deer creek

funny how sometimes you live in a place and you completely miss some hidden treasure in your town. less than 4 miles from my front door is such a little hideaway. i've passed it so many times without a second look. in between an auto parts store and an oil change shop sits a tiny park called deer creek. from the road (which is part of old hwy 40) it is shrouded by trees. there is no visible sign, nothing that would draw you in visually from a moving car. and yet if you were to walk by on the sidewalk you'd get a completely different impression.
my little guy and i made a trip there the other day. we parked at the nearby train station and walked through an adjoining field. the grass was damp on our canvas sneakers as we humped packs with all our supplies. as we came to the entrance we finally saw a little wooden sign telling us we were here, and behind it a polished granite stone monument marking the site of the old quarry where 150 years ago men began to cut and haul stone from this site and hand load it onto wagons for the trip to downtown sacramento. from here came original foundation stones for the state capitol. from here men worked under the brutal sun sweating and cursing under thick moustaches and beards.


and now the abandoned quarry site serves as a little taste of the old rocklin, and also gives some of the best bouldering opportunities around. even as we walked up a trio of young guys in climbing shoes and chalk bags were mapping out routes with the help of a guide book. i let the little guy serve as scout and lead the way, navigating us through trails up and over rocks until he found us a suitable spot to break for lunch. we unloaded our packs and broke out sandwiches, chips and cookies. as we munched our rations we had a rooftop view of the passing amtrak and sp freight trains blowing their horns as they passed us.


then it was time for more exploring. deer creek is the kind of place as a kid i would have loved instantly. it would be a great movie location for westerns or apocalyptic battle scenes and has the quality of a play place for an endless day of adventure. and that is what we did. we tramped and tracked all over the place. heading up and down the same trails again and again until we had mapped the place in our mind. we kept running into the climbers and later saw a group of high-school kids meeting up to get high. we heard the sound of a tiny 2-stroke and watched another pair of guys work their rc buggy up a seemingly impossible hill. and we even caught a little critter and spent some time hanging out together.


all in all it was a great little time. and now that i know where this hidden treasure lies i may send out secret letters asking others to meet me there.