As the date drew nearer, I did my camp grocery shopping, checked off all of the things on the camp checklist, prepped my truck for the trip, charged up the camera battery, etc. I was so antsy to go that I was ready a day early--then I watched the evening news: "Two Large Storms Coming our Way."
The first storm was to hit late Thursday, peaking on Friday and boy did it come in. After work on Friday, my lights at home were flickering on and off until about 9:00 pm, when the went completely out. The wind outside was horrendous and it was blowing a freezing rain, but NV Energy's linemen were out in force and braving the storm atop the swaying power poles. I finished all of the last minute camp prep by the light of my old Dietz kerosene lantern and then hit the hay.
The power finally came back on around 7:00 am on Saturday and it was nice to know that things were getting back to normal. In fact, it was down right pleasant outside as Dexter and I set off; Buckeye Bound.
As I drove south on U.S. 395, through the small California towns of Topaz, Coleville and Walker, something just seemed odd. All of these little hamlets seemed eerily vacant and even deserted and even when I arrived in Bridgeport, I had the same feeling. As it turned out, the whole area had been without power since the day before and it was just easier to simply close up the shops, restaurants and gas stations and go home. Luckily for me, I had plenty of gas, so I powered on to my destination.
Dex and I finally arrived arrived at the parking area above Buckeye Hot Springs and he had to run it out a bit.
Looking down on Buckeye Creek from above. The steam on the left is coming from the hot springs below.
The hot water falling into the pools below looked so inviting and after dipping a toe, it proved to be more than hot enough to relax in.
Ahhhhhh, finally!
I even managed to talk a reluctant Dexter into joining me. He preferred the cold river to the hot pool and I don't think he knew what to make of the warm water.
When we finished our soak, the sky was still grey and more ominous looking clouds were moving in. Was this Storm #2 or the tail end of Storm #1?
I found a nice little place to pull into and camp for the night.
Shortly after I popped the camper up and got everything else ready to settle in for the night, I felt the first little raindrops falling gently all around. It was too cold to hang out outside and Dexter was still wet from the soak earlier and he was shivering, so we decided to hunker down inside for the rest of the night.
I got my little heater going and in no time at all it it was warm and toasty inside. As you know though, heat rises, so the bunk I was in got too hot, while the floor that poor wet Dexter was on got too cold. Still it was better than being outside.
I set up my little DVD player and watched one of my favorite old movies: "Lonely are the Brave," while sipping on some really good bourbon. Once the movie was over, I pan fried a little rib eye steak (setting off the smoke detector) for dinner and had a nice salad to go with it. Dexter was still shivering, but I like to think that the steak I shared with him made him forget the cold for a while.
After dinner, it was still pretty early so I had time for old movie #2: "Bad Day at Blackrock." Just as I started the movie, it began to rain outside. Slowly at first and the gradually so hard that I couldn't hear the movie. It would rain on and off like this all night long, but slept like a baby in my Bobcat that night.
The next morning was beautiful. There was a dense fog rising from the river bottom and off of the rocks. The morning sun was intermittently poking through the low hanging clouds enough so that you could feel a little warmth on your shoulders, which was promising.
I made a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes before packing it all up and heading out. On the way out, we explored the Twin Lakes area, which is a place we want to camp over the 4th of July. It seemed very nice and promising for fishing in the future.
Dex and I drove to nearby Travertine Hot Springs, south of Bridgeport, where originally I had planned to take soak #2. To be honest, I was simply beat and the thought of getting wet again just didn't appeal to me.
The drive home was beautiful and as you can see, Topaz lake had a glass-like surface to it, but you can also see Storm #2 coming in from the south. It wouldn't be calm for long.
Just south of Gardnerville, NV, you can faintly see a rainbow on the horizon, amidst the incoming storm clouds.
By the time we hit Washoe Valley, just south of Reno, Storm #2 was in full force with more blowing wind and rain. It wasn't quite as bad as Storm #1, but it was respectable none the less.
All in all, we had a very fun maiden voyage. I guess there's no better way to check out a new camper than taking it out in the Eastern Sierra during the stormy month of February. I learned a lot things for my future camp trips and I'll get a system down before I know it.
