Beginning on a Friday morning, I left LA for Las Vegas in a rented Nissan Sentra. The freeway across the Mojave desert was jam-packed with cars, so I arrived in Vegas only in the evening. On the way, I made a brief stop in Baker to see the World's Tallest Thermometer.
After checking into my hotel, I went to see the famous Las Vegas Boulevard, also known as "The Strip".
It was my first time in Las Vegas and my impressions were actually quite positive. It is surely a city like no other. Some complain about a fake vibe to it, but I do not see a problem with that. You must know what you are getting into and prepare yourself accordingly.
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| Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. |
At every street corner there was something exciting to look at. When I thought I had seen it all, suddenly there was a phony Eiffel Tower or a model of Venice, Italy. The system of sidewalks is designed to funnel all pedestrian traffic through casinos.
I tried to take a few photos of gambling machines inside Treasure Island, but a woman approached me and said that photography was forbidden, so I had to leave.
After the episode at Treasure Island, I admired the Trump International Hotel from the outside. I also liked the giant pool and fountains of Bellagio. Despite cool November weather, the town was full of tourists and gamblers.
At 8 AM next morning, I checked out from the hotel and hit the road.
A couple of miles behind Las Vegas starts Highway 93 going to Crystal Springs. There is a gas station at the junction of I-15 and said highway. One may want to fill up there before advancing into the desert. I was slightly paranoid about running out of gas, because Nevada is a huge and sparsely populated state. There is another station in Alamo, 160 miles to Tonopah, where one can refill again. Unless you plan on circulating around the desert for the whole day, you should make it from Las Vegas to Tonopah on one tank.
Shortly before Alamo, there is a natural oasis that is supplied in water by underground springs. I drove past the oasis, but in retrospect it would have been interesting to explore that area. I made a quick stop, however, at Pahranagat Rest Area.
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| Highway 375 in Nevada. |
Crystal Springs is a junction where Highway 375 starts, which is also called "The Extraterrestrial Highway". The highway is known for many UFO sightings. In fact, there are numerous signs along the way warning of low flying aircraft.
A mile or so after the junction, there is a first touristy spot called "Alien Research Center". It is a hangar type of structure that was unfortunately closed by the time I arrived. Next to the hangar stands a large statute of an alien made from sheet metal.
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| The sheet metal alien. |
Continuing on Highway 375, I was trying to spot the "Black Mailbox" that supposedly serves as a mailbox for Area 51. I could not find it. I turned into a dirt road and followed it for a few miles. Clouds of dust arose from the ground. After some time, I was not getting anywhere, so I returned to the highway and headed for Rachel.
Rachel is a small settlement in the desert along Highway 375. Except for a few mobile homes and wooden structures, it is quite desolate.
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| Rachel, NV. |
There is a restaurant in Rachel known as "Little A'Le'Inn". The place is as touristy as Area 51 can get. They have a model of a flying saucer attached on a 1950s truck. Inside the restaurant, there is a variety of souvenirs to buy. I opted for a $10 mug with the restaurant's logo on it.
I got back to the car and returned to a small junction that I had spotted about a mile before Rachel. There was a stop sign at the end of a dirt road. I started approaching the hills that encircle Area 51. Side note: there is no information in Rachel about how to get to the base. You have to figure it out by yourself.
I was now exploring the stretch of land behind Rachel. Strangely enough, the place is used as a pasture and I saw clusters of black cows wandering across the desert. Free range cattle can be dangerous at times and can charge against a car, so I kept watching them carefully.
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| Free range cattle in the desert. |
After a couple of random turns, I began to lose my orientation. Then, suddenly, the dirt road became a paved road. I realized that I was approaching the base and got excited.
So there it was, the gate to Area 51. I made a U-turn in front of it and looked around.
There was a fence, poles with cameras and two booths. People have reported confronting so-called "camo dudes", but there was nobody in sight. No welcoming committee. There might have been guards in the booths though.
Without stepping out of the car, I took a photo of the gate and drove away.
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| Hopefully I won't have problems for posting this. |
On the way back to Rachel, I spotted an SUV parked on the side of the road. It was difficult to explain where it had come from, so I got nervous. The "camo dudes", possibly? The SUV kept following me for about half a mile, then turned around and headed back to the base.
After the strange encounter with the SUV, I returned to the highway and headed towards Tonopah.
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| On the way to Tonopah (looking behind). |
The following 200 miles went by without surprises. The traffic was minimal and I recall passing only 3-5 cars. I stopped briefly in Tonopah for gas. Unfortunately, it was getting dark and I did not do any sight-seeing. Tonopah is a former mining town that is known for its clown motel. What can be more disturbing than sleeping in a clown motel in the middle of the Nevada desert?
In the evening, I arrived in Hawthorne and checked into the "El Capitan" motel and casino. My plan was to take a shower and walk to a nearby McDonald's. When I am on a road trip, I never experiment with food and stick to what is easy to digest. However, the weather got so cold that I ended up driving there, otherwise I would have frozen to death.
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| The "Mac" in Hawthorne next morning. |
I woke up to a light snow. The first order of business was visiting the nearby Walker Lake. Hawthorne is home to the largest ammunition depot in the world. I saw huge storage houses from the highway, but of course the area is owned by the US Army and is closed to the public.
The lake made a memorable impression on me.
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| Walker Lake. |
After leaving Hawthorne, I started climbing up Highway 359 towards the state border. The layer of snow thickened. I pulled over and had problems getting back on the road, because the tires had lost grip. The road on the Nevada side was clear, but when I crossed the border to California, the pavement disappeared under snow. It was only 15 minutes later that I saw a plow approaching from California.
I continued slowly on the opposite lane as mine was still snowy. On the horizon, a panorama of the Sierra Nevada mountains emerged and the view was extraordinary.
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| State border between Nevada & California. |
Finally, I merged with Highway 395. The traffic intensified and more plows showed up.
I pulled over to Mono Lake, but could get closer, because of the snow blocking access. The famous tufa towers were covered in snow as well. Mono Lake is alkaline and there is little biological life in it. Water used to be drained from here to feed the distant Los Angeles via an aqueduct.
I continued on Highway 395 going south. I made a couple of stops along the way, overlooking the distant White Mountains, home to the oldest trees in the world. I also took a small detour to see Grant Lake and June Lake. A major town on the way, Bishop, looked similar to towns in the European Alps.
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| A rest area, Owens Valley. |
The final stretch of my journey led through the Owens Valley. The valley is located between the highest and lowest points in the contiguous US, Mount Whitney and Badwater Basin, respectively.
I stopped for a while in Independence to see the Inyo County Court House. I also stopped in Manzanar, where a concentration camp for Japanese Americans used to stand during World War II. The camp has now become a museum.
It was 7 PM when I was back home in LA. The car was returned the following morning on my way to work.
The trip took three days and 1107 miles behind the wheel, but was definitely worth the effort. I made it to Nevada for the first time, saw Las Vegas by night, visited a secret military base, was being followed by an unmarked SUV, drove across the Great Basin Desert in Nevada, saw the largest army depot on the planet, saw a couple of lakes, fought with the snow on mountain roads and experienced some history in the Owens Valley.
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