Walker Lake

Walker Lake, NV  High 78  Low 49

It was definitely time to leave Reno. When I woke up Friday morning, I knew it was unusually cold in the rig.

I drug Jim out of bed to check things out and he discovered that the valve on one of our propane tanks is not working. The other tank was empty and we had already talked to the office about getting propane. They weren’t available until 8:30. The girls and I stayed under the covers until the sun came up and warmed the rig up somewhat.

Leaving Reno we headed south down Hwy 95 towards Hawthorne. We have good friends there that we wanted to stop and visit with. They actually live in the town of Walker Lake and Sharon told us that there was a lot of camping along the lake. Sounded good to us.

We stopped at Sportsman Beach and these was the view from our rig.

Walker Lake is a sad testament to poor planning. The lake is shrinking rapidly due to agricultural usage north along the Walker River. The lake is fed by this river and has no natural outlet except absorption and evaporation. With the continuing drought, water levels have dropped over 150 feet since 1882 when the first white man, Jedediah Smith, came through this area.

The lower level of the lake has resulted in a higher concentration of salt in the water which has killed off almost all of the fish in the lake. This fish decline has also had an impact on the number of birds using the lake. In 2009 the town of Hawthorn had to cancel its Loon Festival because the loons no longer stop here.

This also means that there is not much activity on the lake. You can see where the boat ramp ends and the lake begins. A couple of people did put boats in the water while we there but it didn’t look easy in the shallow water.

It’s a perfect place to stop for a night or two if you are going this way between Reno and Las Vegas. There were only a couple of rigs there to keep us company. $3 a night with your Senior Pass. Peaceful, quiet and beautiful.

Sunrise over Walker Lake.