LA PORTE, Calif. — Just before the clouds hit the divide between the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges, they sprinkle a little rain on a region known as the “Lost Sierra.” Within this lush woodland you’ll find a hidden gem.
“The storms that come in pack up against the hills here and that’s why they get so much snow and rain,” said longtime resident John Post.
La Porte is an old gold rush town at the southern end of Plumas County, a county rich with lakes, rivers and streams. There's so much water in the area that gold miners used to pipe the water into giant water cannons called monitors and blast away hillsides looking for gold.
“They used monitors to wash the hill down to bedrock, and that’s where the gold was,” said Post.
You will find a bunch of gold rush water history inside the Frank C. Reilly Museum. Before tractors and snow plows, the only way to get around La Porte in the winter was on long wooden skis. It was so much part of the town that some of California’s first ski teams started here.
“We got 15 or 20 feet of snow around here for years, and skis were the best way to get around,” said Post.
One of the more morbid water-related stories out of La Porte is the mummification of B.W. Barnes. The Bay Area man made his money diverting water to mines using wood pipes. When he died, he was buried in local cemetery but years later the Barnes family paid to have him exhumed. The local doctor discovered the body had not decomposed.
“He was really enthused about getting the whole town to see it so he invited school kids and he pounded on [Barnes'] chest with his cane and said 'Oh, he is mummified, mummified,'” said Post.
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There are all sorts of historical characters to learn about in the museum like dancer and entertainer Lotta Crabtree or Polliwog the gold miner, but if you ask me, the real characters in town are the ones living today.
Jay Peterson and his wife own the new general store. Jay makes the best cookies and his wife dishes up some darn good chili.
“We love it out here,” said Peterson. “We are in the middle of nowhere in a town made up of vacation cabins and 15 people.”
Right next to the General Store is the old General Store, which blew up in the 70s.
“It was gas or propane or something like that caused it,” said Post.
If you are looking to meet more locals, head over to Reilly's Saloon and ask Lisa Martin to make you a tree smacker, which is full of too many liquors to name.
During the summer, you likely will find campers, boaters and fishermen out on Little Grass Valley Lake. It’s a serene recreation area perfect for families or a secluded getaway.
MORE SMALL TOWN LIFE ON THE BACKROADS: As a small town slowly vanished, its residents lost almost everything-- except for their very special library.