We left Meadow Vista and headed to Lake Tahoe. Winding up and up the mountain to reach the snow line, stopping in the small town of Truckee to gather lunch supplies. From there we drove all the way down the west side of Lake Tahoe. The only problem here was our inability to get close to the water’s edge. The roads down to the lake were either privately owned with large gates, or closed for the season, also with large gates. You could park and walk, but with a few feet of snow and no snow shoes this would have been difficult. Either way we enjoyed the drive, reaching an altitude of around 7500 feet. After reaching South Lake Tahoe, we headed up the east side of the lake to find ourselves with barely any snow and instead the moonlike desert landscape.
We spent the night in Carson City, Nevada where Hayden was able to give Maggie an oil change behind the parking lot, with full permission of the toothless owner who had driven a Land Rover whilst posted in Australia when he worked for the Navy.
The next day we headed through Yosemite National Park, up and down more mountains, past crystal clear lakes, ate lunch in shorts and t shirts whilst snow was on the ground. We camped the night with several locals by a river known for its fly fishing and were fascinated by the starry night overhead. The next morning we woke up to summer. Shorts and t shirts at 8am! We drove into Death Valley National Park and settled into our camp at Panamint Springs overlooking the vast desert landscape. The afternoon was warm as was the evening, we have finally hit pleasant camping weather. We sat outside until late, still in t shirts, joined by our little friend ‘Stuart’ the desert mouse. The morning came and we basked in glorious sun fascinated by the changing colour of the rock formations. We packed up and tackled the huge hill, several signs announcing a risk of overheating, which in Maggie’s case meant stopping several times to let the old girl cool down. After we went up the hill, we then went down the hill. And down further still until we reached sea level and into the depths of Death Valley thanking God it was winter as summer daytime temperatures frequently reach 50 degrees Celsius!! We drove on reaching below sea level, staring out at the vast nothingness.
We made it out of Death Valley and into Nevada, still staring at nothing but dust. That was until we found an old helicopter from the Vietnam War and Area 51! Of course we had to stop for the obligatory photos and were a little shocked to find a roadside brothel out the back (the massive billboard stating ‘Roadside Brothel’ was a bit of a giveaway). We purchased some cheap alien paraphernalia and cold drinks and carried on though the desert to Las Vegas.
Snow, starry nights and sun
