The hike last Sunday remains memorable. Although the wind was brutal in the saddle between Prison Hill and Stegosaurus Ridge, once out of the wind the day was very pleasant. The hike down was both easier and more difficult, of course. Easier in the sense that I was not climbing; more difficult on the tendons that pass the knee to connect the quadriceps to the bones. After a few hundred steps, those tendons complained a bit. But it was good because I am uninjured but the system was stressed. Stress causes adaptation, in muscles and connective tissue.

I’ll process and post a couple of captures of the dead truck from the trip up sometime. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow. But, the one that captured my eye this morning was the view of the Dead Truck I saw on the way down the hill. The bed is full of sediment from the canyon. The light was not bad, too.

The hike will remain memorable to me. I had a great day and a great hike.

While standing a couple hundred feet from the gazebo on the hill near Deadman’s Creek, the Girl and I saw this wonderful view of Slide Mountain and Washoe Lake. There is a little water in the lake now. It was just enough to provide some reflection of the mountains and the sky. The beauty of the place astounded me.

It was well worth the hike to get this view. I’m grateful for it.

The Girl and I drove down to Carson City this afternoon to retrieve our mail and pick up an SSD from Best Buy. I’m going to attempt an external drive install of Winder$ for my MacBook Pro. If that works, then I will no longer need a Winder$ box and can lighten my load substantially.

After our running, we drove over to the Silver Saddle Ranch. It’s a facility jointly managed by Carson City and Bureau of Land Management. It’s still a working ranch, as far as I know.

What I know for sure is that it’s a favorite place to hike. This time we took the trail up Dead Truck Canyon (more on that in another post with another image, I think) all the way up to the crest. I hunted for one geocache (a 4.5 star) but no joy. However, the second surrendered itself readily and I logged a find for the day.

The Girl hunted, but not too far away. On the way in I saw a posting that coyote activity was observed and it was recommended to keep pets on leash. The Girl is always on a virtual leash, but I noticed that she stayed fairly close the entire hike. She doesn’t read, but I think she caught the message anyway. I carried a sidearm just in case.

On the way back, the sun gave us a treat. The overlook of the Carson River Valley east from Carson City was absolutely stunning. I made several captures on the way down and thought I should share.

Last Sunday the Girl and I needed an outing. So, we simply climbed into the 4Runner and headed out. I thought about Washoe Lake State Park as we drove down old U.S. 395, electing to leave the superslab. When we turned south onto East Lake Road, I remembered Deadman’s Creek and the trail there.

That would do! So we parked the rig, readied ourselves, and started off.

The trail was in pretty good shape on the south facing portions. There was some mud, but not a lot. Plus, it was still cold enough in the shade that the surface was frozen. The hike up the canyon was not bad. The sun was nice and warm. There were a few other hikers, but not many. There was sign of wild horses, but no animals.

As we rounded the upper end of the trail, I noticed a rock pile. Someone spent some effort collecting and stacking the stones. It was worth a capture, just for the texture if nothing more.

The north facing part of the trail was something of a mess. There was a combination of snow, ice, and mud. Still, we traversed the slope without falling (the Girl rarely falls). We even managed to find a couple of geocaches along the way, which added to the fun.

At the top of the hill, near the new gazebo, we paused for a few minutes to enjoy the sun, visit with a few other hikers, and make a capture. Well, I made the capture while the Girl looked for lizards. It’s too early for lizards, but that doesn’t stop her from looking!

While the Girl played along the beach, searching the driftwood for critters (see it, kill it — the terrier way), I wandered about enjoying the afternoon sunlight and making a few images. This bit of driftwood was just right to catch some of the afternoon light, bringing out its texture.

After parking and dismounting near the entrance to Larrabee State Park, I noticed the play of light and shadow on the road. That made me pause, get out my iPhone (which seems to be my camera of choice for grab shots), and make a capture.

What a beautiful place, and wonderful hike, and I spent time with fine company. It was a good day.

One morning in late January, the Girl and I were headed for town to get some work done at Wood’s Coffee. The sun was out that morning and the light was beautiful. So we stopped at an overlook to make this capture and marvel at the color and vista.