Great Basin spring weather is all over the map, literally. While our home in the one end of Carson Valley is sunny and warm, it could be snowing at the opposite end. Some years, Winter and Spring battle it out until deep into May. Other times, the tulips and forsythia blooms are long gone by the end of April. There seems to be a fifteen-year cycle of flood and drought in the Great Basin. Indeed, about twenty years ago in Truckee, CA, the equestrian center manager lamented she couldn't open the facility by Memorial Day because there was still a pad of ice several inches thick at the entrance to the barn. She couldn't install the boarder horses until it melted. With that said, I'm dusting off an old 2010 story from my defunct website, Ring Around the Basin, to show how a blustery day in May can bring out the best in people and scenery.
Our daughter, Val, added another word to western Nevada lexicon: Mayuary. Spring weather in the Sierra Nevada, with its late-winter parade of storms, sometimes lasts until Mother's Day. By then, nobody wants to see snow. No matter how far we drive, it’s difficult to find “wall-to-wall sunshine.” Surprisingly, we did discover some people earnest enough to defy the odds and the elements.
The Reno Rodeo Association staged an event to entertain and educate folks about "Old West culture" as well as raise money for their youth programs. Despite the intermittent snow and drizzle, dozens of contestants participated in quick-draw shooting, horse-mounted shooting, and historic re-enactments at the Bartley Ranch Regional Park in Reno, NV. When people got too cold to watch, even from under the tents, there was cowboy poetry, an exhibit of Linda Dufferina’s photography of the West and lots of good food to warm up the most frigid soul.
Because of the weather, only a few hundred people braved the blustery winds; but true to that old western spirit, participants seemed more intent on catching up with each other’s lives while competing in friendly displays of horsemanship and marksmanship. These gatherings tend to be reunions for the widely-dispersed ranching community.
(Note: Old West activities aside, the actual western culture is better portrayed with a spring round-up and branding of calves at ranches throughout the West. That's when you see these friends gather to help each other with a huge seasonal task.)
A pair of Civil War re-enactors astride their cavalry mounts hung out close to where we sat. I overheard the Yankee General say that the Nevada First Cavalry started in 1863, truly “Battle Born," but they never reached the Civil War battlegrounds. Instead, they fought locally in what was called the Paiute War. Trouble is, the tribesmen always won. Those Paiutes don’t go down easy, boys. You met your match.
One especially colorful story described how Major William Ormsby rallied the boys at a Virginia City saloon to go out and "kill some Injuns." In the ensuing battle, the Paiutes shot Ormsby's horse out from under him, killing both of them. Such a tragic ending to a valiant steed. Apparently, Samuel Clemens remained at the saloon to report to the Territorial Enterprise whatever survivor story made it back to Virginia City.
While the festivities at Bartley Ranch continued throughout the day, we retreated to our warm Jeep and traveled to Pyramid Lake in search of the sun. It’s a challenge to find the sunlight when storms cover the entire Intermountain West, but we found some awesome cloud formations. Virga struggled to reach the ground. Within seconds, the clouds would roll and morph into gauzy wisps. The filtered light cast cloud shadows that undulated across the rain-soaked mountains, like a stampede of ghostly riders across the sage.
Moisture pulls out the colors in the rocks and defines serpentine contours in the barren hills. Many species of sagebrush take root in a landscape where just about every inch of ground nourishes some little plant. When you think the desert can’t surprise you anymore, swaths of wildflowers pop up, showing how Mayuary doesn’t hinder the urgency to propagate.
That’s what thrills me about the Great Basin. At first, it’s a blur of muted hues and empty space. Look closer, though, and find the contrasts and colors, the forms and shapes emerging from under the shifting soils. That rolling landscape suddenly bears witness to the guidebook description: sagebrush sea. Many an artist has reveled in this paradise. Once the beauty of the desert introduces itself to the observant and appreciative eye, it’s easy to see why those Paiutes beat back the soldiers with such ferocity.
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to explore other writings in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. I also love to read your comments, so please share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation. And if you wish to support my writings, please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s now only $50/year. Even better, I would appreciate it if you could share Ring Around the Basin with your friends. Thank you!
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Sadly I have discovered that the battery quality of Kindles has deteriorated to such a ridiculous level, I don't want to recommend you purchase my books, Paradise Ridge, When the Horses Come and Go, and Ghost in the Forestthat are currently available on Kindle. If you have an old Kindle and you like to live dangerously, you will be able to enjoy all three books from under $10. Ghost in the Forest, however, is available in paperback.
"The filtered light cast cloud shadows that undulated across the rain-soaked mountains, like a stampede of ghostly riders across the sage." Now THAT is beautiful language, Sue. As is this: "... muted hues and empty space.... contrasts and colors....shapes emerging from under the shifting soils." Super photographs!
"The filtered light cast cloud shadows that undulated across the rain-soaked mountains, like a stampede of ghostly riders across the sage." Now THAT is beautiful language, Sue. As is this: "... muted hues and empty space.... contrasts and colors....shapes emerging from under the shifting soils." Super photographs!
Delightful. Loved this line:
"Such a tragic ending to a valiant steed." I have to agree.