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Tahoe Nugget #33:
Wonders of Winter
I'm still trying to acquire images for my upcoming Donner Party presentation at a national conference in 10 days. Driving back from Alder Creek Valley (one of the Donner encampment sites - about 5 miles north
of Truckee), I spontaneously detoured onto Prosser Dam road to explore the relevant landscape east of the Alder Creek/Donner encampment location. What a lucky break! After a short drive and then easy hike through
snow-covered sagebrush, I got a chance to explore interesting ice formations at a reservoir about 5 miles east of Truckee.
This photo is only one detailed aspect of the range of wild stuff that was going on
at Prosser Reservoir today. For many weeks, the region had little snow, but winter chill froze the surface of the stored water. Torrential rain at the end of December 2005 threatened to upset the water level of
Prosser Res. so water was released. Without support, the ice sagged and stressed-fractured most magnificently. The ice moaned and cracked loudly like a living organism. Took a lot of photos today, but just sharing
one at the moment.
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