02 Oct Road Trippin with Karma – CA to NM: part i

Monday September 12

We left Camp Noyo exhausted and fulfilled the previous day, and only managed to drive a short distance to the nearby town of Ukiah for an evening out watching the Packer game. We barely managed to stay awake until 8pm and were up at dawn the next morning, ready to head back to the eastern edge of California and a long-awaited destination: Lake Tahoe.

We headed back across north Sacramento Valley, and the longer the drive went on, the thicker the smoke became. The Mosquito Fire had sparked in Tahoe National Forest on the previous Tuesday, and grown to over 50,000 acres in the last 5 days. The interstate was clogged and the ‘gorgeous Tahoe views’ were unfortunately completely swamped when we arrived.

We continued our drive along the massive lake, but the views stayed largely smoked in all day. With the hours driving through the intense smoke, we were already feeling scratchy throats and tight chests, so we quickly looked up an easy motel in the area for our first and only night truly indoors for the whole 16 day trip.

After arriving in South Lake Tahoe, we toured around the city and found some great takeout (poke!) and began feeling better and better about having a hotel room for the night. Hot, endless showers, air conditioning… we were feeling totally wiped out from the long wedding weekend and travel or hike-filled days prior to that. What a great alternative to a smoked-out day!

Tuesday September 13

We woke up with the sunrise, as usual, and took a quick detour over to the lakeside for one final shot at a view of the epic Lake Tahoe. We were in luck, as the smoke had lifted a little and we could finally see a little more of the lake’s beautiful coastline, including a rainbow!

The rain continued moving in across the lake and we grabbed some bagel sandwiches and hit the road. Our destination for the day was the Little A’Le’Inn – a campground, motel, bar, restaurant and gift shop outside Area 51. We expected Nevada to be entirely desolate and empty, but the first couple hours of the drive were surprisingly green, hilly, and even had a couple canyons to drive through!

Our 2nd drive across the state took us South on Highway 95 to Tonopah, and then east on the Extraterrestrial Highway 395 past Area 51. We stopped for a quick tour of Tonopah, testing out their brewery and laughing at their Clown Motel (eek!) …. before continuing through the desert. We finally reached the Little A’Le’Inn late afternoon, and happily posted up for the night.

Wednesday September 14

We had a couple hours of morning driving to complete our time in Nevada and stop for hiking in Utah. The early morning light was beautiful on the eastern desert mountains with a valley filled with Joshua Yucca trees!

We continued chasing and being followed by thick clouds, and when we arrived in Cedar City, UT the sky was growing completely overcast. We pressed onward and upward, driving in and out of the clouds and drizzle. The road took us up to Cedar Breaks National Monument, an amazing park at 10,000 ft sandwiched between the more popular National Parks of Zion and Bryce Canyon.

We drove through the park, quickly stopping at the overlooks before taking on a short hike through the mist to a small lake. Even though it was cloudy and quite windy (below 40ºF wind-chill!) the views were still incredible.

We started on the hike to the alpine lake and thoroughly enjoyed the cool, mist-filled air after spending over a week mostly in the desert and unseasonable heat. The trail looped along the canyon rim, and Aaron and I laughed at the lack of views… good thing we already saw the valley before more clouds moved in!

The trail wound through the forest and before we knew it, we were at the Alpine Lake. It was surprisingly bigger than I expected but looked super eerie and cool in the rainy cloud weather.

We left Cedar Breaks National Monument after our hike and continued our drive southeast through Kanab, UT, then onward to our destination for the night in Page, Arizona. Before we knew it, we were back in canyon country and driving again through Glen Canyon Recreation Area!

We found a nice restaurant / bar for dinner and winding down after a long day of driving, and planned a hike for the next day. Three states in one day, a new record for us and Karma the van!