Nevada (STR-2022-21)

Monday, 8 August

Not long after starting east on US 6, we entered Nevada. US 6 was lightly trafficked and passed through a whole lot of not much.

As Sprinty cruised along at 60mph (10mph below the posted speed limit), his humans were surprised at the few vehicles passing Sprinty. Thoughts wandered to what driving on US 50 east of Reno, NV, the "Loneliest Road in America" might be like.

In July of 1986, Life magazine dubbed Nevada's Highway 50 the "Loneliest Road in America." The name "Loneliest Road" originates from the remote areas which U.S. 50 goes through, with few or no signs of civilization along many parts of the route. The 408.82-mile highway crosses several large, desert-like plateaus separated by numerous mountain ranges towering over the valley floors. 

The description of US 50 in Nevada seems similar to US 6. Until we came upon the city of Tonopah, NV. We briefly stopped to take a photo of The World Famous Clown Motel,

and get fuel. We considered visiting the Tonopah Historic Mining Park, but having visited several mining museums in the last year, we opted to save it for a future trip.

The drive continued to have minimal traffic, and miles and miles between any structures. Some more whole lot of not much.

We initially planned to spend the night at Ward Mountain Campground, in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest west of Ely, NV. At an elevation of 7,500 feet, it would be cool enough for the dry camping. Due to its remote location, campsites become First Come, First Served five days ahead. Several sites were available.

We continued into Ely, NV. We checked out an overnight parking (free) option at the Hotel Nevada Casino, Ely, NV. It looked quite promising and avoided backtracking.

We played golf at White Pine County Golf Course, a city-owned, county-operated golf course. The web site boasted no tee times and no dress code. The satellite view made it look like a backed out desert course. We were surprised to find the grass in pretty decent shape. The staff was very welcoming. apologized for the condition of a couple of the greens, and said they had not mowed since Friday due to the recent rains (note, Death Valley National Park to the south had a 1,000 year rain event yesterday).

We decided to walk the course (5.2 miles of walking). With the course almost all to ourselves, we played at our pace. We both played well.

After golf, we decided to spend the night in town at the Hotel Nevada Casino. There was one Class A in the parking lot when we arrived, and an Airstream arrived about dinner time.

Tuesday, 9 August

Our original plan was to get take-out breakfast at the 24-hour Dennys in the Hotel Nevada Casino. As we walked over, we passed a couple of the many murals in Ely.

One that caught our interest was the Ward Charcoal Ovens, the remains of which are south of Ely. The Ward Charcoal Ovens provided charcoal to operate the smelter in the Ward Mining District before use of coal-fired blasting furnaces. The ovens operated from 1876 to 1879 and is now a state park.

Interesting as we had decided against the 10-mile drive down a dirt road to access the state park.

Alas, the 24-hour Dennys was not open. After enjoying our pastries from Erik Schat's Bakkery, we headed for Great Basin National Park. The main Visitor Center is in Baker, NV. At the Visitor Center, we watched the Park video which provided a good overview of the National Park.

Great Basin National Park is a place the farthest from a big city and farthest from an Interstate than most anyplace in US. The Great Basin itself stretches from the Wasatch mountains to east in Utah and Sierra Nevada range to the west in California. A unique feature is that water that enters the Basin does not flow to the ocean - it stays in the Basin.

We then entered Great Basin National Park

and drove the Wheeler Peak Scenic drive, which climbs almost 3,500 feet in 12 miles. Driving up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive is like driving north for hundreds of miles. We started at the Visitor Center in the Desert Shrub Life Zone (5,000 - 6,000 feet elevation) and climbed through the Sagebrush Life Zone (6,000 - 7,000 feet elevation), the Piñon-Juniper Life Zone (7,000 - 8,000 feet elevation) to the Montane Life Zone (8,000 - 11,000 feet elevation).

We hiked the Bristlecone Trail, a 2.8-mile round trip hike with 600 feet elevation gain rated as moderate.

The views of the basin were quite good, albeit a bit hazy.

Before long, we started to encounter the bristlecone pine trees.

The peaks of Wheeler Mountain at 13,063 feet elevation towered above.

Wheeler Peak

Some bristlecone pines are nearly five thousand years old! the oldest living things in the world. They are found on extremely rugged sites in many of the high mountains of the southwest.

Bristlecone pines grow at high altitudes on dry slopes with nutrient-poor soils. During their short growing season they receive little moisture. They grow slowly, adding on average only an inch to their girth every hundred years! This makes their wood very hard and dense, and resistant to insects, fungi, and rot.

At the end of the trail was a short interpretive loop which was well worth adding to the hike. The interpretive signs greatly enriched our Bristlecone Pine experience.

Climate change is impacting the Bristlecone Pines. In the twentieth century, temperatures in the western United States rose by an average of 2° to 5°F, and continue to rise in the 21st century. Recent research in Great Basin has shown that between 1950 and 2000, trees growing within 150 meters of treeline have ring growth wider than any other 50-year period in the last 3700 years, indicating good growing conditions.

This Bristlecone Pine is 3,200 years old.

We decided to stop at the three overlooks on the descent to give Sprinty an opportunity to cool his brakes - the average slope of the Wheeler Peak Scenic drive is 8%.

The Wheeler Peak Overlook provided an expansive view of Wheeler Peak.

Wheeler Peak Overlook

The Mather Overlook also provided great views.

Mather Overlook

Mather Overlook

We then headed to Cathedral Gorge State Park in Panaca, NV. The campsites were first come-first serve, as are all Nevada State Parks (reservations are supposed to start in 2023). As we cruised down US 93, we encountered several thunderstorms with lots of lightning.

As we approached the state park, we turned into the parking area of Miller Point just as it was starting to drizzle. We got a good look at the gorge.

As we were checking out the available campsites, our phones went off with flash flood alerts. With rain forecast for most of the evening (so no hikes) in addition to camping in a gorge, we decided not to spend the night at Cathedral Gorge State Park as planned and to go to Plan B, another hour plus drive away, to position us for tomorrow.

As we made our way to Baker Dam Reservoir Campground in Central, UT, we saw many thunderstorms and lightning. Baker Dam Reservoir Campground is a Bureau of Land management campground. Only one of the 19 sites was occupied, so Sprinty had lots of choices. And had acceptable cell service too.

As we were checking out the available campsites, our phones went off with flash flood alerts. With rain forecast for most of the evening (so no hikes) in addition to camping in a gorge, we decided not to spend the night at Cathedral Gorge State Park as planned and to go to Plan B, another hour plus drive away, to position us for tomorrow.

As we made our way to Baker Dam Reservoir Campground in Central, UT, we saw many thunderstorms and lightning. Baker Dam Reservoir Campground is a Bureau of Land management campground. Only one of the 19 sites was occupied, so Sprinty had lots of choices. And had acceptable cell service too.