Volume Overview: I always lay out a proposed route for each journey before leaving my home base in Billings, Montana. Part of the fun is the months of research and planning prior to departure! This spring’s trip is a bit abbreviated, but the plan is to dash west from Billings to Portland, Oregon, for some business; head down the west side of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada to Yosemite National Park in California; cross the mountains heading east to Reno/Sparks, Nevada; trek through the northern deserts of Nevada up to Twin Falls, Idaho; explore the Jackson Hole area of Wyoming; and then head back to Billings through Yellowstone National Park and Cody, Wyoming. Let’s get rolling!
Day Trip #1: Sparks, NV to Lake Tahoe, CA (Hwy 395 to Hwy 431, Hwy 28 around Lake Tahoe, Hwy 89 to Truckee, I-80 back to Sparks)
One of the attractions to being in the Reno/Sparks area is the wide variety of things to do in addition to camping out in a casino. One of the alternatives is the short trip to Lake Tahoe, about an hour away to the southwest. While this is a favorite expedition, I don’t do it often in the Lunch Box because the highway around Lake Tahoe is treacherous, especially on the California side. The road on the west side of the lake is narrow, full of twists and turns, and usually crammed with tourists going 15 mph. I decide to go this time because the weather is great, it’s the middle of the week, and this early in the spring the tourist traffic should be minimal. My plan would have worked fine except the California Department of Transportation had the same idea I did and so I ran into road construction most of the way from South Lake Tahoe up the west side of the lake! The view below is from the Nevada side of the lake, looking towards the west.
The circumference of the lake is marked by steep mountains plunging down to the sapphire waters with the exception of the south end where the land opens up into a wide open valley where the Truckee River enters the lake from the south. This is where the town of South Lake Tahoe is situated, primarily a tourist base for the area. Just to the northeast of South Lake Tahoe is Stateline, NV, which, as the name indicates, is on the state line between California and Nevada. This is where the famed Lake Tahoe casinos are located, rising up from the pines along the highway in a short strip of commerce. Heavenly Valley ski resort looms above the casinos, which are within walking distance of the base of the gondola.
I would have liked to take more pictures of the lake, especially from the west side, but EVERY wayside was closed due to construction and the road is so narrow there’s no “pulling off to the side” to take a snap shot. The highway along the west side of the lake splits at the north and we take Hwy 89 back to the freeway and then I-80 to Reno/Sparks through the Truckee River Canyon. Oh well, you’ll just have to trust me that it was a beautiful day at the lake.
Day Trip #2: Sparks, NV to Virginia City NV (Hwy 395 to Hwy 341 and back)
Virginia City sits high on the eastern slope of Mt. Davidson about 30 miles southwest of Reno where gold was discovered in 1857. Gold, however, was not the source of the legendary riches taken out of the mountainside in the next 25 years. At the time silver was considered on par with gold, and the Comstock Lode, discovered in 1859 and the single richest source of silver ever found. permanently altered the perception of the value of silver. By 1876 Virginia City was producing over half of all the precious metals in the United States and so much silver flooded the markets that in 1873 the federal government “demonetized” silver. The town grew to over 25,000 people by 1875, which is difficult to believe when you actually visit the area. The highway to Virginia City climbs quickly up into the mountains on the Geiger Grade, a steep, twisting road. I used this picture in Chapter 9 but here it is again, the view of the Truckee Meadows from the top of Geiger Grade. The Lunch Box really had to work to climb up the mountain side but we made it!
The mountain side is steep so the Virginia City is built on terraces carved out of the mountainside, each street on its’ own level. Coming down towards the city, the historic district sprawls across the mountain side to the south. The famed Comstock Lode is located just out of the picture to the left.
The town site is much steeper than it looks in the picture. One and two story buildings seen from the street are actually three and four story buildings when seen from the next street below. Here is the view looking two blocks up the hill at the opera house (the yellow structure in the distance). The stop sign in the picture is on “C” Street, which is the main street through town.
The town grew at the head of the great mine shafts which pierced the earth just to the east so miners walked to work each day. Mine tailings still dot the mountain sides east (and down) from town (below left) and the actual Comstock Mine is just two blocks down the hill from the Fourth Ward School (below right).
The Fourth Ward School dominates the skyline on the south end of town. By 1876 the town was divided into “wards” for fire and education purposes and the Fourth Ward School was built to mark the nation’s centennial. It was designed to accommodate 1,000 students to relieve crowding at the other eleven existing schools in Virginia City and displayed state-of-the-art heating, ventilation, and sanitation systems and boasted of modern curriculum and teaching practices (including team teaching!). The building was restored in 1986 and is now a museum. Here are front and back views of the school.
The impact of the Comstock Lode on the economy of the nation was immense. The California Gold Rush ten years earlier had matured and San Francisco was starting to stagnate until the riches of Virginia City flooded the city. Mining the mountain side was challenging, but as we saw in the gold mines of California, tin miners from Cornwall immigrated to the area and brought their expertise with them. Hot springs deep within the mountain created steaming conditions down the mineshaft when it was freezing on the surface. Despite the hurdles, incredibly rich mine shafts extended the Comstock Lode deep within the mountain. On the surface, Virginia City boomed. “C” Street and the blocks above and below are lined with saloons, restaurants, bars, etc. with the Storey County Courthouse and Piper’s Opera House presiding from the hillside above.
The city included gas and sewer lines, had three theatres, two opera houses, four churches and three daily newspapers (where in 1873, Samuel Clemens, a reporter for the “Territorial Enterprise”, first used the pen name “Mark Twain”). Today “C” Street is the center of Virginia City’s modern gold industry, tourism. Over two million people visit each year. I have been here before in the Lunch Box but have not been able to stop due to the narrow streets and lack of parking. However today I found space and wandered down the main street. Come along!
Looking down from the main street across the valley to the east, the view is framed by the spires of two churches silently watching over the valley.
On the left is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, built in 1875 and containing the oldest pipe organ in Nevada. Costing $3000 (an enormous sum of money in 1875), the organ came by ship around Cape Horn from the east coast. To the right is St. Mary’s of the Mountain, a Catholic cathedral which is the third church built on this site. The first two wooden structures were destroyed by fire but this brick replacement was constructed in 1876.
The mining barons maintained palaces high on Nob Hill in San Francisco as primary residences but smaller, elaborate houses were built for their stays in Virginia City. Often the mansions were a combined residence and head mine office.
The view east from virtually anywhere in town gives an idea of what challenges the early travelers through northern Nevada faced. While many know of Nevada as a dry and desolate place, what most do not know is that rather than an endless, treeless desert plain, most of Nevada is a series of endless, treeless mountains.
Virginia City is a fascinating place to visit, but I would definitely recommend going in the off-season during the middle of the week. The lack of crowds really contributed to an enjoyable experience!
Next up: Heading east across Nevada
Post a Comment