Native American Burial Ceremony for Ralph Thomas
October 14, 2006
Wild Bill Cady in a Mercedes 320 made the drive up into the mountains from Placerville quite enjoyable
Up into the El Dorado National Forest, Highway 88
Silver Lake
Caples Lake
First Stop, just above Caples Lake on the Old Emigrant Trail where Ralph Thomas used to camp often
The first ceremony, a meal blessing
Native American Shaman, Martin Martinez
with Ron Nagotte of Stateline Productions video taping
The food offering, Ralph’s favorite meal of lamb and vegetables made by his wife, Jacqui
Jacqui and her friend Rebeka with Charlotte Whipple
Life-long friend of Ralph’s, Gail Wallace
The food offering, after blessing, was placed on the ground with some of Ralph’s ashes to return him to the forest through the forest animals
We returned to Caples Lake Lodge before heading up the mountain to Sneider Ridge
The road up to Sneider Ridge, one of Ralph’s favorite camping spots was open
The huge boulders on Sneider Ridge
Ron Whipple explains to Jacqui and Rebeka the use of the “chip flipper”
Ron explains how we used to hunt for grind holes in granite boulders to locate Indian summer hunting camps
Jacqui prepares to spread some of Ralph’s ashes around the woods he loved
The view of Caples Lake from Sneider Ridge, near the tree line at 9,000 feet
The group dined at the Kirkwood Inn Saturday night
The view from Kit Carsen Pass
The trek down the hill back towards Placerville
Poor Red’s Bar-B-Que, home of the Gold Cadillac
End