Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Jun 22, 2006

Lahontan Reservoir

Filed in Nevada 2006

I couldn’t sleep too well, so I was actually up at 4:45. Getting stuff on the bike was frustrating since I forgot things and kept having to re-pack. Also, I was very cross to pay $1.75 for a soda and find out that the machine, with a big picture of a Pepsi bottle on it, sold only “fruit juice”.

So I left around 6 and enjoyed a preview of Carson City.

I discovered that riding east at dawn in the desert is a bad idea. I missed every single snarf between Carson City and Ragtown because I could not see a darn thing. I could see the shapes and traffic; that was not a problem. But read signs? Nope. Not a sausage. Frustrating too to pass right through Dayton–nine markers!–and not see where the heck was downtown. I sailed past a few landmarks but didn’t stop.

As I passed an entranceway for Lahontan Reservoir I decided to back track and take a break. It was fantastic. There was no human-noise. Just birds, and the occasional bug and lizard. The silence was so thick you
could slice it, and the setting was beautiful–most unexpected out there in the desert.

I had a chat with the nice ranger who showed up. She gave me a few hints, but I still managed to miss the probable location of the marker.

It’s a shame that I couldn’t find anywhere safe to turn around.

I hadn’t really relaxed into my ride, so it was a nice break and things started feeling better after that. (It helped that the sun had risen to where it wasn’t a menace, too.)