Home Care In Pilot Hill, CA

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(KTXL) — With hundreds of parks, endless miles of walking and hiking trails and beautiful waterways the Sacramento region has a lot of great places to explore on a nice day.

Between Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado counties, there are countless places to stretch your legs and take in some fresh air.

Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park, Pilot Hill, CA

With 12 miles of trail in the heart of Gold Country, Cronan Ranch provides walking, hiking, horseback riding and swimming opportunities.

The untouched nature of the park was ideal enough for it to be used as a filming location for the 2003 TV period Western movie “Love Comes Softly”.

Dave Moore Nature Area, Lotus, CA

Located about 4 miles from Cronan Ranch is the slightly smaller but still just as beautiful Dave Moore Nature Area.

Gold Rush history seekers will find remnants of tailings, Chinese immigrant laborer-built creek channels, moss and liken covered stone walls and more.

The full loop of the nature area is about a mile and will take you through nicely shaded oak forests down to the South Fork of the American River and onto granite boulders that tower over the path.

Folsom SRA

The Folsom State Recreation Area is well known for Folsom Lake where the borders of El Dorado, Placer and Sacramento counties meet.

With opportunities for hiking, biking, camping, picnicking, horseback riding, water skiing, boating, fishing and more there is something for everyone.

One of the less visited areas of the park is the Peninsula Campground and its surrounding trails that provide an amazing view of the lake and the Folsom Dam in the distance.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, Coloma, CA

There are not many other places in California that are as important to the state’s history and identity as the stretch of river where James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill which kickstarted the Gold Rush.

This park is saturated with history that sometimes comes to life as blacksmiths continue to work in their shops and visitors can learn to pan for gold.

Placer County

Auburn SRA

Stretching from Colfax to Pilot Hill along the North Fork of the America River and from Todd Valley to Pilot Hill along the Middle Fork of the American River the Auburn SRA covers 30,000 acres.

There are countless opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, swimming, horseback riding, rock climbing and whitewater rafting at this vast park.

Hidden Falls Regional Falls, Auburn, CA

Offering 30 miles of multi-use trails and featuring a towering waterfall this is a great place to get some fresh air and see some breathtaking views.

During the summertime, the cooling waters of the park’s creek and the large smooth rocks on its banks make for the perfect place to relax and cool off.

Those who are able to stay till the end of park hours may be treated with the appearance of the park’s many deer families.

Coyote Pond Park, Lincoln

Located in the Twelve Bridges area of Lincoln, this community park offers paved walking trails around open space with old-growth Valley Oaks, a natural pond and open fields.

The park provides great views of western and southern Placer County as well as the Sutter Buttes. This land was once part of the 30,000 acre ranch run by Joel Parker Whitney.

Sacramento County

Cosumnes River Preserve, Galt, CA

For those trying to see the beautiful Sandhill Cranes there are few better places in the Sacramento area than the Cosumnes River Preserve.

The preserve offers a series of trails along the Cosumnes River and Middle Slough with a few observation decks along the way

Visitors are encouraged to bring their own boats or rafts to navigate the Cosumnes River and its surrounding sloughs.

Discovery Park, Sacramento, CA

Sprawling across 302 acres the park marks the start of the Jedediah Smith Bike Trail and features athletic fields, an archery range, a picnic area and much more.

During the summer this section of the American River is very popular with swimmers and boaters. Winters at the park will often see the American River flood much of the area.

The park is also the venue for the famous Aftershock and Golden Sky Music Festivals.

Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Carmichael

This nature center offers some of the most beautiful trails through oak forests, open grasslands and along the American River in Sacramento County.

If visitors arrive early enough they could see groups of deer getting their early morning breakfast or turkeys making their way along the many paths.

The nature center also has several events throughout the year and cares for a number of non-releasable animals including a Swainson’s Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Great Horned Owl, Western Pond Turtle, Northern Pacific Rattlesnake and more.

Elk Grove Regional Park

Not many parks have an island, but Elk Grove Regional Park has two. In the park’s man-made pond there is Strauss Island and the larger Pirates Island.

This sizeable park features several athletic fields, a swim center, several miles of paved trails, a large BMX track, a community hall, an outdoor theater and more.

Sacramento County describes the park as “where recreation meets high society and culture.”

Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park, Folsom

One of the pivotal places in the history of electric generation in Sacramento County, the Folsom Powerhouse is a great place to take in the region’s deep history and natural beauty.

Located along the tree-lined banks of the American River, the park is a great place to take in some local history, access the river or have a picnic under the shade of a tree.

Impressive amounts of rain were recorded in the Sacramento region after a fierce winter storm swept through Northern California in what the National Weather Service called “one of the wettest New Year’s Eves on record.”

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Rowe said downtown Sacramento saw 2.79 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending 7 a.m. Sunday while Sacramento Executive Airport saw 2.12 inches and Sacramento International Airport received 1.89 inches for a 24-hour total. The rainfall at Sacramento Executive Airport tied a record from 2005, according to Rowe.

“There was a solid 2 to 3 inches of rain across much of the metro area,” Rowe said.

Authorities and residents were still navigating flood conditions in southern Sacramento County, including the closure of Highway 99 at Dillard Road, where upwards of four dozen motorists were rescued from floodwaters. Upstream along the Cosumnes River, two levees failed after being overtopped by the deluge.

In Sacramento County, a gauge near Rancho Murieta received 4.29 inches of precipitation through 7 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Natomas, Folsom, Elk Grove and Orangevale all received 3.5 inches or more in the same period.

In Placer County, most locations received more than 2 inches of rain including Auburn Airport, which got 3.54 inches, and Loomis, which saw 3.04 inches of rain. Roseville, Blue Canyon and areas north of Rocklin all saw significant rainfall totals.

In El Dorado County, most locations saw 2 inches or more of precipitation. Georgetown received 3.98 inches through Sunday morning while Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Pilot Hill and Rescue saw more than 3 inches in the 24-hour period.

Davis received the most rain in Yolo County, according to meteorologists, netting 1.85 inches of rain in the 24-hour ending 7:30 a.m.

The storm didn’t let up in the Sierra, blanketing the region in snow.

The UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab in Tahoe reported 29.9 inches of new snow over a 24-hour period ending at 9 a.m. Scientists at the station said snow fell at a rate of 7.5 inches per hour between 4 and 5 p.m. Saturday. Since Friday, the lab has received nearly 34 inches of powder.

Ski resorts in the area posted additional impressive snowfall totals: Tahoe Donner recorded 39 inches of new snow Sunday morning and Sugar Bowl got 34 inches, as most North Tahoe ski spots saw 2 to 4 feet of snow from the 24-hour period. For the season, the basin has received upwards of 16 feet of snow.

The National Weather Service is expected to release more overnight snow totals for the Sierra region later Sunday.

Another major winter storm is expected to hit the Sacramento region on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing with it significant rain, heavy snow in the Sierra and wind gusts reaching 50 mph.

After a sunny Sunday and some rain Monday, there will likely be “some clouds and maybe a light drizzle here or there Tuesday,” said Hannah Chandler-Cooley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

By Wednesday afternoon, conditions will begin to worsen.

The heaviest rain of the next storm will hit the region Wednesday night through Thursday morning, Chandler-Cooley said.

For now, the forecast is calling for wind gusts of between 40 and 45 mph, but that could change as the forecast models develop and predicted gusts could be more in the 50-mph range, according to Chandler-Cooley.

Travelers planning to head to the mountains should plan to leave no later than Wednesday morning. Heavy snow is expected above 4,500 feet, with snow levels dropping on Thursday.

This story was originally published January 1, 2023, 12:37 PM.

It was supposed to be a holiday treat: a teenage pilot taking his grandmother and two cousins on a short Monday morning flight across southern California.

Then, with the family cruising 5,500ft in the air, the plane’s engine suddenly failed. Brock Peters, 18, who had received his pilot’s license just four months earlier, said he heard a “boom” from the engine and “immediately after that” he lost all his engine power.

Peters, whose career goal is to become an airline pilot, said he knew he had just minutes left to make an emergency landing. From behind him, he could hear his grandmother crying, but he said he tried to tune out the sound. “I was completely focused on the plane,” he said. “It was just me, and the plane, coming down, and getting everyone down safe.”

The teenager’s emergency landing on a quiet stretch of one of the most famous highways in the US, Historic Route 66, made headlines across the country. And Peters said his message to others is simple: “Stay calm, remember your training and trust in God.”

The 2 January flight had started out as “just a normal day”, said Peters, a community college student from Oak Hills, California, who started flying at age 16.

“I love the thrill of it. I love the speed. I love seeing things from the air. It’s a difference perspective,” Peters said.

He said he had cousins visiting for the holidays from Colombia and Colorado, and their plan was to use a single-engine Piper PA-28 to complete a flight of about 60 miles from Apple Valley airport to Riverside airport, where they would have breakfast before flying back. It’s a trip he’s taken with family members multiple times before, he said. “We’ll go down for breakfast, have a quick meal and a nice flight and keep going with our day.”

But after he had brought the rented plane to its cruising altitude, Peters heard that “boom”, and his attempts to restart the engine failed. Already, he said, the plane was losing altitude, and as he tried to restart the engine he was also starting to think about where to make an emergency landing, skills he had practiced for his pilot’s examination.

There were fields below the plane, Peters said, but, being from the area, he knew “there’s rocks, trees everywhere in these fields”.

“If I land there, we’re going to get serious injuries, and the plane is going to be completely destroyed,” he recalled thinking.

His best chance, Peters decided, was the road below them. It was “Old Route 66”, he said, “and I saw my landing point in the middle of the road.” There was a hill ahead of him, and a curve in the road before: he had to avoid both.

There was one car coming on the road toward him, he recalled, but it pulled off the road and out of the way of the descending plane. Another car traveling in the same direction was safely out of range.

While he noticed the telephone wires running alongside the highway, Peters said, he did not realize until later that there were also wires crisscrossing the highway every few hundred feet, and that somehow his small plane must have slipped between them without him even noticing.

“Honestly, I didn’t see them. I think that was divine intervention, moving those wires away from me,” he said.

As he felt the wheels touch down, he breathed “a sigh of relief”.

“All I had to do at that point was slow down,” he added. “The landing was just as smooth as any other landing.”

The 18-year-old said he did not talk to his passengers much during the crisis, only telling them that they were going to have to land, and he doesn’t remember them saying much, either. His two cousins, who are in their 30s, and his 77-year-old grandmother were all left shaken, but unharmed, he said. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which logged the emergency landing on Cajon Boulevard, listed no injuries for the pilot and three passengers.

Peters said he called 911, and a fire truck arrived to help move the plane further off the road, he said. While the FAA is still investigating exactly what happened, according to a statement, Peters said his current understanding is that there was some kind of “internal failure” within the engine.

“We still can’t believe this even happened. It’s still shocking,” Peters said. A lot of emergency landings “are fatal”, he added. “And I can understand why, now [that] I had this experience.”

But Peters said the mid-flight crisis only encouraged him in his dream of becoming a professional airline pilot. “There’s been so many messages: ‘Good job’, ‘Amazing landing’, ‘You did great’,” he said. People have told him that he “really inspired the aviation community”.

“It was a good learning experience for me,” he said.

Nearly 75 years ago Pilot Hill Grange No. 1 completed the building that now stands at 1701 Highway 193, approximately 2 miles east of Cool. The building was designed and completed by the efforts of members of the Grange, as well as many supportive community volunteers.

The original Grange was formed in about 1890 by A. J. Bayley, in Pilot Hill, next door to the Bayley Mansion. Prior to building the current building, the Pilot Hill Grange met in Cool in a two-story building that sat about where The Garage and dentist office are now located.

In the early years the Grange had a very active membership, providing a way for community members to gather for meetings as well as ways to support the community with various activities and events. Over the years, membership had diminished significantly to the point of near demise.

Thanks to the efforts of a few long-standing members and new residents who were familiar with the benefits of a Grange, approximately a year ago there was a significant effort to revitalize the Pilot Hill Grange with meetings scheduled and a board elected. With new energy, the membership has begun to grow.

The newly energized membership continues to research ways to increase awareness of the Grange and considers events that may be of interest to the community. Currently there is a “Stitch and Bitch” meeting for yarn/fiber artists to share their work and knowledge on alternate Wednesdays at 6 p.m. The next meeting will be April 12, another meeting will follow on April 26, etc. Other organizations are also scheduling their meetings and events. Last December PHG No. 1 provided a free holiday dinner for anyone in the community.

The membership has elected to reinstitute the monthly breakfast. The first breakfast will be held the last Sunday of the month, starting April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon, and the breakfasts will be held on the last Sunday of every month. Mark your calendars for a wholesome breakfast of eggs, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, juice, coffee and tea. Other events currently under consideration are line dancing, square dancing and bingo. Membership is open to anyone interested in supporting the values of the Grange and meetings are open to anyone interested in learning more about its goals and objectives.

Other Granges on the Divide are the Marshall Grange in Garden Valley and the Gold Trail Grange in Coloma. For more information about the Grange or its events contact Wheeler at [email protected].

With summer and the fire season well underway, residents can rest easier knowing watchful eyes are being cast in every direction for the slightest sign of smoke.

Logtown resident Mike Davis at least once a week takes a six-hour shift volunteering at the Pilot Peak lookout tower in Pilot Hill to keep an eye out for fires on everyone’s behalf.

Located at an elevation of 1,869 feet, the three-story tower was originally built in 1958 as part of the Folsom Dam Project. In 1965 it was deeded over to the state.

But long before the tower existed a bonfire would be lit on the peak to help Gold-Rush-era travelers navigate to and from Sacramento.

Now, instead of lighting fires, volunteers watch for them from the top of the tower where they take in a breath-taking vista and 360-degree view nearly 100 miles in every direction.

The Pilot Peak lookout wasn’t always staffed by people. In the late 1990s the tower, along with three others in the unit, went out of service and remained unoccupied as a cost-saving measure. Instead cameras were installed to keep watch for fires. Over time the Pilot Peak lookout fell into disrepair, especially after a storm blew off the roof and it sustained substantial water damage.

The new Cal Fire Amador-El Dorado Unit chief decided to bring all four lookout towers back into use and incorporate the human element into spotting fires, according to Diana Swart, Cal Fire public information officer.

The three other lookouts are located at Mt. Danaher in Camino, Pine Hill near Rescue and Mt. Zion in Pine Grove.

“Chief Scott Lindgren is dedicated to bringing these back because he thought it better to renovate them and staff them with volunteers from the community,” said Swart. “Human eyes are better than a camera and can distinguish between a dust storm and the smoke from a fire, or whether smoke is from wood or a house fire.”

The goal is to keep fires to 10 acres or less; smaller fires require fewer resources.

“Once a fire explodes to 1,000 or 1,500 acres you have dozens and dozens of firefighters so the smaller we can keep the fire, the fewer resources are needed to fight it,” Swart explained.

“We want that first initial response to be a strong one.”

To get the tower on Pilot Hill back in shape, last year repairs and renovations included adding a new roof, flooring and plumbing, fixing up a living space in case a volunteer needs to stay the night and painting the building. With most of those repairs done the tower reopened in June of last year, staffed entirely by volunteers who work 6 to 12-hour shifts on most days.

Swart said they are working on getting the towers staffed seven days a week, 12 hours a day, drawing on a long list of applicants.

Davis said he got involved because a friend who was volunteering invited him along and he found it to be, “A great view and worthwhile service.”

A retiree and transplant from the Bay Area, Davis previously worked in environmental compliance and teaching scuba diving.

Davis, who has been on the job since last year, said in his first 15-20 days as a volunteer he spotted four “smokes.”

“Some were small ones, probably evening burns, and were controlled pretty quickly,” he noted.

Using his binoculars Davis said he spends his shift constantly scanning the horizon in all directions. Tags on the wall above the windows tell him what community or geographic area he’s looking at and how far away it is. When he wants to specifically nail down a location, he uses what’s called a fire finder to pinpoint its magnetic heading.

That information and any other reports he has are communicated to the Cal Fire command center in Camino via walkie-talkie.

He also cross-checks any suspected fires called in by residents. “We’re not here reading books or looking at our phones,” he said. “The main thing we are doing is constantly scanning the area.”

Enjoying his role as a fire spotter, Davis said it gives him peace of mind knowing others are also up there watching for fires.

“I think it’s a valuable service. Getting fire under control quickly is important and we’re just one part of it … A good day is when you don’t see anything. But if you do spot something, hopefully it will minimize damage, loss of property and certainly minimize personal injuries.”

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