[stepper77]

The Sierra Nevada Mountains run along the eastern California border and effectively create the deserts of Nevada as they wring all the moisture out of most storms that pass through. I grew up in the Sierra foothills and spent my youth hiking, camping, and swimming in lakes and rivers there. Bored on Saturday, I recently decided to get on Highway 80 in Oakland and head up to the mountains. In three hours I was in Truckee and, after a walk though downtown, took highway 89 to 49 through Sierra County and ended up in Grass Valley/Nevada City to have dinner with one of my best friends.

Truckee (pop 16,180), biggest city in Nevada County

What is most disturbing about these pictures are the mountains in the distance. Truckee is at an elevation of 5,800 ft and this is April. There is almost NO snow on the peaks, a really scary reflection of our very dry winter. If you'd like to see Truckee in the snow, see a thread I did here.





































The Truckee River, draining Lake Tahoe through Reno to Pyramid Lake















































Heading out highway 89 north, entering Sierra County



This high elevation valley was dead silent, unbelievable I was in the Bay Area half a day earlier





The Sierra Buttes at Sardine Lake, often this is inaccessible well into May

















Sierra City (pop 221)









Downieville (pop 282), remarkably, the seat of Sierra County. Most of these were actually taken in Fall 2012 with a few this Spring.







































Sierra County Courthouse

















All ready for winter!































































































































North San Juan, a small community back in Nevada County





Nevada City (pop 3,068), seat of Nevada County























Nevada County Courthouse







My place of birth, Grass Valley (pop 12,860)



The End
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Tour of California 1: Los Angeles, 2: Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, 3: Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach, 4: San Jose, 5: San Diego, 6: Fresno, 7: Stockton, Modesto, 8: Gold Country, 9: Eureka, Arcata, 10: Monterey, Carmel, 11: Santa Cruz, 12: Sacramento Pt One, 13: Sacramento Pt Two, 14: Roseville & Folsom, 15: Concord & Walnut Creek, 16: Tri-Valley, 17: Berkeley, Emeryville, 18: Fremont, 19: Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, 20: Redwood City, Foster City, San Mateo, 21: Oakland, 22: Benicia, Vallejo, 23: Napa, St. Helena, 24: Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, 25: San Rafael, 26: Larkspur, Mill Valley, 27: Sausalito, Tiburon, 28: Hollister, San Juan Bautista, 29: Long Beach 2008, 30: Venice, 31: Santa Monica, 32: Sacramento Pt 3, 33: Solvang, 34: Alameda, 35: Knights Ferry, 36: California Zephyr, 37: Colfax, 38: Davis, 39: Oakdale, 40: San Francisco Pt 1, San Francisco Pt 2, 41: Chico, Redding, 42: Kings Beach, 43: Merced, 44: Gold Country pt 2, 45: Gold Country pt 3, 46: Sonora, 47: Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun City, 48: Orange, Fullerton, 49: Anaheim, Irvine, 50: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,51: San Francisco, Pt 3, 52: Lodi, 53: Martinez, 54: Ft Bragg, Mendocino, 55: San Luis Obispo, 56: Sacramento River Pt 1, 57: Sacramento River Pt 2, 58: Lake Merritt/Oakland, 59: Marysville/Yuba City, 60: Woodland, 61: Beverly Hills"62: Los Angeles, 63: Sacramento, 64: Lakeport, 65: South Lake Tahoe, 66: Salinas, Watsonville, 67: Pacific Grove. 68: Winters/Willows, 69: Red Bluff, 70: Redding, 71: Weaverville, 72: Yreka/Weed/Mt Shasta, 73: Mt. Lassen/Susanville, 74: Quincy, 75: Oroville, 76: Avalon, 77: Mariposa/Yosemite, 78:Markleeville, 79: East Bay (Contra Costa Co), 80: East Bay (Alameda Co), 81: Oakland Revisited, 82: Silicon Valley, 83: San Jose