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