Jan 26, 2012 - Cronan Ranch

Today's hike had 14 geezers attending, (Loren-L1 & L-2, Larry, JD, Merrill, Sherm, John, Rich, Vello, Glenn, Wayne, Tom, Vern Tapp, & Cesar). There was promise of a 60degree day with clearing skies. A group of 10 were dropped off at the Salmon Falls Bridge to hike into Cronan Ranch along the South Fork of the American River. The trail didn't follow the river very closely as we went over several hills and were several hundred feet above the river most of the way. The remaining 4 drove on to Cronan Ranch and hiked the west ridge trail on down to the river, and along the river where they waited... and waited for the rest to arrive. By the time the large group arrived, the smaller group had finished lunch, and were looking for gold nuggets or trying to dam up the river with boulders. As the lunch time concluded, the overcast skies which were expected to clear, began to mist and finally drizzle. We headed out past the the old house, formerly used as a movie set, and up the long valley trail to the vehicles. As we concluded, the drizzle had just about ended. Although the hike was shortened slightly, the group of 10 still hiked about 9 miles, and the others slightly less. In all it was a great outing with several guys that had not been with us for a while.
Glenn