Thwarted by Snow in Graeagle, CA

Reno, NV to Graeagle, CA was a beautiful 65 mile drive into the mountains. All the mountains over 6,000 feet still had snow, the valleys were green and moist, and water was flowing everywhere...just gorgeous!

We spent a week at Clio's Rivers Edge RV Park, a pristine park on the Middle Fork of the Feather River. This 200 site RV park was less than 10% full during the week and maybe 15% full on the weekend. I don't think we'd have enjoyed it as much if it were full, but it was perfect at this slow time of year. Verizon signal was decent, AT&T signal was good but the speed was slow, park wifi was poor.

We appreciated the paved roads, concrete patio and pea gravel at our site, it kept down the dust if it was windy and the dirt when it rained or snowed. Yes, we did have a light dusting of snow one morning!

There are many trails in the area, but the extreme winter this year made most of the trails still inaccessible due to all the snow left in early May. Fortunately we could do a very nice 3 - 4 mile walk right from the RV park into and beyond the tiny town of Clio across the river from our park.

We had site G2, with lots of room on both sides of us.
We loved all the beautiful, healthy trees throughout the park.

View across the meadow next to the RV park.
Deer hung out here daily.

The Middle Fork of the Feather River.
Note the RV on the left...there are several RV sites that back up to the river...offered at a premium price.

Deer in the meadow in the evening.

Tiny Clio had a post office and the Blackbird Inn and Restaurant where we had an excellent pizza and tasty local brews.

One day we tried to hike to Frazier Falls, knowing that the road might not be open all the way to the trailhead. Sure enough a few miles up the road the snow drifts became too thick to get through...in fact, we got stuck trying to plow our way through a particularly heavy patch.

High centered on a good 18 inches of snow!

It was 65 degrees and sunny, the snow was melting fast and it only took us about 15 minutes to get free.

After getting unstuck we parked and walked up the road, and the snow got deeper and deeper.

This was a pretty snow melt pond right off the road.

Plumas Eureka State Park is another place we attempted to take a hike. Though the historic mining complexes at Johnsville and the Jamison Mine were closed we were able to park at the head of the Jamison Mine Road and walk in to explore. The Upper Jamison Creek Campground was a shambles, with branches and trees down everywhere and signs of heavy water runoff here and there. It will be some time before it will reopen to the public.

Several mountain lakes can be reached from the Jamison Mine Complex so we decided to see if we could get to the closest one, Grass Lake, just a mile and a half from the closed campground. The trail was as much of a mess as the campground had been...clearly it had been a rough winter! Still we continued on till the snow got too deep and we worried about losing the trail.

Pretty mountain views from Grass lake Trail.

A particularly messy section of trail.

At this point we could still figure out where the trail was going...but not much longer!

A few crossings like this thanks to snow melt.

This beautiful waterfall was our stopping point.
We actually managed to get in a 6.5 mile hike on this day!

The Brewing Lair was an awesome find. Located up a gravel road on a hillside off of hwy 70, nestled in the forest The Brewing Lair makes some wonderful IPA's and has a unique outdoor venue. All seating is outside and there are beautiful homemade ping pong tables, corn hole, a slackline, 9-hole disc golf course and picnic areas with BBQ's (bring your own food). I don't know what they do when the weather is bad, but it is a fantastic place to have a tasty brew on a nice day.

Hanging out at The Brewing Lair.

Picnic area, fire pit, ping pong, etc. in a beautiful setting.

Madora Lake was a pretty, easy 1.6 mile hike very close to town.

Pretty Lundy Ditch.

Madora Lake looks like a great place for birds with all the grass and tree stumps.

Just a couple miles down the road from our RV park is the sweet tourist town of Graeagle. This former mill town now has multiple golf courses, easy access to the mountains and lakes, and some cute shops so there are lots of summer homes in the area.

Cute, old red and white houses line the main drag of Graeagle.

Nearby Lakes Basin Recreation Area has miles and miles of trails among subalpine lakes and some good fishing too...but this year we could only make it a few miles up the road till we reached snow. The snowmobilers were still enjoying the road!

Gold Lake Highway is still a winter sports destination.

Fortunately the road to Gray Eagle Lodge was open, though the lodge itself was not, and we were able to explore the lodge grounds and take a short hike to lovely Lilly Lake.

Gray Eagle Lodge is composed of 20 small cabins in a gorgeous setting along Gray Eagle Creek.
A couple of the cabins sit right on the edge of the creek which is running strong this year.

A short, snowy, heavily damaged trail brought us to pretty Lilly Lake.

We really loved this area, it was postcard beautiful and seems to have a lot of hiking...if there weren't so much snow this spring. We'll definitely be back, possibly this autumn, the fall colors should be spectacular.

Onward to Quincy, CA where we may have the same problems with snow...

Wild Horses and Wild Rivers in Reno, NV

We just spent a week in Reno, NV, a place we've stayed briefly twice before. This year, unlike the past few years, the surrounding mountains were covered in snow and the rivers and streams were flowing fast and heavy and local lakes are full for the first time in a very long time. It was gorgeous!

Reno's slogan, "the biggest little city in the world", seems fitting. The freeway system works well to move people around with relative ease and the surface streets never seemed too congested (barring road construction) compared to what we are used to in Southern California.

The downtown Riverwalk is pretty and thriving as is the funky, fun and tasty revival of the MidTown District.  There's plenty of hiking both in town and within a short drive to keep us happy, though the heavy snow pack this year kept us close to town. Hans even played pickleball at a couple of locations during our stay.

We hiked (and played pickleball) at Hidden Valley Regional Park a couple of times. Great views and the possibility of running into "wild" horses made this a favorite.

Looking towards Tahoe from Hidden Valley Regional Park.

We love coming over a hill and seeing wild horses!

They hung out, very relaxed as we made our way around them and continued up the canyon.

When we came back down the canyon they hadn't moved far and a few were napping.
See Hans on the right?

We move on and they couldn't care less!

We hiked the lovely 6.5 mile White's Creek, Dry Pond, Jones Creek loop which brought us up to the snow line at about 7,000 feet.

Rose Mountain from Whites Creek Trail.

Dry Pond is not so dry this year!
Rose Mountain on the right, Rose Mt Ski area on the left.

The Peavine Trails are not the prettiest trails, but they provide an excellent workout and expansive views.

N for Nevada seen from Evans Canyon Trail.

Another day at Hidden Valley a different group of horses is resting in the wash with a great view of downtown Reno and Babbitt Peak in California.

Riverwalk along the Truckee River.

I've posted a photo of this before, love this art!
It was at Burning Man some years ago.

The flow through downtown Reno has been engineered for rapids, there is a kayaker in the center.

We noticed many businesses in the area had sand bags ready to go just in case.
The river has covered the viewing platform below Hans.

Revision Brewing grand opening...good IPA's and live music!

There are several breweries in Reno and we only managed to try one, the grand opening of Revision Brewing, a tasty IPA focused venture. We also had an excellent healthy lunch at Great Full Gardens in Midtown District. We'll see if we can try a few more places when we stop back through here in the fall.

On previous visits we have stayed at Grand Sierra Resort at their no frills RV park connected to the casino where we really enjoyed using the pool and the river trail adjacent to the RV park. This visit we stayed at Sparks Marina RV Park.

Sparks Marina RV Park is neat and tidy with close together sites and fake grass at every site. There's a nice two mile walk around the adjacent Sparks Marina Lake and Park and a short walk to the Sparks Outlet Center which also has a gigantic Scheels sporting goods store. It was an okay place to stay.

Next stop: Graeagle, CA

South Western Nevada Wildlife Bonanza

Southern Nevada, well much of Nevada, is mostly wide open desert consisting of a mix of valleys and hills and peaks, covered with a variety of low growing vegetation such as creosote and sage, with occasional springs providing water for wildlife. There's miles and miles of this terrain between towns and the potential for spotting wildlife in this harsh landscape is surprisingly high.

During our stay in Pahrump we never encountered any of the wild horses and burros said to be plentiful there, but as soon as we drove out of town we spotted several of each. On our arrival in Beatty, NV for a short stay we spotted burros every day and heard them braying every night.

Wild horses on the drive from Pahrump to Beatty.

Keep your eyes open as you drive around Beatty, you'll eventually spot wild burros on the hills.

We spent three nights at Beatty RV Park, a rustic, no frills park just out of town and enjoyed walking onto BLM land right out the back gate.

Walking onto BLM land right behind Beattyr RV Park...
those are burro trails!

HUGE Great Basin Gopher Snake!
It's probably five feet long and about two inches at the thickest point.

Gorgeous markings!

Kind of unhappy with our attention!
It mimics a rattler by hissing and coiling and even flattening its head.

Just a few miles from Beatty is Rhyolite Ghost Town. Gold was discovered here in 1904 creating a boom, but by 1916 the town was finished. We walked the site on a clear, cold, windy morning, and despite the cold, saw a rattlesnake...too many snakes lately (though it sure is exciting every time we spot one)!

Rhyolite, NV ghost town.

Mine monster!

Saw this rattler as we approached our truck to leave Rhyolite.

This may be a Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake.

Beatty, NV has been in a downward spiral since the last mine closed in 1998. Concerned citizens are trying to reinvent the town as a mountain biking destination. Spicer Ranch, located just north of Beatty RV Park, has a master plan to develop 300 miles of trails. Currently there are about 40 miles of trails and events such as mountain bike races and Tough Mudder runs are held there each year.

We walked about five miles of these trails and felt they would be fun mountain biking. All climbs are well engineered switchbacks and the trails are pretty smooth riding, not too rocky. If we pass through the area again we'd probably break out the bikes.

Spicer Ranch is a swath of green in the desert thanks to springs feeding the Amargosa River.

Long nosed leopard lizard.

The Amargosa River is a tiny stream that comes and goes as it passes through Beatty, NV.
As it disappears into the ground it leaves behind a white alkali residue on the surface, visible in the valley below.

Desert horned lizard.

Such a fierce looking creature, that really isn't!

This black-tailed jack rabbit is frozen in place hoping we can't see him.
We saw dozens of jack rabbits as we hiked at Spicer Ranch.

Amargosa River grasslands.

Crayfish in the Amaargosa River.

Wild burro meeting.

This one was curious about us but kept at least 50 feet away.

The end!

We've since moved on from Beatty to Hawthorne, NV for one night. A long drive through seemingly endless desert broken up by small, struggling former mining towns. The best part was that highway 95 is a great road, very smooth with low traffic.We'd gladly drive this route again just because the road was in such good shape!

Next up: a week in Reno, NV.