Not all trips are long, and not all trips require a lot of miles behind the wheel to enjoy the outing. We love a little roadside BBQ place in Walker, CA and headed out to find lunch. The staff was younger and smiled a little easier than in years' past, but the food was the same kind wonderful it has always been. For those of you not from the area, Walker was affected by a major wildfire last year. It was good to get back to town and see the businesses operating. Between COVID and the fire, the town had a rough year. After lunch we found ourselves a little spot along the Walker River and spend some time reading and enjoying the fresh air.
What did I learn?
Some things take silence and stillness to notice. As we sat and read, we watched a bird coming and going from a nest in the rocky wall along the river, presumably feeding hungry little ones. At one point the bird, which I don't know how to identify, dove under the water. What made this behavior remarkable was that this bird did not look like a swimmer. Most of the time we watched it, it was picking bugs off rocks. Using AllAboutBirds.com to make an educated guess, it was possibly an American Dipper.
Route Information: We stopped in Walker, CA for lunch, then headed south on US395 until we found a suitable spot along the river to spend some time reading. On the way back to Incline Village, we took HWY 89 from Walker to Markleeville (i.e. Monitor Pass Road).
I told you it was roadside...and that cooker works wonders.
The view from where we plopped our camp chairs and spent about 2 hours reading and enjoying the fresh air. It was actually a little chilly on account of the wind but we managed.
Sometimes sounds make things better...
The road home. The still snow-covered mountains in the distance were hard to ignore as we made our way toward Markleeville, CA. Best guess, from right to left, Reynolds Peak, Silver Peak, and Highlands Peak.
A little secret of ours...not all our outings actually involve the Jeep. Sometimes the old Land Cruiser gets the call.
