Coloma was a great trip again even without great weather. Packing the luggage into vehicles at the school made unloading in Coloma much easier than it could have been. Our arrival into Coloma was greeted with cheers from the students as they saw a road sign as we made a turn. We did accidentally park in the wrong lot, though a bit closer to the actual CODS facility. While waiting for the CODS representative to come get out group, we played hand and voice telephone, learned the game “Salute James Marshall,” and even did an impromptu gold rush quiz game with the four teams.
We were picked up by the naturalist, Eastwind Erica, who walked our group across to the site and took us to a spot to start eating out lunches. We met the other two schools that were also doing the 2 day program and each group finally met their naturalist such as Gold Vein Virginia. Students began their rotations with tasks such as choosing their own gold field nickname, making a tent to survive a storm, buying supplies and making cornbread, and a student favorite, panning for gold. It was also fun for us teachers to see the parents participate in making their own gold field nicknames, a favorite of mine being Jackhammer Josh.
After a town hall, we had our first CODS meal, spaghetti. The township of Sierra City was in charge of KP and helped throughout, but the group overall was unsuccessful in only leaving 8 or less lbs of leftovers. A lesson in moderate portions perhaps? After dinner, we all headed over to the Ho-down. A favorite of mine, we got to see and hear live musicians with instruments that would have been around in the 1850’s and then learn a few of the dances that prospectors may have participated in to pass the time. Campfire followed with some silly skits, songs, and a very memorable banana. Be sure to ask your son or daughter about that. The night in the cabins went off without problems, but not necessarily without interruptions to sleep, students and chaperones alike.
Waking up, we packed in conditions that thankfully did not include rain at this point. We enjoyed another CODS meal of biscuits, sausage, eggs, and potatoes. It was during breakfast that it began to rain which would continue uninterruptedly for the rest of our Coloma experience. Thankfully CODS helped provide extra layers, especially water-resistant ones for students ill-prepared from ours and the other schools before we started our park and hike excursion.
We crossed the bridge and explored the park, looking at an old jail, a Chinese shop, an exhibit on the types of mining, and some larger machines used for breaking up quartz and other minerals that may have contained gold. The group I hiked with then headed up and came across James Marshall’s second home (and outhouse), one of the oldest churches in California, and the monument to James Marshall which I learned this year was placed on top of where his body was buried. We made our way back down and across near to the river where we saw a recreation of the saw mill that would have existed during the time of the gold discovery.
Finally we got back to the lot where we would be picked up for our return to school. The bus was timely, which is a big deal for anyone who knows about last year, and all luggage was picked up and accounted for. Though students were soggy and tired, their positivity did not wane on the bus ride home, even if a few did take some naps.
We arrived safely back at Star, unloaded our bags, and then contacted families best we could for pick up. This only being our second year, we’re still trying to knock out all of the kinks and get everything queued up a bit better timewise, but we are very thankful for the support, encouragement, flexibility, and patience for the process throughout. Enjoy the pictures I was able to take and don’t be surprised to continue finding more coming your way from various sources.
