Our fears came true this morning when we were alerted that
the entire valley was closed to patrons. I had a gut feel that our access to
CA120 would be cut off due to the flooding. However, we decided to attempt to drive down
towards the valley floor and see if we could get access to 120. We were
encountered with closed roads and traffic enforcement - No good!
NPS Enforcement informed us that the only way out was to go
via CA41. It took us about a 1.5 hours out of the way, but it was a relief to
hear we would not be pigeon held in the valley.
Our flight was at 6:43pm, so we had plenty of time to make
our way to Reno. We left our place at 8am this morning and planned to stop for
some time in Carson City. The road closure definitely put a crinkle in the plan
for the day, but ended up being the best thing that could have happened. The drive
through the south side of the valley and then across the Sierra’s was
breathtaking. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful mountain drive I had ever
done in my life. We went from elevations of 1000 to 6000 feet at least 4 to 5
times and up to 9000 feet twice. 
It is truly wonderful to see the differences in the
landscapes from one to the next. We went through a minimum of five different elevation/landscape
changes. Each as different and diverse as the next. The pictures and images we
took do not do the places justice. We jumped from the 40’s to the 60’s, then
back to the 30’s and shortly thereafter back to the 60’s. From rain, to clear
skies, to the snow-packed mountains and back to the dry sandy floor of Reno.
No comments:
Post a Comment