High Desert Road Trip

 

High Desert Travel

On Friday, we drove from Red Bluff to Sacramento, and then from Sacramento to Reno, Nevada.  It was cloudy and cool all day, but no rain.  Donner Pass and the Sierra were shockingly devoid of snow.  It is 270 miles from Red Bluff to Sacramento to Reno. 

We stayed at the Peppermill Hotel in Reno.  It was very busy with Valentine's Day visitors.  A lovely room, a beautiful casino atmosphere, sumptious dining, and all at a considerable expense.

We left on Saturday morning and drove east on Interstate 84 to Winnemucca, Nevada.  They we drove north on U.S. 95 to Burns Junction, and then northwest on Oregon Route 78 to Burns, Oregon.  We stayed Saturday night in Burns.  It is 391 miles from Reno to Burns. 

Clear skies, dry, and dramatic high desert views in all directions.

Great Basin Desert Realms

 

Walking into the Wild Places

“There there is nothing like a wilderness journey for rekindling the fires of life. Simplicity is part of it. Cutting the cackle. Transportation reduced to leg – or arm – power, eating irons to one spoon. Such simplicity, together with sweat and silence, amplify the rhythms of any long journey, especially through unknown, untattered territory. And in the end such a journey can restore an understanding of how insignificant you are --- and thereby set you free.”
-   Colin Fletcher, The River

"Freedom - to walk free and own no superior."
-   Walt Whitman

"For someone who walks regularly, their body is better able to deliver oxygen to all systems, including the brain, because they’ve improved their cardiovascular function. Not surprisingly, regular walkers report better mental clarity and ability to focus. Creativity is enhanced because walkers have the ability to relax their mind and let it wander around while they’re walking. Outdoor strollers can have the benefit of beautiful scenery as well as just seeing things from a different perspective, which stimulates creative thought and the imagination.  Whether you want to improve your body, your mind or both, the benefits of walking should encourage you to make the time to do it."
-  Mental Benefits of Walking, Creating a Good Life

"People need wild places. Whether or not we think we do, we do. We need to be able to taste grace and know again that we desire it. We need to experience a landscape that is timeless, whose agenda moves at the pace of speciation and glaciers. To be surrounded by a singing, mating, howling commotion of other species, all of which love their lives as much as we do ours, and none of which could possibly care less about us in our place. It reminds us that our plans are small and somewhat absurd. It reminds us why, in those cases in which our plans might influence many future generations, we ought to choose carefully. Looking out on a clean plank of planet earth, we can get shaken right down to the bone by the bronze-eyed possibility of lives that are not our own."
-   Barbara Klingsolver  

Walking: Quotes, Sayings, Poems, Lore, Information

Karen and I will soon be taking a road trip to the Great Basin Desert in central and northern Nevada, and up into Eastern Oregon Desert ecosystem to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  We will be going through Sacramento, Reno, Winnemucca, Burns, John Day, Baker City, Pendleton, and on to Portland.  

Unlike Colin Fletcher, we will be staying in motels at night while on this road trip.  No backpacking adventure this time. However, we will take many walks in the desert on this trip. 

We enjoyed a road trip through the Great Basin Desert in central Nevada from Reno to Ely, along US 50, back in February of 2007.  This desert area is higher in elevation (3,000 - 5,000 feet) than the Mojave and Colorado desert regions in Southern California.  

Walking in the desert really gives one a sense of grand spaciousness and a connection with the simplicity of stone, sand, and big sagebrush.  Walking in the higher elevations brings you views of vast valleys, rugged mountains, and into intimate contact with the pinyon-juniper woodlands.    

Tips for Walking in the Desert 

Desert Hiking Tips

I've been hiking in Death Valley, CA, many times.

 

Nevada Travel Adventure

Karen and I enjoyed a trip to Nevada. We were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.

We first visited with Betty Yarber, Karen's sister, and her family in Las Vegas. We then drove north from Las Vegas up Highway 93 to Ely, Nevada. The only small towns on this route were Caliente and Pinoche. We then we drove west from Ely to Reno, Nevada, via Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway. The only small towns on this portion of Highway 50 are Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Fallon. This 700 mile adventure took us through eastern and central Nevada in the high desert, Great Basin area. A number of passes took us up to 6,000 to 7,500 feet through pinyon pine and juniper forests. Most of central eastern Nevada was covered with 5 inches of snow. At Robinson Summit, 7,600 feet, west of Ely, the temperature dropped to 3 degrees F.


Karen Garofalo enjoying the desert sunshine near Caliente,
Nevada, along Highway 93 in south eastern Nevada.



Mike Garofalo standing along Highway 93, southeast of Ely, Nevada.
Mt. Wheeler, 13,000 feet, is in the background.


West of Ely, Nevada, along Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway.
It was extremely cold during this portion of the trip.


West of Ely, Nevada, along Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway.


West of Eureka, Nevada, along Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway.



Austin, Nevada, along Highway 50, the Lincoln Highway.
Austin is in the center of Nevada.

The Lincoln Highway, Highway 50, was the first transcontinental highway, from New York to San Francisco, constructed in 1913. As Highway 50 crosses central Nevada, it is dubbed "The Loneliest Road in America."