Part II continued . . .
Heading north from Bishop via Hwy 6 past abandoned buildings at Montgomery Pass made me think this could be a site for a photoshoot someday. We continued east and south, heading towards Fish Lake Valley, following directions to turn left at graded dirt road near a yellow house. Sure enough, we found the house and headed up a side valley as the sun began to slip behind the White Mountains.
Fish Lake Valley hot springs are developed / maintained? by Esmerelda County. Weekends and many evenings, you will not be alone. There's a bathroom, BBQ's and a fence to keep vehicles away from the spring and duck ponds. The water gushes hot into a pool approx 6x12 and spills out continuously. A plastic chair would be ideal to sit in the tub as there are no seats.
Unfortunately, there is some trash and it's a risk the place will be shut down.
Some people just don't get it
We set up camp on the dry landscape above the parking area. Once again our new Webber 120Q did a fine job grilling corn o' the cob and some veggies. In the morning I split an apple and cooked that for my sweetie. She loved it. We heard a generator overnight (!) and discovered a fifth wheel just over the hill beyond the spring. Morning coffee in the tub with killdeer and coots walking by was pretty special.
SR and Sadie
Fish Lake Valley Camp. Note spare tire on roof deck.
Sunset at the duck ponds
After dawdling as long as possible in the springs, with the whole place to ourselves, with thought we should hit the road. Our plan was to make it back home in the Cali foothills that night. Looking at the map, I saw we could continue up Mineral Valley rather than returning 7 miles back to the highway. It was a good choice.
Winter light upon the desert
Mineral Valley
That's not snow, it's alkali deposits
Mineral Valley
We eventually reconnected with Hwy 95 north as the storm began to intensify
Hwy 95 south of Hawthorn
As we got signal, we began to understand that there was blizzard over Donner Pass and that Hwy 80 was closed. No problem! We've got a FWC! But where to stay? We decided to take a shortcut between 95 and Lake Lahontan rec area where there were campgrounds. It was about 30 miles of rough road following the Pony Express route to Ft Churchill. I had misgivings as I saw deep ruts from previous rain events, and black clouds were all around us.
We visited Hooten Springs, a Pony Express stop about ten miles from pavement and almost camped there. But that was after the Attack of the Tumbleweeds event. Or maybe Blockade of the Tumbleweeds is more appropriate. After driving 20 miles we came to a flat where the all the tumbleweeds had filled in the road. We kicked and threw them out of the way. Then after 30 yards, another blockage, and another, and another . . . I really didn't want to drive thru them and have them get stuck on my catalytic converter.
We popped out onto pavement, near the Carson River on Alt Hwy 95 where Ft Churchill has been a State Park since the 1920's. It is the site of the first US Military Base in the territory of Nevada. It was established in response to the Pyramid Lake Massacre where 70 (out of 105) white guys got killed coming after the Paiutes. The natives had reason to be mad too. Two white brothers kidnapped two 12 yr. old indian sisters and molested them, so dad came with his brothers and killed the brothers, which got a posse of 105 white guys to go after them. Soon after Ft Churchill was established along the banks of the Carson River.
restored/rebuilt extensively in the 1930's
Sickness and desertion were common. Pay was $13/mo per man
The drive home was sunny with six feet of snow to admire. Unfortunately the masses were also crossing the sierra on that sunday, so we got caught in a bumper-to-bumper jam from Truckee to the summit, which we then escaped by using old Hwy 40 ( a local's trick ).
WHAT WORKED:
1. Furnace was awesome. Only used 1/2 gallon of propane per 12 hours of heat in 15 degree temps.
2. Again, kudos to the reflectix insulation. We wouldn't have done it without it.
3. We've also learned to hang a small quilt over the front window, tucking it under the edge of the bed.
4. Webber 120Q just fits under the couch, but starts like a champ and cooked three dinners. A+
5. Small cigarette lighter inverter let me plug my 13 yr. old lab's pet heating blanket into the camper while driving. Sadie needs to be warm with her bad hips, so this was a boon.
Likin' my new Bilstein shocks with level kit.
WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
1. Made the mistake of leaving the Hawk exposed to a 20F night before we left without heat.
Then drove thru 15F five hours to camp. Guess what? Plumbing froze. I had to put hot water bottles (direct from the hot spring
) next to the pump, and sink cabinet. After running the furnace for two hours, all was thawed. We had no other freezing problems the rest of the trip, mostly because we were heating at least 12 hrs per 24 hr day.
2. Driving home at the end of a holiday weekend. Sure contrasts against all the wide open space we enjoyed
3. Getting a spare tire (matching 18" BFG AT) and wheel the day before the trip. I had to modify the cable hanger to fit the smaller hole on the BBS wheel when I got home. For the trip we rolled it up a leaning extension ladder to put it on the roof where I lashed it to the Yak Rack system. It worked, but was less than ideal.
