We decided to go to the mountains for our 2001 summer vacation. We also used the time to visit a part of Northern Nevada we had not seen much of: Carson City and the Carson Valley. We finished up by taking a leisurely drive across "America's Loneliest Road." The trip gave us a diverse set of scenery to view. We stopped at the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest first, so we were in high desert as well as the high Sierras. The Carson Valley and Carson City sit at the foot of the Sierras but face towards the Great Basin. Fallon, Austin, Eureka and Ely all sit squarely in the Great Basin, but at elevations of between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. So the terrain and the scenery were quite diverse.
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is in the White Mountains, one of the ranges that borders the western edge of the Great Basin. You leave Las Vegas at 2,000 feet in elevation and climb gradually to around 5,000 (up to 6,000 feet at Tonopah and then back down a bit) until you turn to the White Mountains. The highest point in Nevada, is Boundary Peak in the White Mountains. But Boundary Peak is not a peak. The mountain rises even higher in California. The highest peak in Nevada is Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park, about 300 miles away. There are about 5 mountain ranges in between, none of which rise as high. The climb to Westgard Pass, which is over 9,000 feet. From there you turn north to the Pine Forest, which is at or over 10,000 feet. After 4 hours in the car we were glad to get out and stretch our legs. The next ranger talk on the area was over a half an hour away, so we decided to make lunch. The sandwiches tasted good in the rarified air. We also went through the display area to learn about the history of the exploration of the forest.
After a ranger talk, we decided, with no acclimatization to the altitude and in not very good shape, to do the 6 mile loop through the forest. While there was no great elevation change on the hike, the trail was rolling. The day was clear and breezy, so we did not get too hot on the trail, but you still need to drink a lot because of the sun, the heat and the altitude. The bristlecones were not overly large. Most were about 20 feet tall. None were as wide as the bristlecones I had seen at Great Basin National Park. But they were just as weathered and twisted. And the grove was much larger than the grove there. I suspect that many of them were relatively young, less than 2,000 years old, but they were delightfully twisted and many had their bark worn away in a lot of places. We stayed on the trail but still saw trees twisted into many shapes, with only small portions of the trees still alive. It was fun to speculate on a given tree's age and to guess at what part of the tree was alive at a particular point in it's life. We wound along the trail until we finally came back to the starting point. It was late enough when we finished and were stiff and tired enough we did not go on to the next grove but went down the mountain instead. Our motel, complete with hot shower, awaited us in Bishop, as did a nice, warm supper.
The total trip from Bishop to Mammoth Lakes was about 75 miles. We could not check into our condo until mid afternoon. So we took a slow drive up to Mammoth. We drove up the Sherwin Summit to Rock Creek Road and took it up into the Sierras. There was not a lot to see from the road,and, rather than hiking a lot we drove back out and looked at Crowley Lake from the road. From there we drove to Convict Lake. The lake is deep blue with the gray-white mountains rising directly behind it. It was a very pretty stop. From there we drove into Mammoth, where we stopped for lunch and then retrieved the key to the condo. The condo was spacious enough, with a smallish kitchen that was otherwise well supplied. The bedroom was sufficient and the living room was roomy enough to spread out for reading and napping. The biggest problem with the condo was that the only TV with cable was in the bedroom. But that was not a major problem. We supplied our pantry, made supper, and rested.
Sunday we went to the Minarets and then took the hike to Rainbow Falls. The Minarets are a series of spire shaped peaks, carved by deep glaciers on each side. You can hike to them, but that would entail an all day hike or a backpack. We just admired the sharp peaks rising from the woods from a distance of about 10 miles. From there we drove into Mammoth Mountain ski area. We did not take the tram but did get tickets for the shuttle that takes you down into the valley. I heard several different languages and different English accents in the line for tickets. We got on the next bus and went down to the Devils Postpile. This is an formation of columnar basalt that cooled rather quickly into 6 or 8 sided columns. some of the columns have eroded out into piles at the base of the formation. The regular shape of the columns is easiest discernible from either the top or the sides of the formation. The hike to the top is steep but short. The trail is a sort of loop that takes you around the formation. If you take the trail straight past the base of the formation you continue on to Rainbow Falls. We took the loop.
After admiring the formation, we retraced the part of the loop and continued on the new part of the trail that took us the 2 miles to Rainbow Falls. The trail is pretty level and winds along the San Joaquin River. Once you take the side trail to the falls you start to descend. Once you get to the falls, you are at the head of the falls. To get to the base of the falls you ave to REALLY descend. You go down a set of slippery concrete steps before actually dropping to the base of the falls. And the trip is really worth it. The falls roar in front of you, even in late summer of a drought year. We ate our lunch at the head of the falls, enjoying the view and watching the people around us enjoying the falls too. Then we took the steps down with only a little trouble. Maggie slipped on the way down and I slipped on the way back up. We walked out on the bar in front of the falls, getting as close as we could to the base. But we never got closer than a quarter of a mile away. The falls were as loud as a rock concert. The mist from the falling water also kept us cool after a sweaty hike. Finally, we climbed back up and took the quickest trail back to the shuttle route. This time the trail took us on a pretty steady climb.
Our final stop for the day was the nature trail at Agnew Meadows. The meadows are supposed to have the best wildflower display in the area. We were the only ones to get off of the bus and some people looked at us like we were crazy for getting off in the middle of nowhere. They must not have known about the wildflowers. Or they knew that it was late in the season (I suspect the former). We walked around a meadow that is being reclaimed by the forest. The open areas were becoming pretty infrequent and sparse. The area was pretty soggy, and may have contained a pond in the distant past. But the pond had filled up with dirt and was drying out enough that the trees could take over. It WAS late in the wildflower season, but there were penstemon, daisies and other flowers. The biggest bloomers were the tiger lilies at the edge of the tiny stream. They were at their height of bloom and made the hike worth it all by themselves. Besides, we did not see another person until the time we came out of the meadow and met another couple going in. We got on the next shuttle and went back to our car. We had taken two hikes and decided to go back to the condo for a nap before making dinner.
Monday we went to Inyo Craters. We drove the dirt road to the craters but thought that it ended well before it really did. We got out and walked a trail. It would through the sagebrush, pinyon and juniper in a wide valley but did not really lead anywhere. The greatest observation we made was that the wildflower season was over at this elevation. We went about three quarters of a mile before turning around and finding the car. The area where we had parked, shaded by tall pines, was a perfect place for lunch. We then took the road to he craters, persevering this time. The parking lot at the craters had a number of kiosks explaining the craters. We read them and then took the short, steep trail to the main crater. The sides of the crater were very steep and led to the milky, blue green waters below. The crater was impressive, way too steep to climb down (or, in particular, climb back up). So we went around the crater, observing the stand of monkey flowers growing along the side and then took the trail to the second crater. Its sides were just as steep. It might have been older because there was a significant stand of pines growing at one edge of the lake, And the lake's water was somewhat clearer and a little more greenish. We spent about an hour looking around the craters and then returned to Mammoth lakes. It was still a little early, so we took the road to Sherwin Lakes. The road doesn't take you close to the lakes; you have to hike to get to them. So we continued back to town, stopping along the dirt road to admire and record the view of Mammoth Mountain over the town. By that time we were ready to settle down for some serious rest.
Tuesday we visited the lakes that give Mammoth Lakes its name. Each lake has a distinctive character. For instance, Horseshoe Lake was the first we visited. It is the farthest west, at the end of the road. It is also the area where vulcan ism is most apparent. The lake cannot be visited very closely because noxious gasses rise from the ground around hate lake and from the lake itself. In fact, that is the greatest sign of vulcan ism that you can see, unless you happen to feel one of the numerous earthquakes that occur in the area. Horseshoe Lake's west side is rather barren because of all of the dead trees and the poisons in the soil. We passed Lake Mamie on the road to Horseshoe Lake and came back to it. The lake is perpendicular to the road, so you can see along its length, but it is not very wide. And the mountains rose steeply at the other end of the lake. Its east end abuts the cliffs. We did see trout in the lake. The water going over the cliff creates Mammoth Falls. We walked along the lake a while and then continued on to Lake George. It seems to be the fisherman's favorite lake. We encountered many as we walked along its shore. The lake was quiet, despite the number of people along it.
We went next to Mary Lake, the largest of the lakes. There are places to stop along all of its sides. We stopped along the west side and walked, again seeing a few fishermen. It was windier here than in other places, keeping the air cool and pleasant. We continued on around to Coldwater Canyon, where we took the trail the three quarter miles to Emerald Lake. The trail followed Coldwater Creek up to the lake. The creek dropped significantly; the trail is somewhat steep. This gave the creek a noisy, gurgling character. Emerald Lake is a mountain tarn. It is surrounded by pines, with a grassy, sloping meadow on its south side where the stream comes down to fill the lake and it is too wet for the pine trees. I walked halfway around the lake, finding plenty of swamp onions and mules ears, among other flowers. This was probably the best wildflower location on the trip. This side of the lake was the quietest and most exposed (at that moment) to the sun. It would have been a great place for a nap, but the ground was too soggy to find a place to lie down. The best place to sit was on the southeast side, where the trail first encounters the lake. We sat a while, admiring the emerald color of the water, watching the trout jump, and basking in the quiet and sunlit noontime.
The best place to walk along LAke Mary was along the east side of the lake. Granite boulders and bedrock rose from the edge of the lake in many places, but there were a few places where you could walk on the dirt right to the edge of the lake. The best beach was on the south side of the lake. We walked along the lake for a while, again marveling at the view as Mammoth Crest rose to the west. The views, as usual, were spectacular.
The Twin Lakes are the most populated lakes. The largest campground is there, as are a number of cabins, lodges, and the general store. And the picnic ground. We were lucky. Tables were occupied by late lunchers even at mid afternoon. Luckily, a table in the sun became vacant just as we arrived, so we hurried to it and enjoyed our sandwiches. Then we went on to explore Twin Lakes. The two lakes are divided by a narrow stream of about 50 yards or less. There is a bridge across the stream. Fishermen use the bridge to get to remote sites, but there is also an amphitheater on the far side for Sunday outdoor services and for weddings, etc. We used the amphitheater as a place to read in the sun for a while and as a base for walking along the side of the lake where there were no houses. There were no houses because the mountains rose directly north of the lakes, leaving no room for development. Again, we found this side of the lake quiet and restful. You are sheltered from the winds by the pine trees, but also the sun comes through in the amphitheater. You can also walk along the edge of the lake here, as well. It being late afternoon, we eventually roused ourselves and returned to the condo to fix dinner.
I had gone to Yosemite a few years before with the kids while Maggie stayed home ill. She had not been to Tuolumne Meadows since she was a child. We needed to go again. The meadow is not that far from Mammoth Lakes. We drove up US 395 until we got to Mono Lake and then turned west. The lake is rising slightly; still a blue pearl in the brown desert. You quickly climb out of Lee Vining towards Tioga Pass. Ellery Lake was its usual shining star in the mountains, but we were headed for the meadow. We went into the meadow and decided to stop at the Visitors Center. After a quick look at the exhibits and a short talk with the ranger, we decided to take the walk from Lembert Dome down to Parsons Lodge and Soda Springs. The hike is flat and follows the Tuolumne River from a little distance. Trails lead off from this trail to places like Glen Aulin. The wildflowers were done in this area and there were too many people out this time of day to see any wildlife other than squirrels. We got to the springs, which were bubbling hot water very calmly. No geysers here. Parsons Lodge had docents describing the early settlers in the meadow who built the lodge. The buildings had been restored to their earlier habitations, and were interesting. We went back to the Visitors Center and took a shuttle back to our car. One of the places that the kids liked the most when we were here earlier was Tenaya Lake, so we went down there. The lake has steep mountains rising above 3 sides and the fourth side leads down a narrow valley. There are sandy beaches intermixed with huge boulders on the east, west and north sides of the lake. Mountains rise quickly on the south side. The beaches are never large and the road is on the north side. So we settled on the west side of the lake and found a spot where there was no one. The spot was perfect for sitting, reading and dozing. The quiet was intense. We enjoyed ourselves there for a couple of hours, doing very little. Then, as the sun got low, we headed back. Our only stops on the way back were at Tioga and Ellery Lakes, where we hoped to find wildlife out foraging below us. There were none. But the day was another energetic yet restful one
Bodie
The final stop on our trip to the Eastern Sierra was the ghost town of Bodie. It is a state park, which keeps the town in a state of "arrested decay." This means that the town does not decay or decline any further. The road starts out as paved but turns into a dirt road after about 15 miles. the dirt road is in pretty good shape, better maintained than it was 100 years ago. There are about 200 buildings in the town. There is the school, a couple of churches, a number of mercantile shops and saloons, the fire house, a blacksmith shop and the mine. There are also a number of residences and, of course, the mine. We wandered around the town for most of an afternoon. You can go into several of the buildings and look around, but most of them are closed and you must look in the windows to see the living conditions. The cemetery across the valley is also interesting. It is kept up and still used by some of the families that have plots there. A few houses even have electricity to them and TV antennas. These houses have been modernized so that the park rangers do not have to live in 1890's conditions. We heard about 15 different languages spoken while we were there, but did not see any tour busses. So international tourists know about the place. It was a very interesting afternoon that we spent there. Well worth the time. The weathered wood on the buildings was as interesting sometimes as the contents of the houses, as were the mining artifacts weathering at the town site.
The first sight you see as you cross the Nevada border on US 395 is Topaz Lake. I had read that is appears as a jewel in the desert. It was not really that impressive, nor was the town around it. The major difference between it and Mono or Walker Lakes is one of size. They are both much larger than Topaz Lake. Also, Topaz Lake is man made. We continued on in to Gardnerville and Minden to our motel. It was early enough in the afternoon that we had time to do justice to the Douglas County Museum. Its exhibits show how the valley was settled and has grown into the towns it is today. The area is trying to decide whether it wants to be a modern rural, rustic area with controlled growth or a suburb/bedroom community of Carson City and ultimately, Reno. The decision is still in the making, but Douglas County is the only county in Nevada that is making any attempt at all at controlling growth and suburban sprawl. Good Luck! The museum also contained a photo exhibit by a female photographer who did Ansel Adams type nature photography of the easter Sierra area as well as documenting the people and places of Douglas County. After a nights rest, we went to the Nevada State Museum in Carson City. We spent the entire morning looking at the exhibits. They covered the development and growth of the state, particularly through mining. The Comstock Lode period was well represented, as were the other major mining sites in the state. The growth and development of Carson City was covered. also covered was the fauna and geology of the state. Finally, the history of the Carson City Mint was covered (after all, thats what the building was erected for.) After a quick lunch, we went back to Douglas County, where we explored Mormon Station and the old Genoa Courthouse. Mormon Station/Genoa argues with Dayton as to which is the oldest community in the state. Genoa also has a number of arts and crafts shops, so we walked around the town looking at them. After that, we drove around Minden and Gardnerville, scouting the retirement potential of the towns.
We started from Minden and drove up the Kingsbury Grade to Lake Tahoe, where we officially caught US 50, "America's Loneliest Road." The drive takes you across the Nevada shoreline of Lake Tahoe, through all of the casinos to Glen brook, where you turn east on Highway 50. You do not really get into Great Basin type terrain until you go over Spooner Summit and descend into Carson City. From there you pass through the southern part of the Comstock Lode, going through Mound House and Dayton, loosely following the Carson River. The country gets very dry very rapidly. Eventually, you come to Laotian Reservoir. Beyond that point, the Carson River turns into the Stillwater area, which is really the marshes associated with the Carson Sink. This is past Fallon, but we stopped before this, finding a volcanic crater filled with water to form a lake in the desert. It took a while to find it, but when we did, we found the deep, blue Soda Lake where divers often explore. We explored the lake briefly before going into Fallon for lunch. We stopped at the Churchill County Museum, which started for us a string of nice small museums that document well how the communities around them developed, and how some of them declined to where they are today. This one centered on the Newlands Project, one which was going to capture vast amounts of Sierra Nevada water and make the desert bloom. Water was captured, but Lahontan Reservoir is rarely full. It provides enough water to grow alfalfa, melons and other things, but its effect is smaller than was predicted. Fallon is a community that has never been much over 10,000.
We continued on barely) past Fallon to Grimes Point and Hidden Cave. The trail at Grimes Point wanders through the desert at a site near an ancient lake bed. People used to hunt from here. The site contains a number of petroglyphs along the trail. They are small and hard to find at times. The trail was hot in the midday sun, but the day was not a scorcher. We enjoyed the petroglyphs and looked at the lake shore. We drove on to Hidden Cave. The trail there is similarly about a mile long and winds around the hills. The views are very similar, except that there are three caves, one of which is locked shut. The others are very shallow .You can go a little way into the two, but the distance is less that 20 feet. All three were inhabited about 3,500 years ago. They have been excavated by archaeologists and the published results are very interesting. Some of the data comes from pack rat middens. This data tells us what plants grew when and that the weather conditions were cooler than they are now. We hiked the trail and then continued along Highway 50. After passing a desert playa where people have spelled their names or other messages in stones, we came to Sand Mountain. This large dune is a booming mountain. The wind makes the sand boom. But you often can't hear it because of the dune buggies going straight up the 600 foot, 2 mile long dune. It is an impressive sand pile! It was still a fairly long drive to Austin, where we would spend the night. The drive was broken up by a stop at the Fairview Peak earthquake fault. After driving up an ever narrowing road for about 5 miles. There are a couple of spots where you can stop and see where the earth slipped up to 15 feet. One of them has an explanatory sign. The slippage is very impressive. Beyond that, we observed the columnar jointing in the basalt at Carroll Summit. It is not as large or impressive as at the Devil's Postpile, but it is significant. From that point, we returned to Highway 50 and crossed the broad Reese River Valley to Austin. There were a number of spots where you could see equipment and trenches from the laying of fiber optic cable. Maybe this area won't be sop lonely in the future.
We pulled into Austin and found our motel. It was having its troubles, sloping and sliding to the north. But we found the people of Austin quite personable. In particular, we spent time talking to an old rancher with a hugh deadlock beard, who told us about the ecology of the area. Some ranchers were aware of the problems of over grazing. Others were not. Also, he knew about how the brush and dead limbs had grown so thick that a fire might take Austin away. He was an ecologist by necessity, not by training. The mining in the area has pretty much played out, except for a few old time prospectors. The only large scale mining is south at Round Mountain or farther north and east in Eureka and Lander Counties. The rest of the time in Austin, we wandered around the town, looking at the old buildings. It seemed that everything in the town was for sale except for the two old churches. We looked at Stokes Castle from afar and walked to good vantage points for taking pictures of St. Augustine's and St. Georges. Austin is not large and this did not take a lot of time. The vantage point east of Austin was great, but there are not really any good stopping points from Highway 50.
We crossed the Big Smokey Valley heading east. The valley got its name because it is always hazy. The valley is wide and has roads leading off to places I would like to explore, but we did not this trip. I have been in the Toiyabe Range, but not in the Toquima's. There are also ghost towns in the area, namely Belmont and Manhattan. But we drove to Hickison Summit, where we stopped for a hike to the various petroglyphs there. They were more impressive than those at Grimes Point. There is also a good viewpoint back west overlooking the Big Smokey Valley to the Toiyabe Range. The hike was about 2 miles and we again hit it before the heat of the afternoon, so it was pretty nice. It is not really far from Austin to Eureka, so we continued the drive and pulled in early in the afternoon.
I scouted out the town while Maggie took a nap. The town has been refurbished much better than Austin. They actively seek the tourist trade. The motel we stayed in was brand new. There were several older motels. But the Jackson House has been completely refurbished and is an active hotel. The Colonnade Inn will reopen soon after it is refurbished. The Opera House actively presents shows and hosts lectures. There are also a number of storefronts that have not been refurbished. There were active stores in most buildings, but they were mostly closed since it was Sunday in a small town. After I returned and Maggie woke up, we went to the Eureka County Museum, the last in our string of small time museums that were very interesting. Aside from giving the lowdown on the history of the town and county, this museum specialized in the paraphernalia of printing a newspaper at the turn of the century. The paper, the Eureka Sentinel, had occupied the building in the past. The town also had several adequate restaurants. We walked the town together and then stopped at the Owl Club for supper. While the fare was primarily meat and potatoes, it was well done and the restaurant was crowded.
The drive from Eureka to Ely was short. There was plenty to see from the road, but little to stop at. You can see the Roberts Thrust Fault before getting to Eureka. The thrust fault indicates where siliceous rock was thrust over carbonate rock. The heat of this action caused or allowed for the formation of mineral deposits in the area. Eureka was founded as a mining town. Ely and its surrounds were mining towns until very recently. The area between the two was very active as a mining district, and all sorts of minerals were mined. The area around Pinto Summit was laid down by volcanic activity. This is also good for the formation of mineral deposits. We passed Garnet Hill, where you can actively find garnets. We passed Ruth, where you can see the huge pit for the Robinson Copper Mine, which was active until very recently. We pulled in to town, following the main drag to our motel.
It was early enough that we took off to go to Cave Lake. This state park has hiking trails and a lake where fishing is quite popular. It is also the starting point for the Success Summit Scenic Byway. We took the byway halfway up to the summit, but quit when the road appeared to deteriorate. After all, we were in a Honda Civic with little ground clearance. The road was pretty, with better and better scenic views as you ascend. We got up to the pinyon and juniper level. We turned around and went back to the park, where we took the trail that goes up the mountain by the lake. You never really see the lake from the first part of the trail. It was about 4 miles and wound back into the valley below a steep cliff. We traversed the base of the cliff as the trail started back toward the lake. We saw no people along the trail. The trail finally became the road. That is when we started seeing people again. We also saw a lot pf butterflies. Mostly varieties of fritillaries and sulphurs gorging themselves on the wildly blooming brittle brush. The road came back to the lake by way of a cave/mine. It may be that the cave was started when the rock around the minerals deteriorated, making it easy to find the minerals there. The road skirted the north side of the lake, which was marshy at its east end. Appropriately enough, we saw a marsh hawk fly into the marsh, where it may have been looking to drink. It posed for us as long as we kept our distance. If we got too close it moved a little farther away. It was willing to wait us out if we left it alone. After watching the hawk for a few minutes we walked on past it and around the lake. We stopped by the lake for a while to enjoy the quiet and the greenery. Then we took the trail back to the car.
It was finally time to go home. We walked to breakfast from our motel. We passed a real estate agent's office on the way back. There were fliers taped to the window announcing a large number of houses for sale. About 2,000 people have left Ely since the copper mine closed. There are just not enough jobs. The other main industry in town centers around the prison, but it is not large enough to absorb those who lost their mining jobs. The houses were often available for about $50,000. We finally reached our motel, packed, and made the mad dash home.
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