Winter Solstice Trip - December 2021

 

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Dad Was Right

 

Winter arrived here at home with our first real snowfall in mid December. Lil' Red, the subcompact Massey Ferguson tractor with front mount snowblower handled the cleanup/snow removal chores easily. The second morning had warmed and the snow turned to rain, leaving 2 inches of heavy water saturated white slop on the road and driveways. We were pleased the blower discharged a jet of water out the chute and worked well clearing without freezing up. As the weather forecast showed several days of clearing weather ahead, we left with a bit of snow on the ground and headed south to celebrate the winter solstice.

 

We departed early Saturday morning. Chain controls were dropped in the Lake Tahoe area but were still up along highway 395 from the Nevada state line to just north of Bishop, California. We moved our route over to highway 95 in Nevada for easier travel. Pogonip fog hung in the West Walker River Canyon between Wellington and Yerington and the temperature hung at a steady 24° midday. Nevada is cold.

 

The temperature remained at 24° as we traveled south of Walker Lake and Hawthorne. One of our favorite landmarks along 95 is The Wildcat Ranch just south of Mina. It is a cluster of connected mobile homes surrounded by campy Roman columns and surrounded by abundant parking for truckers. We suspect this industry has been hard hit by the pandemic.

 

Our plan was to reach the Bishop area to find a spot to overnight. Nevada SR 360 is a convenient cutoff from 95 to intersect with highway 6 below Montgomery Pass.  After turning on 360, the outside temperature display never rose above 16°. We were in store for a very cold night. What to do?

 

It never hurts to check. Almost unbelievably Benton Hot Springs had a cancellation - Benton was snow covered from the recent storm - and Tub 3 was ours for the night. I cannot type "WOW!" big enough to indicate how excited we were. It rarely works out, but it never hurts to check.

 

The area was stunning on this cold winter afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The temperature dropped to only 20° overnight. The hot spring water was incredible.

 

As we soaked the next morning with our mugs of coffee, we watched the sky brighten, a bit of morning color washed across the sky and turned to blue. The first sunlight hit the hilltops to the west.

 

Always eager to walk the Lady surprised me. "With all the ice," she said. "I don't want to slip and fall with my new knees. Let's stop somewhere today when it's warmer and walk."

"How about breakfast?" I asked. "Should we eat inside the camper or outside in our chairs?"

"And soak again after, before we go?" The Lady replied.

"It's so warm and comfortable in here, maybe the best idea is to have breakfast in the tub."

The Lady returned to the camper and put our simple breakfast together. A few moments later the camper door was open and she stood on the step outside the door with two steaming bowls of goat meal with blueberries. With a grin from ear to ear she announced, "We're having breakfast in the buff!"

My mind jumped back to a memory of my Dad telling me so many years ago, "Son, find yourself a woman who likes to have breakfast in the buff and you will be a happy man." Dad was right.

 

In Bishop later that morning we received a text from our friends, The Teds. They were on the road also and our plan was to meet in Panamint Valley. Also joining them was a friend, Karel, who they often see in Yellowstone National Park. Karel is another avid Yellowstone wildlife watcher.

 

Panamint Valley greeted us in the usual way with Navy F18 fighter jets roaring down the valley just above the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first night we anxiously awaited the rise of the full moon. We called it the Solstice Moon, as the solstice was early the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

We woke to a low of 26°. Panamint Valley was cold too. We felt the power of the winter solstice and celebrated the sun's turn northward and the coming of days with longer daylight - the winter solstice is our special day of the holiday season.

 

This day was a day of relaxation with no driving and keeping camp in place. The Lady and I took the opportunity to explore. We have always wanted to walk around the base of Lake Hill and circle the tiny mountain.

 

After walking along the familiar east side, we headed through the break on the north end of Lake Hill and headed out to the broad playa of Panamint Valley that butts against the west side of Lake Hill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Panamint Dunes are nestled in the far north end of the valley.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lady walked the edge of Lake Hill with the Cottonwood Mountains beyond. I explored further out on the playa as we hiked south along the west side.

 

 

 

 

 

Here was a interesting discovery. There are two old rusted and shot up cars sitting alongside Lake Hill Road two miles north of highway 190. I have shown photos of them several times on past blog posts. Here we found the hood of the older car around three miles to the north of where they sit.

 

 

 

 

 

More interesting to us was four small stone circles stretching out to the north on the playa.

 

 

 

 

 

We also came across this feature. Does the water flow off of Lake Hill in an underground channel and collapse the playa above?

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped twice for breaks along our route. The day was clear and cold.

 

 

 

 

 

We rounded the south end of Lake Hill and the cat house camp came into view - our small Bobcat All Terrain Camper and The Teds' and Karel's Tiger Adventure Vehicles - tigers and a bobcat.

 

 

 

 

 

Our hike measured out to 5.5 miles, the Lady's longest on her new knees. It was enough to make the legs feel tired and a good build up for future longer hikes.

 

Clouds built with the passing of a weather front. It gave us a bit of evening color with sundown.

 

 

 

 

 

This was our last evening with Karel.

 

 

 

 

 

Ted brought out their propane fire pit and we enjoyed an evening of stories and fine company. A kit fox joined us and sat just a few feet behind us. It was sadly accustomed to people and handouts of food. No handouts from us but we were good company.

 

Karel departed early the following morning, starting her trip home. The Teds and we drove to our next destination, a camp spot in the middle of the Mojave National Preserve. We were settled in camp in time to watch the drama of last light play out across the marvelous landscape...................

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.........................until the light faded away.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lady and I woke early the following morning and were out to watch the coming of dawn to the Mojave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunlight finally hit our solitary campsite, now with only two cat houses.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued our morning walk.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful warm winter desert morning - in the low forties. We were thrilled to have The Teds join us on our rambles for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

We were especially pleased that Ted had the energy and desire - dealing with cancer and chemo - to go for a hike. He did well and got a big hug from the Lady.

 

 

 

 

 

We found an old cowboy camp. These can be dated by the manufacturing methods used in producing cans.

 

 

 

 

 

We were pleased to find a small panel of petroglyphs.

 

 

 

 

 

In a broad drainage we found the remains of a rimmed concrete pad for collecting rain water.

 

 

 

 

 

The water was directed into two coffin sized cisterns.

 

 

 

 

 

Close by was another concrete pad in better condition. The water was collected in a degrading fiberglass tank.

 

 

 

 

 

We did a circle route that took us back to camp. On the way we came upon a cliff face with eyes. Yes, we definitely felt like we were being watched.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a shock that we had cell service at camp, but it turned out to be of good benefit. Our initial trip plans were based around storms coming it at home mid week and continuing with snow for christmas and the storm ending Sunday night. We planned on returning Monday after the storm. Updated weather now told of a major snow storm - several feet of snow - coming in for christmas and now lasting for several days, but with an opportunity for us to get home Friday evening before the snow. Heading home in the morning was the best bet.

 

The Teds made our last night in the desert festive and special. We found holiday lights draped across both vehicles, a small tree decorated with lights on a table, and the propane fire pit set up to warm us under the thickening clouds overhead. Camping with the Teds is always a delight.

 

 

 

 

 

Raindrops on the camper roof woke us during the night. We left early the next morning, choosing a longer route but with the quickest return to pavement. With roads still impacted by snow in Nevada and on the east side of the Sierra, we wisely headed west to return home via California's great central valley, something the Lady and I have not done for decades. It was a wet rainy drive. We overnighted in Goshen at a KOA and made it home as planned on Friday before the storm turned to snow.

 

It turned into a honest to god good old fashion winter storm. Many feet of snow has fallen as I write. Old Bing out did himself bringing us a white christmas. We've put gallons of diesel through the Massey Ferguson blowing snow and gallons of gas through the Honda generator. It's not a real winter storm unless we are without power for days...................

 

..........................I'll post this trip story to the blog when power and internet are restored.

 

In setting dates for her knee replacement surgeries, the Lady said over and over, "I want to be able to shovel snow when winter comes!"

 

Which, of course, reminded me of what my Dad told me so many years ago, "Son, find yourself a woman who loves to shovel snow and you will be a happy man." Dad was right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addendum: It snowed over 60 inches here at home. Power, internet, TV, was out for 7 days. The Lady's smart phone was limited to voice and text only. Just another winter week in the mountains.