Mercer Caverns - located in Murphys, the town 7.5 miles NE from Angels Camp on Hwy 4 - caught Monica's attention when she checked out the flyers in our hotel. Since the rest of us had no particular idea about the Caverns and we had plenty of time, we decided to visit the sight. Relatively small in volume but unique in its structure the cave tour was an interesting experience. You descend about 16 stories down and then come back up a different route. Some of the steps are so steep that you'd rather call them a ladder.
The cave tour in combination with gem mining and some F&B in historic Murphys consumed half of the day. The ride between the Sierra Nevada and the coastal area is nothing worth mentioning, but this is something you cannot avoid.
We approached the San Francisco Metro Area via the back roads of Chabot and Redwood regional parks which kept us out of the traffic until the last possible moment and surprised us with a bird's eye view of the metropolis.
Be prepared for a change. As we crossed the coastal mountain range, the temperature dropped from 99 degrees to 63 and stayed there. We thought that it would go up as we descended to sea level but it did not happen. We had to learn that sixties was the new norm, at least in San Francisco anyways.
View 18 Day Calof rina Tour - day 08 in a larger map
If you have the slightest form of claustrophobia, don't go there.
16 stories down was a piece of cake. Then they told us that we had to go back up!
Only a few things feels better than making your fortune in gold mining.
Murphys was in huge contrast with the city we were heading for.
After a week in small town America, we were back to modern day civilization.
Upon arrival we did not know that the clouds were permanently affixed to San Francisco.
The picture album of the day:
No comments:
Post a Comment