minimalism – some trips to Alturas

Our four more or less weekly 194 mile runs for groceries, tire repairs, hardware + recycling from Wall Spring on the Smoke Creek Desert to Alturas, California;

First trip – 10 June;

Highway 447 and back of Alturas Tire… [trip home not shown]

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Second trip – 18 June;

Over the summit on 447;

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Some hours later, Eagleville, California, and south…to 447 across Duck Flat…

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Third trip –  26 June;

Post Post Office 447 north from Gerlach, NV; again across Duck Flat + towards Cali…

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Some several hours later [recycle; groceries; wheel and tire repairs], south [bottom of Surprise Valley on Nevada side; Duck Valley]…and home.

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+ mas…one more trip [leaking rear axle seals] before decamping for Colorado,

Which would be fourth – 01 July;

Once again 447 north, Duck Valley, Duck Flat, et al;

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To a day awaiting axle seals and wandering about Alturas in the heat…

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Until at last on 299 leaving Cedarville, CA, 2:30 in the afternoon, 96 degrees, to see how the roads on the Nevada side of Surprise Valley were; surprisingly good for eighteen or so graded gravel miles south;

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Looking west across Surprise Valley to Eagleville while looking for a road continuing south;

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…but nothing south from there; the only possibility diving onto a dry lakebed below Eagleville’s abandoned airstrip, so, not wanting to risk locked gates at the other end [a fairly new habit around here that can lead to considerable inconvenience exiting the back country] I went [a little] west…

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to return to 447 south [with a slight detour around the west side of Duck Lake] to the road formerly known as CR 33 despite what those idiots at the assessor’s or google earth will tell you…and home by 4:30, 07 01 2014, the day d-CON, my favorite Rat Poison, was declared illegal in California…probably by rats.

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…and that would be us, 67 miles short of Sutcliffe, at least until July 7th.

 

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4 thoughts on “minimalism – some trips to Alturas

    1. mikesmoore Post author

      Yeah, wish we had…too eager to get the pups home!

      Now we gotta get on out of here…next time!

      Reply
  1. Janet

    The photos are beautiful, love the one of the giant cloud shadow (one of my favorite things!), but they take forever to ‘load’. Is it just my computer?

    Reply
  2. wk

    Great pics….nice way to get groceries and axle seals! I like the abstract billboard (w/ street lamp) in Alturas and what’s with the fire hydrant collar (matching the blue fence)? The birds and Toyota Forerunner is a good shot also. Your last photo from trip #3 looking across your playa is superb. Happy Travels to Libre, hope you had a good visit with Dave R. Post road trip photos!

    Reply

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