Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe

Highway 50 coming up the steep eastern face of the Sierra Nevada from Lake Tahoe.

The Western End

Here's the approximate western end of Highway 50, in Sacramento, California. Very near this offramp, the highway merges onto Interstate 80 at an intersection with Interstate 5. Highway 50 used to go on, but now the way to the Pacific Ocean is via I-80 across the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.

Sacramento is now US 50's end. This is much less of a real ending than exists in Ocean City, Maryland, where the highway comes over a bridge and terminates two blocks from the beach.

The Loneliest Highway in America

Highway 50 across Nevada. The "Loneliest Highway in America" is truly wonderful! I like being alone when not in the company of an awesome person. This time, I was alone in powerful terrain.

A friend saw this photo, and said the distant mountain range looked like it was floating! This was confusing. The light area is a playa, or dry lake bed.

Old Monarch Pass

Pictured above is the summit of Old Monarch Pass. This was the route of Highway 50 until 1921. The highway now crosses the continental divide maybe a mile south of here. The old road is now a cross country ski route, also traveled by snowmobiles. In the summer, you can drive over, and go down the Gunnison side of the mountains.

See this site for the history of Highway 50.

Today I drove to the Monarch Ski and Snowboard area, visited with my friend Anrahyah (who kindly offered me part of her lunch!), and then went cross country skiing on the Old Monarch Pass road which is just uphill from the entrance to the ski area. I think it was about 1:30 pm.

The snow was in great condition, high enough that it wasn't melting on this relatively warm day. The summit of the pass is a bit over 11,300 feet. Coming down was kick and glide most of the way.

At the bottom, a man asked me general questions about skiing the area, and then looked to be putting on his skis. A lady who had started just ahead of me was still on the mountain somewhere.

After a slice of pizza and a drink (at ski area prices), I drove down the mountain and home.

Road up to Monarch

The view west toward Monarch Pass on Highway 50, Chaffee County, Colorado. When it works out, I've enjoyed driving up there on Friday afternoons since my friend is up at the ski area then with a group of her students.

http://crestonecharter.blogspot.com

It's about a 40 minute drive, and I normally find some photographs to make along the way. I am, after all, working on a book illustrating Highway 50 across the country! It's only another mile or so from the ski area to the summit of Monarch Pass.

This time, I didn't take my cross country skis. But I should have. The snow was better than I thought. The Old Monarch Pass road would have been good.