Cardiac Bypass Trail (Placer County, California)

When I first learned of a trail near Auburn, CA called the Cardiac Bypass Trail, I knew it had to be added to my "to do" list. Today, I'm headed over to the Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival and since I'm going to be in the area, I decided to first do the hike. As I would soon learn, there are a number of possible trail heads in and around this area, most of which somehow connect up to my planned trail. After a couple of false starts, I finally find myself on the correct route.

The name Cardiac Bypass Trail is a little intimidating, but is a pretty accurate description of this trail. While I started downhill first, I realize from the steep route that the climb back up is going to be a bear and might have caused someone to have a cardiac bypass at some point in the past. After climbing down a steep rock cliff, which wasn't terribly difficult, I find myself on a gravel road. Along the road, bright orange wild flowers beautify the landscape. A quarter mile or so along the road, I come across a thin waterfall slicing through the rock.

The gravel road eventually leads to another trail head and parking lot, at the other end of which, the trail returns to single track and overlooks the North Fork of the American River rushing by a few hundred feet below. The trail should take me right down to the angry spring waters.

On the way down, the trail traverses a gigantic grassy hill with a few wildflowers scattered here and there. I admit that I'm on high alert for rattlesnakes in the short grasses, as I have seen them in this area and in this type of terrain before. The temperature is hovering in the mid-sixties, which is a dangerous time in rattler country. On hot days and also on cold days, it's easy to understand the cold-blooded snake's behavior, but on days like this, hovering between the two, it's difficult to know where I might stumble across one. Luckily, the day ends up being encounter free.

Finally arriving down at the river, I take a couple of minutes just to take in the magnificence of the renewing waters flowing past me. These waters will supply local residents with both power and water for months to come, but beyond that, just understanding the cyclical nature of the seasons and life in general is a humbling thought.

After a short moment of contemplation along the rocks at the river's edge, I start the challenging climb back up the canyon's hill side. The trail is well worn, but a number of cross-trails make a for something of a confusing mess, or at least it would, if it wasn't for the excellent signage. 

The climb really is quite a workout, but the scenery distracts me from my heavy breathing. Some purple and white flowers, which I think are some species of wild orchid, decorate the hillside here and as I approach the top of the hill, I come across the Shirland Canal, which the trail will follow the rest of the way back to where I left my jeep. While I couldn't find much on the history of the canal, it was obviously built some decades ago to carry water to some of the nearby communities and perhaps the mining camps before them.

Finally back at the jeep, I wipe some sweat from my brow and take a look at my tracking app. 4.2 miles on this little adventure. Not a bad day on the trails and all of the steep uphill certainly made it a great workout. Now, it's time to head off for some amazing grilled cheese!