June 2021 Northwoods Tahoe by Community Media LLC

TA H O E

June 2021 Serving Truckee & Tahoe

Northwoods Tahoe

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Part II

By Philip I. Earl

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We left our intrepid automotive pioneers, Winton and Shanks stranded at Emigrant Gap, waiting for a part for the 12-horse power Winton Touring car…

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Winton decided that he could make a temporary repair and Keely took them back out early the next morning, May 24 (1901). Underway again at 7:00 a.m., they reached the summit by dark, having covered seventeen miles, but ending up stuck in snow at the bottom of Tunnel No. 6 Hill, “a treacherous descent, along which there was great peril every moment,” Shanks recalled. They walked back to Summit Station and took lodging

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for the night in the railroad hotel. Next morning, several railroad men came back with shovels and dug the machine out. “Since that day in the snow banks, I have called it to Mr. Winton’s mind,” Shanks recalled. “He says that the frightful experience of that day, the abuse and hardship to which the machine was subjected, stays in his mind like remembrances of an ugly nightmare.” Shanks himself remembered the incident similarly. “During the entire day, working up there among the clouds, we were cold and drenched. When it did not rain, it snowed or hailed,” he recalled. They got through several smaller accumulations of snow that day, May 25, pausing in Truckee to take on fuel before driving on to Hobart Mills, where they spent the night. A rainstorm had swept across the summit just out of Truckee and they were drenched when they reached the lumber camp. Shanks recalled the kind treatment they were accorded by officials of the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company, and they stayed over the next day, drying their clothing and getting some needed rest. Continued on page 4

CELEBRATING OVER

Archive Photo Credit: Lincoln Highway Association California Chapter

3 JUNE 2021

Before The Lincoln Highway

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Current views of Dog Valley.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Gonzales via Alltrails.com

Continued from page 3 On Monday, May 27, they set out at 6:00 a.m. negotiating Dog Valley Grade and passing through Verdi, Nevada. At the Mayberry Ranch, a mile or so farther east, they met a delegation of local bicyclists representing the Reno Wheelmen, who had come out to escort them into town. Arriving in Reno at 9:30 a.m., they drove down Virginia Street to the Riverside Hotel where they had breakfast. Word of their coming had been telegraphed ahead from Truckee and several hundred citizens lined Virginia Street as they came in that morning. Reno’s main thoroughfare was little better than the roads they had traversed in the past few days—all chuckholes and mud from recent rains— described by a local newsman as “a disgrace to a town half the size of Reno.” Another storm hit as they departed for Wadsworth later in the morning, described by Shanks as “the western gate to one of the worst patches of sand in that section.” Arriving “splashed and covered with mud, wet through and hungry,” as Shanks remembered, they stayed the night. Warned of the “sand hill” just east of town, they decided to persist the next morning, cutting sagebrush to stuff beneath the wheels on one occasion, but finally giving up and returning to town where Winton adjusted the gear ratio. Trying again, they succeeded by employing their block and tackle. Shanks later characterized their experience getting over the hill and continuing on east as “like the remembrances of another beastly nightmare.” At this point, they proceeded up the old Humboldt Trail, later the route of the Victory Highway, spending the night

at Desert Station, a Southern Pacific maintenance facility, and going on to Lovelock and Mill City the next day, May 29. Being told of a thirty-mile stretch of sand up ahead, they were advised to load the Winton on a railroad flat car to be transported to Winnemucca, but Winton decided to try the sand. “Progress was slow,” Shanks recalled. “The sand became deeper and deeper as we progressed. At last the carriage stopped, the driving wheels sped on and cut deep into the bottomless sand. We used block and tackle, got the machine from its hole and tried again with the same result. Tied more ropes around wheels with the hope that the corrugation would give them sufficient purchase in the sand.Result:

Wheels cut deeper in less time than before.” Shanks suggested that they return to Mill City and send their machine on ahead by rail but Winton refused. “No sir,” he said. “If we can’t do it on our own power, this expedition ends right here and I go back with a knowledge of conditions and experience such as no automobilist in this or any other country has gained.” His partner was relieved. “If I attempt this game again,” Winton continued, “I will construct a machine on particular lines. No man who expects to operate in the civilized portions of this continent would take the machine for his individual service Continued on page 6

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Continued from page 4 about cities and throughout ordinary country; but I tell you it will go through sand—and this quicksand at that.” They hiked back to Mill City, arranged for a horse team to go back out and bring the Winton in and had the vehicle loaded aboard a freight train the next day to be transported to Cleveland. They themselves took passage on the same train, never again returning the state. Just a year later, on August 31, 1902, George A. Wyman, a bicyclist and a member of the Bay City Wheelmen, arrived in Reno on a California Motor Touring Wheel, the first motorcyclist ever to negotiate Donner Pass. The machine was powered by a one-cylinder, 1 ¼ -horsepower engine and he told a newsman that he had no mishaps on the journey and that the only pedaling he had done was on some of the heaviest grades. His racing team was scheduled to meet the Reno Wheelmen at Reno’s fairgrounds on September 7 and he stayed over for the rest of the week, his racing wheel to be brought up by other team members when they arrived by rail. Nine months later, May 16, 1903, Wyman departed San Francisco on a planned motorcycle excursion to New York City. Sponsored by Motorcycle Magazine, he also intended to cover a $500 wager he had made with his cycling friends that he could make the trip within forty days. “I was traveling familiar ground,” he was later to write. “During the previous summer, I had made the journey on a California motor bicycle to Reno, Nevada, and knew that crossing the Sierras, even when helped by a motor, was not exactly a path of roses. But it was that tour, nevertheless, that fired me with desire to attempt this longer journey—to become the first motorcyclist to ride from coast to coast.” Leaving from the corner of Market and Kearney at 2:30 p.m., he caught the ferry to Vallejo, spending the night with friends on a houseboat. Thirteen miles out of Vallejo the next morning, he encountered a stiff breeze and removed his muffler to enhance the power of his engine. In Danville, he received some erroneous directions and was halted by a flood on the Sacramento River. He thereafter took to the Southern Pacific tracks and trestles, reaching Sacramento, eighty-two miles out.

He made Colfax the next day, encountering several flocks of sheep and a few cursing herders when he sent the wooly creatures scurrying in all directions with his machine. The next day, May 19, he saw the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra just ahead as he neared Emigrant Gap, “but between the Gap and the snow there was (were) six miles of the vilest road that mortal ever dignified by the term,” he later wrote. He then encountered the snowpack and entered the Southern Pacific snowsheds, “without which there would be no travel across continent by the northern route,” he wrote. “To ride a motor bicycle through sheds is impossible,” he wrote. “I walked, of course, dragging my machine over the ties for 19 miles by cyclometer measurement. I was seven hours in the sheds. It was 15 feet under the snow. That night I slept at the Summit, 7,015 feet above the sea—having ridden—or walked 54 miles during the day.” He lost time searching for a lost can of lubricating oil the next morning, May 20, and negotiated another tunnel 1,700 feet long, the only means of egress from the Summit. “Where the road should have been was a wide expanse of snow—deep snow,” he wrote of the next phase of his journey. “As there was nothing else to do, I plunged into it and floundered, waded, walked, slipped and slid to the head of Donner Lake. It took me an hour to cover the short distance.” At that point, he found the road to Truckee, ten miles down the canyon, to be clear. The citizens of the community welcomed him, but he got bad advice on the route ahead. Two hours later and a ride of twenty-one miles, he reached Bovo, six miles by rail from Truckee. He then followed the railroad crossties to Verdi, Nevada, arriving in early afternoon. “Looking backward, the snow-covered peaks are plainly visible,” he wrote, “but one is not many miles across the state line before he realizes that California and Nevada, though they adjoin, are as unlike as regards soil, topography, climate and all else as two countries between which an ocean rolls.”

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Creative Summer Moments

Family-friendly ideas for summer fun Warm, sunny days are the perfect setting for making family memories, but they’re also ideal opportunities to encourage kids to get creative and let their imaginations soar. These ideas for summertime activities encourage family interaction, and the more kids get to help plan and organize the details, the more engaged you can expect them to be. Visit Your Local Park Pack all the kids’ favorite snacks and beverages to keep cool and hydrated. Choose your spot under a big shady tree and spread out for an impromptu picnic. Be sure to bring along outdoor toys for a game of catch or lighten the load and create a nature scavenger hunt with different types of leaves, rocks and flowers for kids to discover. If they come across an unfamiliar plant or animal, snap a picture with your phone so you can do some research on it when you get home. Encourage the kids to draw or design a piece of art reflecting the things they saw. Create Watercolor Paintings Away from the school setting, kids sometimes have fewer opportunities to practice expressing their ideas and getting creative. Fun tools can make an artistic session more exciting, so look for unique methods like blending Zebra Pen Mildliner Brush Pens with water and a paint brush to create fun, pastel watercolor paintings with minimal mess. The pens are conveniently double-ended with a paint brush-like tip on one end and fine marker tip on the other so you can precisely draw a design then create softer swirls of color using water and a brush.

Water Sponge Challenge Cool off with a fun and refreshing water fight with a few creative twists. First grab sponges, or water sponge balls, and a full bucket of water. The sponges are reusable so you can use them all summer long. Make it extra fun by organizing teams with kids against adults or everyone fending for themselves. Encourage kids to devise their own blockades and targets or adapt a classic game like baseball or dodgeball using water sponges in place of the usual balls. You could also do a sponge scavenger hunt to load up everyone’s buckets before the dousing begins. Find the Animals Visit your local Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited zoo or aquarium and have your kids find as many animals as they can from the AZA SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction species list. It’s a good opportunity to talk about the concept of extinction and why these animals are on the list. Follow up the visit with an activity that reinforces how everyone has a role in conservation and look for ways to help protect each family member’s favorite animal. Make Oven S’mores On a rainy night (or any night) make a s’more by putting it in the oven. They turn out just as melty and gooey as the campfire version but with easier prep and cleanup. This is a tasty way to get those creative juices flowing. Experiment with different candies, such as peanut butter cups in place of chocolate bars. Or add different ingredients and have other family members guess the flavors. Recycled Animal Crafts Combining a creative activity with an important message such as conservation can help kids grasp big concepts about keeping animals and the earth safe and happy. Use recycled materials such as cardstock and “junk” from the recycling bin as well as hot glue and colored pens or pencils to have your kids create an art project featuring a favorite animal or one they’ve seen at a park or zoo. Simply piece items together to look like the animal as well as its habitat like trees, grass or the dessert. Then hot glue the items to the cardboard base and use pens or pencils to add details.

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Find two creative family friendly crafts on Page 10

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Mess-Free Watercolor Art

Learn how to make a faux watercolor masterpiece using Zebra Pen Mildliner Brush Pens. 1. Sketch your design using a pencil. 2. Trace over your pencil design with a bleed-proof technical drawing pen. Be sure to erase any pencil lines still showing. 3. Use brush pens to add blocks of color to each area, but don’t worry about thoroughly covering each line. Use more colors to add more visual interest and depth. 4. Focus on one section of the design at a time. 5. Dip a clean paint brush into a cup of water. The brush should be well saturated but not so wet that it’s dripping. 6. Move the wet paint brush over the color blocks, spreading color to cover white spaces and blend. 7. Once the design is dry, use brush pens to add details and accent colors then trace over original design lines to add bolder borders.

Homemade Cards

Keeping in touch with loved ones is fun any time of the year. Pick an overcast or way-too-hot day to spend creating homemade cards to send to family and friends. Materials: • Cardstock or construction paper • Zebra Pen Zensations Colored Pencils • Stickers • Scissors • Ribbon • Hot glue sticks and guns Encourage kids to think about their intended recipients to create a card that is unique to an experience or memory they have shared together using favorite colors or recreating the memory. On a cardstock or construction paper base, use colored pencils to write a message and draw pictures. Add stickers or use scissors and additional construction paper or ribbon to add decorations and details. With a grown-up’s help, hot glue items to the base card, if necessary. Photo courtesy of Getty Images (child drawing)

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Driving Ensure your tires are ready for the road

During the warmer months, additional travel and hot roadways can put added stress on your vehicle and its tires, in particular. Normal driving, turning and braking on hot roads can pose safety risks to your vehicle and tires. Whether you are simply commuting or planning a road trip this summer, these tips from the experts at your neighborhood Discount Tire store can help keep you safe on the road this summer. Get Pressure Right and Check It Often Low tire pressure can lead to many issues for your tires, like decreased steering and braking control, poor gas mileage, excessive tire wear and the possibility of tire failure. Temperature changes can also impact tire pressure; for every 10 degrees in temperature change, your tire pressure changes 1 PSI (pound per square inch). To stay safe on the road, check your tire pressure at least once a month when the tires are cool. The impacts of bumps and turns from everyday use can lead to normal air loss, so be sure to check regularly and before any road trips. You can find the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure on a sticker in your car’s door jamb or in your owner’s manual. Check Your Tread Tread depth refers to the amount of tread on a tire, which can impact a vehicle’s handling, traction and safe stopping distance. More tread equals better road grip and shorter stopping distances while cars with lower tire tread can take significantly longer to stop. To easily check your tread depth, stick a penny upside-down in a tread groove. If you can see President Lincoln’s entire head, your tread is worn down and it’s time to replace your tires. Rotate Tires Often Tires should be rotated every 6,000 miles or earlier if you notice

any uneven wear. Rotating your tires increases tread life and helps ensure a smooth and safe ride. Double Check Your Trunk Many newer vehicles have replaced spare tires with tire inflation kits. These kits include tools to keep you on the road, like puncture-coating sealants, air compressors and run-flat tires. Check to see what is included with your vehicle and consider adding a roadside assistance plan in case you experience a flat tire or other issues. Ask an Expert Stay educated on your tires and what you need to do to keep them safe. Consider booking an appointment for a free tire safety check at a local store like Discount Tire. You can even stay in your car while service is performed as part of the touchless experience. If it is time to replace your tires, an option like the Treadwell online tire guide can help you find personalized tire recommendations for your specific vehicle, where you live and your driving habits. For additional tire safety tips, to locate a store near you or schedule a tire inspection appointment, visit DiscountTire.com. Photo courtesy of Getty Images

JUNE 2021

Safe Summer