Escaping the California Wildfires, But Not the Smoke

Fleeing the California wildfires we continued east into Nevada. We'd originally planned to stay in tiny Verdi just across the Nevada border, but Hans had been monitoring the forecast and when the overnight temps were going to be in the low 20's we decided to stay at Sparks Marina RV Park where it was only supposed to get down to 30.

We've stayed at Sparks Marina before, it is an average urban RV park. Everything is paved, sites are pretty close together, and there is fake grass instead of the real stuff (which I find weird, Rosie doesn't like it either). The park is convenient for getting around Reno/Sparks and there is a nice two mile walk around the adjacent Sparks Marina Park Lake.

On our second day in town smoke from the California fires spread into the area and hung heavy over the entire valley, worsening as the day wore on. Our only outing was to the lovely Rancho San Rafael Regional Park and a walk through its beautiful Wilbur D. May Arboretum.

Many lovely spots to sit and enjoy the colorful views in Wilbur D. May Arboretum, even on a smokey day.

Out of hundreds of geese in Rancho San Rafael park, we saw two with this odd head coloration.

On this stay in Reno/Sparks we managed to do several new-to-us trails. The first was brought to our attention by John and Pam; we love getting trail ideas from fellow hiking full timers! The Rubicon Trail was a gorgeous 9.2 mile out and back hike along the SW shore of Lake Tahoe between DL Bliss State Park and the lovely Vikingsholm. Though longish, the trail is easy with only a few gently rolling hills.

Looking north over Lake Tahoe the smoke haze is not too bad.

The smoke haze is a little worse looking south and would continue to worsen as the day progressed.

Peaceful cove.

Critter sighting of the day.

Vikingsholm is a gorgeous Scandinavian themed summer home built for Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight in 1929 by her Swedish nephew.

This is a stunningly detailed structure.
It has a large round turret around the left side and the entire one story back portion of the house has a sod roof.

Intricate carvings on most of the wood.

Mrs Knight's tea house sits atop a small island in the middle of Emerald Bay opposite Vikingsholm.

A really big Ponderosa...and yes, it was cool when the wind was blowing,
just the kind of hiking weather we love!

Brown's Creek Trail is a nice 4.7 mile lollipop loop in south west Reno. This dog friendly trail has long gentle ups and downs with some nice views, a year round creek, spring flowers and fall foliage.

The Virginia Hills provide our distant view as we drop into Brown's Creek canyon.

Aspens provide a bright splash of color along the bottom of the creek bed below the trail.

Ponderosas tower over a young stand of aspen.

It's been cold overnight!

For our last hike in the area we headed west towards Truckee and Donner Summit to hike Mt Judah Loop. This 5.6 mile lollipop loop includes a short section of the Pacific Crest Trail and gains and loses 1,228 feet, topping out on Mt Judah at 8,216'. It's a solidly moderate hike, nothing is too steep, but we definitely felt the elevation having spent the summer at sea level.

Looking back along the ridge we walked to gain the summit.
Donner Peak is on the right and can be summited from a spur trail off the Mt Judah Loop.

Donner Peak on the left and Donner Lake below.
Smoke haze blankets the distant hills.

Even though the Ponderosa forest was very dry, the trees sported some impressive moss!

It was a fun week in Reno. We had a good visit with a friend who is considering the RV lifestyle and we enjoyed sharing some of the knowledge we have gained from five years on the road. Wishing you luck and perseverance Billy, as you work towards your goals!

Next up: a week in Carson City...

More of Oregon's Stunning Natural Beauty

We had a wonderful time in Portland but it was still a pleasure to leave the hustle and bustle of the big, noisy city and head south on I-5 and back into a natural setting at Champoeg State Park. Even the weather transitioned along with us, from hot and smokey to cool and rainy...fall is in the air!

We stayed at Champoeg last August and loved it so much we vowed to return. Many of the sites in the B-loop are large with excellent separation. Our site, B5, had privacy shrubs and backed up to a big grassy field, a little slice of heaven after the close quarters and nearly constant noise at Columbia River RV Park in Portland.

Site B5

Check out that site separation!

Champoeg State Park was the site of Oregon's first provincial government, formed by an historical vote in 1843. The park is situated on the banks of the Willamette River and has several miles of paved and natural trails plus a fun disc golf course.

Lovely walking at Champoeg State Park.

Vineyard mansion on the hill overlooking the Willamette River.

Paved trail at Champoeg State Park.

From Champoeg we moved south and east about 25 miles to Silverton, OR. Set among rolling hills lush with filbert orchards, christmas tree farms, fields of blueberries and a variety of other crops, Silverton calls itself both Garden City and City of the Falls, thanks to the lovely Oregon Garden and nearby Silver Falls State Park.

After a couple of days of rain our first outing was a walk in Willamette Mission State Park. Site of the first Methodist mission for Native Americans in the west (in 1834), the park has several miles of paved and natural trails, a disc golf course, historical sites and extensive picnic areas.

We were grateful for a paved trail after days of showers.

The picnic area (above) is set in a grove of old walnut trees, the disc golf course plays among an old filbert grove.

The original mission site is represented by these ghost structures.
The mission did not last long due to poor siting...it was plagued by floods and mosquito's.

The paved trail led us to a view of the Wheatland Ferry. A ferry has operated at this location since 1844. Today's version can hold up to six cars and is tethered to keep it from floating down stream.

Wheatland ferry crossing the Willamette River.

Gardens of all kinds make me enormously happy so high on my list during our stay in Silverton was a visit to The Oregon Garden. Originally conceived in the 1940's, the garden was finally realized in the late 1990's. This 80 acre property has over 20 specialty gardens depicting every type of habitat found in the Pacific Northwest. I enjoyed some alone time in this paradise and recommend it to anyone who gets excited about plants.

Oyster shell sculpture in the water garden.

Hobbit house in the children's garden.

Exquisite creek garden.

I had this secret, hidden-behind-the-blue-door garden all to myself...heavenly!

I did not realize there were two snakes in this photo until I saw it later on my laptop!

The extensive forest display included managed and unmanaged forests, hardwood and softwood,
central OR ponderosa and oak forests...and this funky structure!

The conifer display was incredible! So many varieties of conifers that I never knew existed...
this photo is just a slice of a truly unique specialty garden.

Silver Falls State Park is one of the crown jewels of the Oregon State Park System. It's so popular we weren't able to get a site at the campground which is why we ended up staying in Silverton, which is only about 15 miles away. We did drive through the campground though and thought it looked like a nice place to stay, there were several very long and private sites that we would enjoy.

The most popular hike is the Trail of Ten Falls. It's a loop, about eight miles long, and dogs are not allowed on this trail, though they are allowed on other trails in the park. We chose to hike the falls trail early on a week day hoping to miss the bulk of the crowds. We parked near the Silver Falls Lodge and hiked the loop counter clockwise, getting the two mile section next to the road over with first.

It was a brisk 42 degrees when we started the hike and the forest was foggy and drippy from the recent rains.

The sun rises over North Falls.

Lush sun dappled forest along North Fork Silver Creek.

You can walk behind several of the falls. Here you can see a couple of people behind Middle North Falls.

Behind the falls.

Drake Falls.

Lower South Falls.

Behind the veil of Lower South Falls.

South Falls.

For our last hike in the area we returned to Silver Falls State Park and hiked the eight mile Buck Mountain Loop. The entire loop traverses dense forest, but as the trail gently climbs the forest opens up, and the peaceful green solitude was refreshing after the thick crowds on portions of the falls trail.

The trail was a little muddy from recent rains but the lack of crowds was refreshing.

Bright orange fungus really stands out among all the green!

That wraps up the last week and a half...onward to Eugene for a few days!