![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxgpeNvsc9w4Led3AzH0MOsW_VrA6NUqhTz6sw5wa8BJVQ2TneHS-IJHnZMyUk_pSvGhcp08H2Wbovd4kr4bcez-VDa7T95QH5ikkImC5NuxXpeN2_lckW136P0fEPcOzL7kslyecaxI/s500/003HBRp001.jpg) |
Rye Patch Dam on April 19th. The water in Rye Patch Reservoir is high, but not at the high water mark that can be seen just past the spillway. |
I'm moving slowly on this mini-series about the Humboldt River while working essentially 12-hour days and while (hopefully) recovering from some long-lasting bug I caught on the road or out in Elko more than two months ago. Also, my current work schedule of 9 to 10 days in a row gives me 2 to 3 days off that don't involve driving, so my off days tend to be filled with chores and not that much writing. Anyhoo, there I was traveling south on I-80 past the big bend at Humboldt Station, where
I had stopped to take a few photos of the water in the Pitt-Taylor Reservoirs, when I decided—rather spontaneously—to drive down to Rye Patch Dam. As you can see from the first photo, the reservoir is high, but not quite to the high water mark.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTR4Ys4lMHomqU2ry0MaP78dkavi9R5tETV1mbEg5-2r9h4iTWQVN-gbDmdflkjGXnpmbZ7zphjDmVAevBx-1lN3pBlKFsxps4y7C4p1fDNLcsyl3iEvFr_rG2nZGeNRC1wjaIkzaAM18/s500/003HBRp002.jpg) |
Rye Patch Reservoir and Majuba Hill. |
Here we're looking just west of north across a shallows, and we can see
Majuba Hill just right of center in the distance. The main, deeper part of the reservoir is long and linear where it follows a canyon cut by the river into Lake Lahontan sediments.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjClSrbJw6kid5lPN8UMiA9mhmotnMdWP55PkYJbx5ZtioN3bKFgxJNs9PK6wQ97C8H9AxsSLrvXkglk_GvvRmE8BjzZyZxH25yNm0H8ojMagdp7B78TMLfcWKZjoS1W8gF82HUw6FC3aI/s500/RyePatchDamMajuba6-16.jpg) |
The same view in June, 2016, from Google Earth. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RFO5lDQMulazshEhxmhLixMrPuu1KqpxKyzcGpiHSgY5kF7avnpJPpTcuVxmL4vqbsvpSmJ30QwHkm-uJBqAivktS5nt1CYQ_bcV47KhUoXsvNObvPWQXwJ7kmn-OMANOEav-sk2ddo/s500/003HBRp004.jpg) |
A closer view of one grebe. |
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I couldn't resist this view of the Humboldt Range. |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRzpX4_nDN6pTHjtNW2dpZX36Jkc5QLnCcOnA8Sqt9rbLFF0E9-EDELSOgeOtpjhueYnHMUq_A3EtFPBnrf9htQaXiv7_yL-xLjAjm8BQHDa0MNQ5bGUOa96FelQ0mEpaJ_KoAdya86uU/s500/003HBRp006.jpg) |
Snow-capped Star Peak hides behind clouds. The Cordex Pit of the Florida Canyon Mine operations might be barely visible below Star Peak. |
After my brief sojourn at the Rye Patch Dam overlook, I proceeded back to the interstate, speeding ever southward and then southwestward as the road made another broad bend near Lovelock. I was shocked at what I saw when I drove past Granite Point.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfwEjh-G5Pxs8kdtwezoJ9N-_CP1FbAHO8OfXuyy8KwdATAy8o5w9hyphenhyphenej04hkzwkyZCs4a1KRxy19ivh-OGFSIEb4Szks1GfxSt-TFnPlsyh0D3GImeLHN1pqCymi-uloyADbn6d_KSw/s500/003HBs007.jpg) |
The Humboldt Sink had water in it! |
At first, I thought it might be a mirage, and although these photos don't really do justice to it, it was indeed water, a small lake that has persisted, at least through my last drive by the area a week ago on June 11th.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2955k7dmVWKy6hdzYEHTp7fwAfFRsa_prywJ3qs3nLECNpDVQpU6Ag8Un_7LcP9gFpwqAlZbHwDWAlSc7nmuiAevXnoUBCu99z4h_Awr_JSZZCLbWqICFgt9-bfp8Gy8zhfoG3RAhZ6U/s500/003HBs008s5y.jpg) |
A closer view of the Humboldt Sink and the West Humboldt Range. |
And that's all for now, time for work! I've got a few pictures of even more water from another trip, but I can't promise when I'll get to it!