Perrie admires Lamoille Canyon from the Changing Canyon Trail at the 8200-foot level. (Photo by Matthew Ginn © 2011)

So (after a long delay), we pick up the story where we left off.

On Day 4 of our trip, we drove from Winnemucca to Carlin, Nev., where I used to work. There, Perrie and I spent a few minutes in a local park calling family to announce our engagement. Then, we headed up to the mine where I used to work. That was a chance for me to reconnect with friends I had worked with, and show Perrie what a large gold mine and milling complex is all about. Sadly, the mill was down for maintenance when we arrived, but Perrie got a good tour of the place. I didn’t take any pictures, though.

We also drove around Elko, looking at all the things that have changed since I moved to Portland nearly 6 years ago.

The next day, Day 5, we spent the bulk of the day in Lamoille Canyon, in the Ruby Mountains just south of Elko. The canyon is a favorite spot for just about everybody in that part of the state, and its easy to see why. (Among other things, there are trees there!) The canyon is a U-shaped valley carved by glaciers in the Rubies, which peak at 11,325 feet, some 6000 feet above the town of Lamoille.

Perrie and I drove and hiked and geocached in the canyon, finishing up with a cache at 10,000 feet elevation (the road ends around 8800 feet). Exhausted from that effort, we took a quick driving tour of the town of Lamoille.

Back in Elko, we cleaned up and had dinner at The Star, one of the great basque houses there. Then, satiated and tired, hotel, sleep.

(Here’s the link to the interactive map.)