I got wheels on my heels and I gotta keep rollin' along Road Trip 2009

Virginia City, NV 12 Jun 2009

Over the Hill to Virginia City12 June - I had a good, quiet night at the Nugget in Sparks and I went for a nice little walk this morning around the casino area before heading out. My shopping list was growing so I decided to track down a Walmart Supercenter. The internet directed me to a very nice one up the road apiece in a newly developed shopping area. It had an fantastic parking lot that overlooked the little community of Spanish Springs. No overnight parking is allowed here but it made for awesome day usage and the store was one of the cleanest I‘ve ever seen, and I‘ve seen a lot. After shopping and another walk, I kicked back in the RV for awhile before heading back through the Sparks/Reno area and up over the steep and twisty but, very scenic, Geiger Grade to Virginia City. The grade is only about 10 miles long but it’s a real doosey, especially for a RV pulling a toad. I must have pulled over at least 10 times to let speedy yahoos pass.

I arrived at the Virginia City RV Park about 7 and settled in for the night early so I would be ready for the big hike tomorrow.

13 June - I was up at o’ dark thirty this morning to get ready for the big hike up “V” hill. It was really only 4:30 and the mountain is named Mount Davidson but, there is a “V“ on it. (4

"V" Hill from the RV Park

)

A group of 8 of us (2 kids, 2 women, 2 young guys, and 2 old farts, of which I was one of), gathered in front of Ellie and Joe's place, the Mark Twain Bookstore, in downtown Virginia City at 7am sharp to start our ascent. Ellie, in her 15th year of climbing the mountain, led the way. The goal was the flagpole at the 7,864 foot summit. That’s some 1600 feet higher than our starting point. I’ve been in training for this hike on the flatlands of the California Central Valley and along the West Coast so my legs did fine but the air seemed mighty thin to me. We stopped at the base of the “V” for a short 10 minute rest before the final rocky climb to the top. When we got there, it was cold, windy, and wet but, the view was awesome. Virginia City, Carson City, Reno, and Washoe Lake, were all visible in a panoramic view that was to die for, and some of us nearly did. The flagpole is the original pole erected in 1862 but, is seldom used due the high winds that will shred any flag left there for very long however, an American flag is traditionally flown every Fourth of July. Mark Twain, who lived in Virginia City from 1862 to 1864, wrote in his book, Roughing It (published in 1872), about seeing the flag flying on the mountain top. In addition to the famous flagpole, a memorial dedicated to the 9-11 victims, written by the Virginia City fireman, is displayed nearby. We also noted evidence that Ellie and family had been here before. Joe, Ellie’s better half (errrr, other half) drove to the summit and met us there with goodies. We took a different route down and generally speaking, it was easier going back then it was getting up.

Thanks Ellie and Joe for a great day. You guys, and Mark Twain, rule.

I spent most of the rest of the day in recovery mode.

14 June - I walked around downtown a little today and stopped at the bookstore to chat with Ellie and Joe a bit. Joe and I tried to find a geocache, without the use of a GPS, that was located just a couple of blocks down the street from his store but we couldn’t find it. I looked again later, with the GPS, and was able to make the grab. Joe also setup a cache in his store. He figured it might bring in some customers. It will be interesting to see how that works out.