Nine days at SnowFlower TTN above Truckee, and tomorrow it is time to move on. It has been most pleasant at this elevation of 5,800 ft. The high temperatures have reached the mid-80s, and the winds have been breezes. The nights have been cool enough for Alice to want more blankets.
We have been into Truckee three times, so I am becoming more and more acquainted with I-80 up and over Donner Summit (7,236 ft). The road is pretty rough in places, and construction is rampant. After all, there is the winter season and the construction season in this part of the country.
I wonder how well the roads up here are going to survive the next few years. The state of California is on a course to bankruptcy, or whatever condition is equivalent for a sovereign state of the USA. I anticipate that the price of fuel will rise, meaning people will drive less and there will be less fuel tax to pay for the roads. I figure that in a few years the state will quit maintaining secondary roads (at least to the level you find them now), and after than they will cut back on maintenance of the major roads. The road over Donner Summit could become a really rough road.
In the meantime, tomorrow we go back to Truckee and then turn north on Hwy 89. We are going up to the valley of the Hat, north of Lassen. One of the most beautiful creeks in the state still flows down the valley through the four mile wide lava beds. Near Baum Lake much of the underground water flows out the large springs and forms the lower Hat Creek. It is a place for fly fishing, and I intend to try my luck, at least for a while.
At least Alice should not get so cold. They are predicting highs of 89 and 90, though nights will be mid-50s. We'll tell you more when we get there.
Sam Penny, the Prudent RVer
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