On the Road to Gerlach

Today we (Larry, me, Cynthia & Mike) were headed for Gerlach, Nevada to attend an event honoring additional geocachers who have completed the Nevada Delorme Challenge. We started the day climbing rocks somewhere north off 395. The cache was a new one (Flying Fishes--GC12CNZ). We were able to get fairly close in our jeeps and then we climbed the rocks. We are getting quite proficient at climbing rocks. We keep practicing because we know that there will be another rock to climb as long as we continue caching in Nevada.

We stopped for lunch near a bunch of “tufa wheels” just off the Paiute Indian Reservation that surrounds Lake Pyramid. We were overlooking Lake Winnemucca--a dry lake bed. According to Wikipedia “The lake was formerly a shallow tule-filled lake and an important stop for migrating waterfowl. After the Derby Dam was built on the Truckee River in 1902 (the first project of the Reclamation Act), and Nevada State Route 447 (which blocked the slough connecting it to Pyramid Lake) was built, Winnemmucca Lake dried out and has been dry since the late 1930s.” The tufa formations here are fascinating. They are shaped like huge tires with a wheel hub in the middle. As we were leaving, a couple of cachers (LostinReno and Cookie&Faith) showed up. They were also on their way to Gerlach. We chatted briefly and then headed on up the road.

We took one more side trip before reaching Gerlach. On our way up into the hills, we were driving on a well maintained dirt road. At one point we were driving over and through bunches of Mormon crickets (yes, that is what they are called). These were fairly small. Mike and Larry have told us stories of the Mormon Crickets they have seen while on some of their off road jaunts. Those crickets were much larger--that’s their story, anyway.

Once in Gerlach, we met up with fellow geocachers. There were about 20 of us and we all had stories to tell over a marvelous dinner of Bruno’s famous raviolis at Bruno’s “Country Club”. The event was to honor those people who have recently completed the Nevada Delorme Challenge. It was appropriate to give them the same recognition we had been given when we completed the challenge.

After dinner, we all walked down the middle of the highway (yes, the highway) to get to a park. There is a webcam on the nearby Burning Man Building. You are supposed to capture your picture from the webcam website and post it on a cache page. Unfortunately, the webcam was not working, so we took a picture and posted that instead.

In addition to the non-functioning webcam we were attacked by a zillion gnats. They were not the type of gnats we are used to encountering. They are vicious attacking man/woman eating gnats. We were all being bitten as we posed for our picture. According to one of the locals, the gnats will be around until the temperature hits 90º three days in a row. Then the gnats disappear and the mosquitoes take their place. One reason not to move to Gerlach!

We ended the day with our usual geocaching glass of wine at Bruno’s Country Club Resort & Motel. The four of us discussed the joys of geocaching as well as how to best solve the problems of the world. How simple it would be if we were in charge!