June 23rd, 2024
Wild Horse was about 60 miles straight north of Elko and I was pretty much the only person on the road heading that way. I was only passed by a single car on the way there, which was also the only other car I saw heading north on that road the whole trip. The drive was easy and relaxed except for the patches here and there of Mormon Crickets on the road. This is apparently a thing in Nevada where these gigantic biomasses of gigantic red crickets gather en mass on the roads and can actually create some pretty hazardous driving conditions. I remember my parents telling me about them once before, but I had never seen them for myself. Wayne and Carol had also asked me to report on the amount of crickets I encountered on my way north.
The patches of them were fairly infrequent, staying mostly near creek crossings and such, but I began to encounter larger and larger amounts of them the further north I went. As I drew closer to my destination, I began to get nervous that the campground might be overrun with these things. The patches were getting bigger and bigger. The road itself had a fairly disgusting red hue to it where millions of these things had been run over and mashed into the road over the years. The whole thing really creeps me out and my heart began to sink thinking this campground might be a bust. Thankfully about 4 miles away from the park turnoff the biomass just, stopped. The roads turned back into a regular grey asphalt color and the amount of crickets became just a few here and there. I was astonished, and breathed a hesitant sigh of relief. As I pulled into the camp area, there were crickets, but far less than I was expecting. I found my spot overlooking the lake and there were just a handful of them skittering around. They still creep me out and I would definitely prefer there were none of them at all, but I was relieved that it was just a few of them poking around.
I got myself positioned, leveled and set up in no time and took Danny out to take a look. It was a really beautiful spot with a wide view of the entire lake surrounded by modest mountain ranges. It is still a deserty area, but as far as the desert is concerned, this is pretty breathtaking. I could feel the cool breeze blowing up from the water below and felt relaxation begin to come over me.
The next day we spent running around doing a little exploring. We went down a few paths trying to get closer to the water and finally found a boat launch ramp not far from our campsite. I threw the ball in the water for him a few times and quickly realized I had brought the wrong toy. We headed back to camp to get something more appropriate and I decided to grab my tripod while we were there to crack a few shots of our play.
We headed back to the boat launch and I got a really good idea. There was a little dock poking into the lake from the ramp and I forsaw a great photo opportunity. It took a bit of coaxing, but after a few tries I was able to teach Danny to run and jump off the end of the dock. He spent the next hour charging off the dock trying the catch the ball I was throwing into the lake while I snapped action shots. I got some fantastic shots of him flying through the air after the ball with the beautiful mountains and horizon lining the distance. He got a fantastic workout, and I got to work on my tan.
I don’t think he ever would have stopped, so as his movements slowed I threw one more time for him and turned around to head back. I dried him all off at the campsite and then decided I felt better enough to go for a run.
Running out here is a little hit and miss. The scenery is beautiful an there are plenty of paved roads to navigate… but the crickets. Lord in Heaven the crickets. The thing is, they can’t hurt you… and you know this all the time you are around them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are gigantic creepy little nightmares. I think what really bothers me about them is that they are a cannibalistic species by nature. That is why there are always so many of them on the road. A bunch get run over, then the others run out to feed on them, they get run over, and the whole cycle just perpetuates itself into infinity. They also smell terrible. Individually probably not so much, but as the multitude of dead form a red layer across the road and begin to decay they give off a truly fowl odor. So as I’m running I am constantly trying to avoid the crickets in my path while simultaniously focusing on not inhaling through my nose, it’s just not the most ideal of running conditions.
The sunsets here though, wow. They are truly exceptional. I may never come back to this place again due to my experience with the crickets, but if I do, the sunsets will be one of the things that compel me to do so.
It would also probably help if I had remembered to grab some proper bait before coming here. The fishing is unreal. I took Danny out to the dock to play every day we were here and in any given two hour period there were at least three boats launching into the reservoir to go fishing. These guys were bringing back beautiful, massive rainbow trout and cooking them up right at their campsite. I have already found that trout have no interest in my crummy jigs with power bait so I didn’t bother casting out this time. But I did spend a good amount of time out in my kayak rowing around the lake. It was wonderful out there. Despite there being so many people out fishing, I actuallypretty much had the middle of the lake to myself to row around in. I love getting out the the middle of the lake and just kicking back while the waves lap around and I discuss some things with God. It is very peaceful.
The rest of my time here was mostly spent working out, relaxing, and catching up on the Bible. I am getting really close to finishing. As I get ready to head to the next spot I find myself just about to finish Hebrews in the New Testament. I am really enjoying the New Testament. I love the story of Paul and the transformation he goes through in his life thanks to Jesus. I love experiencing Jesus’s life through so many points of view and reading about the all the amazing things He did in His life and after His resurrection. I love learning about the lengths God went through to save me and give me life, real life, on this earth.
The thing is now, thanks to God, I have life now where there was no life. I was alone and dying… slowly killing myself with poison and sin. I spent so many years in that place. There was no joy… no real joy at least. There was temporary joy that was always followed by shame, guilt, regret and fear. I tried so many times to get out of that place by myself and could never do it. Never even came close. You would think that people in that situation would reach out and ask for help… but they don’t. They think they can handle it, and due to shame, they don’t want anyone to know anything is wrong. We put on a happy face for those who love us and hide the rest all away. We chose tomorrow as the day to set things straight but that tomorrow never comes. It’s just another lie we tell ourselves so we will believe we still have some control over things.
Control. That’s what we need… what we must have if we are going to figure this life out. Well that’s all bullshit. I challenge every one of you reading this to let go of the steering wheel of your life and let God drive for a bit. Just let go, put your trust in Him. You will be amazed at how good of a driver He is… and as you peer through the rear view mirror all you will see is the skidmarks you left behind swerving all over the road in and out of the ditches. You may even begin to despair that it took you so long to let go, and worry about all the damage you did while you were trying to stay on the road… that is when you forgive yourself. All those mistakes you made were leading to something. All those scratches and dings on the car were necessary for you come to realize you needed help from your Father…. and now He is here, setting the wheels straight and driving you to the life that He has for you. You made it, you finally listened to that voice that has been calling out to you from the back seat for so long. And He’s not even mad that you kept turning up the radio to drown Him out, He forgave you before you ever did it. Remember the lengths that He went through to forgive you, forgive yourself, then sit back and enjoy the ride.
And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world
Ephesians 2:1