Alturas, CA – 311 km

Overnight lows were close to freezing in the high desert. The lady at the motel check in this afternoon covered or took her plants in last night just in case. We got a later start from Burns as a) it was cold and b) there is no rush as the couple we were going to stop in and see in Silver Springs, NV are going camping tomorrow and won’t be home. Result: we have plenty of time to get to Sparks by Friday afternoon. So much so that tomorrow we are going to take the Gerlach-Pyramid Lake road through northern Nevada. The last time Doug took this route it was quite a challenge so we shall see if things have changed in 25+ years.

OK, where was everyone this morning. We know it was cold but also such a beautiful sunny day you would think we would see some activity. All that seemed to be awake in this deserted part of the world was the occasional cow.

The first animal we saw on the road today was:

a.       A pronghorn antelope

       b.      An ostrich
      c.       A peacock
       d.      A coyote

If you answered c. you are correct. We think he was an escapee from a local farm outside of Burns. As we approached neither of us could decide what we were really seeing. First we thought it was a large turkey, then a dog so what a surprise when we got close enough to actually see it. It wasn’t even scared of Raindancer, just kept on strutting along the highway!

Our first stop was at Wagontire, OR – a bustling metropolis complete with international airport. Population 3. We did not see any of the 3 inhabitants, although there was an old pickup beside a mobile home. Apparently someone found a wagon tire near there spurring romantics to suggest that it came from a covered wagon attacked by Indians. 

 

We rode past Abert Lake, a very large lake area (alkaline slough) that the road curved around. It looked very pretty but whenever we got downwind was pretty odorous. No sign of life around it for good reason.

There were lots of gophers running merrily across the road becoming road kill and feed for numerous brown hawks we saw. These little guys seemed way smaller than what we see at home and run pretty fast, but sometimes not fast enough, hence the road kill part. We expect to see many more tomorrow morning as they will congregate on the warm pavement in the early morning sun.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon was a pleasant sagebrush ride under clear skies with very little wind. We stopped early here in Alturas to get some laundry done and treat ourselves to a Mexican dinner out.

We are in the USA!