Long drive, happy faces

I lured Mrs. CW into the truck, locked the doors, and roared off to the mountains.  The plan was to check on the aspens to see if they are starting to turn colors.

So, it was over Carson Pass, then a fill up with sweet, delicious Nevada gas at Minden, then over Simee Dimeh pass in Nevada, and down into Antelope Valley.

Mostly high desert grazing watered by the Walker River.

There's a lot of character out in the basin and range country.

Drove over the valley to East Valley Road, and proceeded south.

There's some beautiful, rugged country nearby.

Back north on Highway 395

Approaching Monitor Pass, our third summit of the day.

Looking back down on the far end of Antelope Valley, over some tough country.

Just past Monitor Summit, heading north west.

That's the Carson Iceberg Wilderness in the distance.

Right turn.

The Carson River looks fishy, but it's fly fishing only on this stretch. 

Back over Carson, and a stop for lasagna at Giannini's in Pine Grove.  And a couple martinis.

Looks like a couple more weeks before the aspen turn.  Only a scattered branch or two in all that country is yellow.  There's a sea of aspen over Monitor, so I'd like to time properly a trip there, maybe spend the night in that high country and enjoy the color and watch the stars, before the snow flies.