Villages Hiking Club

Carry the Torch event

The Carry the Torch event was such fun! The weather was perfect and the walkers were full

of energy and lots of Olympic spirit.

There were about 25-35 walkers all the way with some dropping out and others coming in along the route. There were 15 walkers who walked the entire route from Cribari through all the Villages to Gazebo Park.

We started our walk at Cribari right at 8:30 a.m. and walked from village to village mostly on small pathways finishing up at Gazebo Park at 11:30.

We didn’t do all the paths, so take the time to go explore the other pathways in our beautiful village. The map that is used as a place mat at the clubhouse has dotted lines that show where the pathways are located. So go eat lunch or dinner, get a map and then go for a walk.

Gold Country Hike

We formed carpools and left around 8:30 on Wednesday morning, July 11. Some of us did some sightseeing along the way before meeting up with everyone for a sack lunch and a leisurely walk through the woods at Indian Grinding Rock State Park. We had to laugh when we saw this enormous grinding rock with more mortar holes than we could count (1185 to be exact) and compared it to our lonely grinding rock up in our Villages hills.

After leaving this historic Miwok Indian village, some of us took a tour through the Black Chasm Cavern where we cooled down a bit. This cave is a National Natural Landmark and so noted because of it’s unique displays of helictite crystals. Following the cave tour, we walked through the Zen Garden and came out a bit more enlightened?????

We had one big bedroom at the Pioneer Hotel and, due to the heat, decided to have our cocktail gathering inside rather than outside. It worked well. So well in fact that some of us were so full that we didn’t go to dinner with the others. Some went to a Chinese restaurant while others decided on Mexican food.

On Thursday morning, most of us headed up past the Kirkwood ski area to Carson Pass for our big hike of the trip. The long hikers hiked up to 9600 feet through glorious fields of wildflowers, beautiful mountain lakes and wonderful views of the mountains with patches of snow and small waterfalls. The ramblers surprised us by making it all the way up to the second lake! They did remarkably well considering the altitude and the rocky paths. It was the wildflower photo opportunities that kept them marching upward.

After cleaning up, we again met for wine and snacks before heading into Volcano for dinner. It was Akiko’s birthday and, hopefully, a memorable one at that.

On Friday morning, we all went different ways. Hiking up in the mountains again, walking around a lake, exploring the little historic towns of Jackson and Sutter Creek, checking out the huge new casino, doing some wine tasting, driving up to Plymouth to walk through the 12 acres of gardens with 800 varieties of daylilies plus over 200 unusual perennials at the Amador Flower Farm and Nursery right smack in the middle of the wine country and stopping at fruit stands to buy local fruits and veggies on our way home.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable trip. Lots of walking, lots of eating, lots of fun times with each other.

Hiking Club visits bordello, speak easy

Gilda Wunderman, who lived in the Villages for a while, owns a historical home that she bought with her late husband in 1962. The house was designed by gangsters in the 1920s with vice in mind. The 7,200 square-foot interior included a bordello upstairs, secret passages, and a lookout for the law.

From the outside, this house looks very modest, while inside, there was a rip-roaring vice operation complete with dancing, drinking during prohibition, and prostitution. Now-a-days its like walking into a museum.

On September 28, the Hiking Club went to Mountain View to see this historical home that is a private residence. This was an easy walk on flat land along Steven’s Creek. We met in front of Cribari Clubhouse at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. We all took a sack lunch to eat on the patio of Gilda Wundrman’s home. Pole walkers and everyone were welcome who knew Gilda or were curious in seeing an unusual place.