Question on Lake Tahoe

[Sigarms]

Look at a map of the last election. Rural California all voted red. They are all great folks and good to know. Its the cities - LA, San Francisco, Sacramento - that are clueless and vote woke. Unfortunately, they have the numbers to win elections...and cause so many Californians to flee to other states. Saw a news article in the Reno paper that over 50,000 Californians have moved to Nevada in the past year alone.

VERY long story, but had to go to the emergency room Friday night in South Tahoe.

Young doctor treated me. We talked and he's from Tennessee. I mentioned a county in Tennessee were I go to for work that's 2 hours from me, and he actually has family there.

He did admit living on the California side had some drawbacks per guns but he LOVES to ski LOL

 

[ultrarunner]

Hope all went well… Barton Memorial was celebrated when it opened bringing care to the region.

Tahoe also has very good orthopedic facilities mostly from ski accidents…

 

[plowhog]

Thanks for the narrative and the great pictures. Having lived nearby for decades, I'm familiar with nearly everything you posted. Glad you enjoyed the beauty of CA. Since I live over the border in NV, I get to enjoy CA without contributing to the tax system and associated chaos there!

If you like to backpack, there is something not too far from Mammoth. Go to Bishop, CA, about 45 mins South. Then go west up to Lake Sabrina. There is also South Lake, Long Lake, and others.

I have backpacked there, and it seems the trailhead started at nearly 9,000 ft so it's not for the wimpy. We backpacked to Long Lake, then did a day hike to Bishop Pass at 12,000 ft and looked over the top of the spine of the Sierras in the westward direction.

You don't need to carry much food. You can catch abundant quantities of rainbow trout virtually everywhere in that region.

 

[plowhog]

Enclosed is a very interesting part of history in the Sierras. Many people know Virginia City, NV had extensive silver mining. What most don't know is that the mines consumed 100 cords of firewood per day.

Think of that for a minute-- that's 3,000 cords of firewood in one month. So in a desert community, where did all that come from?

A LOT of the firewood came from logs transported from the Tahoe Forest down flumes erected to move the logs down to the Carson Valley floor.

Enclosed is a short story about a similar flume. The 5 guys in the story had stones the size of boulders ....

 

[deserteagle71]

Thanks for the narrative and the great pictures. Having lived nearby for decades, I'm familiar with nearly everything you posted. Glad you enjoyed the beauty of CA. Since I live over the border in NV, I get to enjoy CA without contributing to the tax system and associated chaos there!

If you like to backpack, there is something not too far from Mammoth. Go to Bishop, CA, about 45 mins South. Then go west up to Lake Sabrina. There is also South Lake, Long Lake, and others.

I have backpacked there, and it seems the trailhead started at nearly 9,000 ft so it's not for the wimpy. We backpacked to Long Lake, then did a day hike to Bishop Pass at 12,000 ft and looked over the top of the spine of the Sierras in the westward direction.

You don't need to carry much food. You can catch abundant quantities of rainbow trout virtually everywhere in that region.

And on the east side of Bishop are the White Mountains - and Bristlecone National Monument.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5129900

The road starts in Lone Pine, just south of Bishop, goes east onto Westgard Pass and then turns north up the spine of the White Mountains. Spectacular scenery as the paved road goes past 8000 - 9000-10,000, and 11,000 feet elevation. The views of the Sierras from the White Mountains is worth the trip alone - you can see all the peaks that go up and past 14,000 feet. Bristlecone National Monument is home to the world's oldest trees - many are over 4,000 years old! Think of that! These trees were 2000 years old when Christ was born! The paved road ends at the Visitors Center. But if you have a vehicle with good tires, a dirt road continues on for miles and ends at a locked gate. Beyond the gate is the White Mountains High Altitude Research Station at nearly 13,000 feet elevation. White Mountain Research Center — Supporting scientific achievement for over 70 years.
Easy hike if your lungs are up to it, but then you can hike to the summit of White Mountain, 14,252. feet elevation!

Looking down on Bishop and the Owens Valley from 11,000 feet:

A grove of Bristlecone Pine trees:

The wind and weather at this altitude has turned these trees into some neat wood sculptures:

You can look west and see the Sierra Nevada Peaks:

Or look east over 200 miles of Nevada:

Once you are up over 11,000 feet it becomes a barren "moonscape"....

I circled in red the High Altitude Research Station in this shot, at upper left. That's 14,252 ft White Mountain Peak just to the right of the Station.

Well worth the drive or the hike, if you can handle the altitude!

 

[California]

Oh man this thread brings back so many memories! Thanks Sigarms and everyone for the beautiful photos, and descriptions.

The region is my 'back yard', like I see for the other contributors.

The one landmark missing from the thread is Rainbow Bridge, halfway down Donner Pass Road (pre 60's US-40 transcontinental highway) between the summit and Donner Lake. In the near-impassable steep portion that trapped the Donner party.

This bridge built in the 1920's was unique at the time. Curved as it goes uphill, with the road radius curve at each end twice as sharp as the curve in the arched part. It bridges a gap where the terrain is impossibly steep to replace the previous 18 degree roadway grade. Link, detailed description.

 

[California]

Lots of comments re the photos: The new freeway over Donner Summit, bypassing Donner Pass, wasn't complete in time for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley. 2-lane old US-40, shown in the photos here, was the only route to get up there. Yes, a slow trip with only a few rare passing zones, winter or summer.

Summer 1961 I worked at Donner Lake Trading Post (now Donner Lake Gift Shop) at the foot of Donner Pass on US-40. As often as possible I hitched a ride up to watch the freeway construction. I can still hear the awful grinding of bulldozers and scraper pans picking up freshly blasted granite.

Sigarms commented that stairs up from the street to a cabin would be hard to climb after a snowfall. My cousin has a similar cabin at Soda Springs. Winter access is through the street level garage then up interior stairs.

Sierraville, Loyalton, Vinton. When I was a little kid, a friend's family took me along each summer for weeks-long visits on their relatives thousand acre cattle ranch SW of Vinton, in Sierra Valley near the intersection of SR49 and SR70. Anybody here old enough to remember the Spin & Marty TV series? That was the life those cousins lived, real cowboys. They had an army half-track to get through the snow, bought after losing a lot of cattle in the 1954 blizzard. I never saw it run, but the kids had free use of a 39 Ford Coupe to drive all over the sagebrush-covered land. Great memories!

Picking up friends in Sacramento then driving up I-80, Tahoe City, around east side of Tahoe, then returning down US-50 is an easy day's drive including some time for sightseeing.

And from the freeway you can see the classic small billboard in a certain neighborhood of Truckee, that someone long ago stole from a San Francisco clothing shop. 'Every man is odd but we can fit him!'.

 

[etpm]

I grew up in the Bay Area and went to Tahoe many times as well as Nevada. I remember driving over Donner Pass with my folks and the snow plows had cut a tunnel through the snow. The snow overhung the road and there was a thin slice of daylight coming through. Scary. When I was 18 myself and 3 others hiked from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe. A 2 week hike. It was a great adventure.
Eric

 

[Sigarms]

Hope all went well… Barton Memorial was celebrated when it opened bringing care to the region.

Tahoe also has very good orthopedic facilities mostly from ski accidents…

Honestly, very impressed with the Urgent care at Barton. Walked in around 8PM, they took me in back onto a bed literally 15 minutes and was out in less than two hours after talking with the docs.

Perhaps it was because it was before the holiday influx of people, but I'll take it.

Actually have a follow up from that last visit tomorrow as I need to get it check out little more as it's still persisting (neck issue).

Worse thing to do is look at symptoms online. First thing that popped up was meningitis which the doc ruled out which is what I wanted accomplished.

 

[Sigarms]

And on the east side of Bishop are the White Mountains - and Bristlecone National Monument.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/inyo/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5129900

The road starts in Lone Pine, just south of Bishop, goes east onto Westgard Pass and then turns north up the spine of the White Mountains. Spectacular scenery as the paved road goes past 8000 - 9000-10,000, and 11,000 feet elevation. The views of the Sierras from the White Mountains is worth the trip alone - you can see all the peaks that go up and past 14,000 feet. Bristlecone National Monument is home to the world's oldest trees - many are over 4,000 years old! Think of that! These trees were 2000 years old when Christ was born! The paved road ends at the Visitors Center. But if you have a vehicle with good tires, a dirt road continues on for miles and ends at a locked gate. Beyond the gate is the White Mountains High Altitude Research Station at nearly 13,000 feet elevation. White Mountain Research Center — Supporting scientific achievement for over 70 years.
Easy hike if your lungs are up to it, but then you can hike to the summit of White Mountain, 14,252. feet elevation!

Looking down on Bishop and the Owens Valley from 11,000 feet:
View attachment 1899244

A grove of Bristlecone Pine trees:
View attachment 1899245

The wind and weather at this altitude has turned these trees into some neat wood sculptures:
View attachment 1899246

You can look west and see the Sierra Nevada Peaks:
View attachment 1899249

Or look east over 200 miles of Nevada:
View attachment 1899250

Once you are up over 11,000 feet it becomes a barren "moonscape"....View attachment 1899251

I circled in red the High Altitude Research Station in this shot, at upper left. That's 14,252 ft White Mountain Peak just to the right of the Station.
View attachment 1899252

Well worth the drive or the hike, if you can handle the altitude!

Thank you for that info.

Just looked it up, page 87 B7 in in the California Atlas & Gazetteer (I love these books as it helps you keep distances in perspective for the whole state).

Will definitely be back as we do want to check out the Mammoth area. As mentioned, weather at the end of the week was kind of up in the air per possible snow.

Both my wife and I though rentals in the area would come with snow chains and nothing in the SUV. Also no ice scraper.

Came across a couple from Florida early in the morning at Emerald Point when it snowed and we were the only ones there, and they really weren't dressed well for the cold.