Pyramid Lake-Until I Can No Longer Tell the Pelicans Good Night

We arrived at Pyramid Lake on May 1, 2019, with a one month reservation. We have camped here several times a year over the past several years. It is known for it’s giant Lahontan Cutthroat trout as well as many eerie legends. The lake is fed by the Truckee River which is the only outlet for Lake Tahoe. It is located on the Paiute reservation. The lake has tons of limestone formations, called tufa formations arising from it and interestingly, many of you have seen it without even knowing it. When I was researching Pyramid Lake a bit for this article, I learned that Pyramid Lake is the default screen saver for the iPad.

Pyramid Lake legends are fascinating tales from mermaids and mothers who were turned to stone to water babies.  Here is a link to a great story about some of the myths and legends of this beautiful lake.  https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/05/the-mysteries-of-nevadas-cursed-pyramid-lake/.  It really is worth the read.  Many Reno/Sparks residents will not come to the lake or set foot into the water to this day, freaked out by legends.  While I can be superstitious, I believe if you show the region love and respect, the creepy monsters should stay away!  Let’s hope so, anyway. 

We are staying at the RV park with full hook ups for $550 for the month.  The spaces are large and flat.  There is a very nice laundry room and free showers available if needed as well. This is the desert. There is no shade. There are no trees and very little vegetation. It’s a parking lot-but it’s at a great lake with full hook ups! The camp hosts have been here for years and are very nice and helpful.  They allowed us to have our visiting friends camp beside us for free and use the restrooms as our guests.  There are several long term residents who are friendly and helpful.  One young man who full times here helped a visitor get his boat running and saved his vacation.  Overall a very nice group of people! 

This is a community that does appear to struggle.  It reminds of some of the small towns in Iowa that I know so well.  The little town of Sutcliffe has many old homes in disrepair, yet I have never had a concern about safety here.  Everyone has been very friendly and helpful-great small town feel here. 

 Crosby’s Lodge is the local bar/restaurant/store.  It is the just about the only place to get gas or supplies nearby.  Reno is a good 35 mile drive.  There is a little store next to the campground that sells fire works and a few other things.  They have the REAL DEAL fireworks here-the professional grade stuff.  Apparently, when purchasing fireworks, you have to sign a form promising you will discharge them while on the reservation.  Many nights you can see them going off on some of the other beach camps around the lake.  There is 125 miles of shoreline on Lake Pyramid! 

Dispersed camping is allowed around most of the lake.  There are areas on the far shores that non- Paiute people cannot access.  Otherwise, camping is allowed as long as you are so many feet from the shoreline.  We used to camp right on the lake in our pick up camper.  Fires on the beach at night are so nice.  The wind gets the lake going and it can sound like you are at the ocean.  It’s $16/night or $41/3 nights to dry camp around the lake.  There is a dump station at the RV park that costs $10 and does take debit/credit cards.  You do have to have a permit to camp, park, fish on the lake.  It’s easiest to get those at the Ranger’s station by the RV park or online.  You can get them at Crosby’s Lodge, but they can get busy and their customers are understandably first served-so only as a last resort. 

Crosby’s has great food at reasonable prices with a Midwest/down home feel to the place. Try the wings if you stop by. They have a bar, camping/fishing convenience store, and serve food and sell gas.   In the winter, they have great specials for the fisherman.  The chicken fried steak was awesome last winter.  Trout season opens here every October 1^st-our daughter’s birthday.  (Dad has made her celebrate early for several years now! Sorry Bees! LOL!)

Pyramid Lake does not have the stunning views with pine trees and lush scenery that Lake Tahoe has.  It is high desert.  I do find it beautiful in its’ own way.  The limestone formations, or tufa, are fascinating to study and fun to climb. (You do so at your own risk, but it is allowed)

 One such formation, named the Great Stone Mother, comes with a legend telling how the lake was formed from a devastated mother’s tears.  This area is sacred to the Paiute tribe and not accessible to the public.  Images and the story of the Great Stone Mother can be seen at the museum in Nixon, NV, a few miles from Sutcliffe.  It is definitely worth the drive.  I learned a lot about the history of the Paiute tribe and all that they endured as white settlers invaded their home. 

This quote really touched me.  I wonder, in a hundred years, what future generations will think of the world today.  I bought a book at the gift shop, “Sarah Winnemucca”, the story of a strong Paiute woman who fought to overcome the injustices of her people brought on them by white settlers.  I’d never heard of her before today.  History is different when taught by the “winners” it seems.  As an avid reader, I am inspired to seek out the stories of those less known now.  Thank you, Lake Pyramid! 

  I love to photograph the tufa and see what hidden items I can see inside their formations.  The Pyramid for which the lake is named appears to change color as the sun hits it throughout the day.  It can appear brown or white.  The way the shadows play on the mountains is really cool to watch as are all the colors in the hillside during the Spring.  There was still some snow on the mountain tops when we arrived.  We got to see orange, and rust, and yellow, and green, and white, and beige-beautiful in its own way. 

There is also a huge population of birds here.  Woodrow Wilson established a bird refuge on Anaho Island, near the Pyramid, back in 1913.  Now it is one of the largest homes to my favorite bird, the American white pelican.  It is so relaxing and entertaining to watch these huge birds throughout the day.  There are also seagulls, blue heron, and many other birds.  I was able to get a few good shots of them over the last couple of weeks. 

Mike was able to catch several good size trout during our stay-around 15 lbs. or so.  We do not eat trout so these were all catch and release.  We were able to do some studying and got his GoPro figured out so he has video of his catches now.  You know what they say, if there’s no pictures, it didn’t happen. 

Our first weekend, we hosted our brother- in- law, John for a few days.  It was so nice to spend time with family.  Mike and John enjoyed several days of good fishing, nice meals together, along with some NBA Warriors games, a little Yahtzee and some Skipbo!  Memories we will cherish.

After John left, we had 3 couples come and join us for a nice weekend. Everyone caught fish and had a nice time catching up.  The ladies worked together on meal plans and that seemed to work well.  We had way too much food-as always-but there was some organization to it!  We used our Blackstone griddle-a 22 inch-to make carne asada tacos and breakfast burritos.  We really like the griddle!  It runs on propane and can be hooked right up to our large RV tank or the small green ones.  Great item for cooking for large groups and really quite reasonable. Our 22 inch was $129.00. Due to limited storage, we had to decide between the griddle and a portable Traeger when we started full timing.  It was a tough choice, and I do still miss my smoked meats, but I think we made the right choice for us. 

It was great to see our friends again and catch up a bit.  Jimmie and Cassie brought their teen daughter and her cousin who appreciated the comforts of Reva Mae during the day.  It was fun to host the group and hang out.  Louie had sprained his ankle our second day here and wasn’t up to any good hiking so our time was more about hanging out, laughing, and soaking up some vitamin D.  Thanks to all for coming up to enjoy a nice weekend. 

I also took a few days to fly to Omaha to get a little G baby fix in.  I was able to use points so the flight was a whopping $11.20 round trip!  Woohoo!  I was fortunate enough to see my two best friends as well during that trip.  I had a great time playing at the Children’s museum with the kids and the g babies. Old Market in Omaha is always fun with friends! 

One thing neither of us ever wants to forget, is how grateful we are for the life and the opportunities we have now.  We try to reflect every evening on all that we are grateful for-sometimes it comes more easily than others.  Sometimes, the mood just isn’t there.  It can get very easy to become complacent and lazy, at least for me. 

Pyramid Lake was our first one month stay-outside of working months.  I’m not sure month-long stops are going to be good for me. On one side, I love knowing I am settled for a bit and can get some chores done, do some organizing, etc.  However, on the other side, I can easily stop seeing this as an adventure and not embrace what lies outside the RV-stop seeing the beauty and opportunities of my surroundings. Monthly rates are generally the cheapest so I think I’m going to have to work on this a bit! 

We were in LA for 11 weeks and it rained nearly every weekend there.  We got complacent, and I missed visiting several places I now wish I would have at least tried to see between the rains.  It was easy to put it off-easy to be lazy and tell yourself, “next weekend will be better, we’re here for a while”.  Suddenly “awhile” was over and many of the things I wished I would have done were left undone.  A missed opportunity.   

I caught a bit of a cold traveling to Omaha and back, so I was already lacking motivation to do much of anything.  To top it off, there were a lot of windy, rainy days, with some very unusual May weather for the region during our stay here.  The lake bed was very high, making hiking along the shore line nearly impossible.  AND Louie had sprained his right ankle and developed an abscess on his left shoulder the very first week here, making long hikes with the dogs nearly impossible.  Lots of easy excuses for me to get lazy.

I try to use each stop as an opportunity to really reflect on who I am, what I want out of life, and how I can live a better, fuller, more harmonious life.  It takes a conscious effort for me to do this.  I like to think that I’ve learned a few things about myself in the past 6 months and have worked on some areas I’ve found I don’t really like about myself.  Complacency is definitely one area.  Others are appreciation for my surroundings, and as always, gratitude for the life I have today.  I do believe writing this blog has helped me take a better look at who I am and who I want to be. 

I had been doing some research and writing one rainy day when I realized I was using the weather, and Louie, and anything else I could think of, as an excuse to stop immersing myself in my surroundings.  This stop could be LA all over again.  How many times would I allow myself to become complacent?  How many times would I reach for excuses to not get out and see the world around me? 

As I dragged my ass off the sofa and put on my hoodie, shoes, and socks begrudgingly at first, I knew I would feel better once I got moving; once I saw the pelicans.  There are anywhere between four and 20 pelican that like to hang out near shore not too far from our campground.  The dogs and I love to walk down there at dusk and watch them, tell them all good night.

 One day I won’t be able to tell the pelican good night.  I may never get back to Pyramid Lake-I hope I do.  I may grow old or ill and not be able to make the walk down to the shore.  I need to remember this when I’m hiding away in a toasty, warm Reva Mae-far too engaged in television or the internet-when I think “I can skip it tonight, tomorrow will be better” when it’s not the perfect weather.  I need to stay in the present, really count my blessings, and say “good night Pelicans” until I can no longer tell them good night.