Outside My Southern Comfort Zone: Downieville, CA

I've been packing our camping stuff all week because I was so excited to get away for the weekend. We planned a trip to Downieville, California for camping and mountain biking. It's a popular mountain biking spot along the Yuba river where you can get shuttled to the top of the mountain and ride 15ish miles downhill to the town.

Friday afternoon when I got home from work, Mike had the truck all loaded up and ready to go. We hit the road by 4:00 and we were setting up our campsite by 6:00. We were lucky to get the last campsite that you could reserve ahead of time. We didn't get to pick our site... we just had to accept what was available. It was by far the best campsite in the whole campground. We were the closest site to the river. We put our tent as close as possible without actually being IN the river. It was shady and private. It couldn't have been any better.

SWEET LITTLE WATERFALL ON THE WAY.

Our first evening at the campsite, we were surrounded by mosquitos. I hate mosquitos. I'm terrified of covering myself in Deet because I've known people who got deet poisoning and apparently it's not pleasant. I put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt but they were still biting. I broke down and sprayed my clothes with bug spray. I was so bummed. The mosquitos were ruining my mood.

Luckily, we didn't have to deal with them for long! Right after setting up our gear we made a fire and smoked them all out of the campsite. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. I was happy again. The next day, the weather was BEAUTIFUL! It was a perfect 70ish degrees with a breeze that kept ALL the bugs away... except this one:

The next morning, Mike and his friend had reservations on the 9:00 am shuttle. I had planned to take Zater for a long run to wear him out, then he was going to hang with Mike's friend while he fished so Mike and I could take the 1:00 shuttle.

I decided to ride my bike instead of running and there was a perfect little fire road across from the campsite where I knew Z could run off a leash and there wouldn't be any traffic. It was an uphill ride for me but the grade was very gradual and easy. Most of the road was in the shade and the temperature was perfect.

We made it back to the campsite by noon. I fixed a sandwich. I waited on Mike to come back. He didn't. So, at about 12:40 I loaded up in the truck and headed into Downieville to see what was going on. I got there a few minutes before 1:00 and Mike had JUST finished riding. He was hungry and tired. There was NO way we were making the 1:00 shuttle so he moved us to the 3:00 shuttle.

I decided to walk around downtown Downieville before heading back to the campsite. That didn't take long. It is an adorable little town.

ELEVATION 2900'
POPULATION: 325
"DOWNIEVILLE: A WAY OF LIFE"

THE ONE LANE BRIDGE INTO TOWN.

That's it. You've literally just seen the entire town. It's tiny. But awesome.

So, sitting around the campsite before our 3:00 shuttle, Mike changes his flat and does some maintenance to his bike. To make a long story short, his bike was ride-able but not in perfect working order. Plus, he looked tired. I knew he didn't really want to go on a second lap so we decided just to hang by the river for the rest of the day. (Luckily the shuttle company was kind enough to give us a refund).

After ALL that excitement about riding... I wasn't even going to get to go. But, we are planning a way to make up for that... which may include going back to Downieville again next weekend for a day trip??? Possibly?

Anyway, we swam in the river. I lounged in the hammock and read a book about hiking the Appalachian Trail (it's called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and it's hysterical - I highly recommend it). We ate salt and vinegar chips until our tongues felt weird (kinda fuzzy???). It was nice. We made an early campfire and cooked cheeseburgers. We sat around the fire for hours and watched a HUGE moon rise. Of course we ate s'mores again and then headed to bed. I was bummed to miss the bike ride. After all, that was WHY we were in Downieville. But, I must admit it was still a pretty awesome day.

Sunday morning we drank our coffee by the fire, toasted bagels with our marshmallow roasting sticks, and waited for the sun to come all the way up. The weather at night was crisp and perfect for sleeping next to a river. The mornings were chilly but the daytime was warm and sunny.

Once we were all packed up, we decided to take the scenic route. We drove up the fire road across from the campground.