in the central valley. They have recreational facilities as a side benefit but aren't used for flood control and aren't very useful for power generation when the water level is low.

New Melones lake is a reservoir on the Stanislaus river.

I hiked down a trail to get a good view of the bridge. The roadway is about 100 feet above the current low water level. The bridge is about 1/2 mile long.

CA 49 descends 350 feet to New Melones Lake, then climbs 350 feet afterwards.

I felt very warm walking on the shadeless trail. The temperature was maybe 75F early in the afternoon. Then it got cloudier, the north wind got stronger, and the temperature plummeted.

Wide view of CA 49 and New Melones Lake.

350 foot descent just before the bridge. Then a 350 foot ascent immediately after the bridge. There are many more hills on today's route, though. The bridge is 1300 feet elevation and the day's high point is 2200 feet elevation.

I arrived in Sonora at 3:30. Southbound traffic was backed up all the way through town waiting to get through a traffic light to turn right towards Modesto. 3 hours later the traffic was still backed up.

St. James Episcopal church anchors the north end of Sonora's 6 block long historic strip.

The temperature was 58F (14C) at 4 PM, very breezy and threatening to rain. Everybody wore jackets. The normal high temperature this time of year is 90F (32C).

Downtown Sonora has a very impressive row of historic buildings but perpetual traffic congestion spoils the atmosphere. A bypass highway would make downtown more attractive and quiet.

Traffic backs up in Sonora because of a traffic light in the middle of downtown.

It's difficult to take photos on congested roads in California. I stand and wait patiently for cars to get out of the scene. But motorists frequently stop right in front of me because of California's strict law about motorists yielding to pedestrians. I'm standing still holding a phone in front of my face. Do I look like I'm trying to cross the road?

From my motel I could see an imposing white building up a hill. I walked up to investigate. The building is vacant, well secured, not fenced. But there was no sign about the history of the building. My friend Conni Riley at home (a gold country history fan) informed me that it was built in 1909 as a public school.

I hope a future use can be found, but I'm not optimistic. It's not handicap-accessible and it probably needs a million dollars in repairs.

Neo-classical 1909 public school. Now vacant, in need of a new use.

Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne county. The courthouse was completed in 1899 which makes it comparatively new.

Tuolumne county courthouse was completed in 1899.

Sonora's gold mining prosperity seems to have been more enduring than at most other gold mining towns. Sonora is the most successful town in the southern gold country region.

I couldn't get decent photos of the west side of downtown until after sunset. I enjoy taking sunset photos with a combination of natural and man-made light. Traffic was lighter then.

The Opera Hall was built in 1885 on the site of an 1879 flour mill that burned under suspicious circumstances.

Sonora Inn opened in 1896. It appears to be closed now.

Art gallery entrance. The wide angle view exaggerates depth.

Tonight's home is Heritage Inn, one of two large tourist motels just south of the historic downtown strip. $114 with all the amenities and a box breakfast. The population of Sonora is 4844 but it has the hustle and bustle of a bigger town.

Gunn House hotel opened in 1850. Oldest hotel in the gold country.

Road conditions today varied from excellent to the most dangerous segment of the trip. The morning traffic wore me down but visiting two excellent gold rush towns perked me up.

I'm done with heavy traffic now. The final 3 days of the tour will have much less traffic.

Distance: 29 miles (46 km)
Ascent/Descent: +2634/-1812 feet (+803/-552 m)
Average Speed: 8 mph (13 km/h)

Today's ride: 29 miles (47 km)
Total: 345 miles (555 km)

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