Several times I’ve driven segments of the road around Lake Tahoe. Over the course of three visits I still hadn’t driven the western shore. Today my goal was to make it happen … and it didn’t.
But I get ahead of myself!
I woke up in Carson City, a town I chose to stay in because I had passed through it and never made an effort to get to know it. This is the capital city of Nevada and home of the governor, legislature, courts, etc. You’d think it would have something to offer. Well it did but what impressed me had nothing to do with government and everything to do with mining.
The same Kit Carson so reviled by the Hopi and Navaho in the Four Corners region is the same Kit Carson that Carson City was named after. His story is good or bad depending upon your perspective but for certain his contribution to western expansion was significant. Opening the west made the booms of gold and silver possible and the latter was Nevada’s claim to fame.
As I mentioned before, mining for silver is what brought development to Nevada. All the towns along Hwy 50 were established during the boom. This history is explained very well in the Nevada State Museumcomplete with a mine, a mint, a ghost town and much more. In Washington D.C. (where I’m from) we have world class museums. The Nevada State Museum is of a similar calibre. I was blown away; it’s a phenomenal museum.
Mining and minting of silver are two activities that affected Carson City but they had to get their ore and coins to market and that required the railway. There’s a lovely little Railroad Museum and though its small, the cars are in beautiful condition. A real pleasure on the eyes to look over. Lastly, I followed the Kit Carson Trail around town to see all the historic buildings including the Governor’s Mansion.
I left with a feeling of respect for the town.
Down the road I drove and eventually arrived in Sacramento. There I called an old college roommate, Bill Farley, and asked for a bike ride recommendation. Whew! That man knew exactly where to send me, where to start, how far to go, where to avoid, and a few variations on the theme. I followed his directions and headed down a path along the American River for a few miles until it started to rain … at which point I pedaled fast to get back to my car and on to SF!
Did you notice I skipped talking about Lake Tahoe? See the caption above.
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