Welcome to Part 2 of Northern Nevada! In the last post, PART 1, we covered the Northeastern part of the state - fast forward now to the North-Central and Northwestern Nevada from Winnemucca to Minden.
 

North Central and the Winnemucca Area
 

JHP_160410_0031-2Outskirts of Winnemucca and Water Canyon
 

Nevada is comprised of many semi-arid mountain regions and vast alkali desert valleys almost all of which are included in the Great Basin, a self contained, internal drainage area, where no water ever reaches the ocean from any of the precipitation or ground water that occurs. 
 

JHP_160205_0062Nevada ranching, agriculture and farming
 

 It is a tough place to live and in the north of the state and I would like to think that there are certainly more cattle and horses than people, however, Beef2Live ranked the states recently and Nevada only claims #27 with a total human population of close to 2.8 million and less than 500 thousand cattle.  But everywhere I looked I saw lots and lots and LOTS of cows.  I guess it just seemed like a lot of cows and I probably saw most of the population close in because it was winter and they were being fed.
 

JHP_160302_0012Humbolt River and train trussle crossing
 

The Humboldt river flows from Wells in the East, twisting and turning its way through the valleys in a west/southwest flow for 300 miles before it enters Humboldt Lake (sink) an intermittently dry lake bed that has no outlet, near the Humboldt Range.   This starting and ending out of nothing is consistent with most waterways in the Great Basin.  The river provided an important route for the California Emigrant Trail through Nevada as it was the only potable water they tended to find on a reliable basis across the state.  The river became especially important after the discovery of gold in California and a flood of miners made the trek across Nevada to find the mother lode in 1848.  After the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, it became a major east to west rail route and now the majority of I-80 follows the rivers flow.   Summarized from the Britannica Online.
 

JHP_160227_0163Winnemucca Airport
 

This airport is based on the outskirts of Winnemucca which was officially founded in the 1860's.  The downtown area is filled with many old houses and buildings that hold a whisper of it's raw past as a town in the wild west.  City proper only has about 8 thousand residents; just a small jump from the 2000 residents in 1917, but it is an important hub for transport both via highways and rail.  The mountains in the background are the Sonoma's and they house a BLM trail called Water Canyon that locals say is a very nice hike. While we were there it was too wet to make it up the sandy road to the trailhead.
 

Northwest Nevada
 

JHP_160407_0216Fishermen at sunset on Pyramid Lake and Paiute Tribal Lands, Northern Nevada.
 

Fishermen on Pyramid Lake at sunset. The namesake of the lake can be seen to the upper right-hand side of the center of the photo.  It is actually a tufa rock formation. Pyramid Lake is one of the last remaining water basins of the great inland Lake Lahontan that at one time engulfed most of Nevada, centuries ago and currently its size is about 15x11 miles and approximately 350 feet deep. In more recent time this was, and still is, tribal land for the Paiute.  The tribe is welcoming of visitors and they sell fishing and day use permits at various stores and online... which I defiantly recommend picking up as you cannot get close to the lake without one! The fishing in the lake is world class for the ancient Cui-ui fish that have been around for 2 million years and the world-famous Lahontan cutthroat trout which at one time was thought to be extinct. 
 

JHP_160407_0123Pyramid Lake and Paiute Tribal Lands, Northern Nevada
 

   There are many myths, legends and truths to this area and its people. Visit the museum to learn all about the region and the history of the tribe.  Pyramid Lake also boasts the only National Scenic Byway in the country to be entirely located on tribal land around the west side of the lake. Both of the above images above were taken from it's viewpoints.
 

JHP_160318_0460Semi dry alkali lake bed near Gerlach, NV
 

Heading north from Pyramid Lake off of Hwy 447 lays the famous Black Rock Desert.  This highway was a well maintained and easy to travel but off the beaten path roadway that I recommend taking when traveling from Oregon to Nevada as you will miss the road check stations in California.  The image above was taken just outside the small community of Gerlach.   Just a small distance away each year at the end of August is the Burning Man Festival in which 70 thousand people create an overnight city in a dry lake bed.
 

JHP_0005Mustang(s) of Virginia Hills Nevada.
 

I cannot write a blog about Nevada without including an image of the wild horses that roam the lands.  This herd was photographed at dawn, just south of Fernley in the Virginia Hills, which is an area densely populated with horses.  Technically this group is a feral band and in a space that is uncontrolled by BLM which is the only government entity that protects the wild horses. For more information on them please go to a previous post I did on April 5th, 2016 by clicking here.
 

JHP_160303_0209Forgotten field and Cottonwood Tree at the base of the Sierra Mountains in Minden, NV
 

Old and damaged Cottonwood Tree in a sagebrush field at the base of the Sierra Nevada's.  These trees can be seen all over Nevada but are especially prominent in the lowland areas around streams.  They continued to catch my eye when we explored many areas as they often stood out like a giant skeleton flag, void of any leaves but large in stature against a vast, dry space. 
 

JHP_160320_0138Street view and a piece of time past, Virginia City, NV. JHP_160320_0134Bucket of Blood Saloon sign in Virginia City, NV. JHP_160320_0144Boardwalk and store front in Virginia City, NV
 

Virginia City... what a place it must have been when the Comstock Lode was discovered!  Saloon's, brothels, gamboling, guns and money... LOTS of money.  In just over 20 years roughly 20 billion dollars in silver and gold (todays rate) was removed from the surrounding area.  As with any boom there were key players and they were called the Bonanza Kings who ultimately poured thousands if not millions of dollars into both the local community and the nation in the mid to late 1800's.  Today the streets are mostly paved but the boardwalks are rough and a little uneven, the paint on some buildings show wear and the saloons are just as colorful, almost.   VC is a popular biker town and for good reason as the road to and from is perfect on 2 wheels. 
 

JHP_160320_0067The famous and haunted Washoe Club in Virginia City, NV.
 

Plan to spend at least a full day in the town and lots of time on your feet. There are a lot of touristy/knickknack shoppes and tourist traps but the history is so interesting it is hard to not get drawn in and just about every business has a history lesson attached to it so visiting a museum doesn't seem so necessary.  Be sure to get off the main drag of town and into at least one mansion and a mine for a full experience. The above image was taken on a tour of the upper floors at the historic and supposedly very haunted, Washoe Club.  They encourage you to take pictures and the above image might just show something: besides the creepy clown on the wall there might be a ghost in the hallway and a green orb by the stairs.... what do you think? Click here to read another of my blog's on this haunted building.
 

JHP_160303_0263Forgotten feild at the base of the Sierra Mountains in Minden, NV
 

Storms a brewin' near Carson City and Minden at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.   It is just Northwest to this area that the Donner Party was struck with multiple tragedies and poor luck after making the fatal mistake of choosing a cut across the barren state instead of following the life waters of the Humboldt River.   A visit to the California Trail Interpretive Center (an excellent and free museum hosted by the BLM back near Elko/Carlin NV) will explain how the party and many others traveled across Nevada in search of a better life.
 

And that concludes the trip east to west.  I am sorry to say that I did not visit Reno or Lake Tahoe on this trip and so I cannot include any images from these places or personal information.  Thanks for coming along across Northern Nevada - I hope you enjoyed the view :-)
 

 By clicking on the images you will be directed to the themed picture gallery which will house all of the images from northern Nevada.