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!
Yosemite National Park to Sparks, NV (Hwy 41 to Fresno; Hwy 99 to Bakersfield; Hwy 58 to Hwy 14 to Hwy 395 to Reno/Sparks)
The road from Yosemite quickly descends from the mountains out onto the central valley of California and as it does, the land grows visibly drier. Irrigation makes the central valley one of the key agricultural centers in the United States and the arid foothills frame mile after mile of orchards and row crops. At Bakersfield we turn west and cross the Sierra Nevada at Tehachapi Pass, a treeless gap in the brown mountains that howls with the wind. On the other side the plan is to now travel north up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, a land just miles away as the bird flies from the forested slopes that we have spent the last couple of weeks exploring, but worlds away in terms of climate. The Sierra Nevada is a massive wall that forces the moist winds off the Pacific up, which in turn makes them drop most of the moisture that they carry on the west side of the mountains. The difference is stark. While the west slopes are green with forests, the east slopes of the same mountain chain are a study in various shades of beige and gray. Stark granite peaks thrust up from the desert on the valley floor.
As we make the turn north on Hwy 395 the road parallels Owens Lake, which on maps stretches for about 20 miles along the valley floor. Unfortunately, the stark reality is that there is no longer water in the lake.
The lake bed is dry as a result of one of the more nefarious episodes in the settling of the Los Angeles basin, hundreds of miles to the southwest. Historically the Owens River flowed for about 180 miles south down the valley, draining what little run-off there is from the east side of the Sierra Nevada and ending in Owens Lake. In the early 1900’s a running battle began between the farmers of the valley and the city of Los Angeles, which was in desperate need of water to fuel the growth of the coastal city. Corruption, violence and politics lead to the city of Los Angeles gaining most of the water rights in the Owens Valley and in 1913 the entire flow of the river was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct and sent off to the coast. In later years as the coastal growth exploded, Los Angeles sank wells into the bedrock of the valley and essentially drained it dry, ruining the local economy and creating a desert along the length of the valley. Extensive court battles have carried on over the years and as recent as 2006 Los Angeles lost a court battle which resulted in a requirement that 5% of the flow of the river be restored. The very small amount of water allows a minimal flow along part of the ancient river bed but not anywhere close to enough to refill the lake. (A rather good movie about the California Water Wars, “Chinatown”, starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Duniway, was made in 1974.) At the northern end of the Owens Valley lies the small town of Lone Pine, where I stopped for the night at the foot of the eastern slope. To the west is the view of the east side of the Sierra Nevada, to the east is the view across the dry Owens Lake to the mountains of Nevada.
After leaving the Owens Valley the road north traverses a series of land-locked valleys connected by high mountain passes. Again, what little moisture that falls in the surrounding mountains drains into a series of small lakes at the bottom of these valleys. Ever present is the wall of the Sierra Nevada to the west.
The farther north we go, the more (at least in comparison to the south) snow is starting to collect on the mountain peaks and trees start to appear in the mountains.
The road descends from the mountains from California onto the valleys of western Nevada, passes through Carson City and then emerges into the Truckee Meadows, location of Reno/Sparks.
The Truckee Meadows were so-named because the lush valley was well-watered, which e by the Truckee River and the small creeks that descend from the mountain slopes to the west. The river exits Lake Tahoe high in the mountains to the left in this picture, flows horizontally across the valley and the leaves via a narrow canyon to the east as it heads to Pyramid Lake. The tall buildings you see in the picture are all casinos; the cluster in the middle is downtown Reno; the tall building on the right is the Grand Sierra Resort out close to Sparks on the eastern edge of the meadows.
A picture from the same spot but turned ninety degrees to the left facing directly west gives a view of Mt. Rose, behind which sits Lake Tahoe, barely an hour’s drive away. The edge of the southern Reno suburbs is visible on the right.
The first emigrants from the east entered the meadows in 1844 on their way to California but only a few subsistence farmers actually stayed in the meadows in the ensuing years. Gold was discovered near Virginia City, about 30 miles to the southeast, in 1850 but it was the discovery of silver in the Comstock Lode in 1859 that lead to the mining rush to Virginia City. A bridge was built across the Truckee in 1859 to connect the road to Virginia City with the California Trail and a small town grew up at the intersection. In 1868 the Central Pacific Railroad established a depot in the town and it was officially named Reno. An extension of a spur of the railroad to Virginia City confirmed Reno’s standing as the business center of the area. The iconic symbol of Reno is the arch which stretches across Virginia Street in downtown Reno. It was built to commemorate the Transcontinental Highways Exposition of 1927 and after a contest, in 1929 the slogan “Biggest Little City in the World” was added to the arch. In these two pictures, the arch frames the view south down Virginia Street to the Truckee River and north up the street to the University of Nevado-Reno. You can tell from these pictures that the business of downtown Reno is gambling…
When the gold/silver mines began to wane in the early 20th century (though not evaporate, Nevada is still the third-largest gold producer in the world), easy divorce laws and the legalization of gambling in 1931 lead to a boom that lasted for decades until other states began easing divorce laws and allowing gambling on Native American reservations across the nation. Reno is still a gambling mecca, but liberal state tax laws have encouraged a vibrant business climate and today the region of over 225,000 people prospers. Reno and Las Vegas, the two entertainment centers in Nevada, couldn’t be more different. Las Vegas is glitz, glamor, and frenetic activity; Reno is more laid back and has the possibility of day trips to Lake Tahoe or Virginia City. I personally love coming to Reno and have been doing so for years. (There are even these “unfounded” rumors that in my younger days a certain nameless best friend and I would leave Portland on Friday afternoons after work and drive the 550 miles to Reno, cavort all weekend, and then leave Sunday afternoon for the wild dash back to Portland in order to get up and go to work Monday morning. Balderdash, I say! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it….)
Today one of the main attractions in downtown Reno is the Riverwalk. The Truckee River bisects the downtown area between the main casino district to the north and the business/arts district to the south. Lush parkland stretches alongside both banks of the river and several islands are connected with bridges. On a beautiful spring afternoon, the area was full of locals playing in the water and enjoying the sun.
Views to the west, looking up to mountains; and east, down the river.
One of the main attractions of the Riverwalk Area is the Whitewater Kayaking course that was constructed in part of the river for kayak races. There was supposed to be a race on one of the weekeneds that I was there, but it was cancelled due to the low water in the river. Again, the drought is real! Here is the course during the low water, you’ll just have to visualize crashing water in the twists and turns…
Other areas of the Riverwalk are lush and green, interspersed with parks and picnic areas.
Next up: Sapphire in the sky, silver in the ground
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