The loneliest highway

 Ely, NV – After many weeks of vigilance and pressure on congested California highways, where ag-gressive drivers zing in and out of lanes or tailgate at high speeds, today’s drive across Nevada was a true tonic for Val.

Highway 50, in our road atlas, is labeled “Lonliest Road” (sic) because there are few towns along the way and a vast expanse of high desert plains, intersected by mighty mountain ranges and domed by a huge sky.  That sky was a beautiful blue today, with a few wisps of high cloud, and the air was crystal clear.

The route is called the Lincoln Highway, and is noted as one of America’s scenic drives. The road itself was well-paved with narrow shoulders, cutting across the desert in a perfectly straight line most of the time, but also winding through mountain passes as our route took us past the Shoshone Mountain range, the Toiyabe range, the Toquima range and the Monitor range, like four huge ribs across the plain.

Many times as we rounded a curve in the highway we exclaimed “wow!” as another magnificent vista came into view – majestic mountains glistening with white snow on the peaks, and fringed with dark pine trees on their flanks.

Set against this backdrop were rolling foothills and plains, studded with sagebrush and low desert plants, as well as salt flats, a small stream every now and then, and cattle grazing the range.  We passed signs indicating the route of the Pony Express riders who carried mail and dispatches in the 1860s.

Austin and Eureka were the two towns we drove through on our 258-mile run today.  Both of them looked like they came straight out of a cowboy movie, with old wood-plank buildings complete with verandas and hitching posts, and brick general stores or hotels with faded signs painted on their sides. It wasn’t hard to picture a cowboy stepping out of a saloon – because we actually did in Austin, dressed in jeans, denim jacket and a large black Stetson!

Ely, where we are staying tonight, boasts a population of around 4,000, and a history based on copper mining and the railroad.  Copper dropped in price for a time, but has since seen a resurgence, so the mining continues here. New extraction techniques have also contributed to gold mining activity in places where earlier miners gave up. 

From our campsite we can look out the front window and see snow-capped mountains, and out the back win-dow, there’s another range of snow-capped mountains. The moon is almost full tonight, so it is shedding a silvery light on them as the last glow of sunset fades away.  And the quiet is almost palpable.

The water supply here is provided through heated underground pipes, but we are using our own tank again.  It is supposed to dip to 24 degrees F tonight, so we don’t want to risk a freeze.  The forecast, though, promises a pleasant day tomorrow in the mid-60s. Happy trails.