The Early Bird Doesn't Necessarily Get All the Worms!!

Over the past few weeks we have been tied to home while our house was torn apart for a water leak. We had workmen here from early in the morning until 3:30pm in the afternoon. All the new caches that popped up tormented us throughout the day until we could finally run out after the workmen left. Then we had company this weekend which also kept us tied to home although our daughter does like to sleep late so we would sneak out (does that sound like an addiction?) very early and return a few hours later just as she was waking up.

This morning the painter was finally done about 10:30am and we began to plan our day of caching. Just about that time five new caches popped up on our geo-notify. In the time it took us to get organized and eat lunch, another new one sounded on our email. We finally were ready to go and at the first cache we discovered we were too late. Another cacher had beaten us to the “First to Find” as he did on every one of the caches except one. This was the one that posted about ten minutes later than the others. We commented on the fact that the “early bird” had rushed out for the “worms” before the last one showed up - hence the title of this blog.

Out of the seven we did today, we were second to find on six and first to find on one. BUT now the construction work is done so watch out!! Well, Mike doesn’t like to get up early usually so we will probably continue to be second or third or who knows, but at least we have a lot of fun!!

Look Out Dixie!!

Sometime last week, while I was vicariously flying in the Google Earth plane, I spotted a strange white splotch on a mountain north and slightly west of Frenchman’s Lake. Upon closer inspection I discovered a road traveled all the way to the top of this mountain. On the topographical map the mountain was identified as Dixie Mountain and there was a fire lookout on top of the 8300 foot mountain. That explains the road and the white splotch was probably the roof of the building. What a cool place for another mountain top cache!

Sunday we packed a lunch and the ammo can cache into the Jeep and took off for Frenchman’s Lake and Dixie Mountain. The plan was to pick up the four caches around the lake and then go up to Dixie Mountain, find a good spot for the cache and see if the lookout was operational. If there was a ranger/rangerette at the lookout we would explain about geocaching and get permission to hide the ammo can somewhere near the top. After that we would then cache our way over to the Gold, Silver, Salmon and Sardine Lakes area.

It was a good plan…if we had had more time. All four caches at the lake required a short walk or hike and the gorgeous scenery demanded our time and the usual photos were taken. Once we were done at the Lake we drove north for a short distance and turned west onto the road to Dixie Mountain. The sign told us it was 8 miles to the lookout and our GPSr’s said 4 miles. We knew then it was going to be a very curvy ride.

Actually, we were surprised at how good the road really was. There were a few rough spots and the usual rock or two that needed to be avoided, but any SUV could make the trip easily. The last hairpin turn led to a small parking area and, from there, a narrow trail took us to the lookout. There were no vehicles but we were pretty sure the lookout was still in use because there was a propane tank near the parking area. Once the lookout came into view from the trail it was obvious it had seen better days. The black lab on the catwalk answered the question about anybody being home. I took the lead and handed the ammo can to Cynthia. I wasn’t sure how black labs react to scary old men carrying ammo cans. Come to think of it, what would the ranger think? Oh well, too late now, we’re either about to be a Scooby Snack or not.

Simultaneously, as the dog charged down the stairs barking, a little old lady about our age appeared above us on the catwalk. She didn’t have a weapon in her hands and the dog was just happy to see us so I knew we would survive. She invited us up and once there I asked if it was OK for us to visit and she said, “Yes”. I asked if she gets many visitors and she answered, “No”. Something in the tone of her voice prompted me to ask, “Do you like to have visitors?” Without hesitation she replied, “Not really”. Apparently the dog was the only one happy to see us.

She did warm up to us a bit after we explained we were geocachers (was that an eye roll?) and that we wanted to hide a cache on the mountain for other geocachers to find. She blurted, “You mean more people will be coming!” The dog got excited but I could tell she wasn’t. So GeoJeepette quickly stepped in and reassured her that only…maybe 6 or 8 people a year would visit. That seemed to settle the rangerette down a bit but she did make it clear that she only entertains guests (not her words) between 9:30 AM and 6 PM, otherwise, she’s in her jammys. I quickly changed the subject to the Antelope Fire that could be easily seen to the north.

The rangerette told us that the Antelope fire was started by lightning and that prompted me to ask what she does on top of a mountain when there’s lightning striking all around her. She told us that the structure is grounded but, for good measure, she stands on her stool. Yes, her stool, but it’s no ordinary stool. Her stool has old antique glass insulators on the feet, effectively protecting the stander from any stray electricity. Hopefully, electrical storms don’t last too long. After taking some pictures of the magnificent view, we quickly said our goodbyes and left. For a moment I sensed the dog wanted to come with us. You couldn’t really blame her; she didn’t have a special stool.

Anyway, we found a great place to hide the cache (we named it “Look Out Dixie"), ate lunch and then headed down the mountain. We picked up a cache in Portola before deciding that time was running out and the precious metal and fish lakes would have to wait for another day.

Sierra Trek

Recently, a cacher added a bunch of caches to his series “Sierra Trek” which is designed to show you a portion of the Sierras and teach you about its history. So, naturally, we were hooked. About half of the caches are along the Henness Pass Road and the others are at Meadow Lake.

Construction on the Henness Pass road began in 1852 and was originally a wagon toll road from Nevada to the goldfields of California. Later, when mining shifted from California to the Comstock the established towns and stagecoach stops made the Henness Pass Road a primary route for miners and supplies. Over time the road was extended and improved and eventually it became a major route between Virginia City and Marysville. At its peak the traffic along the road was so busy that in order to regulate traffic, freight wagons ran during the day and stages ran at night. Once the Central Pacific was completed in 1868 there was no need for the road and it was essentially abandoned. Today Henness Pass Road is one of the last trans-Sierra back roads that can still be driven but there are portions that haven’t been maintained in a hundred years and demand a high-clearance 4X4 vehicle.

Fortunately the Sierra Trek caches are on a section of the Henness Pass Road that is well traveled and maintained. Both of these descriptions are, of course, relative. The caches were easy to find except for the first one. It would have been easy but when we got there our two identical GPSr’s had the cache in totally different location. They were as much as 300 feet off. I went one way and Cynthia went other ways and where they took us made no sense. All the usual tricks and dances didn’t solve the problem so I took out the fresh batteries I had put in that morning and replaced them with more fresh batteries. Problem solved. Now both GPSr’s read the same and both led us right to it. What’s that all about?

While we were scratching our heads over this mystery two guys in a pickup slowly passed us and continued down the road obviously not in a hurry and thus, obviously, not geocachers. We didn’t give them a second thought until we passed them…and they passed us at the next cache…and then we passed them…and they passed us at the third cache. Here at the third cache, right where we needed to be, a man was just setting up his equipment for a long day of target practice. We weren’t coming back here again so we just walked up and told him what we were doing and asked if he would mind not shooting while we were in the line of fire. We were in and out in record time.

At the intersection of Henness Pass road and Hwy 89 was another cache and here we had to decide to continue on the Henness Pass Road or take the Jackson Meadows road, a modern paved roadway. The decision was made for us when we found ourselves on pavement while looking for the dirt. We chose the pavement. Nine or ten miles later we came to the road to Meadow Lake and were very glad we chose pavement. Unfortunately, the road to Meadow Lake isn’t paved but it wasn’t bad for the first half of the 8 miles to the lake. The last half was more typical of a sierra back road but hardly bad enough to prevent trailers and small RV’s from camping at the lake.

Meadow Lake is the site of Summit City, a once booming mining town in the 1860’s. In its heyday there were over 150 buildings and one summer over 3000 people were there. It’s all gone now. The caches took us on a tour of the old town site and cemetery and even up on a very primitive road to the mines. The view was spectacular but unfortunately the camera was back in Reno so there are no pictures. By the time we finished exploring and caching and eating lunch it was time to head back home. Meadow Lake is definitely a must see for any cacher, photographer, camper or 4X4 enthusiast.

After we got back to Reno we grabbed a shower and headed out to the Reno Flash Mob event at Idlewild Park. We signed the log and chatted with friends and the whole thing was over in seven minutes.

No More Excuses!!

About a week ago a fellow cacher found our Free Fall cache and commented on his surprise to discover it was hidden just like one he planted in April of 2002 as well as it’s replacement “The Blooming Hangout”. He challenged us to find his new one.

Mike and I had decided not to do this cache because it was a two mile hike and Mike’s ankle doesn’t do well on hikes over one mile. But he challenged us!! So what were we to do but look at it again. We thought and we thought – but he challenged us and he could do it at 84. So yesterday we took off early so we could beat the heat (103 degrees) and off we went to the Galena Creek Park to see if we could make it to the cache. Just to warm up we found two other caches in the park before setting off on the two mile hike.

Mike had a backpack full of water and ice packs on his back (just in case we got heat stroke) and we each carried a walking stick because we were expecting to be “bushwacking” for a good deal of the time. To our surprise, there was a trail all the way to the cache. We followed Galena Creek up into a canyon that took us up, up, up. I kept thinking we were at the top, and Mike kept saying there’s always another top. Finally, there was the cache and we knew just what to do to get it. We were very pleased with our success.

The trip downhill was much faster and easier and we were so exhilarated we went on to hike another short hill for a fourth cache.

Now Mike has no more excuses for avoiding hikes!!

And Then There Were Four

Sunday, the day after we cached ourselves into exhaustion in the Virginia Range, we all met at Albertson’s again and welcomed an additional participant, NevadaWolf (Teri). We welcomed her even though her 4Runner clashed with yesterday’s all Jeep motif.

Today the plan was to follow the night course of the recent navigational rally plus pick up the caches in Virginia City that we were too tired to think about yesterday. Our little caravan of three plus one drove down Hwy 395 to the Minden airport where we picked up the first of 30+ caches. The route traced a couple of rough figure eights in an area east of Minden and west of the Pine Nut Mountains and then the route went north to the Carson River and eventually to Hwy 50. Originally, the night rally continued up into the Virginia Range but we had already mined those caches and had no intention of going back up there anytime soon.

What can you say about driving around in circles looking for PVC pipe “bombs” in bushes. Not much. But it was a kick in the pants spending the day 4-wheeling with a bunch of fun people. Near the end of the day Teri had to bail and vehicular continuity was restored. The Jeeps continued on to Virginia City and then on to GeoSpyder’s beautiful home for pizza and beer. The end of another great geocaching adventure.

The Caravan to 4000

Last weekend we led a geocaching caravan to pick up a bunch of caches that were recently placed during and after an annual navigation rally. Saturday’s caravan consisted of three Jeeps (is that a caravan or is it just…three Jeeps?). Two of the three were the usual players, Mike and Cynthia (Geo-Jeeper) and Linda and Larry (L3-Geo). The third Jeep was a brand new Rubicon owned by Jim and Marga (GeoSpyder) and this was going to be it’s maiden off-road voyage! We met everyone in Carson City at 7:30 and headed up Goni Road into the Virginia Range.

Overlooking Carson City and Reno is McClelland Peak and it bristles with communication towers. Goni Road is there to access and service these towers. There is also a cinder mine halfway up the road with all of its requisite truck traffic. A myriad of dirt roads and Jeep trails wander off of Goni Road in all directions and that’s where the majority of the caches were hidden. Now I’m not going to bore you with a description of each of the 29 caches we found that day, but I will tell you of our adventure finding them.

After the first cache we needed to get back to Goni Road but I didn’t want to backtrack down the way we came (I hate to backtrack!) so we took another road that took us in the right direction but promptly ended about 10-15 feet ABOVE Goni Road. As others before had done we just went over the edge and slid down the steep slope to the road below and to a nearby cache. We then continued up Goni picking up a few caches here and there until we reached a dirt road that marked the beginning of the previously mentioned rally. We never saw Goni again…

The dirt road (and a cache, of course) led us to a hill top overlooking Washoe Valley and Reno. The views on this gorgeous summer day were spectacular! But…below us, far below us, two caches were calling to us. The road, no, the trail down to the caches was steep and slow with boulders to navigate around and rocks to crawl over but we all made it to the bottom without incident. The map indicated that we were located at the junction between a siphon and an aqueduct.

Back around a hundred or so years ago, Virginia City needed a plentiful supply of clean water and none could be found. So someone came up with a plan to transport water fifty miles from Marlette Lake, near Lake Tahoe, down and across Washoe Valley and then up to Virginia City. And all done without pumps. Imagine a “U” shaped tube with one end higher than the other. Now pour water in the high side and watch it go downhill and then uphill and pour out the other end of the tube. We were standing at the spot where the pipe from Marlette Lake emptied the water into the old aqueduct that carried the water to Virginia City. Very clever AND it’s still in use today (minus the aqueduct part).

The other cache down here was on a road that roughly paralleled the old aqueduct. This road was so flat that I thought at first it was the aqueduct. That thought disappeared when we found ourselves at the brink of another very steep slide down to a ravine below…and the cache. So, of course, we had to do it and down we went. Once down at the bottom we could see that the road continued up the other side and it was so steep and slippery that there was no way we could have made it up and still be married to our lovely wives. So we headed back the way we came. Still…I bet Jim’s Rubicon could have done it. Someday.

Once back up at the top (which top? There were so many), we headed roughly NNE to the summit on McClellan Peak (see, another top). We started the descent down the other side and quickly encountered a beautiful aspen grove, and a cache. It was too early for lunch so we reluctantly continued out into the bright sunlight. It didn’t take long to reach the place where the old aqueduct dumped into a large open square pit where the water was stored for Virginia City. Nearby is today’s version of a water tank. At the tanks we turned and headed down the aqueduct road in the opposite direction and picked up two more caches. Now we had driven along all of the aqueduct road (twice), found all the caches along the road and managed to avoid the aforementioned suicidal portion.

Back at the tanks we continued in our NNE direction picking up two more caches along the way. After slowly negotiating a very rough, rocky and barely discernable road we found ourselves at the junction of Jumbo Grade and Ophir Grade. Almost a hundred years ago there was a railroad running along here connecting Virginia City with Washoe Valley. Just west is the site of Jumbo, a Virginia City wannabe that never lived up to its name.

Again, we continued NNE up even higher out of the high desert into a more alpine setting. We stopped and had lunch under some real trees, not like those scraggly pinion pines below. After lunch we climbed some more along a narrow rocky trial that was washed out in places but still navigatable.

Our goal were caches around Ophir Hill, a 7782 foot mountain, not “hill”, overlooking Virginia City. One of those caches was on top of a smaller 7445 foot mountain known as Middle Hill. To get to Middle Hill we had to drive through a sheep camp with the trailer and accompanying dogs on one side and a herd of sheep on the other. Both the dogs and us were watching to make sure the sheep didn’t decide to panic. Beyond the sheep camp was hardly a trail leading straight up to the top of the “hill”. It looked like three, maybe four Jeeps could fit on top so we all made a run for it only to discover the top was already occupied by some bikers. Fortunately, we all fit with room to turn around and we were able to snag the cache without anyone being the wiser.

After crawling down Middle Hill and through the sheep camp we headed to the top of Ophir Hill and, unfortunately, down the other side on the steepest, rockiest and scariest road we have been on. We knew the cache wasn’t that far down and, indeed, we all made it down okay but the ladies did emit several short high-pitched squeaks. After finding the cache we could have continued sliding down this road into Virginia City OR we could retrace our route all the way back to the tanks. We chose life and headed back the way we came.

At the tanks we turned east and wound our way down to American Flats picking up a few more caches along the way. Once down on the Flat the road turned south. Off to the east you can see the concrete skeleton of an old stamp mill that is now the recipient of urban art and home to late night “parties”. On the south side of the Flat we stopped at a cache called “In View of American Flats”. I specifically mention that one because it was our 4000th find. After a short celebration we continued south heading through a canyon and hillsides recently burned by a wildfire. Once out of the canyon civilization came into view and after picking up a cache it was just a short ride to Hwy 50.

We were all tired, dirty and sore from bumping and lurching for the last 8 hours but, BUT, there was one last cache to get before we called it quits. At the point where we came out onto Hwy 50 it was just a quick jiggy jog across and onto Highlands Drive. At the end of the pavement we found ourselves on part of the old Virginia and Truckee railroad (minus the rails and ties). Originally, the railroad was built to run from Virginia City to Mound House and then points east. Later they extended the railroad west to Carson City and then to Reno. After an easy run out about a mile we stopped for the cache and headed back to Hwy 50 and then on to Carson City for some dinner before going home to Reno.

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.