Short trip, long impression
In
this package:
Portola On the
Web:
Plumas
County Visitors Bureau
Portola
Train Museum
Graeagle
Truckee
Portola
Railroad Museum
Plumas
National Forest Headquarters
Graeagle.com
Town
of Truckee
If you ever plan a trip to Eastern Plumas County, Calif., don't plan too much. Instead, let your curiosity be your guide.
Curiosity led my friends and me to some tacky places, whacky people and good food, leaving fun memories long after the short trip.
I spent the day traveling with San Francisco-based photographer Brad Mangin and our friend James Ray of Reno. Normally, this would have been just another rainy Saturday in November spent watching college football on TV. Instead, we decided to plan a road trip as a way of celebrating Ray's 40th birtday.
Our only plans were to drive an hour northwest from Reno and spend an afternoon in Eastern Plumas County, check out a train museum in Portola and then drive an hour south to Truckee, Calif., for a nice dinner.
We didn't have
any time limitations, no schedule to follow and no dinner
reservations. We just left the day wide open to explore the
area.
Photo by Joe Gosen
With only eight people per square mile and only one stop light, Plumas County provides a nice escape from city life during any season. Wild flowers bloom in the spring, summers bring warm days and cool nights, fall colors are matched only by those in Vermont, and the winters are covered with a blanket of snow.
Our trip was sort of between seasons. It was too late enjoy the colors of autumn and too early be blinded by winter snow.
However, we enjoyed the beauty of traveling on two designated scenic byways and soaking in some history of the area. California State Highway 70 is designated the Feather River National Scenic Byway and Californial State Highway 89 is designated the Yuba-Donner Scenic Byway.
The round trip from Reno to Portola to Truckee and back, including plenty of short side streets, was 165 miles and lasted nine hours.
Posted
Dec. 11, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Outpost