The Sierra

Linda Burton traveling from Sacramento, California to Carson City, Nevada – Today was the day to tackle “The Sierra.” I’ve been hearing about it for two weeks; it’s all the Sacramento news – the weather of it, the condition of the road to Tahoe, events to entertain. I couldn’t see it, and didn’t really understand (why isn’t it Sierras, plural?).  I’d delayed a day to let the snow clouds dissipate; no chains in my repertoire. Now I had a sunny day and loaded up with ease, one thing at a time from room to car.

At last the cats; who held out till the last underneath the bed. “Where is your sense of adventure?” I asked, “today you get to be Nevada Cats!” They were not amused.

I knew our world would change dramatically in this three-hour trip; crossing over Donner Pass, going from city to town, wet to dry, green to brown.

I had these facts:

Elevation: Sacramento 25 feet. Carson City 4,687 feet.

Population: Sacramento 489,488 people. Carson City 55,374 people.

But that didn’t tell me how beautiful the drive between the two would be. I could wax poetic; instead I’ll just show you what I saw today.

First Sierra Snow

Sierra Snow

Mountaintops

Donner Summit

Bilevel Highway

Snowball Time

Donner Lake

Getting Back to Flat

Down to Brown

Nevada Sign

Approaching Reno

Reno Casino

Approaching Carson City

Checked In