Beware of the mountain lion

                                                           A signboard at Piccheti Ranch, Cupertino, CA

                                          
                                     A find at Roaring Camp, Felton, CA

A railway ride into a Redwood forest

Train journeys from one town to another or one city to another; we've all done that. How about boarding a train to nowhere but the middle of a forest and back, that too, on an olden-day  steam locomotive? Better still -- an open train that chugs through hundreds of thousands of that variety of trees that are amongst the tallest of tall trees in the world? We got to do just that when we visited the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, California. 

The Roaring Camp Railroads were laid in the 1870s and were initially meant for transportation of lumber from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Monterey Bay. In due course it became a tourist route for people who wanted a railway ride to the Santa Cruz Beach. 

Purely for the sake of leisure trips, the Roaring Camp Railroads now plays depot for two trains: one that goes into the thick of the Redwood forest and up a hill and the other that goes from the forest to the beach. 

Our choice for the weekend was the Redwood Forest Steam Train that traversed the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad. The journey started at the storybook-type train station with log cabins for a waiting room, a snack shop and a souvenir store to name a few buildings there. 

It was almost half past three when the grand old, yet exquisite Dixiana drew into the station for her last trip of the day. Painted in green, brown and red, this classic engine, which is the camp's locomotive number 1 was our  escort that day.  When she pulled out of the station, she went around a bend and chugged straight into the redwood forest towing along several yellow and green cars; most of them, open topped. 

Inside the forest area, this train that ran on a narrow gauge railroad began going up the Bear Mountain, its whistles reverberating through the wooded area. Ahead of the train and behind, up the slopes or down the slopes, all we could see was a sea of redwood trees. Half way up the hill, the train came to a screeching stop. Just as we began to wonder why, Kent, the conductor who was also the tour guide told us that there was once a fire there and a trestle on the railway was damaged. A few months later new tracks had been laid, these by-passing the original loop. As such, from that point the train had to go up another route for a while, this time with the locomotive at the other end pushing the train up the hill, till it came to another stop and changed  tracks again. We had an experience of that.

A few minutes later the train was at the summit of Bear Mountain. There we got down, stretched our legs and tried to take in more of the history that Kent narrated. That was when I looked all the way up through the towering trees and saw some sunlight in the distance, trying hard to touch the floor of the forest. So extraordinary was that scene: the sight of the extraordinarily tall trees and the sky above it, that I almost froze but managed to capture a couple of shots; a priceless souvenir of photographs.


After what seemed like a few fleeting moments at the peak, the train took us down the hill, once again going backwards and forwards beside that once-damaged route. 


Just before she rolled into the station, Dixiana let out huge clouds of steam and seemed to say aloud that she was calling it a day. 

When our one-hour round trip came to an end, we had had our fill of the redwood forest. Redwood Trees have been the official state tree of California since the late 1930s, so I would say it is a must-see if you visit this state on the west coast of the United States of America.

For Redwood Forest Steam Train's fares and timetable click here. 

Also check out: Big Basin drenched in rain (in pictures)

Swirl, smell, sip at Picchetti

American Independence day, they say is best celebrated with hot dogs and ice cream or barbecued food. I beg to differ, given that I chose to celebrate the 4 of July that just went by, with Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Merlot among other exotic tastes, at an idyllic location tucked away in the thickets of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Situated on Montebello Road -- monte-bello, which itself is said to mean beautiful mountains -- the Picchetti Winery is a paradise for those who love wine and music and beautiful surroundings. Anything to beat that?

Picchetti Winery dates back to the 1800s and is proud to be one of the oldest wineries of California. This place came about when the Picchetti brothers, after whom this place is named, bought some land on the beautiful mountains, began cultivating different kinds of grapes and supplying local wineries with their produce. Then in 1896  these Italian siblings built a winery and tried a hand at selling their own wines. Success was theirs and the winery was handed over to the next generation of Picchettis. 

Unfortunately the winery later fell into bad days, we are told, and parts of the estates had to be sold and other fruits had to be grown to meet the expenses of the winery and ranch, until one day the winery too had to close. However it was reopened in the 1990s and went on to flourish once again. The new owners chose to keep the name as well as another feature that is almost a symbol of the Picchetti era: the peacock. John Picchetti, one of the second generation Picchettis here, who loved birds had built an aviary in the premises when he took over the winery.

Now visitors to the Picchetti winery have the honour of being welcomed to the property by the lovely peacock. With its elegant green and blue bird, the greenery around and the log cabins flanked with numerous casks, people who have been to Picchetti will agree that this place itself is visually inebriating.

Walk up the little hill and you see a brick building, the very winery that was built by the Picchettis in 1896. This red structure continues to be the place whence the intoxicating grape-based drink flows. 

Not that Independence Day meant drinking spree; it was just some wine tasting that I indulged in that day. Who says that only sommeliers could have fun with the fermented goodness of grapes: swirling, smelling and sipping it. 

The Picchetti winery lets you try five tastes for a five dollar fee and if you have a partner you can taste ten wines for double the fee. That's a good deal don't you think? 

After we were done with our tasting we left the tasting room with a bottle of wine and even got one person's fee refunded for that purchase.
From there we moved to the picnic tables outside and enjoyed our home-made fast food while a band of three people entertained us with music and song. That undoubtedly was one lovely afternoon, a perfect way to spend the Independence Day holiday: the taste of freedom and the taste of wine. (And by the way, it was a jovial Englishman who served to us at the wine bar. )

Red wines were our choice for that day. Now, if only there were blue wines to go with that to make it a perfect way to celebrate America!

Next post: Pictures from Picchetti

Pictures from Picchetti

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