Done camped!

Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm late. I'm worn out!

For those of you who know the area, we didn't make it to Lahontan - we ended up at Washoe Lake. Anticlimactic, but at least we went! S had friends who were going to meet us at Lahontan, and as we pulled out of her driveway, loaded down with horses and food and everything we'd need, they called. Somebody had reserved the equestrian area there, and the friends couldn't find the other horse camping area. They were going to go to Pyramid Lake, because they didn't have horses with them.

We sure weren't going to turn around and unload the horses! But we couldn't go just anywhere, because the trailer water tank had sprung a leak last night. The only place S could think of that had water and was not way far away was Washoe Lake, which is just south of Reno. So we headed from north of Reno, through the city in early rush hour, to south of Reno to camp.

The facility was actually really nice. There was one pipe corral, so we didn't have to set up the hot tape corral - just S's pipe corral. There was plenty of water, some toilets, a fire pit, a bunch of picnic tables, and plenty of horse trails. We unloaded and went for a short ride along the lake.

Here's S, on Tempus, at the lakeshore:


Here's me! Sporting my awesome new Camelbak and my stylin' don't-shoot-me hat.


We rode about halfway up the lakeshore, then cut in behind the dunes and rode back to camp. It was real pretty in that desert-y way that I've grown to like.


Dixie was clearly skeptical of her new living arrangements.


A little dinner settled her down nicely, though. We got the horses settled in for the night, then ate and hung out by the fire pit. We did not, however, have a fire - the other people were bringing the firewood! It was cold, but a flask of Southern Comfort kept us warm for a couple hours. And I got to stare at the stars while we talked! God, there's so many stars out here. Even that close to Reno/Carson City, you could still see the Milky Way.

We got up not too early, let the horses have a couple hours to eat breakfast, and saddled up for a day of riding. S from Cali came out - I think I'll just call him Cali from now on! Here's where we rode in the mountains:


Almost all of it was on gravel roads, with just a little bushwhacking. The highest point was near 6000', up from about 5000' at the lake, so it was a lot of climbing. At least Dixie and I thought so!

DUDE. Nobody really communicated to me how HARD it is, physically, to ride up steep hills. I know to lean forward, and I did not hesitate to grab some mane to help myself stay balanced, but damn, what a core workout. Keeping my legs tucked forward out of the way of her rear legs was a challenge!

Anyway, here's S and Cali. S is sporting her don't-shoot-me t-shirt, and Cali is decked out in his full cowboy gear. Dixie and I were looking scraggly as usual, in our mismatched bits of tack. :)


If we'd kept going 5 or 10 more miles in the direction I'm facing, we could've ridden to Virginia City. There's an active mine in the distance to the right (the black area). We ended up cutting cross-country to my left, then picking up the straight road up the hill on the left.


The world's best graffiti enhanced the view of Washoe. Reno is just over the hills in the distance straight ahead, and if I turned around I could see Carson City to the south. The bright green in the valley is irrigated hayfields, and the dull green is sagey stuff in the Washoe Lake Park.


We wound very gradually down some long switchbacks on a very rocky road and got back to camp about 3.5 hours after we left. Pitiful time to cover 5.5 miles, I know, but the terrain was rough and nobody was in a hurry.

Dixie did quite well. She was not at all sure this was a good idea, and she had to work very hard to get up and down the hills. But she didn't rush, either up or down. I got off and led her 3 separate times, I think - once when we cut off the road through the sagebrush across a steep hill, then twice more headed down when the road got stony. Her feet are getting some concavity already, but she's not comfortable walking on the rocks and I don't blame her. It's easier for her to pick her way following me than carrying me. I might look into booting her, but finding and fitting the right boots is such a can of worms - it's easier to give her a couple months on sand and pebbles, then re-evaluate her need for them.

We came across one guy with his dog quail hunting. He was WAY too far away to blammo us accidentally with birdshot, but we could hear him shoot. None of the horses cared - I didn't think Dixie would mind, and I was pleased that the other two didn't either. And we found a motorcycle frame, all that was left from a stolen stripped bike. Dixie was most intrigued by that and spent several minutes sniffing the whole frame very carefully. No wild stallions appeared to give Ms. In Heat what she thought she wanted, although she stopped to pose like every half mile. Sigh. I smelled like mare pee the rest of the day - thanks, wind!

We watered the horses and let them chill out for a bit, then rode along the lake again til all the humans agreed we were old and sore and ready to go. Cali hauled away home, and S and I decided to head home too. S wasn't happy because she could hear the traffic, when at home she can't hear a bit of traffic, and I missed my husband!

It was a great trip, even if we didn't go very far or stay very long. Wonderful fun. I will definitely go camping again!