Road Trip Chronicles - Day 2 Part II
Burney, CA ➡️Hope Valley, CA (Approx. 5 hours of driving)
Destination: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Unceded land of: The Washoe
Stayed: Scott’s Lake Area in Toiyabe National Forest (Dispersed campsite)
This day ended up being my first long day of driving (about 8 hours in total). It was, however, a beautiful drive with so many different mountainscapes along the way.
The route to Lake Tahoe actually had me driving through Nevada for a stretch and then back into California. When I was in Nevada, I came across a stretch of my drive in the desert where there were a series of wildfires on the side of the road.
I saw several cars pulled over long before I realized what I was driving into. As I passed what was happening the entire road was engulfed with smog. I had zero visibility while I passed through it. There appeared to be people trying to put out or stifle the fires enough that it didn’t spread.
I could have continued the rest of my drive through Nevada highways and get to Lake Tahoe a lot quicker, however, if I went an hour out of the way, I could drive along the edge of the lake.
I am glad I opted for that as it was captivatingly beautiful and, on a whim, I was able to pull over, quickly change into my bathing suit, and go for a swim. It was very rocky, I put on water shoes to have a more enjoyable experience. The water was surprisingly warm. To the point where I decided to look the temperature up later and discovered that the water temp. that day was actually 68 degrees!
Once I had driven past the lake, the route started to go up into the mountains and the view was phenomenal. I was giddy with excitement to pull over and just gape at the clear blue water and the surrounding mountains hugging the lake.
- Click arrow below to look through photos -
How I was doing physically:
Throughout this long day of traveling, I had started to experience some pain in my right leg and hip. It was radiating down my leg. I attributed this to the fact that this was the most driving I had done back-to-back in a long time. In the end, I got desperate to find a way to manage my discomfort. I found a double lacrosse ball (AKA a peanut) and I put it under my right hip. I had this peanut under my right hip for the remainder of my road trip, it made a huge difference in my ability to endure long hours of being in hip flexion.
Getting to the campsite:
Finding this dispersed site was tricky. The thing about dispersed sites is that they are often on unmarked dirt roads that are not obvious at all from the main roads themselves. I passed the entry and had to turn around at least twice.
Once I found it, I was disappointed to see a dirt road that was full of wide gaping potholes that I was afraid my car (Raindrop) wasn’t going to make it. I had to drive very slowly and just hope I could get through.
I made into the campgrounds and what I found was pretty ideal. There were several alcoves that pulled off the dirt road for people to set up camp. I pulled into a larger lot where there was another RV on the other side.
This camping area was serenely quiet with only a handful of people camped there.
This is the night I started a simple workout routine (full details in this blog post!) that I tried to do at the end of every night to counteract the damage the driving was wrecking on my body.
This night ended up being the coldest night of the whole trip. I woke up around 4am shivering and when I opened my eyes and took an exhale, I could see my breath. I tried to sleep a little longer, but I just couldn’t.
So I packed up in the dark just before the sun had start to rise. I certainly didn't have an organized and thoughtful repack into my car. It also didn't help that my hands were freezing and stiff. I had not anticipated getting this cold in August in California. I guess when you camp in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, expect there be a varied weather experience. Lesson learned!
And so, after swiftly packing, I headed to Yosemite National Park.
Comment below: Are you a lake or ocean person? Whichever one you chose, what's your favorite place?
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