Duke and I have decided to go out camping and exploring every couple of weeks during this time of quarantine. It is a great way to maintain our mental health, such as it is! We just returned from a trip to the area where the northeast corner of California and the northwest corner of Nevada meet.
We drove north from Reno on highway 395 almost to the Oregon border and camped the first night at Cave Lake forest service campground. We had a lovely isolated camp spot just a short walk from the lake.
Because there was going to be a full moon we wanted to stay up until the moon cleared the mountains. After dinner we sat by the fire for a while and then sat in the truck and listed to the wonderful This week in Virology podcast. In the morning when we were ready to leave the truck wouldn’t start. The battery in our relatively new truck was dead! Luckily we have a portable jump starter which worked perfectly.
We drove east into California and into the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. Just inside the refuge we took a side road to the top of Bald Mountain where there is a fire lookout tower and a magnificent 360 degree view.
They also had something I had never seen before, a Faraday Cage Shelter.
As we drove through the refuge we saw several groups of Pronghorn antelope. Unfortunately they were all in the distance but they are extremely fast and fun to watch.
All the campgrounds in the refuge had “No Campfires” signs. I’m sure the restriction is because of the high fire danger. So our camp at Gooch Spring was a dry camp.
The horizon was a long way away and there were no trees so the moon was spectacular when it came up.
If you would like to see more details of our route you can click the map below to open an interactive CalTopo map in a new browser tab.
Marion's Blog 
Your latest trip looks so inviting and interesting. I never knew about Faraday shelters. When I need a Faraday cage, I use our microwave. That wouldn’t work for a person. :^)
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