Expedition to See the Life Blood of Walker Lake Flowing Again

Love the pics! I went to OR last year on a Jeepin road trip from AZ and on the way back went through Nevada. That was so much more amazing that I remember it ever being (I lived in Reno for a very short time) and seeing Walker lake for the first time was awesome and i just had to stop and take a pic as well. Loved that entire Nevada run.
 
Wow, those were great shots and views of the lake... pretty cool stuff out there.. makes me want to make that trip myself.
 
Aweome pics and great write up. As always, thanks Eddie and Cindy. Im hoping to make my way out there this summer from Utah. :thumb:
 
Thanks you for this adventure! Stuff like this is so fantastic to see. This lake is impressive to see, is right in our own backyard, yet could disappear in our lifetime without even a second thought by most. Thank you for showing this! [emoji106]


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Rockywoolf said:
I enjoyed the thread. I used to fish at walker lake before it lost all of its oxygen from lack of fresh water. All the fish have died due to that. Not far upstream on the walker river a group bought the old Hilton ranch and are making efforts to divert the ranches water use and send more water to walker lake. I drive past it regularly and am glad to see your thread as I have always wanted to pull off the road and make that trek. Great pics and a great thread. Thanks!
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I'm wondering what the salinity level of the lake is after years of little water replenishment...perhaps with the river flowing into the lake again, fish will find its way back into the lake & restock it.

Very cool trip...


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cozdude said:
That's so sweet to see it flowing again!! Do you happen to know how long they usually leave it open for when it has been open in the past?
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Open as in the lake or open as in the water flow? The lake is always open although, not too many people visit it anymore. As far as the water goes, it'll only flow if the Weber reservoir upstream is full. This is the first time in 6 years that's happened.

benatc1 said:
Looks like a cool day and experience. Really quite a difference from what we saw in January. Pretty incredible really, like you said to bad they don't have water rights but good to see that there is enough water in the region to flow out that way regardless of how it's diverted.
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The difference was definitely noticeable and if predictions are correct, they may see as much as a 15' rise by the middle of summer. That would b HUGE! As far as water rights go, a lot of effort has been made to acquire some and the NFWF has gotten involved to help out as well. There's a lot of work that'll need to be done with the farmers out in Mason Valley but theirs hope.

Strike Force Zebra said:
Awesome shots along the journey! Thanks for sharing. I would imagine that there will be some water for some time to runoff this year due to the high amounts of snow that we got this winter.
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It should be a lot and there's even talk about re-introducing some native Lahontan Cutthroat Trout into the lake this year if things pan out.

MTG said:
I've been coming to Carson a lot recently and I am amazed how full Washoe lake is every time I drive down. In fact, this morning we saw people jet skiing in little washoe. :crazyeyes:

I've heard that they are planning for the water to actually cross 395 and plan to direct traffic to eastlake or westlake to make the trip. :eek:
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Seriously! It's crazy to see Washoe Lake being a real lake again!

n3tfury said:
Love the pics! I went to OR last year on a Jeepin road trip from AZ and on the way back went through Nevada. That was so much more amazing that I remember it ever being (I lived in Reno for a very short time) and seeing Walker lake for the first time was awesome and i just had to stop and take a pic as well. Loved that entire Nevada run.
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LOL!! But, there's nothing to see out here :crazyeyes:

Trail JK said:
Phenomenal pictures! Looks like it was a great adventure! Please do a trail book of Nevada someday. It would be awesome and sell like hotcakes!
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Oh man, that might be the exact reason to NOT do a book :D
 
Thanks everyone! We're so glad you enjoyed our pics and the trip report that went with them :cool:

notnalc68 said:
Nice thread. It's a shame, that the lake is drying up.
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It really is a shame. To have survived for thousands of years and now be at the brink of extinction in just a little over 100 years. What's sad is that there's no need for it to happen and with any luck, things will start to change soon. I know there are efforts being made by the NFWF to buy water rights from farmers in Mason Valley and to help encourage them to grow different crops and use more efficient watering techniques instead of the outdated and wasteful flood irrigation they've been using since the 1800's. Maybe someday, water will flow into Walker Lake year round again.

KICKROX said:
Wow, those were great shots and views of the lake... pretty cool stuff out there.. makes me want to make that trip myself.
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We did this trip on a whim being that we just read about the water flow and wanted to make sure we got to see it. The area is awesome and we'll definitely have to do a group run out that way.

RESURECTIONJK said:
Aweome pics and great write up. As always, thanks Eddie and Cindy. Im hoping to make my way out there this summer from Utah. :thumb:
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Coming across from Salt Lake City would have you following the California Emigrant Trail. We love that route.

Trail Bud said:
Cool to see how the river flows into it the lake.
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It really was amazing especially knowing it hasn't happened in so long and may never happen again.

JeepJeep75 said:
Thanks you for this adventure! Stuff like this is so fantastic to see. This lake is impressive to see, is right in our own backyard, yet could disappear in our lifetime without even a second thought by most. Thank you for showing this! [emoji106]
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It really is disturbing to know something like this could disappear in our lifetime. There are people who've been fighting that from happening for a while now but so far, not much has come of it.

Brute said:
I'm wondering what the salinity level of the lake is after years of little water replenishment...perhaps with the river flowing into the lake again, fish will find its way back into the lake & restock it.

Very cool trip...
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No Lahontan Cutthroat Trout have been caught in the lake since 2010. The TDS or total dissolved solids in the water is just too high being that there hasn't been a fresh supply of water coming into it for so long. This might be the first year in a really long time where efforts are made to restock the lake.
 
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