Driving towards, past Reno on I-80, then Hwy-50 East past Fallon, NV...
I'm done with Interstate 80 until maybe on the East Coast at some point of time. Now it's Alt 93 East through Fernley, first thing is a fill-up on gas here, 2.099 is much cheaper than in the Bay Area, but I suspect crossing all this dessert ahead of me prices will be a bit higher until I get to Texas and Louisiana. Back on Hwy 95, where after a while Hwy 50 joins from the west and now things will get pretty interesting. I love Highway 50, it used to be the loneliest highway in America, not sure what the word is nowadays, but it is
still pretty lonely. After Fallon, it's just me and Hwy 50. Crossing the 8 Mile Flat with all the stone-writing in the salt-deposits and on to the next mountain-range.
Driving through the Salt Flats, and many mountains to come...
This stretch of highway for the next few hundred miles will look like that, crossing a mountain range, some passes are as high as 7400 ft, then back down and crossing the next flat, huge valleys rarely lower that 5800 ft, miles of flat high-dessert, the land is covered with grasses and brush with almost no trees. The mountains are rugged, stony and not many trees, just barren land, but I tell you, it is most beautiful. You can see the weather move, clouds far away covering a mountain and you can tell it's snowing, the higher tops do have a fine sugarcoating, there is lots of blue sky and lots of clouds tag-teaming as I drive with about 70 mph through this unusual landscape.
Mountains, then valleys then mountains again... and then is the weather...
It's seven twenty and the sun is setting behind me, what a sky, I have to be so careful not to pull over every 100 ft to get out of the car and take another picture, just an unreal landscape, I see so many places I have to get back to explore, but when??? It's almost 8 o'clock when I drive over another pass, the last one before Austin.
Sunset in my back...
Ten minutes later I'm stopping in Austin at a gas-station to by one beer, yes just one, it will be the one for the dinner, it's about 40°F and very windy, I feel a cold night coming up.
An hour later I'm at my destination, Spencer Hot-springs, way out in the nowhere land, 450 miles from home. It always takes me a few attempts of driving around in these hills to find the right spot. I pitch the tent under difficult conditions, good thing is that I bought a case of wine to place inside the tent first so that it does not blow away. Then, the moment I've been waiting for... a soak in the pool full of steaming hot water, well it took some time until it was hot enough, read the full story on that later.
It was a freezing cold night, the lowest it dropped was 27°F, I survived, even though I didn't have any of my real warm things with me, who would have thought about that when I'm going to Louisiana.
I start the day with another soak, this time the water is perfect, the scenery, all covered in a fine layer of snow looked bizarre from the pool, hard to believe it is that cold out, but see for yourself, and read the full report on that night too...
Waking-up looking like this... as fast as possible into the water...
I make some breakfast and break down the tent, just as I try to fold-up the tent the wind picks up again, and no that does not help with rolling-up a tent so that it fits into the bag just big enough for it to fit in when you buy it.
Feeding ground of the wild...
Then it's time to hit the snowy road to...
Boy it's ten thirty and I better hit that road, it's about 40°F windy, snowing and sometimes not. 5 miles on the dirt road back to Hwy 50, further East I have to go. At noon I'm in Eureka, here too a lot of snow, they plough the two driving directions and that way a pile of snow is the center-divider. I get gas again, 8.4 gallons for 2.399 per gallon. Just outside of Eureka is a rest-area, might as well have some lunch here. It's very windy and snowing at times, what a crazy idea to sit here and make myself a sandwich and eat it too.
At mile 585 it almost 2 o'clock and I fly over the Robinson Pass with an elevation of 7607 ft from then on it's all downhill to Ely at 6600 ft.
Eureka I found it...
A short stop in that long lost town of the wild west, a few pictures and actual phone-reception I make some calls, get hot water for tea and abuse the restroom too. It snowing and looking real sad here. This is also the second Ely I visit this year. In january I drove with Bonnie through Ely, Minnesota, this here would be considered a heat-wave compare to the temperature we had there.
3 o'clock happens at mile 620 on Hwy 50 just east of Ely, Nevada.
(Movie of me driving)
No comments:
Post a Comment