Miles Traveled today: 424.6 miles (Most amount of miles traveled in a day!)
Total Miles Traveled: 2,191.9 miles
Today’s journey began around 5:30 am, as I wanted to beat the heat going through what I was told would be a mostly flat, boring, and very hot Nevada. Today was also where US-50 gets it’s famous nickname: The Loneliest Road in America.
There have been times during the trip where I have forgotten to do something simple, and had to pull off on the side of the road to remedy that problem: forgetting earplugs, not closing the snap of my helmet (it was still secured by D-rings), forgetting chapstick (which is a REQUIREMENT on this trip, since I am rocking a 3/4 helmet), etc. This morning was no exception. It’s a good thing a mile down the road from the motel I stayed in (the Deltan Inn), there was a car wash. Surprisingly, it was empty at 5:30am. So I pulled in to insert ear plugs. Came across a lot of these little guys basically huddling together in pockets.
Earplugs inserted, I got back on the road. The drive from Delta towards the Utah-Nevada border was very, very flat, and very, very barren. I came across what appeared to be a dry lakebed (Sevier Lake), where I caught the sunrise.
From there, it was about another hour to the Utah-Nevada border. Strangely enough, none of the maps or route information stated that there was a gas station/convenience store/casino (a trend that persisted throughout the drive…casinos everywhere!) straddling the border (The Border Inn). It was a nice surprise, as I thought this was the section I would need to worry about gas (hence the 2.5 gallon fuel can on my floorboard).
At the Border Inn, I chatted with a nice older gentleman about the trip. He explained that he had gone on a similar trip years ago, when he lived in Oakland, except on a motorcycle. Now he spent his days in the desert, doing odd jobs here and there (today’s particular adventure was him scavenging dryer parts from two broken clothes dryers so the motel residents could dry their clothes).
Refreshed from the stop, I crossed the street, snapped a picture of the “Welcome to Nevada” sign (with the “Loneliest Road” sign behind it) and continued on my way.
As I said in the opening paragraph, I expected Nevada to be very long, very boring, very flat, and very hot. Three of those things rang true. Don’t be fooled, the route I took had it’s share of flat spots, but predominantly, Nevada was very hilly/mountainy! I swear I must have climbed 12-15 summits (climbing up and down between 4,000′ and 8,000′ altitudes) between the Utah-Nevada Border and Fallon, NV. Between these summits, were long, flat areas of “pre-tumbleweeds.” Little wildlife, but plenty of traffic. To be honest, I never really felt all that alone.
Nevada is proud of it’s history as a mining state. Roughly half of the State History markers along US-6/50 were related to the mining of the area (predominantly silver, and as I approached Fallon, some gold). The other half was split between settlers and wildfire information.
There were also signs on the side of the road that were rather peculiar to me. Not necessarily because of the content of the sign, but because of how it had been treated by others. Most amusing was the sign stating that if we heard gunshots along a certain stretch of road, we should contact the police. Like many signs along the drive, it had obviously been used as target practice.
By the time I had reached Austin, NV (pop. 192), I had had enough of the summits. Climbing these mountains at 40 mph is not fun, particularly when there are cars behind you, and no place to safely pull off the road to let them pass (though when it was safe to do so, I did. Often.).
The Austin Summit (just prior to reaching the town) comes in at an elevation of 7,484′, while the town of Austin 6,605′. While this may not seem like a lot (it is, after all, only 879′ difference), that 879′ comes through a series of switchbacks, which would likely be 3/4 of a mile as the crow flies. Rather steep, winding, and nerve-wracking switchbacks while on my scooter.
Exhausted, and desperately in need of a break, I filled up with gas at the local store, and sat down for lunch at the Toiyabe Cafe, named for the range of mountains I had just crossed.
The food was filling, even if my ticket had been lost on the way to the kitchen. More importantly, I was afforded a chance to rest, strengthen my resolve, and cool off. The heat of the day was picking up.
At this point, I glanced at the radar, and then out the window. The switchbacks I had just crossed seemed to be forming a nice rain/thundercloud above them (particularly on the eastern slope of the mountain). Looking forward, there were also pockets of meteorological activity flaring up across the desert – rain clouds and thunderstorms dotting the wilderness I was about to head into.
Austin to Middlegate Station was relatively flat (there were still a few summits, but as I went further west, they became lower and lower in elevation and slope), but increasingly hot (likely because it was around 2:00pm in the afternoon, during some of the hottest times of the day). Remembering the radar, I watched to the left and right of me as Mother Nature threatened to rain down her wrath, but no rain drops fell on my route. It didn’t ease my nerves (as several of the thunderclouds looked ominous!), but I made it to Middlegate Station dry, but heated.
Middlegate Station was originally a station on the Pony Express (which, to my surprise was only in operation for 18 months…April 1860 – October 1861…surprise because it’s always talked about in classrooms and in western lore). After the end of the Pony Express, it maintained operation as a stagecoach and freight stop along the route, and continues to be one for travelers to this day. Like many small towns along US-50, they have a motel, food, drink, and gas. By this time, it was 4:00pm, and a perfect time to stop for a breather, cool down, and hydrate.
The staff at Middlegate Station were quirky, but in a very good way. It wasn’t like most diners, cafes, or bars one would go to, it felt a lot more homey. Also, there were lizards in the parking lot, which was cool.
Special thanks to Luke, who gave me important tips on hydration, which kept me going through Nevada!
Fallon, NV was approximately an hour away from Middlegate Station, and it was a long, flat drive along the dried lakebed of Lake Lahontan, which dried up around 9,000 years ago. The drifting sands from the former lake now form Sand Mountain, a popular off-road excursion site for many off-road vehicle enthusiasts.
Sand Mountain is interesting not only because of it’s origin. It is the only home of the Sand Mountain Blue Butterfly, a critically imperiled species of butterfly, and one of a handful of sand dunes named “Singing Sand” due to the whistling sounds emitted when the wind passes through the dune. Sand Mountain is also home to the ruins of another Pony Express station.
Finally, I was approaching Fallon, NV. Fallon is home to the Fallon Naval Air Station, and is the location that scenes from Top Gun were filmed at. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any fighter jets flying low over the lakebed.
I pulled in to my destination – a budget hotel – in Fallon around 6:30pm local time. Exhausted, overheated, and well traveled, I settled down for the night.
Tomorrow is (hopefully!) the last day of this adventure, and then a new adventure begins.
Tomorrow is the Sierra Nevada mountains, the California Valley, and finally, San Francisco.
I can do this.
Want to Help? That would be super-cool!
Than trip should take an estimated 10 days maximum, and roughly 3,000 miles. That will take a bit of a toll on the ol’ wallet, so I am happy to take any donations my generous friends would like to offer. For reference:
$3 will get me approximately 70 miles closer to my goal.
$15 will feed me for the day
$35 will get me one night at a Tent Campsite at a KOA Campsite
$40 will buy me one tire when I get to my destination (as the rear tire will likely be spent by then!)
$75 will get me one night at a hotel (and more importantly, a shower!)
If you would like to donate, feel free to leave a comment (they are private until I approve them, or you can email me at bryrhoey at gmail) and I can set that up, or you can send me money via PayPal! 🙂
If you live along the route, and don’t mind me camping/crashing/eating with you, I’d appreciate that too!