Weird Stay In Beatty

Although we are very comfortable, the scenery is pretty if you like desert, it is a little weird here.  When we checked in at the campground, we were told by the host that this is a desert - tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, coyotes, cottontail bunny rabbits are just a few of the sights we could see or hear.  But - beware of the wild burros.  Do not approach them, do not feed them, give them wide room - they are not friendly.  Okay, so we know all about the wild stuff you find in the desert and are used to them when we are at Picacho, but not the burros.

Years and years ago the 20-mule team borax wagon trains plied Death Valley hauling the borax out, then with the introduction of the modern machines to do this, the mules (burros) were let loose.  And they roam everywhere now. As we were driving in town the other day, we saw burros everywhere - in yards, in the grassy marsh area, roaming along.  They are protected so you can't kill them or harm them. Mostly at night you can hear them braying, and then the coyotes crying as they run by us, and I have to say, I love it.  Every night about an hour after sunset, the coyotes waken and cry and run by.  Each one has its own distinctive cry.  And the burros do too.  Each time I hear the burros I think of the old TV show, Hee-haw.  That's what it sounds like! Dave went looking for them after hearing the braying yesterday and he said they watched every step he took, definitely did not want him near.

Eee-haw

Hey - I am watching you!

But there is something else here, and I am looking for ET everywhere. We are near Area 51, google it, and the manager of the campground said that back in the late '50s when the nuclear testing was being done in Area 51, people would come out and watch the mushroom clouds go way up and then dust themselves off from the fallout and go about their business.  Guess there has been many lawsuits and of course lots of illness due to the fallout.  But the weirdest thing is - the rumors abound that this a great place to see UFOs.  After reading about Area 51, I am not sure if it was UFOs they saw/see or secret aircraft.  We could hear in the distance artillery being exploded, high jets overhead, definitely some secretive stuff here.  But will not venture out in that no-man's land.

There is no other road between Reno and Las Vegas other than the route we took to get here - Route 95.  High speed (70) one lane each way, very rare to see a town, no stop lights, but heavy traffic.  We see 18 wheelers with military gear on their flat beds zooming by, we suppose from Hawthorne or even Nellis Air Force Base which is within this Area 51.

A different note - I saw this morning that where we were last week - snow covered!  Donner Pass, Crater Lake, Lassen - all snow covered.  Got out in time!

Hot Death Valley

Our goal yesterday was to drive into Death Valley National Park and go to Furnace Creek Visitor Center to get information on best way to visit the park.  Death Valley is known to be one of the hottest places on earth, temperature of 134 was recorded in July, 1913.  It is also where the discovery of borax was made in the 1880's.  You find borax in paints, ceramics, pottery, household cleaning such as detergents, hand cleaners, putty, fire retardants, glass, just to name a few things. Death Valley also has an area called Badwater is the lowest of North America at -282 before sea level.  Since the Visitor's Center was a fur piece away from where we entered the park just west of Beatty, we actually got to see a good portion of the park even though the park is 3.4 million acres BIG.  We saw the movie and browsed the store looking and then since we were on the south side of the park, drove to Badwater Basin.

First view of Death Valley 

When we entered the park about 10am it was a lovely 71 degrees but the temperature quickly rose.  The road beyond Badwater was closed due to a washout (the rains from the other day) so we could go no further but parked the truck and walked the salt flats out and turned around and saw on the mountain a plaque that said "sea level" - we were at -282 BELOW sea level.  Hot, salty, sun was so intense.  Kicked our butt.  The temp in the car when we got back in was 98 degrees.  Tour bus loads of foreigners - not sure but maybe the Baltics or Middle European dialect.  Bus loads.  For the first time the majority of foreigners we saw were not Asians.

Tour buses galore

Badwater

Salt/borax

Don't drink water!

Drove the Artist Drive which takes you up into the east side of the mountains  and drove through some twisty turny curves.  Warnings were that no vehicle over 25 feet drive it - saw why.  They would get stuck in some of the dips of the road.  Colorful palettes of what ever mineral stones were - pinks, golds, greens (think that was copper), browns, tans, whites.  One thing that really struck us - little if any turn off the road to take pictures.  Because of the extreme conditions, the park personal do not want you out of the car wandering around.  Their informational paper that is handed out devotes the first 3 pages to safety - drink water, do not hike in heat, what to do if your car breaks down.  In many languages.  And, they also asked us if we are comfortable changing our tires - if so, here are some gravel roads to take to see some incredible stuff.  Not interested in that!

Wow - watch those dips!

Lots of minerals in mountains

Although gold, copper, silver and borax were mined here in the 1880's, borax was the one that lasted the longest.  I was happy to see Death Valley because my oldest brother interned at US Boraxo (20 mule team logo) in the early 60's for six months and even tho he said how hot it was, somehow I didn't believe everything he said and now I do.  Hot.  Glad I saw this and experienced what he saw.  The mule teams are a thing of the past and I found this picture which tells it all.

New versus old way to carry out the borax

It is fitting that we end out little trek this summer with a Basin-Range-Basin-Range landscape, just like we started with in Ely, Nevada when we went to Great Basin National Park.  Death Valley is a prime example of basin-range where the crust was uplifted, stretched, cracked, and lifted again to form the valley.  Amazing that the Timbisha Shoshone Indians have a reservation near Furnace Creek and continue to thrive as a community since the late 1400's. How can they live there?  Since the heat just knocked us and we were so exhausted, we don't think we will go back to the park.  We saw enough.

Off to Beatty, Nevada

What a hellacious night we had last night!  We knew that Hawthorne was expecting a thunderstorm after midnight, but what the weather service did not tell us - gusts of wind over 60 miles an hour!  The RV shook, teetered, moaned, rattled, I swore a lot, Grace hid for most of of it, until about 10pm.  We never got the thunderstorm, did get rain and hail, the wind died about midnight with enough time to get a couple of hours sleep.  When the sun rose this morning, low and behold, there was snow on the Mt. Grant just to the north of us.  Our temperature at 6am was 50 degrees but it was a COLD 50.

Snow on Mt. Grant

Dave looked over the slide toppers (roll out canvas over the slides of the RV) to make sure those had not come loose (last night sounded like they were going to rip off and drop through into the windows!), and we were able to get on the road by 8:45am.  As we drove out of Hawthorne, we noticed bunkers - this town has an Army arsenal facility and Naval undersea arsenal storage facility.  As far as you could see there were bunkers.  Weird to see.  Probably each bunker went down underground 2 or 3 stories deep.

Bunkers

Some Real Big Bunkers!

Drove down Route 95 all the way.  The road is beautiful road to drive, one lane each way, but wide open sections where people could pass us without any problem.  Some sad little towns, some were abandoned, the landscape was desolate.  Just outside of Tonopah we started to see Joshua Trees, a form of cactus.  Did I tell you there are no people in Nevada?  Amazing.  And this is a huge state.  For our 4 1/2 hours of driving today we still have not gotten to Las Vegas.  However, we did see mountain ranges that were snow capped - probably from last night's storm.  

White Mountains

We drove past the White Mountains that houses Boundary Peak, the highest mountain in Nevada and those babies had a lot of snow too.  Hopefully Yosemite National Park was able to get some of the snow/rain from last night and put out those fires which lies right on the western side of those mountains.

Tonopah - active mining town

Lonely road - wonder how far we see?

We are snug settled in Beatty (Bay-dee) RV Park in Beatty, the entranceway to Death Valley National Park.  You just don't come here in the summer.  This time of year starts their big tourist season - temps are in the 70s now where in the summer 120s is normal.  

Move to Hawthorne, Nevada

After we got a new tonneau cover for the truck's bed installed Thursday, we did a little shopping and then headed home.  Since I was driving I said we were going to do another side trip.  We drove over to Pressor Dam which is about 2 miles from the campground and was stunned that the reservouir was almost dry.  We knew there was a drought but that really made it hit home how they desperately need a very wet winter.  And most folks we talk to said they are getting prepared for this coming winter - all predictions point to a very cold and heavy snow season.  Time for us to get south!

Storm a comin'

Friday was spent doing what we do best - cleaning, laundry, last minute stuff to get ready to move.  While at the campground's laundry I had an interesting conversation with a young woman who had trained with Nancy Kerrigan and Tanya Harding (remember those two of the Olympics?) who could not get to the nationals because she was diagnosed with Lyme's Disease.  Instead, she is now thinking about teaching skating - she said she was very good.  Strangly - I believed her.  Something about her rang true. She and her husband and three children live in a small box type RV at the campground and have been living there now for 4 years and she loves the winter.  She said they get ALOT of snow, but it melts then alot of snow, then melts, etc.  All winter. Her husband works at grooming the slopes of Sugar Bowl Ski area in the winter and summer he works at a golf course.  I guess you gotta love the outdoors in those kinds of jobs.

This morning we packed up and skeedadled out of town - there was a storm coming in with high winds predicted by noon.  We managed to get on the road by 8:30 which is a tidge early than normal.  We watched the clouds and had a spattering of rain until just east of Reno.  But the winds.  As we sit here now at Hawthorne - Whiskey Flats RV Campground - the winds are predicted to gust to 60 miles an hour later today, rain and thunderstorms tonight, clear tomorrow.  Glad we are in and secure.  We only drove 168 miles, but far enough south to avoid the major stuff.  As I look out now - dust clouds and high winds are raging and the RV is being moved around even though we are unhooked and set up. Ugh, but looking forward to the thunderstorm tonight.

Road to Nowhere

I think Abraham Lincoln was wrong - why is Nevada a state?  Where are the people?  There is absolutely NOTHING for miles. Not even open range grazing cattle or horses.  Saw more of the basin-range-basin-range landscape but no ranches.  And raw land.  Mountains, no trees, sage brush, then we got to Walker Lake and I told Dave I thought I was back in Israel - looked like the Dead Sea, was watching for Masada and King Herod's palace in the mountain, the lake looked like it was salt but knew it was fresh.  And low.

Walker Lake

Looking for Masada

We move on in the morning more south (follow us on Route 95 out of Reno) and on to a small town called Beatty (bay-dee) where we will visit Death Valley National Park, about 240 miles more south.

20 Mile Museum and the Emigrant Trail

In the town of Truckee are two different museums and while the Donner Party tragedy is awful, the one museum - the Emigrant Museum - was built in honor of that wagon train of 83 that got stranded at Truckee the winter of 1845/1846 due to traveling an unproven route from Salt Lake City to California and were stranded with in 22 feet of snow. Half perished, the survivors' notoriety is due to cannibalism that some participated in. The museum is housed in a beautiful building but the displays are poorly lit and hard to see.  A lot of information but we were disappointed on how it was presented.  I remarked that they have just a few months to get their act in order, California's 150th birthday starts in January and hopefully the bosses will fix this.  Donner Lake is on premise and we walked a bit of the lake's trail - the interpretive signs were terrible and the walk was blasé, so we left.

Donner Summit looking down on Donner Lake

We had picked up a brochure on the 20 Mile Museum and decided to drive some of it - various road side exhibits explain what you are looking at, what happened, the significance of that particular item, interesting facts, etc. as you travel the Old Lincoln Highway (Route 40 - and now called Donner Pass Road) for 20 miles west of Truckee.  We stopped occasionally, but spent much of our time at Donner Summit.  As we stood and looked around, we could see the railroad as it passes into a tunnel and see the snow sheds, or look at Interstate 80 as it was built to the north of the summit and marvel that it would be a bear to drive in the winter, and then climbed on the rocks and got a fascinating, if not quizzical, views of Truckee.  How did the pioneers get over this area?  Talk about intimidating!

See the railroad tunnel and snow shed?

I have to say the scenery was stunning.  We stood on Rainbow Bridge, built in 1929, which is the first bridge ever built with a curving elevation change. Under this bridge is the route the pioneers took over the pass - wow. You could still see the old dusty trail.  At this spot looking down on the Pass, we saw firemen/instructors teaching different rappelling techniques to other firemen.

Firemen practicing rappelling

Rainbow Bridge - they passed under here and on

Bear's stupidity

The Donner Pass is a place of many firsts: the first Native Americans crossed for thousands of years and left petroglyphs on the rocks and other artifacts; the first wagon trains crossed to California using this same route; the first transcontinental railroad crosses here; the route of the first transcontinental highway (followed the pioneers' route - the old Lincoln Highway, Route 40, and a memorial to Abraham Lincoln); the first transcontinental telephone lines route; and the first transcontinental airway route.  The Donner Summit had a radio beacon that helped guide early planes.  And, we again saw the Pacific Crest Trail as it crosses Donner Summit by the Sugar Bowl ski area.  Ski areas after ski areas abound here - California's first ski lodge was at Sugar Bowl.

Looking up to Donner Summit from I80 - see the bridge?

Some things stick out - they get 60 feet of snow here in the winter!  Wow.  The railroad tracks are pretty much covered in snow sheds along the Summit so they don't have to worry about clearing snow or come across avalanches. Do you remember a couple of years ago when there was a news snippet about a bear that climbed inside a bridge's support wall and had to be tranquilized and then it dropped into rescue nets and moved to safety?  It happened here at Rainbow Bridge.

This is a beautiful alpine area, we have been moving up and down from about 5000 feet to about 8000 feet since being here.  No problems with altitude sickness, just getting chilled at night when the temps are dropping down to freezing.  This area of California/Nevada has been in a severe drought for a couple of years and we saw one of the reservoirs almost completely dry.  And daily we are seeing wildfires crop up.  A tidge scary.

Virginia City and the Comstock Lode

Do you remember the TV series, Bonanza?  Pa, Little Joe, Hoss, Adam?  The beginning credits show an old map of Virginia City, Nevada and then a flame starts at the bulls eye of Virginia City and burns up the map and next a picture of Lorne Greene as Pa rides into view with the background of sage brush, cactus, mesquite trees, and then Pernell Roberts is introduced, and so on.  My expectations of Virginia City was thus:   a dusty cowboy town, wide streets enough to hold a teem of horses to be able to turn around in, lots of store fronts, flat.  Virginia City is not like this at all.  We drove up into Virginia City which was a huge surprise - I did not know it was built on a side of a mountain.  A twisty, switch-back road that climbed higher and higher, the further up we climbed the windier it got, killed some tumbleweeds with the truck while doing it.  Then rounded a curve of the mountain and bam - there it was.  Pretty impressive from a distance.  And crowded for a Tuesday.  People everywhere.

Narrow street, old - old buildings!!!

Church founded 1850's - still active 

Virginia City is the site of the largest discovery of silver and gold in 1859 and now lays claim to the largest, richest mine in the US.  Like any boom town, people poured in, business establishments sprang up, banks, brothels, saloons, hotels and eateries abounded, the Virginia & Truckee railroad started up, bottom line was Virginia City was the largest settlement between Denver and San Francisco by 1863 with over 30,000 people.  Abraham Lincoln liked the silver mines because it financed the Civil War's Northern efforts.  As a matter of fact, he made Nevada a state in 1864 even though it did not have enough residents to do this.  This Comstock Lode also financed the building of San Francisco before the Great Fire and after.  The Lode was at full production until 1878 and finally ceased all mining by1920. Huge fortunes were made in this town and financed some of the expansion of California.

Stopped at the Bucket of Blood Saloon, a famous saloon from the 1870s, and looked out the window in the back - they say on a clear day you could see 100 miles.

Looking east - is that 100 miles?

Today the town boasts only 2,800 residents, probably most are running the touristy things there - the hotels, gift stores, casinos, saloons, restaurants, churches, V & T railroad ride, mine tours. Some of the old mansions are still going strong, some made into B & B inns, and many homes look like they would fall over any minute.  Are you old enough to remember Janis Joplin and her Big Brother and the Holding Company band?  She got her start at the Red Dog Saloon which is still in business and having big name concerts every month.  The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane are some other big 1960s/1970s rock bands that got their start at the Red Dog also. (I am giving away my age!)

Samuel Clemens place of employment - love the brick brack

And Mark Twain.  Samuel Clemens was a reporter and then a fill-in editor of the Territorial Enterprise of Virginia City and started using his pen name of Mark Twain in 1864 while in VC then left to go to San Francisco and world-wide fame.  He used many of his experiences of Virginia City for his writings in later years.

Pretty homes/mansions

On our way back DOWN the mountain into Reno our tonneau cover of the truck ripped apart, the winds were so high that there were banning RVs and trucks from the highway, made a quick stop at a truck accessory place and set up tomorrow morning appointment to get a new cover put on.  Wasn't impressed with Reno and now I guess Reno isn't such a bad place after all.

Looking down into Reno - about 6200 feet up

Drive To Lake Tahoe

Got chores done yesterday and by noon said - lets go do our shopping - groceries, cat food, Costco, etc.  I told Dave I'd drive and said we would be doing a little road trip while out, bring your camera.  Off we went to drive to Lake Tahoe.  Talk about money.  People living on top of each other in tiers going up the mountains around the lake, expensive, expensive, expensive!  Just about every car was a Beemer or Porches or Benzes. We were out of place with our American Truck - oh well. Drove over the Sierras to the western side of Lake Tahoe and drove through the little towns that dot the lake.  This is not a little lake.  195 square miles, 21 miles long and 12.2 miles wide.  Average depth is 980 feet, deepest area is 1,644 feet, sitting at 6229 feet of elevation, it is the largest alpine lake in the US.  And it's blue.  Not the blue of Crater but close.  There is a concerted effort to stop the pollution around the lake.

Swimming beach - north end of Lake Tahoe

Lots of people!

It's blue

Too many people!  During the winter the temp of the water is 40 and summer it is 70 and we saw many people swimming at the beach on the north side as well as boats, para-sailors, sailboarders being pulled along with their parachute, surfers, kayakers.  As we drove around to the north side of the lake you drive through small little towns that are 100% tourist meccas - selling anything and everything with rental shops for boards, kayaks, boats, bikes, whatever.  And I believe the big tourist season has not started yet - about 3 weeks from now - snow!

What was the wow factor - in order to get to this area - especially in the winter - you have to drive up and over the mountains to get into the basin or towns of Lake Tahoe.  That means snow and alot of it.  High snow markers on the road, chain up areas abound, gates to close off the roads if need.  I have to say the lake was pretty, but could not afford to live there or vacation there.

Mt. Rose - where Olympics where held

Once we started our drive out of the lake area and up and over the mountain towards the east, we had to drive switch-back roads past Mt. Rose which is where the Olympic games' skiing was done. Our elevation there at the ski lodge was 8200 feet.  Stopped at an overlook back down into the lake - impressive that we were that high, could see quite a distance to the south end of the lake even though the smoke from the Rim Fire of Yosemite was still pouring into the area.

On our drive back to Truckee on Interstate 80 I thought I smelled smoke and came around a bend of the road which follows the Truckee River and there was a wildfire that was going on - saw fire trucks somehow up on the ridge of the mountain, a helicopter with bucket pouring water on the fire.  This is a bit unnerving for us.  We wonder how that fire started - on the side of a mountain.

Another wildfire

Helicopter and bucket ready to dump