The Gold Mountain Nugget Newsletter
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Now is a perfect time to check out the improvements made to the Falling Water River Trail last summer. The river canyon is filled with shades of yellow, orange and red. Many thanks to George Sipel and a couple of local carpenters who repaired the crumbling retaining walls and installed a new stairway over what was a very dangerous portion of the trail. The trail down to the river is the steepest in Gold Mountain and has numerous switchbacks, but the views will not disappoint. If you are lucky, you may see a train pass over the trestle spanning the Feather River. View additional photos here: pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6, pic7.

Mark Elliott
GMHOA, Manager

To all,

Thursday August 20, a barbecue buffet at Big Springs Garden.

The price is $37.00 (tax & tip included) per person which includes:
Entrance to the park
Hiking trails
Appetizers beginning at 4:30 p.m. accompanied by live music
Barbecue buffet at 6:00 p.m. which features:
Baby back ribs, chicken, salmon, slow roasted choice prime rib, green salads, fresh fruit, baked beans, corn on the cob, coleslaw, fabulous desserts and live music following dinner.

Alcoholic beverages are extra, $5.00 for a glass of wine.

Since we will be such a large group they would like advance payment by Aug. 13th. Please send checks to:

Karen Fuqua
P.O. Box 1256
Portola, CA 96122

by Monday, Aug. 10th. I will send in all the checks together with our reservation. PLEASE make the checks payable to BIG SPRINGS GARDEN.

This will likely be the last year they are open. If you haven't been there before, it is definitely worth a trip.

Please visit their website at: www.bigspringsgarden.com.

They are located on Highway 49 between Bassets Station and Sierra City. Look for the Big Springs Garden road sign on the right.

We hope to see your there!

June 15, 2009

Greetings Gold Mountaineers!

What a great Annual Meeting we had last month! It was great to see so many of you up at the Grizzly for the meeting and in Gold Mountain during the weekend. We had beautiful, if cool, weather, lots of animal sightings and even a potential golf course owner sighting with Bill Shaw addressing the meeting. Everyone seems to like the new shorter meeting schedule. We also have plans to take your suggestions and move the meeting off Memorial Day next year. Stay tuned for that. Sorry for this long email but there is much to report. Print it out and put it in the bathroom......

- Nakoma Update: Nothing to put in writing and celebrate yet, but suffice it to say the interest is heating up and Trustee Angie is fielding more phone calls about potential buyers than she has in months...even with Bill Shaw addressing us at the Annual Meeting. We will keep you posted. The HOA's emergency watering plan paid for to date by voluntary contributions from homeowners combined with the frequent and unusual spring rains have helped keep the greens and fairways looking like...uh, greens and fairways.

- Bear Sightings Mean Garbage in the Garage Only! Yes, the Dancing Bears neighborhood had bear sightings on two separate days. One ventured down to a front door and then the garage door before chewing up the driveway log stops. How do we know? Her footprints were on the newly sealed, and very black, driveway! The next day, in broad daylight, a knee-high bear walked about 30 feet away from a kitchen window. So, while this is their habitat, we don't want them becoming dependent on ours. day or night, they seem to be out. Please keep your garbage and food containers in the house or garage. This is one of the few times we are saying we don't want to end up like some Lake Tahoe neighborhoods, with bears breaking into houses when they get the munchies.

- Road Work in Gold Mountain this Summer! The road repair work has started in Gold Mountain and will continue through early July. In order to keep the fantastic price we were able to negotiate due to the low price of oil several months ago, we need to stick to a strict schedule. With the price of oil jumping from $50 to $72 a barrel on June 10, we don't want to cause any delays from our end that might jeopardize our deal. Contact the office if you need to know the exact schedule your roads may be worked on. You will be able to get in and out. There will be noise in the 'hood. Please do not ask for any changes to the schedule as this is about as complicated a thing as you can imagine and we most probably will not be able to accommodate. 530-832-9798

Thanks, and keep the info coming!

Deb Dobbs
Gold Mountain Homeowner and HOA Secretary

We would like you to be aware of some Gold Mountain community-related email groups set up and maintained by members of the association using Yahoo Groups. You are encouraged to participate! Any member of an email group receives email from other members posting to the list, and can send email to others in the group without having to know email addresses. There's also a member-operated community website you may be interested in.

"Gold-Mountaineers" -- For general Gold Mountain related communications among association members. Open to all association members. Contact Ken Gorman (ken@keligo.com) for more information and to join.

"Golf and Grub Club" -- For communicating and organizing golfing events, big or small, for association members. Includes the popular "Golf and Grub" events hosted by members. Open to all association members who golf regardless of golfing ability. Contact Ken Gorman (ken@keligo.com) for more information and to join.

"Golden Girls" -- For the mutual interest and benefit of the women of Gold Mountain. We share information about our community near and far, set up lunches, activities, interests, and generally keep in touch with each other through this forum. Open to all ladies of the association. Contact Jeanne Carlson (jjmmcc@psln.com) for more information and to join.

In addition to the Gold Mountain HOA/CSD website, you are encouraged to check out the "Gold Mountain Gazette" website (www.gmgazette.us) operated by Ken Gorman. The Gazette is like a community bulletin board where members can post messages in a variety of categories -- events, for-sale, lost-and-found, area news, homes for rent, goods and services, and so on. One does not need to join, but one needs a password to post items on the Gazette. To request that password, click the "Contact the Gazette" link on the home page.

On Saturday May 9th, Major Gail McGrath rallied the GM troops for the now annual clean up along the A-15 county road corridor.
After collecting our sturdy black bags, donning the requisite orange vest, work gloves, bug spray, and hats, the group split up and spent about 3 hours picking up trash.


Those who attended were:
Gail and Hal McGrath
Tom and Sue Taylor
Karen and Steve Fuqua
Mike Callaghan (the one in the black bag)
Jeanne Harper
Len Fernandes


Besides numerous cigarette butts, the group bagged a vacuum cleaner, more peppermint schnapps bottles, and the usual collection of aluminum cans and beer bottles. 9 bags of trash plus recyclables were collected. Thanks Crew!

For third year in a row, a photograph by a Gold Mountaineer graces the cover of the Plumas Lassen phone book. This year, Mark Elliott's shot taken along the La Porte Road featuring a very colorful English Maple was chosen. Mark advises that in the Fall, this stretch of road with oak and maple trees is extraordinarily colorful.

Last year, Linda Gorman's photo looking up the 12th fairway of the Nakoma Golf Resort, with lupins in the foreground and Beckwourth Peak in the distance, was selected. This photo was actually the basis for one of her art designs in her PoesyArt collection.

And before that, Linda Cooley caused the publishers of the phone book to break from their tradition of using graphics for the cover, opting for her photo she took while on a group hike to Long Lake and Mt Elwell. Indian Paintbrush flowers provide the great color. Linda's interests include family and journalistic wedding photography.

So we certainly have the talent at Gold Mountain. Think we can capture that cover for a fourth year?

Big Springs Gardens has been a destination for residents of Plumas County and Gold Mountaineers for years. They open this year on Friday, June 5 and will close on Sunday, September 27. Located on Highway 49 between Bassetts Station and Sierra city, Big Springs Gardens is known for its lovely gardens and it's hiking trails. They do a Thursday night BarBQue, a Friday Buffet Luncheon, a Saturday early afternoon BarBQue Buffet and a Sunday Buffet Brunch during their season. If you haven't yet been there, make a plan to visit this summer. Visit their website for more info. www.bigspringsgardens.com

Yep,
Spring is here! A buttercup in full bloom, nestled among small rocks on the Interpretive trail.
The seasonal creeks are flowing, although not as much as last week, and there is still some patches of snow in the shady areas of the path. The drainage pipes in the trail need some attention, but other than that the trails are begging for human foot prints to stamp out the many deer prints taking the easy path to food.

We didn't see much wildlife yesterday, but Saturday we saw a coyote, a few deer, and many birds--mostly their musical endeavors.

[by Jeanne Harper, posted by Ken Gorman]

Contact Deb Dobbs at the GM Association office about being a Nugget reporter.