Hope Valley, Calif. — With the turn of every season, the mail seems to bring an inviting brochure from Sorensen's, a rustic resort 20 miles south of Lake Tahoe in California's Alpine County. It shows log cabins in the woods, wildflowers and golden-leaved trees, a hammock strung between aspen trunks.
Something in this summer's mailing caught my eye: a series of Emigrant Trail hikes, guided walking-and-driving history tours offered on five Mondays in summer and fall. My sister, Eileen, is a fifth-grade teacher with an avid interest in America's pioneer history, and her enthusiasm is contagious. Lured by the promise of emigrant lore and the Sierra's autumnal scenery, I booked a three-day weekend at the resort and signed us up for the hike.
We flew to Sacramento one Saturday morning (Reno is closer, but the airfare was more expensive), rented a car and picked up U.S. 50 heading east for a leisurely two-hour drive to Sorensen's. Feeling peckish as we approached the Gold Country town of Placerville, we turned off the highway and settled on A Main Street Cafe, a family-run place with eight tables. The menu recounted the history of the 1857 brick building and pointed out the original horsehair plaster still covering part of one wall.
The offerings were simple -- sandwiches, soups, salads, desserts -- but everything was appealing and homemade. Our egg salad sandwiches -- one on pesto pine nut bread, the other on sunflower honey wheat -- were plump and tasty, the potato salad tangy, the huge lemon bars fabulous.
The trip resumed, U.S. 50 rising into the Sierra and paralleling the pretty South Fork of the American River for much of the way. Then came a short stretch on a secondary road, altitude 7,000 feet, and suddenly there was Sorensen's, its 20-odd buildings scattered along the road and backing into the woods. The impression was pleasing: cottages and log cabins amid evergreens and aspens (here and there turning brilliant yellow), connected by paths interspersed with beds of blooming yarrow. Our little bungalow, called Foxtail ($120 plus tax per night), was just big enough for its tiny kitchen and bathroom, queen bed and table with two chairs. The mattress was piled high with a blanket and comforters, whose importance we wouldn't appreciate until nighttime.
