The Loneliest Road

US 50 bills itself as "The Loneliest Road," and, I would add, also the ugliest, and not just the scenery. After stimulating the local economy in Carson City, we drove 50 all across Nevada and through Utah all the way to Provo. I'll have a couple or three posts on sights along the way but wanted to add these from the road itself.

Not the official signage

Salt flats

Writ in sand...

Sand Mountain...reminiscent of larger, more extensive dunes in
France, the North Island, etc.

Hundreds and hundreds of largely uninhabited miles, basin and
range, basin and range, basin and range....

Savage-camping on a pass east of Austin, NV

Occasional pioneer stuff along the way; this in a sort of park in
Eureka, NV, where we stopped for lunch in the shade; my one
abiding image of US 50 will be of the conspicuously armed
paramilitary assholes "guarding" the Chevron station in Eureka

Sculpture on a spur from 50 to Great Basin National Park

Fence sculpture

Somewhere east of Baker, NV, now probably in Utah, a
GoogleEarth street-view car passes us at a very high rate of
speed...

Evidently photographing this gorgeous terrain

Let's see, last time I photographed one of these was in 2010,
I think, on El Camino Real, in Palo Alto...

Just west of Hinckley, Utah, one of the better
shoe trees

Nearby shoe stripling

A few that didn't stick...

Tahoe Camping

We camped two nights at the NFS' Nevada Beach campground, a pie-shaped strip of land, the wide side fronting on US50, the narrow side, perhaps half a mile, on Tahoe beach, a mile and a half from South Lake Tahoe (the town). Rather little of Lake Tahoe is easily accessible, I surmise. At either end of Nevada Beach, fearsome signs, fences, pilings, and other structures let you know this is private property. Anyhow, we mostly walked around, to town, in the forest, on the beach. It's pretty, yes, but smoke from new California fires was beginning to show--we'd seen some in Pinecrest--and we wanted to continue our northeasterly course.

A meadow in the Nevada Beach forest service campground;
the whole place was "rescued" in the 1980s--it was going to
be yet another massive casino/resort--ensuring local access
to the lake; note menhir and stone circle (OK, yes, I seriously
miss Europe)

Really blue sky at this altitude, over 6,000 feet

Sign near highway 50

Still relatively clear water

Panoramic view

Two-seat power-boat parapente

But then things get ugly

Thus; I fully expected armed sentries, but the fence here was
merely that of a trailer park

Burning Man (why not Burning Person?) had just ended, so the
streets and highways were filled with playa-covered vehicles
of various sorts; here is one at the campground; note scratched
comment...

Eating well on Senior Thursday at the casino

Sierra Camping

We proceeded on, driving leisurely toward Lake Tahoe. The route we took included the impressive Sonora Pass and then another pass (Monitor Pass?) the next day. I think 15% is the steepest grade we have undertaken in our travels, so the 28% and less grades of the Sonora Pass were pretty thrilling. The big Dodge Ram truck handled them easily.

The pass was close to 10,000 feet; of course, we've been
higher in this vehicle, in Wyoming last winter

One of the steeper grades

To the east, more mountains

At length we got to the Kit Carson campground in Toiyabe NF;
the greatest of the mountain men, arguably

Our encampment

Another great Sierra view...with free wifi poached from a
"resort" down the road

After visiting a nice farmer's market in South Lake Tahoe, we
made it to Stateline, NV, and eventually another encampment.
at Nevada Beach campground, on Lake Tahoe

Vicki participating in the local culture 

Return To Pinecrest

Our grand-parenting stint completed, we moved on up the road to the Pinecrest Lake area, which we had reconnoitered last spring. Reservations are needed for the Pinecrest NFS campground, and it was Labor Day weekend, but we found a site in the nearly adjacent Meadowview campground, which does not require reservations. It too filled up quickly. Interestingly, there were numerous no-shows at Pinecrest. One of the Dodge Ridge employees (the concessionaire that runs the campgrounds) told us they generally have about a thousand no-shows per summer--a surprisingly large number, to me, that they apparently are willing to accept. Collateral damage, I guess. There is no penalty for not-showing except for losing your money, which for most people is probably just nominal. Oh well. Anyhow, we stayed several stays, mostly trying to walk off some of the vlaamse frites and other indiscretions of a summer in Europe.

At a Mi-Wuk Indian village site, a milling
rock; in Europe, we would have called them
"cup marks"

Pup tent; note the gigantic ravens...I mean, Crebain from
Dunland

Grand menhir of Dodge Ridge

On a south shore walk on the lake, a deck built over the
boulders

Looking back the length of Pinecrest Lake, the dam on the
right, the beaches and marina on the left

Busy place on the weekend

Back at the camper, one of Nature's little dramas...must
remember to buy bug spray next time we're in a store

Camping At Santa Cruz

For the last long weekend in August, we took Penelope on a camping trip to Santa Cruz, 40 or so miles south of Menlo Park. The Santa Cruz marina has a dozen or so campsites--rather more on the European model...a place to park a self-contained rig, water and electricity...but $52 a night, decidedly not on the European model--which we nonetheless found quite pleasant, and certainly within walking distance of beaches, the boardwalk, and so on. Our four year old granddaughter is quite the trooper. We walked five miles one day, six another, and four the last, with never a complaint. Of course it helped that there were fun stops throughout...snacks, lunch, seal sightings, the great sand beach and surf, a boat ride, sunset, and so on. Plus the weather was unbeatable...warm and dry and a just a little wind on the beach. And we ate well.

P at Aldo's, just where the marina ends and the jetties begin

Thus

Captain's Plate at Aldo's; P helped with the calamari and the 
fish; and the frites; I was not willing to share the coconut 
shrimp

Everywhere you look, something to look at

Heading home after a couple hours on the beach

On the marina's nice water taxi

Looking across Monterey Bay at Saturday sunset

Sunday morning apple crepes and smoked ham for breakfast;
thanks for the apples, Maggie

Whale-riding at Santa Cruz' historical museum

In peril on the sea...the harbor is loaded with paddle-boarders,
kayakers, and first-time sailing students; plus hundreds of
bigger craft; we saw more than a few near misses, but nothing 
really serious

Great place; we'll be back