Day 107 - Wednesday, September 15

I left the bohemian settlement of Middlegate at 4am and began running into the darkness of night. It was freezing this morning so I bundled up and ran as much as I could to stay warm. As I left the mountain range behind me I was treated to an incredible sunrise that was enhanced because of all the dust in the air - and my lungs for that matter!

The first desert valley I crossed reminded me of Bonneville salt flats and I ran on the salt instead of Highway 50 which didn’t have much of a shoulder. On my left running west was a sign on barbed wired fence letting me know it was a restricted area and the town we are headed to is a Navy town. Google maps shows complexes inside so dare not trespass here…

I came over Sand Springs Pass and descended again to a flat, never-ending dried up lake bed. It was brutally hot and the arid air coupled with a head wind dehydrated me quickly and reduced me to conserving energy and focusing on one step at a time.

On my right I came upon Sand Mountain and on the left the massive dried lake called Lake Lahonton. 12,700 years ago this lake had a surface area of 8,500 miles and depth of 900 feet which made it one of the largest in the world and a paradise. Climate change around the end of the Pleistocene epchled to a gradual dedication of ancient Lake Lahontan. The lake had largely disappeared in its extended form by about 9,000 years ago. As the surface elevation dropped, the lake broke up into series of smaller lakes, most of which rapidly dried up, leaving only a playa. Winnemucca Lake has been dry since the 1930s and Honey Lake periodically desiccates. The ancient shoreline is evidenced by tufa formations throughout the area which I ran along.

Amazingly, the Sand Mountain was created by the ice age lake sands that were blown into the corner of the mountains by the southwest trending winds.

There was an historical marker I ran over to and a kind 73 year old gentleman pulled over in a pick up truck to ask me what I was doing running through the hot desert?? We chatted for some time and I learned he has moved between Reno, Austin (the mining town I had just visited), and hailing from Salt Lake City. He commented that he has never seen the Carson River with no water for the local farmers. He also mentioned two towns in Utah off I-80 where the water has completely dried up and the town is now bringing water in on semi-trucks. I asked if climate change was the reason and he told me it was because there was not enough snow in the Sierra Mountains. He tells me that the lack of snow in the Sierras is the cause of this water crisis. He then mentioned that too many Californians are invading Nevada because of the crime family that was running the state: Pelosi, Brown and Gavin Newsom. He added that Biden was also part of the crime family. Time for me to run! I told I had a desert to run through and he wished me luck and to stay safe.

I ran along the endless lake until i hit 35 miles and decided to wrap for the day. Chris and I headed to Fallon and re-entered civilization after weeks in the desert to stay at a Walmart so we can restock. Feels like a lifetime ago that Walmart parking lots were our choice overnight accommodations!

Tomorrow we head to Silver Springs NV where we will need to make the decision to head south around Tahoe if 50 is open or go north around Tahoe and brave I80. Stay tuned…

Thank you for your support -

Cheers,

David.

Daily brief

Sunrise

Road & Sunrise pictures

After falling to 153 pounds Chris changed my second meal of the day from toast with jam to a colossal three egg scramble, a ton of cheese, toast, sausage, coffee and donut; and henceforth I have gained 6 pounds back!

First desert valley

Navy area occupy the entire desert valley

As I could see on google maps

Which looked eerily like Area 51…

The sand mountain created by the beach sand of Lake Lahontan being blown over thousands of years

Lake Lahontan has a ton of salt and this looked like the pink salt I like

This was on the lake bed and as I approached it I realized it was not really water as everything around it was muck

The road had rock messages for miles and miles

Chris suffered a bloody nose from the hot, arid climate

Thankfully he felt good enough to whip up shrimp parmigiana which he put on a baguette stuffed with Buffalo mozzarella…delicious!