1980 | Foresthill High Bridge, North Fork American River
California Highway 49 crosses the North Fork of the American River here. Seven hundred and thirty feet above the water is the Foresthill High Bridge, constructed in the early 1970’s to clear the anticipated level of the reservoir behind the proposed Auburn Dam.
When I first explored this area, along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, I was puzzled by the passing of many VW Beetles with surfboards on their roof racks. After pulling over at this view and getting on the ground, I saw several prospectors running small gas-powered dredges, updating an old California art. It turned out that the kids in the VWs were coming up after class with their fiberglass sluice boxes to do a little panning for gold, which is still washing down in traces from the old lodes.