Next Phase

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Sara and I drove down to Lake Tahoe, but we could barely see it. Wildfires started up overnight in Yosemite and the smoke was already in Tahoe. It was very hazy and you could smell the smoke.

Haze from wildfires at Lake Tahoe. All the mountains from here on out are obscured with this haze.

Since we couldn’t see anything we went back to Reno and walked along their River Walk. It’s along the Truckee River and people tube and use as a beach. There are sculptures on the banks.

It would have been cool if the fountains were running out of these bird and fish heads.
Believe.
Mother and baby whale.

I took Sara to the airport so she could return home, and I headed south to my next campground in Bridgeport, CA.  It’s on the back side of the mountain from Yosemite and the smoke was getting worse.  I kept getting weather alerts about poor air quality. I woke the next morning and found myself repeating “It stinks” as if I didn’t hear myself the first time.  I left early trying to get as far away as quick as I could, driving south and east.

The driving has been pretty desolate.  On the drive from Bridgeport to Goldfield, NV, there were no cars, trucks, houses, towns, or gas stations. I went down to 1/4 of a tank before I reached a gas station, and cell phone coverage.

Some of the scenery was interesting. At one point, I was in a valley at 7000 feet elevation, looking up at 13,000 foot mountains.

At 7,000 foot elevation, looking up a Boundary Peak with an elevation of 13,140 feet.

I went through an area with red rocks that looked like Sedona.  Next came flat, brown areas with white patches that looked like salt flats.

I saw a lot of what I think are Joshua Trees. There are like a wannabe palm tree.

The little towns I finally reached weren’t much consultation because they all look like ghost towns, all run down, boarded up, with lots of junk around.

This was the view from my campsite in Goldfield. The rest of the town looked the same.  It was hard to discern someone’s yard from the road – they both looked the same.

I continued on through this interesting town, Beatty, NV.

Glad I was already slowed down for the 25 mph speed limit.  The donkeys were even slower.

I am now on the outskirts of Las Vegas.  It’s strange because I’m out in the desert and it threatened rain and flash floods all day.  It’s so barren and desolate it’s hard to believe it ever rains here.

Las Vegas sunset.
Las Vegas skyline from my campground.

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