I grew up in Carson City, NV and
this weekend I came back home to be with my family. I started thinking about
places that had history to them and value to me. I thought of one place in
particular, Old Clear Creek Rd. This road is located behind Costco and used to
be the road people used to get to Lake Tahoe from Carson City. It is only a two
lane road, one going up and the other going down. It used to have huge trucks
driving with logs from Tahoe to Carson when Carson was becoming more populated.
There was also much traffic on the road because Tahoe was a major tourist
attraction then, as it is today. The difference now is that Old Clear Creek is
hardly ever used since Highway 50 has been built. The only people who drive on
it are the few home owners that live on the road, about 10, and people like me
who want to get away and take a beautiful drive in nature.
This road
is so unique in that it curves so much and has cliffs that people climb often,
a creek that is great to take pictures at, and much wildlife that has not been
destroyed like trees and animals. Since the road has been “out of commission”
it environmentally prospers more than it did when it was the major road to
Tahoe. If the road was still the road people travelled on to get to Tahoe than
the wildlife would have greatly diminished, the water would be polluted, the
creek would have less water if it would still even be there, and the
construction would have changed the whole land and ecosystem. Thinking about
this makes me wonder what the land looked like before Highway 50 was built and
how much has been effected by that. Consequently, this historical road is
similar in Highway 50 because they both have curves; however, the environment
around Old Clear Creek is flourishing, whereas much of the forestry land
immediately around Highway 50 has diminished.
Just dropping into the creek valley
Leaving Old Clear Creek 
No comments:
Post a Comment