Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Another View From My Office Window!

I'm back in the air today and jetting off to San Francisco. During the last hour of flight I happened to look out of the window and saw this beautiful lake. A quick call to the pilots revealed that we were over Nevada and that this is Pyramid Lake, about 40 miles/64 km north-east of Reno.  (I'm always very happy when the pilots know where we are!)

Wikipedia tells me that this is a geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin. Pyramid Lake has no outlet, with water leaving only by evaporation or sub-surface seepage (an endorheic lake). The lake has about 10% of the area of the Great Salt Lake, but it has about 25% more volume. The salinity is approximately 1/6 that of sea water.  The name of the lake comes from the impressive cone or pyramid shaped tufa formations found in the lake and along the shores.  You can just about see the largest one - Anaho Island, a wildlife refuge and home to a large colony of American white pelicans. The lake has a significant role in the Paiute Indian tribe and is contained within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation.  It is also a popular fishing lake, famous for the Lohanton Cutthroat Trout which grow to record sizes. It's lured fishermen from around the world including celebrities, foreign royalty and even a US President, all hoping to catch a trophy fish.

Here ends the geography lesson for today.

One day I'm going to become a 'Lady in the Van' and travel by road to see all these wonderful sites I've been seeing from the air for the last 30 years!  Who's up for a road trip??