Old Cowboy House

Across the highway from where I live, there is an old cowboy house made out of mud (adobe?)! After looking at for a month or so, Dave and I decided to check it out. I wouldn't have gone over by myself.....but it ended up being pretty interesting.

We parked on the road and walked across the field to get to the house. I was surprised there are no fences around it but there are so many of these in the area people pretty much leave them alone.

We guessed that it's been here since the 1800s, since that's when this area was developed. My guess was 1850s or 1860s but I'd have to do more reading about Yerington to know for sure.

We didn't go inside, but Dave stuck his head in a window to get this picture. I'm too much of a chicken to even stick my head in. It does look like it was used "recently" like in the 1940s (again just a guess, I'll do more research) because it was retro-fitted with electricity. From the looks of things though we were smart not to go inside...hantavirus is an issue here and it looks like mice and packrats have been using the place for their own homes.

Another interior view...

Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area Part 1

This will be a two-part post, because some of the pictures are on another camera. It could even be a three-part post. We'll see!

Dave got a new camera so today we went out to the wildlife area and looked for some birds/hawks/falcons to test it out. I took the binoculars too and had a good time looking around and being able to identify birds I wouldn't have known without an up-close look. I also took the smaller camera and took some pictures of my own. We learned that even though we see these birds all the time here, they only stand still when you don't have a camera in your hand!

I loved this view! I call them cattails. Here, they're called "tules" (as in tulies).

Here's another one. This mountain (I need to look it up again to remember the name) is one of my favorite views in Mason Valley. On my drive home from work I can see it the moment I come up over the hill and head towards Wabuska and Yerington. (There will be a later post on Wabuska...)

I love wetlands! This picture didn't turn out looking as bright as it did in real life, but I'm still happy with it.

Here's Dave with his new camera, trying to capture a hawk.

Great view of the Wildlife Management Area boundary.

Couldn't help it...one more view of the cattails!

The Rainbow Trail...Taylor Creek Watershed Area

Dave took me around Lake Tahoe one day soon after we got to Nevada. He remembered a trail he'd taken on a school field trip and wanted to find it. It is called the Rainbow Trail and is actually part of the Taylor Creek Watershed Area. It's a short interpretive trail that talks about what a watershed area is and why it's important. Some of the signs talk about the animals that live in the wetland area--frogs, skunks, birds, etc.

Dave standing under the sign at the head of the trail.

Taylor Creek

There was a bridge where we could look in the water and watch the bright red Kokanee Salmon swimming upstream. That brought back memories from the Escape Club (an outdoor club we had in junior high school) trip in Vernal going to the Flaming Gorge area to watch the salmon run. If I can find my old pictures, I should scan them and get them online. It was a great trip.

Taylor Creek

 The last part of the trail involves walking down a sidewalk into a tunnel that goes under Taylor Creek and we could see the fish and a cross section of the stream bed. Dave taught me how to identify a brown trout! He also told me that the Lahontan cutthroat is native to this area. Lake Lahontan was a prehistoric lake covering most of this area. It's similar to Lake Bonneville in Utah, where you can still look up at the surrounding mountains and see where the various levels, or beaches, used to be.

"Who wants to go into the dark, scary tunnel first?" (National Treasure)

Brown trout on the right, Kokanee salmon far left. I think the fish in between may be a rainbow and a Lahontan cutthroat.

Brown trout...

It was a really cool interpretive exhibit inside and I wish I'd taken more pictures. The whole thing was made to look like we were actually inside the stream bed with rocks, more "fish" and interpretive exhibits. Next time I'll try to remember to take more pictures!

San Rafael Park near Reno

This park is just outside Reno. We needed some exercise and to get out and walk around, so we stopped here and got some amazing fall colors! The Wilbur D. May Museum was closed for its winter hours so we didn't get to see it. I think we're headed over there again tomorrow. What I really want to see is the Nevada State Museum, but that will take at least a few hours. I went to the Nevada Museum Association's annual conference with a couple co-workers so I got to walk around the museum a little bit but I want to go back for the whole thing. There will definitely be pictures of that on here!

Squirrel!

We got there I think at the perfect time of year! It was warm and sunny and felt like fall.

More fall colors...

Fun little interpretive trail with old mining equipment

Stellar's Jay!

Lake Tahoe

Last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Dave and I came to Nevada to visit his parents and his cousins. I also got to see Lake Tahoe for the first time! It's got crystal clear water and it's high in the mountains, 7,000 feet o so, and the mountains above it go up to around 10,000 feet. The lake itself is about 1,600 feet deep! It's even got its own monster, Tahoe Tessie (haven't seen her yet).

The lake covered in fog...

I love the beach! Lots of flat sand, with a few huge ponderosa trees growing out of nowhere!

I like taking pictures of pinecones....

I've got more pictures from this year, but they are still on the camera (of course!). We went there in September, before I started work. I think we spent more time in California that first week here that we did in Nevada! I'm excited to go up in the summer and do some hiking. We even got a book on trails in the area. I can't wait to try it out!