That left me with a dilemma. Since we have only one car, how was I going to get there without leaving O stranded for four days? I decided to rent a car, since part of the cost would be defrayed by getting better gas mileage than our SUV can manage. One problem solved.
Then there was the problem of the weather. As the weekend approached, it became increasingly clear that the weather was not inclined to cooperate with our plans. The forecast for most of the weekend was cold, wind, rain, and possible snow. Not ideal camping weather. So the day before we were to leave, Steve suggested that we wait until Sunday to take advantage of a four-day window of better weather. I agreed.
Sunday rolled around and the weather was still unsettled, but it was forecast to clear by the evening. Monday was supposed to be better and Tuesday and Wednesday were forecast to be in the 70s. I got up early, rented a Chevy Malibu and hit the road.
It rained off and on as I drove through the Owyhees,
then snowed briefly as I crested Blue Mountain pass
into northern Nevada.
The scenery was spectacular.
At about 2, I reached Fernley and turned north toward Gerlach,
the gateway to the Black Rock desert.
As I drove parallel to the gorge of the Truckee River,
I could see huge flights of white birds flying north
toward the vast expanse of Pyramid Lake.
I thought they must be seagulls or egrets, but they turned out to be pelicans,
thousands of them. An odd sight in the middle of the Nevada desert!
As I drove north, the skies turned darker and more threatening, and the vistas more scenic.
Soon it was raining hard, then hailing.
Just as I was beginning to worry about the evening's weather, the rain began to taper off.
I soon emerged into clear skies, leaving the occasional squalls behind.
And there was Gerlach, nestled at the foot of the Granite mountains, where Steve and I
were supposed to meet.
P.
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