We were on our way a little earlier this morning because we had a long day ahead of us. No rain, but still the wind....
Headed north on Route 95 to Tonopah, NV and then west on route 6 (the same route 6 that ends at the very tip of Cape Cod, in Provincetown) into California and south on 395 to our destination of Bishop.
The drive would have been an easy one - long, straight, flat road stretching out as far as we could see. Would have been if it weren't for that wind. Dave fought the strong steady wind, but the flat terrain invited unexpected gusts that wanted to shove us right off the highway and into the desert. Distances are almost impossible to gauge. It seemed we were almost at the mountains in front of us, yet it took hours to actually get there. We passed few signs of human activity, mostly tiny brothels that looked like they had seen better days sporting names like Shady Lady Ranch and Angel's Ladies. Most of the day we drove through high and arid desert of varying colors and textures.
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| what looks like water on the road is actually a mirage that disappeared as we drew closer |
But when we made the turn west onto route 6 we knew we were heading into some higher mountains and possible snow. The Montgomery Pass was about 7200 feet and we hadn't noticed what altitude the snow line was. Boundary Mountain is Nevada's highest peak at over 13,000 feet so as we moved along we wondered if we would be introducing Beluga to a bit of California spring snow. Cresting the summit, we saw that it had snowed recently, but the road was completely clear. Thats a good thing.
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| Boundary Mountain |
The rest of the way into Bishop we got glimpses of the high Sierras, also snow covered. The broad, Owens valley, however, was gloriously green and inviting. It was much cooler, only in the high 60's.
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| a floating mountain |
We arrived at Brown's Town Campground late in the afternoon and quickly set up our home. We're in the exact same spot we were in October! So, I guess I don't have to post any more pictures because you all know what it looks like here, right?
OK, here are just a few new ones, you can compare them to last fall's shots!
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| windshield view |
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| the back yard |
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| halo of clouds around the mountain top |
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| our cocktail view, pretty nice eh? |
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had an 80 degree yesterday and a real long spell of sunny weather! WNY at its finest (except it's missing our two friends!)
ReplyDeleteThe mountain shots are stunning! I would certainly have more than one cocktail if I had a view like that.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photo of the floating mountain! Glad you made it safely despite the wind. Enjoy your beautiful cocktail view...stunning!!
ReplyDeleteWhoo hooo...Bishop! One of our fav towns on the 395. You MUST try the Thai restaurant at the airport. Food is excellent and Dave will love being by the runway. They do "music" nights there too. Also, for photography the Mountain Light gallery is simply outstanding (Galen Rowell was one of my fav ever photographers).
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you want to check out where we stayed when we were there drive to Horton Creek BLM. Only $5/night and simply awesome views everywhere.
Nina
Gorgeous! This is what it's all about!
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