Friday, August 10, 2012

A Hike to Make Coop Swim


Lake Winnemucca
After a few days of rest Cooper was ready for our next big hike out to the lakes…Winnemucca and Round Top.  The hiking ladies didn’t really mention what the elevation climb would be and we didn’t look… would have ruined the mood.  The drive to the trail head was a few miles from Carson Pass so we figured the climb couldn’t be but so bad.  Right? 

He tried it...didn't like it

Happy Dog!
Cooper was excited…lucky dog didn’t have to carry the water on this trip.  Since he could drink from the streams and lakes we only took enough for ourselves.  Cooper got to play in the water…swimming though still proves elusive.  Cindi took off her socks and boots to try and get him into deeper water.  It worked enough to get one swimming pass before he bailed yet again.  The water was reported as cold, but Cooper kept going into it up to his belly to cool off as we hiked along the trail.


Wildflowers along creek

Queen Anne's Lace
Rock flipping
The wild flowers were a bit faded out, but there were spots of colors.  The ladies had reported the area ‘full of bloom’ 2 weeks ago so we were a wee bit late to the spectacle.  It was a shame, but the scenery was beautiful in its own way.  The trail to Lake Winnemucca was through woods and across meadows.  Along the way a sign pointed out the remnants of a silver mining operation…an arrastra which used crushing to get to the ore.  It consisted of a heavy stone dragged across a bed of rocks using mules.  After seeing this Cooper (Bill) decided they should flip a few rocks and look for any leftover gold…none was found. 

Arrastra


Heavy stones
Did she fall in?
Once the trail turned and followed the stream more rock flipping occurred…still no gold or silver discovered.  It appeared that the lake was totally fed by the still melting snow.  It was very clear and once we crossed the stream the lake was a beautiful blue color.  The next leg started straight up…complaints were made that “we were only going to Winnemcca, right?” and “how much UP is there?”  It turned out not to be too much or really all that bad.   

Round Top & Elephant Back Mtns.

Round Top Lake
Once we reached the pass between Round Top and Elephant Back Mountains it flattened and started heading down towards Round Top Lake.  This lake was somewhat different in appearance.  It wasn’t quite as pretty with green water, but the trees were very interesting.  They were twisted and knarled…very much like the mangroves in Florida. 

Twisty trees

There's your problem...thrown rod

All that's left of Model T
Once again we headed down towards Woods Lake, the third and last lake…and the car.  Following along the creek Cooper kept heading towards the sound of running water.  It wasn’t deep enough to swim, but he enjoyed cooling off in the cold water.  Just as the stream wandered off into an area that was marked by a No Trespassing sign from Lost Cabin Mining we found the remains of a Model T Truck.  How it happened to be there is anyone’s guess.  We think that they drove up to the mine to use as a power source…somehow you should see the road…then it blew a rod.  Someone then had to bring up a second engine.  Who knows what happened next, but it was fun to speculate.

Bill's notice to not turn over rocks

Wildflowers

Round Top
We were thankful that we chose the route that we did…the later half was much steeper and more rugged.  If we had take this route up it would have been bad.  It was interesting to watch Cooper pick his route down…carefully following dirt rather than rock.  Every time he’d switch sides if rocks popped up in his path.  He evidently is not a rock fan.

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