Golden Orb about 3 feet across, moving pretty quickly and smoothly above the hills.

I was twelve years old at the time, and my dad and I were hiking on Mt. St. Helena which is just North of the small town of Calistoga, 66 miles North of San Francisco.  I'm not for sure on the date though, or the exact time, but it was late afternoon.  We were hiking down the mountain when my dad was stopped watching something in his binoculars.  I finally asked him what he was looking at, and without telling me, handed me the binoculars.  I looked through them and spotted a golden round orb, which at first I thought was an escaped party balloon.  It seemed to be about a mile away, and was maybe 3 feet in diameter.  It floated to the right at a good speed and made a U-turn and disappeared behind a hill.  My dad later told me that the object was a lot closer than a mile.  He thought it was maybe 300 yards away to the East.  The sighting seemed to last about 2 minutes.  It moved very smoothly, no erratic movements.  It was gold and perfectly sphere, about 3 feet across, if it was 300 yards away.  I understand orbs are a common UFO sighting and seem to be remotely controlled.
Date is approximate.  One of five interesting reports from same witness.  PD