Ash Canyon, Carson City, NV
Last weekend, Lutrell and I drove for four hours to visit his Aunt Mary in Carson City, NV. Everybody needs an Aunt Mary. She’s so loving, easy going, generous, funny, and she bakes amazing cakes and pies.
We took our mountain bikes and explored places we’d never seen before. On Sunday we rode for over three hours, exploring the high desert terrain. There is something about that high desert scenery that really appeals to me. It’s so clean and uncluttered. The riding was a little tough, one, because of the 5000+ ft. altitude, and two, because the trails were sandy in spots, and that caused the bike to bog down and almost pitch me over the handlebars a couple of times. Nevertheless, it was great riding, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I did get nervous when I ran out of water and was several miles from Aunt Mary’s. Fortunately the ride took us past Carson’s community college and I was able to refill my water-bottle from an available hose.
Vicee Canyon, Carson City, NV
On the drive back home to Sonoma, we stopped at Horsetail Falls. We’ve driven past this spectacle every time we’ve been on Hwy 50 coming and going from Tahoe, but this time we decided to stop. Horsetail Falls is at Twin Bridges, just east of Meyers. We had to pay $5 to park, but it was totally worth it. Because we could see the falls from the highway and the parking lot, there was little chance that we would get lost, so without a map we headed up the trail. None of the pictures we came home with do justice to that area. It’s Yosemite beautiful: massive granite rock faces, pristine water-ways, enchanting wild flowers, and aromatic pine flora.
Off in the distance behind me is Horsetail Falls
Horsetail Falls trail
Emerald stream along the way
Horsetail Falls 8-14-11
Although the hike was not very long, it did take us a couple of hours to get to this point. It was as far as I was willing to go. Along the way, we had to fill out a permit and carry it with us because, they warned, serious accidents and fatalities had occurred, and the rangers would want to be able to identify victims if something happened. That was disconcerting, but I felt fine most of the way. At the spot where this picture was taken, I could see that you’d have to be use to rock climbing to go any further. My knees were getting a little shaky. We were up pretty high, misty spray was coming off the thunderous falls, and the dirt path had completely disappeared. We were scaling gigantic boulders, and, no doubt about it, a fall would be very bad. Not to worry, nothing unfortunate happened. The waterfall hike was thrilling, and I recommend it, even if you go only as far as the warning/permit station. It’s definitely a spectacular experience.
Have a great week, and I’ll post again next Friday.