WE BROKE IT!!!!

This story, like all good stories, was supposed to have a happy ending, but not this time. The plan was to do some caching in GeoJeep this morning and be back home in time to meet Jenny’s family for dinner before they drop off Jessica at the airport and leave Kyle with us for a long weekend.

Initially, the plan worked nicely as we picked up some caches along Hwy 395 north of Reno. GeoJeep performed magnificently, as usual, up onto the mountain separating the Stead area from Cold Springs. After finding the cache up there, we came down the other side into Cold Springs and then south to Bordertown. There we took the Long Valley Road into Dog Valley. Our destination was a cache on the top of Crystal Peak, a mountain famous for it’s quartz crystals.

I’ve never seen such a huge outcropping of quartz! The entire mountain top is white! After a short hike and quick find we left the mountain and headed toward Verdi. About halfway there I started hearing a not so funny noise coming from GeoJeep. At first Cynthia didn’t hear it but soon it was obvious something ominous was happening to GeoJeep. As we limped back toward Reno the noise got much louder and a nasty vibration was starting to happen in the right front. We decided to go directly to a mechanic in downtown Reno and crossed our fingers that we would make it. By the time we got to the mechanic it was essentially undriveable.

The preliminary diagnosis isn’t good, probably front differential and/or axle. Crap! The good news is that the mechanic’s secretary brought us home in time to get ready for our visitors.

A GORGEOUS DAY AT TAHOE

Everybody has been to Lake Tahoe. If you don’t believe me just visit sometime and you’ll meet everybody on the roads, in the shops and in line for the “facilities”. And don’t forget to look both ways when you cross a bike path. If you don’t there’s a good chance you’ll be wearing tubular antlers the rest of your life. With that vision in mind, we were off at an ungodly hour bristling with enthusiasm. No, wait, we didn’t actually start bristling until after visiting Starbucks…and then we were off.

We headed up Mt. Rose highway to Tahoe and worked our way around the lake in a clockwise direction, starting in Incline Village and traveled south to South Shore and then north around the west side of the lake. Along the way we stopped (and cached) at Cave Rock, Zephyr Cove and an old cemetery in South Shore. Another cache took us to Truckee Marsh, a beautiful meadow created by the confluence of the Upper Truckee River and Trout Creek. To distract the attention of the nearby homeowners Larry took pictures of the ladies while Mike grabbed the cache.

As we continued around the Lake we stopped for a cache and a coke at Camp Richardson, a resort built in the 1920’s. Up the road a short way we stopped at the Tallac Historic Site. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, three wealthy families built their homes here. The Baldwin, Pope and Heller Estates are interconnected by walking paths which wander through one of the largest groves of old-growth trees in Lake Tahoe. The Baldwin Estate, built in 1921, is now a museum with exhibits and educational programs. The Pope Estate, built in 1894, is the interpretative center for the site. The Heller Estate, otherwise know as Valhalla, is now a theater. There are a number of caches in and around the area and it would be easy to spend an entire day here. While we were there we ran into the “hawaiilovers”, a very nice family from Fresno. We walked from the parking lot to the area of the cache and while the adults were still talking one of the younger boys found the cache. It makes you wonder where you can rent small children for your next geocaching outing.

Twice we stopped near Emerald Bay and hiked short distances to caches and incredibly gorgeous views of the bay and Lake Tahoe. We stopped for lunch at Emerald Bay…well actually in a parking lot that charged $6/car. The place was packed with people from all over the world if the languages they spoke were any indication. And it’s no wonder so many people were here. The views of Emerald bay, Fannette Island and Eagle Falls were incredible. Down below the parking lot on the shore of Emerald Bay is Vikingsholm, another example of what people with way too much money will build. In 1928, Lora Josephine Knight bought Emerald Bay and Fannette Island and built a castle that is considered to be one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture existing in the United States.

After lunch we headed north around the lake to Kings Beach, then turned onto 267 and headed to Truckee. Along the way we, of course, picked up some more caches. In Truckee we said our goodbyes to Linda and Larry. They went their way and we headed back to Reno but not before we found just one more.

DAY OF REST--NOT!

One would think that after the four of us spent the previous day quad racing in Northeastern California there would at least be a day of rest for our weary bones. But OH NO!! Apparently Cynthia had been saving up Carson City caches for just this sort of day.

The men (Mike and Larry) were assured by the women (Cynthia and Linda) that they could “sleep in” and have a leisurely breakfast before heading out to Carson City. But, unknown to the men, a new cache had been silently, malignantly corrupting the minds of the women all night. After a night of fitful sleep the women awoke and upon first seeing each other instinctively knew what they must do. At 6 AM they were racing across town fully aware that they wouldn’t be the first to find it. But what if…maybe…it’s possible…

NOT! But they did run into two other very nice cachers who also suffered the same fitful night. Running into other cachers in the field is always a treat but at 6:15 in the morning? I don’t think so!, but I was just dragging myself out of bed when the ladies walked in the door so I guess I don’t have any right to complain.

By 9 AM we were all on our way to Carson City via Starbucks because…surprise…the ladies needed a jolt of caffeine. After the caffeine melted everyone’s cobwebs we had a fun day cleaning up some of the easier caches around Carson City. At the end of the day we were back in Reno but not ready to call it quits so we grabbed an easy cache at Rancho San Rafael and spent way too much time trying to find another one nearby. We knew it was time to give up when the neighbors finally came out of their houses and asked us what was going on.

Today didn’t turn out to be the day of rest the men were hoping for but there’s always tomorrow.

NOT!!

QUAD RACING

Today’s plan was to race from Reno, NV up to the northeastern corner of California (for the California Delorme Challenge) and find caches in quads 30,31,39,40,41,50, and 51. For those of you who haven’t been infected by the geo-bug, we’re just off again on another quest. But before we could get serious about the quest we had to stop for a quick Starbucks fix. Once awake and aware we were on the road by 7:15 AM.

An hour and a half later (and no caches yet) we passed Standish around 8:45ish. As we turned the corner around the historic old building we waved at Jenny’s house but there was no one there to wave back. Thirty-five miles later we were at the first cache located in an old buckboard attended by a family of mice. It seems nowadays all manner of creatures are getting into geocaching.

Then up the road a bit and off the road onto a very nice gravel road to Horse Lake and the next cache. About 13 miles later we stopped and found it. Oh, did I forget to mention that along the road to Horse Lake, in the middle of nowhere, we encountered a shirtless bicyclian peddling to…nowhere. And of course we ran into a herd of cows hanging out along the road to Horse Lake…but, curiously, we never saw any horses. So, we turned around and traveled 13 miles back to the highway and on the way we ran into the shirtless bicyclian again, but this time, he wouldn’t let us pass him. We politely followed at a respectful distance until an oncoming truck forced him to the side and we made our move. Once we were on pavement again we headed north toward Alturas and to the next quad.

After about 38 miles we came to a town with the very unlikely name of Likely. There we turned east and drove through some of the most gorgeous country imaginable. Water was everywhere, either flowing along the ground or bubbling up through it. Take the grass and trees and springs and streams and paint in majestic lava flows and the scene was breathtaking. Before we knew it, it was time to stop and find another cache. On the walk back to the car, we watched a flock of swallows performing an aerial ballet for us. Actually, they were really too busy building their nests under a bridge and catching insects to even notice us.

We turned around and drove back to Likely and then continued north to Alturas for gas and a picnic lunch near a cemetery and, yep, the next cache. While we were enjoying our lunch a robin joined us. We didn’t mind that he was uninvited because he brought his own worm for lunch.

Now that we were in Alturas we had to decide whether to go east, north, northwest or southwest. Actually, we needed to go in all those directions but which one first? I know, let the ladies decide!! North it is and off we go up 395 to the Oregon border. On the way, we traveled up the east side of Goose Lake, a huge (200 square miles!) shallow alkaline lake. Nearby is the terminus of the Lassen-Applegate Emigrant Trail. Back in the 1840’s, thousands of travelers from the east on their way to the California gold fields trekked across the Black Rock desert and through High Rock Canyon to discover this beautiful water drenched valley. It’s not surprising that many of the survivors of the death march through the desert lost their gold fever and stopped here and built their homes along the shores of Goose Lake. Near the end of the Lassen-Applegate Trail we found the necessary cache and…had to jump over the border for just one more cache in Oregon. But, alas, it wasn’t to be and we walked away empty handed.

It didn’t seem to take very long to drive back to Alturas but once their we realized it was after 3 PM and we had two more quads to get before heading back to Reno. To make matters more interesting thunderstorms were developing all around us. After a quick pit stop we headed west on 299 for a short way before turning north toward Big Sage Reservoir. As the thunder boomed in the distance and the rain started, we found both caches and the quad was ours. Now let’s get out of here and down to the highway before the storm hits.

Once we were back on 299 and heading west, the biggest rain drops in history came down and the distant lightning was impressive. But we had one more quad to get and we were not going to be deterred from the mission. We drove through frequent downpours and arrived in Adin just as the rain stopped. We took that as a good sign, but didn’t dawdle finding the last cache of the day.

Now how do we go home? We could take 139 south from Adin to Susanville but we know that road is narrow, curvey and slow. We could go back to Alturas and then down to Reno, but that would be the long way. Or we could take this neat little road from Adin to Madeline on 395 and cut miles of our trip by taking the hypotenuse instead of the two legs of the triangle. Not! After only a couple of miles, the pavement ended and gravel began. Not to be thwarted, we continued and 40 minutes later we were in Madeline and well on our way back to Reno.

Our 12 hour/600 mile race ended back in Reno just as the sun was setting and the wine was calling our names.