Travel Notes | Nevada & Northern California
This blog is a place for the photographs and notes that don’t quite fit anywhere else. Some are personal snapshots, some are images from the road that never found their way into a series, but all of them feel worth keeping.
Gardnerville greeted us with dust in the air and evening light spilling across Main Street. We stopped at the historic J T Basque Bar before heading to our lodgings.
Bowie, our companion for the stay, sitting in the soft glow of the window.
Our first trip out was to Fallen Leaf Lake. The water was so clear and the air was filled with the scent of Pine.
An old gas station in Incline Village, left empty among the trees. Its roof leaned sharply toward the road, unused but striking.
The old pool at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino, emptied and left behind. A quiet shell of what it once was.
Boarded windows and empty grounds marked the Tahoe Biltmore. A landmark left to wait for whatever comes next.
Virginia City had its own kind of street theatre. A man on a penny farthing went by announcing the gun fight.
A pup greeted us at the fence. He gave the sweetest little “awhooo” as we passed.
At the Sierra Strange store in Bridgeport we found Harry on the wall. Harry and the Hendersons was always a favourite of mine.
Gardnerville’s Overland became our go-to spot. Five visits later, I’d recommend it to anyone passing through.
Sharkey’s Casino, Gardnerville. I told myself I’d come back after dark, but it never happened.
The iconic Stardust Lodge sign in Heavenly. Still shining between the pines.
The VW bus outside Strawberry Station. Last chance to grab food and supplies before heading into the Desolation Wilderness.
We set out for Bassi Falls but the weather turned, thunder, lightning and hail the size of Maltesers. In the end we had to turn back and never made it to the falls.
Eagle Lake gave us this small moment. A chipmunk and a jay sat side by side, both looking out across the water.
This little chipmunk wasn’t shy. He came right up to where I was standing, grabbed a nut, struck a pose, then darted off again.
Even airports carry a kind of stillness when you’re looking for it. Reno, the last image of the journey.
That’s all from this trip. Just a handful of moments I didn’t want to leave behind.
I’ll share whatever I’m drawn to at the time, photos, bits of location scouting, things I’ve been noticing while walking, even the odd thought about photography itself. It’s less about polished projects and more about keeping a record of the moments in between.