Even though I was now on the “safe” side of the mountains, there was mounting evidence of stormy weather closing in. As much as I wanted to race south, towards the warmer climate, I needed to stay close to Carson City till the battery I had ordered (LiFePO4), to update the 12v system, arrived at Fedex. I had opted to have it held there rather than delivered to Tahoe so I could leave before the snow hit.
I chose a serviced campground north of the city that night so I would have someway to plug in the AC charger to bring the battery up to full charge, as recommended prior to installation. Alas, I realized I would need a multimeter and safety glasses before I could start the battery replacement. There was a dusting of snow on the ground that morning and the wind was picking up so I opted to grab what I needed and make my way south to a free BLM spot along Walker Lake.
I had passed these sites on my way to Heidi’s 3 weeks earlier and was eager to return. Arriving just as the sun was setting, I found a level spot and settled in for the evening, only to be awakened at 3 am by howling winds that were shaking Drifter like an unidentifiable Christmas gift. By morning, it had started to rain and there were tumbleweeds bumping past and into the lake and at times the wind and rain made it impossible to see across the lake at all.
By noon, the sun had come out and it felt safe to leave for Vegas but 10 minutes down the road I ran into a roadblock, literally. It seems, several tractor trailers had “fallen off the road”. The good news was the tow trucks had arrived, the bad news was it could still be several hours until traffic would flow again. I killed some time looking for jus the right rubber grommets to dampen the rattle in the gas stove and picking away at the improvised solution one of the previous owners had devised. I had some lunch, did a little work and finally gave in and headed back to another campsite along the lake.
I thought this site would be a little more sheltered and since I was stuck here, I might as well try installing that battery right? Except, I’d neglected to notice that I would require different connectors, and I still wasn’t 100% sure which cable came from the alternator, and to make matters worse the damned wind was picking up again. Then I noticed traffic was flowing; I would be on my way in no time, if only I could make this left-hand turn with 100 semi trucks coming from the right and another 100 or so coming from the left. I guess everyone had gotten word that the road had reopened at the same time, I had.
It was still windy as we all rounded the bottom end of the lake and hit the valley where the winds doubled in speed. It was all I could do to keep myself on the road around the last curve, where one truck wasn’t so lucky, just in time to see a northbound Fedex truck veer suddenly right into an unforgiving looking gravel turnout. I called it a night in Tonopah and made my way to another BLM spot I’d found using one of my trusty apps. Just as I turned out the lights and climbed the ladder into bed, the whole rig shuddered and the howling started for the second night in a row.
