Any one who knows me or follows this will know that both road trips happened because I wanted to go to a Festival. I thought it would be great to see the bands play on the iconic Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Unfortunately tickets to Glastonbury Festival are as elusive as those for Burning Man. I might have failed to secure tickets to those events but couldn’t resist the temptation to route at least one road trip near to Black Rock.
Pyramid Lake
Running out of daylight while heading towards Nixon we were totally unprepared for the splendour of the Lake. A tad concerned we didn’t have a campsite for the night we scoured the place for a suitable spot.
However we ended up driving on following the road at the side of the Lake. We started to realise if we reached Sutcliffe our options were really limited. It wasn’t clear the road was suitable for rental vehicles beyond the small town. It would take a lot of time & miles to retrace our steps to the next potential town.
Kindness of Strangers
Spying some people in campers vans near the shore line we approached them for advice. They told us we could obtain the necessary pass at the Ranger Office come shop. Despite the randomness of it all their information proved sound and later we left with our overnight ticket & some beer.
The video clip below was taken near the shore of Pyramid Lake & you can see how beautiful it is there. Sadly I was unable to capture any footage at night that would show how far we were from others or the lack of light pollution. Camping under the stars was awesome.
Driving back we spotted a suitable place and pulled in. By now it really was starting to get dark as we sipped beer & watched the sun sink behind the mountains. It was very peaceful but nothing prepared us for the moment when the sky went completely jet black the only light coming from the millions of twinkling stars.
Perfect Spot
My thanks to the members of the Paiute Tribe upon whose Reservation the Lake is located for making it possible for us to stay there. It truly was one of the most fantastic places on earth that I have ever camped in.
The Pyramid is an unusual rock formation in the Lake & as ‘consolation prizes’ go I felt we had really hit the jackpot. Later we set the alarm clock so that we could get up & watch the sun rise.
Sipping tea while sat in deck chairs just as dawn was breaking over the mountains was amazing.
Use the link below to find out more about Pyramid Lake & its people.
Crater Lake
The advantage of rising so early was that we were on our way to Crater Lake before the crowds.
Reaching the entrance there were no queues or parking problems we virtually had the place to ourselves. Again we were treated to some spectacular scenery that really the cameras just didn’t really do justice too.
The water in Crater Lake was so still & the reflections so clear it reminded me of the Taekwondo pattern Chon Ji. The pattern represents heaven & earth & was named after Heavenly Lake in Korea where the water reflects the sky.
Use the link to find out more about Crater Lake
https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm
Walking around we took in the sweet fresh air & headed to the coast where we would pick up the 101 or Scenic Pacific Highway.