Blog

In the morning we continued east on 108, stopping where we could view Lake Donelle Flume Gorge.

Continuing east, we headed up to Sonora Pass to about 9500 feet, where we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail. Along the way up, there were many dispersed forest service campgrounds. The views on the way up were gorgeous with many basalt vertical pillars, similar to Devils Post Pile. We made a note to come back some day for a weekend trip. Going down on the Nevada side was not as pituresque, but interesting enough with rounded weather beaten hills. In the Toiyabe National Forest, we drove along the West Walker River, where Jason wanted to return some day and fish.

As we approached 395, we decided to deviate from our plan and make a short excursion south of Crestview, to Lookout Mountain. Several years before we found many Indian stone points here, and Ian found a scraper. There was a jeep road that took you to the top of the hill where there was a giant pile of discarded knapped obsidian. The easiest way to the top was to follow the widest roads, NOT paying any attention to the inaccurate map provided at the beginning of the trail. It seemed a shame that the road crossed right through the middle of the pile. I wondered how many points had been smashed under the many jeepers and 4-wheelers like us.

It was different than we remembered; clearly people had been here and removed the interesting pieces. I think if you dug down lower on the hill, near the tree line, beneath the duff, you might find some better points. We spent about an hour and did not find anything other than discarded flakes.

We continued south on 395 to the Benton Crossing Road. It was a lovely drive with the sun low in the sky and huge rock out croppings, casting shadows all over. It was similar to Joshua Tree. Some looked almost like drip sand castles.

We camped in Nevada on a deserted old mining road just off Hwy 6, west of the 773 junction. The barren rocky road had enough twists, turns, and hills to keep us hidden from the highway, and took us to a flat spot to camp.

The highlight here was the stunning desert horned lizard Ian found.

The lizard was magnificent with large spikes coming off the back of his head. He was easy to catch and did not struggle. Instead he laid down flat on Ian’s hand, like a dog stretched out on a cool floor on a hot day.