Turned East...Again

Heading back East

Today we turned east and we really mean it this time.  We left California behind and chose a road across Nevada with the perfect name…the Loneliest Road otherwise known as the Lincoln Highway (US Rt. 50).  How could we not take this road.  It’s what we do.   At one point we had traveled over 100 miles before we saw another car traveling east…a single car caught and then passed us.  

Loneliest Road

Passing zone...100 miles later

Clouds

It was a bit strange to drive across dry and barren countryside with the constant presence of clouds.  We finally had a rainy day…the first since Seattle.  It was a hard driving rain that lasted all of 20 minutes just as we hit the last gas station before Utah.  Thankfully the car top carrier remained dry…the extra prep of applying weather stripping appears to be working.

Opera

Notch Moun

We went through Eureka…named after a miner struck gold and yelled “eureka” at least that’s the story the town is telling.  The place had 16 smelters, 100 saloons and over 10,000 people “back in the day”.  Now it’s a sleepy little town with its very own Opera House…just not much else.  The mountains were in constant view though as we headed towards Utah.  One in particular caused us to pull over for a better look…and photo.  A stunning mountain called Notch Peak rose over 9655 feet tall…perfect name given the hunk of rock missing from its peak.

Closer shot of Notch Mountain

Cooper's excited to be in Utah

As we entered Utah Cooper was busy...like really busy taking a long snooze so he missed out on entering the state.  It took only a mile before we encountered someone worthy of our Utah Bad Driver Award…a truck heading down the road in our lane so he could turn into a parking lot.  A few miles further and another award winner…took the curve while swerving into our lane. The last one of the day went to someone who crossed the yellow line and drove in it for a few seconds.  Our last trip to Utah a few years back also encountered numerous bad drivers…still wondering why they seem to have so much trouble?

Still excited

 Tomorrow we plan to visit Promontory, UT and the site where the transcontinental railroads joined…no golden spike (it’s at Stanford), but it’s called the Golden Spike National Historical Site.  Still trying to decide where to head from there…the weather isn’t being too helpful.

Shoe Tree*

Golf

*The original tree was in Middle Gate, NV.  The story goes that two newlyweds broke down while driving through town in the mid-eighties.  The bride said she was going to walk home.  Her groom threw her shoes up in the tree and told her to go for it.   Afterwards, he headed to the local bar where the bartender told him he had better go apologize to his bride.  The groom headed back and threw his shoes in the tree too as a way to make amends.  From that point forward the State hauled away several truckloads of shoes from the tree each month until someone chopped it down in 2011.  This created a 'firestorm' of angry people in Nevada...including the Governor.  Anyway the Shoe Tree has now reformed outside of Delta, UT.

Have You Seen My Hat?

Lost the Tilley…or maybe Cooper ate it.  Anyway it’s gone and today we headed out to look for a replacement.  We didn’t think it would take ALL DAY, but it did.   Packed up camp and headed to Carson City thinking that finding a new hat would be easy…turned out it was not. 

Lake Tahoe was our ultimate destination, but we thought we’d find something in Carson City easier...less traffic and more parking.  Nope, two sporting good stores later and still no hat.  Cindi found 2 more sport stores in nearby Reno, NV so off we headed in that direction.  REI had one poor Tilley…too small.   Our second stop was Cabela…still no Tilley, but did find a substitute that will have to do for now.   

Traffic leaving Tahoe

Who’d have thought it would take us over a 100 miles and all day to get to the hotel in Lake Tahoe…still no Tilley hat.  The traffic leaving the Lake Tahoe area was impressive  though.  Glad we were heading in the other direction.

Gourmet dining

We celebrated our day by eating a Bonzi Burger at Izzy’s Burger Spa…along with a side of frings ( ½  fries and ½ onion rings).

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.

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

We woke up to one of the team down with ‘injury’…Cooper seems to be a bit hobbled today.  He is gimping along on what we suspect are sore feet from the hike yesterday.  He doesn’t like hard surfaces especially the rocky areas and wants to walk only in the softest, dirtiest areas he can find.  Rather than another hike we’ve decided to take a drive…to Lake Tahoe.  It’s been driving us a bit crazy trying to figure out if we’d driven through this area back in winter 2009.   

Sore tootsies

Cooper "People watching"

Cooper was pretty laid back all day.  He spent his time napping and looking cool.   We stopped at a park for lunch and he was happy to lay in the back seat and wait for his yogurt cups to be delivered to him.  While driving around Lake Tahoe he sat in the back seat and was totally unimpressed with all the people...especially those in improper foot wear for hiking.

Hiking in heels?

Yum!

He had is very own waste disposal can on the trail beside our picnicking spot....only seen in the California State Parks.  An added plus you'll notice that the darn thing is bear proof.  Why would a bear want dog waste? 

Bear proof...really

Zephyr Cove

We drove along and wondered why so many people were heading to the various beach parks...all lots were full.  The water at Lake Tahoe is mid 60’s…with temperatures in the low 80’s it seemed too chilly to be swimming.  We did see quite a few boats zipping about the lake, but few water skiers.  Still trying to figure out why would one use paddle boards?  Kayak or canoes would seem to be more fun and useful way to spend time on the water…must be missing something.

Zephyr Cove...blocked

Castle on island in Zephyr Cove

The water is a deep blue very much like Crater Lake…lots of sky reflecting in the clear lake that’s for sure.  The most surprising thing was that the overlooks had a tremendous number of people, but trees blocked most of the views.  One story we read at an overlook was about a hermit who was the caretaker of one of the mansions.  He would row each evening down the lake to the saloon, drink and row back.  One night during a storm he was tossed overboard.  Somehow he made it back to shore and his caretaker’s cottage.  He thought it would be a good opportunity to build himself a small castle-like mausoleum on a small island in the lake.  Unfortunately, on one of his excursions to the saloon he was once again tossed overboard and his body was never recovered…his finished castle on top of the island is unoccupied.  Poor guy.

Views from Nevada

More Nevada side views

We made it all the way around the Lake…jeez, the traffic rivaled big cities.  There were lots of cars and people trying to find a place to park and get to the beach.  Thankfully all we needed was gas and a few groceries...then we got the hell out of there and back to the serenity of the mountains.

It's past my nap time

Oh and a trip to McD’s cheered up Cooper…he had a burger and then napped all the way back to the campground.

Thunder Mountain

Bright and somewhat early we headed down the road a few miles to the trail head for Thunder Mountain…3.5 mile uphill through open meadow and lava rocks to the top of Thunder Mountain.  Cooper did his part by carrying a gallon of water once again.  He headed out with his usual vigor dragging us up the hillside and wondering why we stop so often.  

If not the lead dog the view doesn't change

View of Capel Lake from the trail

Catching our breath

The elevation and our hiking have gotten somewhat better.  We still need to stop and catch our breath when the trail steepens, but we have improved.  Now if the scenery would not be quite as gorgeous our times may improve…we stop A LOT to take photos.  Hopefully we'll have some incredible shots that can be put on the walls...that is if we can settle on which ones.  It's about as hard to pick out wall photos as it is to pick out the blog photos.

Final push to the top

The Sentinels

Heirs beware

Thunder Mountain was not near as difficult a climb as Oregon’s Mt Thielsen although there were some spots that Cindi was less than thrilled.   Once we made the top the views were spectacular…360 degrees of mountains and as luck would have it a ski slope just below.  Kirkwood.  We actually passed the boundary area for the slopes…we did wonder if we’d have to pay if we got hurt in the summer.  Thankfully we didn’t have to worry about leaving any bills for the heirs to worry about.  

Lava rock climbing dog

The Top

As we headed back down the lava slopes we met up with a threesome of women…average age 70 we’d guess.  They were out for their weekly Hiking Club hike and joined us for the descent back down.   We chatted about the area, the dog and what else we needed to see before leaving.  They suggested Winnemucca, Woods and Round Top Lakes…all in the same area and could be done as a loop hike.  The trip back down was set at a pretty quick pace…Cindi and Cooper were not letting any grass (if grass would grow here) under their feet.  

Taking the load off

Although at one water break Cooper decided that he’d take the opportunity to ‘take the load off’ and laid down in some shade.  Cindi took over his pack carrying duties once we resumed the hike back to the cars.  It would appear that Cooper has the ability to look pitiful at the most opportune time.   He starts to look gimpy until the chipmunks and ground squirrels make an appearance.  Coop also goes absolutely loopy when he smells sage...must be the 'catnip for dogs'.

Bill on the lava

Once in the car we debated what to do about lunch…we decided ice cream would be an excellent choice.  Kirkwood Ski Area had the last remnants of Huckleberry in the General Store.  Perfect ending to our day.

Views from the top

Silver Lake

Huge tree hanging on the cliff

After poring over weather reports for all points east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains the decision was made to retreat back from “whence we came”.  There was too much heat and too much precipitation in the forecasts for Wyoming, Montana, Utah or Colorado.  Why leave perfect 75 degree highs and mid 50’s for lows…not to mention the bright blue sunshine. So yeah, we headed back up into the Sierra’s outside of Carson City, NV retreating back West.
 

It didn’t take long to get into the mountains…roughly 50 miles and we were crossing Carson Pass on Route 88.  A few years back on our last great adventure we drove over this pass in the snow…today it looks so different.  We’ve had an ongoing debate over the last several days if in fact we had driven over Kit Carson in 2009.  Nothing looks familiar…including the sled dog meadow we remembered.  We figured that in order to settle the debate we’ll need to retrace our drive out of Lake Tahoe.  

Campsite

We landed at Silver Lake Campground a few miles down from the Pass.  Not quite as spectacular as Diamond Lake…no 3G to speak of although it does pop up on occasion and NO showers.  At least with such dry NON-HUMID air we have been pretty comfortable using our baby wipe bath approach to cleanliness.  Cooper has not faired quite as well...he's one dirty dog.

Tired dog

Saddle Up or Shut Up

There are lots of hikes in the area to keep us busy for days.  Now the question will be if our legs are up to it.

Oh and our beloved Moose Drool came up with an even better motto...Saddle Up or Shut Up