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The primary goal of the Johnson Cutoff Mapping Team is to map a complete 7.5 minute quad each year. In 2010 they focused on ascending from the American River at Junction House to Peavine Ridge. |
| As you drive up Wright's Road from the American River to Peavine Ridge it seems to be an impossibly steep climb for a wagon road. |
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Lloyd Johnson and John Winner |
Searching Google Earth, John Winner found a faint line along the steep hillside. |
| Using Terrain Navigator Pro's Aerial Photos in 3D view, John was able to see a trough running along the hillside that would allow a more reasonable grade for a wagon road. |
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Ford Osborn |
The team started near the top of the ridge. They cut through more than a mile of whitethorn and manzanita on the steep hillside to find the location of the faint line seen on Google Earth. |
| Clinging to the hillside, on a narrow bench, they found the Johnson Cutoff wagon road they had been searching for. |
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Artifacts verified this as the route of the early wagon road. |
| Working from the site of Junction House, near the American River, the team climbed to a point indicated on the GLO map as a spot the Cutoff crossed a section line. Here they found what appeared to be a pristine Class I trail. |
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John Winner, Sharon Hanson, Ellen Osborn,Ford Osborn |
Hoping to finish the work up to Peavine Ridge, the team went out in early November. They spent the day climbing the hill and cutting through brush only to find the trail where they left off a few weeks earlier covered with several inches of snow. |
Johnson Cutoff Mapping Team
Ford and Ellen Osborn, Lloyd Johnson, Sharon Hanson, Ken Allen, John Winner,
Glen Owens, Carolyn Hanson, Dee Owens
Dick Young, Joan Young, John Winner, Krista Deal, Eldorado National Forest Archaeologist, Sharon Hanson, Joyce Everett, Bob Graham
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