Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

I'd always wanted to see Mono (pronounced "mow-no") Lake so we detoured on the way back to see it. It's 3 times the salinity of the Pacific Ocean! When you walk down to the lake the smell really hits you. It smells like low tide at the ocean. Besides the birds there are millions of Alkali Flies on the shores. The Gulls feed on them. The lake is also full of brine shrimp. A very unique place!

90% of the California Gulls in the area are hatched at Mono Lake.

The famous Tufa formations.

Karen on the boardwalk at the lake.

Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

On the road to Mono Lake.

It was beautiful!

Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

Karen on an alpine meadow hiking trail near the summit of the road to Incline Village on Lake Tahoe.

Crystal clear water of Lake Tahoe.

Karen on the beach near South Lake Tahoe.

Karen on a bike path near South Lake Tahoe.

One of many huge bike sculptures we saw around South Lake Tahoe.

Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

Reno sign.

Now THAT'S a climbing wall!

The Truckee River flows right through downtown Reno.

Slow shutter speed photo of the river.

Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

Death Valley scenery.

You can get gas in Death Valley - at a very high price!

It was only 105 degrees at the visitor center at around 11:00 am. Felt like home to us.

T-shirt at the visitor center.

Rhyolite Ghost Town on the way back to the highway.

Reno/Lake Tahoe Trip

We just got back from a trip to Reno/Lake Tahoe. On the drive there we made a side trip to Death Valley. At the turn off is a gas station/store with an alien theme.

Karen and some friends.

The store.

Another Thorn...

...another flat. This time it was the front tire on my Long Haul Trucker. I replaced it with a patched tube. After several days it's holding up well.

Seen On Today's Hike

The Superstition Mountains from the Vista Trail at Usery Park on a rare cloudy day.

Today's Hiike

Today we hiked the Pass Mountain Trail from the Meridian trailhead to the saddle. As I started the climb to the saddle (I had gone ahead of Karen) it started to drizzle. That was actually kind of nice but just as I got to the saddle it started raining. And then it started raining hard! I put my iPhone in one of the waterproof bags that I carry. Then my thoughts turned to the steep trail down over lots of "slick rock." Happily I discovered that it's just a name; the rock wasn't slick at all. We ended up hiking back in an almost non-stop rain. It let up at times but never completely stopped. We were soaked and our hiking boots were covered with mud. A very unique desert hike!

Near the trailhead. The morning light made for a nice photo.