Back in Nevada

Wednesday morning we climbed up over Donner pass, heading east to Nevada, where we'll be visiting with friends. Great scenery along the pass - brilliant yellow birch trees and a rushing river contrast beautifully with the huge granite boulders and steep hillsides. I never can travel this highway without thinking about the  Donner Party and other pioneers who traveled this route, and how it must have been to be stranded in this landscape, in snow and freezing weather, with no hope of assistance for months. A smooth freeway full of cars is a comforting site in contrast.

There was skiff of snow tucked in here and there between the boulders and in the shade of trees. It seems early, but we are up over 7,000 feet so I guess it's not surprising.

We're making a quick stop to visit a friend up in "The Highlands", a scenic area up in the mountains east of Reno, about five miles from Virginia City. We're usually here in July, but things don't look much different this time of year, as the vegetation is primarily piñon pine, juniper and various forms of desert sage.

We always enjoy the late afternoon visit of the wild horses. While romantic to watch roaming through the sage brush, these wild horses present a conundrum for both homeowners and wildlife managers. First, they are not the famous mustang of history, they are just wild horses of mixed breed parentage, some freed recently by ranchers and other horse owners who could no longer afford them, or the offspring of wild horses that have been around for years. They present traffic problems (10 were killed on the highway in just one county over the past year). They're hard on landscaping too (yummy lawns keep them hovering around some housing developments.)

The other side of the issue is, they are historic, representing an aspect of these western mining communities that we all admire. Understandably, management of them is a challenge. This month the BLM is capturing and using a contraceptive to control the population growth of the herd in this area, but that won't impact those who are added to the herd through escaping or being turned loose by their owners. Many are captured by the BLM and then adopted out through various agencies. More about the wild horses, and burros, here.

There are also coyotes and squirrels wandering the hills, and providing entertainment for us as we watch from the porch.

This is the time of year the Native Americans harvest the piñon nuts.  This has been a good year for them, and the trees here are full of ripe nuts, the cones opening and dropping some of them on the ground - no wonder the ground squirrels are so fat! I couldn't resist collecting a few to play around with, as they are a prize delicacy in some recipes. It's a good thing we don't have to depend on my collecting skills for our winter food source however. Some fall out of the cones readily when smacked with a stick, but if you try to pry them out you get covered with pine sap. Smells nice, but yucky on the hands, so the amount I've collected wouldn't go far as a primary food source. I'm going to try my hand at roasting them. If we like the results we may be back next year to collect more!