Day 1: Mercury
The first day was not overly interesting, as I only wanted to get out of California. I headed towards Las Vegas on Interstate 15, currently one of the deadliest highways in the US.
Fortunately, I only had to get to Baker, about halfway between LA and Vegas, and then turn towards Death Valley. Baker, as you may remember from my earlier posts, is the town of the giant thermometer.
I crossed the border between California and Nevada on Highway 178, in the direction of Pahrump. Continuing on US Highway 95 heading north, my task for the day was to visit Mercury, a housing and office community for the Nevada Test Site.
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| Mercury, NV. |
I knew ahead of time that Mercury is a closed city, but wanted to see how far I could get. Not too far, apparently. I arrived at a warning sign, pulled over and took some photos. The gate was open, but getting inside the military zone was a no-no. Still, I was excited to at least see an entrance to a nuclear testing site. Speaking of radiation... nothing to worry about, since they have "only" done 928 nuclear tests at this site.
Day 2: Tonopah, The Big Smokey Valley, Austin & Hickison Petroglyphs
On day two, I was about to start exploring unknown territories. After leaving the motel, I spent some time sniffing around in Tonopah.
I finally had a chance to see the (in)famous Clown Motel. I first learned about this rather creepy business during my trip to Area 51 last November. However, on that day it was already too late to see anything.
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| Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV. |
First off, the motel stands next to a graveyard. How nice... I took a stroll between the graves. Most of them were really old, at least by American standards. Some people were buried there in the early 1900s.
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| Tonopah Cemetery. |
After visiting the graveyard, I took some photos of the motel. From the outside, it did not look unusual, as it was just a typical motel, but with a clown "theme". Another interesting observation: there were some (junk) cars on sale on the motel's front yard. For example, there was a 1980 Chevy Camaro for 500 bucks. As well as other old cars, mostly beaters.
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| Cars on sale in Tonopah, NV. |
Before leaving Tonopah, I also went to briefly see the famous (or again infamous) Mizpah Hotel that is supposed to be haunted.
Leaving the town behind, I found myself on Nevada Highway 376 heading north. When I entered the Big Smoky Valley, I was greeted with a characteristic layer of a distant haze. The traffic was minimal, which was perfect to relax and cruse across the desert. I did not have a precise plan, but I wanted to see some remote desert communities.
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| Entering the Big Smoky Valley. |
During this particular drive, but also in other places in Nevada, I could see signs warning of nearby prison areas and forbidding hitchhiking. I don't know about the others, but I would definitely not stop to pick up some random person in the middle of a desert. Who would they be, John Ryder from the 1986 Hitcher movie (one of my favorite movies, by the way)?
My first stop was at a community called Manhattan. I was hoping to explore a ghost mining town, but this one was definitely inhabited. There wasn't much to see, except an old fire car, a fire station and a telephone booth. There were at least a dozen houses, but I could see no one around. Continuing on Highway 376, I made a brief stop at a resting area with some trees, for snacking and bathroom. I also considered visiting the Round Mountain gold mine, but it looked like a private area, so I gave up on it.
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| Stokes Castle in Austin, NV. |
Finally, I arrived at Austin, NV. The time was to stretch my legs, so I parked in the middle of town and went for a mini-hike to Stokes Castle. Basically, it is an abandoned tower that was built by one businessman in the late 1800s for his family. They only lived there for a month. It was not possible to access the tower, but the view from in front of it was nice nevertheless.
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| The church as in the trailer. |
Following my little sight-seeing in Austin, I turned around in the direction of Ely and parked outside of town for another short hike to a nearby hill. From the hill, I could see the entire panorama of Austin and surrounding deserts.
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| U.S. Highway 50 in Nevada. |
Leaving Austin behind, I was driving on US Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America. In reality, it was not all that lonely, as I could see a car pass every couple of minutes or so. Still, the intensity of traffic was practically zero, compared to what I am used to in LA. I wasn't planing this, but at one point I spotted a sign reading "petroglyphs" and decided to pull over.
I was now exploring the Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area. It has a circular trail that takes you first to the interpretive site, and then to a nice overlook, where you can see Highway 50 cutting across the desert. The petroglyphs were truly amazing indeed. I recall seeing petroglyphs for the first time in Joshua Tree in California, but those had been vandalized by tourists. The ones in Hickison were in a much better shape. Except for myself, there was no one else in the park, so I could contemplate the mysterious images in tranquility.
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| Petroglyphs. |
After visiting the park, I drove for another 120+ miles eastward. I only made a brief stop in Eureka, a quiet town that has an opera house. Again, something that one would not expect in the middle of nowhere.
In the evening, I arrived in Ely, where I was planning to stay for the following two nights, in a motel called White Pine.
Day 3: Great Basin National Park & Wheeler Peak
On day three, I left the motel at 8 AM. It was pretty cold in the morning, due to Ely's high elevation of over 6,400 feet (2,000 meters!) above see level. After a quick visit at a gas station, I headed towards Great Basin National Park, about 1,5 hour away from Ely. In the park, there is a road called Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive that ends at a camping area at the bottom of, well, Wheeler Peak, the second highest mountain in Nevada. The actual trail starts from a parking lot about one mile before the end of the road.
Because of poor reception, my phone got crazy and was showing me the time in Utah. I realized that I had actually arrived an hour ahead of the schedule. It was still 8:30 AM...
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| On the hiking trail to Wheeler Peak. |
The trail to Wheeler Peak starts pleasantly in a forest. The mountain is a "sky island" with its own ecosystem, standing in the middle of a desert that stretches for hundreds of miles. I always find it amazing to see how conditions for life change with elevation. In fact, trees can only survive within a pretty narrow belt around the mountain, where there is just enough water, but not too much rock and snow.
I signed the register at the trailhead and began the ascend. The inclination was moderate for the first 30 min of the hike. As I am writing this, I cannot recall the exact time, but it took about an hour to get above the forest line. Then things started to get harder, because of the gusty wind. I met a group of people from Switzerland and they were backing down, except for one hiker whom I met later on the summit. I must say, the wind was one of the strongest and coldest I have encountered in my hiking career. Otherwise, the ascent was pretty safe and the trail, although unmarked, was well visible.
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| Still a long way to go. |
When I finally approached the summit, it was by far the highest mountain I had climbed (13,065 feet or 3,982 m!), and the most isolated one. I took shelter from the wind behind a pile of stones. Despite some overcast, the views in all directions were pretty amazing. With the exception of rocks and small patches of snow, the summit was completely barren.
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| Views from the summit, Wheeler Peak. |
The way down was straightforward, as it was the only way possible. After entering the forest, I took a detour to see the Wheeler Lake, arguably the most beautiful mountain lake I have seen in American mountains. Quite reminiscent to Alpine lakes, in fact.
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| Lake at the bottom of Wheeler Peak. |
After returning to the parking lot, I drove to the end of the road to have a look at the camping area. Back in Ely, the rest of the afternoon I stayed in the motel resting.
Day 4: Ely, Utah, Green River
Day four was for the most part a transit day. In the morning, I did some exploration of Ely. Of special interest in the town is Hotel Nevada, built during the Prohibition time. It was at one point the tallest building in the state. The sidewalk in front of the hotel is covered with Hollywood-style stars. I recall two names: Stephen King and Gary Cooper.
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| Ely, NV. |
After seeing downtown, I wanted to visit the local railway station and museum. I have friends who are railway fans, so I always try to take photos for them. The museum was closed and there was no one in sight, but I managed to take some photos regardless.
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| Railway yard in Ely, NV. |
I left Ely and continued on Highway 50, as the day before. I made a stop at Ward Charcoal Ovens State Historic Park. The park has a self-pay fee station. Unfortunately, I did not bring any cash with me, so I had to give up on entering. Still, I managed to take a distant photo of a couple of ovens.
Continuing eastward, I again drove past the Great Basin National Park and quickly crossed the border with Utah. Once in Utah, I pulled over to check on my phone and watch, as I was entering another time zone.
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| Nevada-Utah state border. |
From the state border, it was a rather uneventful drive across the empty lands of Utah. I made a stop in Delta for lunch at a McDonald's. The landscape changed and the Nevada-style desert gave way to yellowish meadows. Eventually, I found myself on Interstate 70 and was progressing further east. Then, the surroundings changed again and the soil and rocks became red, Utah's theme color.
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| Evening views of the Castle Valley, UT. |
In the evening, I arrived in a town called Green River, checked into my Knights Inn motel and that was it for the day.
Day 5: Arches National Park
The plan for day five included visiting Arches National Park and further travel to Colorado.
From Green River to the park it was about an hour drive. I arrived at the gate at about 9:30 AM, paid the entrance fee and started from the visitor center. There were lots of people there, a contrast to the rather quiet Great Basin park. There is one road that takes guests from the entrance gate through the entire park. Unfortunately, I could only allocate four hours maximum for my visit. In retrospect, I should have spent in the park at least one full day.
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| Park Avenue in Arches National Park. |
Arches are clearly one of the most iconic national parks in America. There are over 2,000 arches made from sandstone. My first stop was at a place called Park Avenue Viewpoint. From the parking lot, I descended into a canyon and followed the Park Avenue trail for about 45 min. As I walked at the bottom of the canyon, I could admire steep, rocky walls.
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| Delicate Arch. |
I decided to use the remaining time for a hike to Delicate Arch, arguably one of the most famous arches. The round trip from the parking lot to the arch and back took around 1,5 hour. On the way, I met crowds of people from all over the world. Since I prefer solitary walks, the crowds were a bit annoying, but seeing the arch was surely worth the nerves.
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| Red landscapes. |
After leaving the park, I had a 5 hour drive ahead to Leadville, CO. It is hard to tell when exactly I crossed the border with Colorado, but the red surroundings slowly disappeared in favor of a green and more mountainous landscape.
Like the day before, I stopped for lunch at McDonald's, this time in Fruita. I pride myself of having eaten in McDonald's restaurants in so many locations, some of them strange or remote.
Day 6: Mount Elbert
Day six was the most important day of the whole road trip. I started early, leaving my motel at 7 AM. The thermometer in the car was showing 29℉ (−1,5℃), just below the freezing point. Not unusually cold for the altitude of over 3000 m.
Just outside of Leadville, I turned into a local road that quickly became a gravel road. Driving a rental car on gravel is never an optimal idea, but I had to take the risk. About half an hour later, I arrived at a small parking lot in a forest. There was already about a dozen cars on the lot. The presence of cars is always a good sign. An empty parking lot usually indicates a problem, such as snow, bad weather or mudslides, that make the hike impossible.
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| On the trail. |
I started the ascend of Mount Elbert, the second highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the highest one in the Rocky Mountains. For the first two hours or so, the trail led through the forest. It was pleasantly cool, so I kept my hiking jacket on. I met groups of hikers on the way. I spoke to two elderly men that had come from Minnesota and were taking a break.
After emerging from the forest, I was met with a clear sky and, again, a cold, gusty wind. Luckily, it was not as bad as on the other mountain. About half way through the hike, I was already completely exhausted. Technically, the trail was easy, as expected, and the inclination was not extreme either. The difficulty was due to seriously high elevation. Plus, I had not eaten properly the day before, because I had been driving all the time.
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| On the summit: looking towards Leadville. |
Close to the summit, I basically came to a crawl. Every step was an inner struggle. Finally, exactly at noon, I reached the top and was deeply moved. At 14,440 feet (or 4,4401 m), Mount Elbert was by a huge margin my best hiking achievement. And it was likely to remain one for a long time, because I cannot think of many (relatively) easily accessible four-thousanders. In Europe, they are covered in permanent snow.
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| The Rocky Mountains. |
For the next 45 minutes, I was sitting behind rocks, covered from the wind and wrapped in the jacket. Other hikers were slowly approaching the summit. It had been a tough hike, but, clearly, not the hardest I had done. Still, I felt extremely satisfied.
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| Twin Lakes seen from Mount Elbert. |
I took the same way down and was back on the parking lot at 4 PM. After returning to Leadville, I did some shopping at a dollar store and headed back for the motel. In the evening, I was only catching on with TV and resting.
Day 7: Aspen, Independence Pass & Denver
The weather on day seven got a bit cloudy, but my plans were more relaxed than the day before.
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| On the way to the Independence Pass. |
About an hour away from Leadville on Highway 82 is the Independence Pass. The pass is located on the Continental Divide, which separates watersheds of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. I stopped there for some photo hunting. I especially remember the cold wind that I was poorly dressed for.
On the other side of the saddle, I arrived in Aspen, the famous ski station. For the next 2,5 hours, I was exploring the town. Unfortunately, it started raining. There was no sign of snow and all ski lifts and facilities were closed. I was wandering the streets looking at expensive boutiques. Even off season, visiting Aspen was worthwhile as a comparison to European ski resorts. And I could not stop thinking about Dumb and Dumber, as the movie's plot takes place in Aspen.
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| Aspen, CO. |
Continuing on Highway 82, I planned to get to Interstate 70 and drive to Denver. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam, so I returned to Aspen and took the same way back. The rain turned into snow when I arrived again at the Independence Pass.
When I finally found myself in Denver, the day had already gone by and it was too dark for sight-seeing. I checked into a Motel 6 close to the airport and prepared the car for return.
At that was almost the end of my trip. Next morning, I returned the car at Denver International Airport, took a shuttle to the terminal, went through the TSA checkup and got on the plane. Two hours later, I was back in LA. Very smooth, indeed.
Towards the end of the trip, I was getting sick of too much driving. I also had no time to eat properly for almost a week. Except visiting McDonald's twice, I lived off sandwiches, junk food from gas stations, etc. Sometimes, I also had to rush and could not see as much as I wanted, for example in Arches National Park. I also regret arriving too late in Denver, so I could not explore the city. Otherwise, the trip was great and, most importantly, I got to successfully climb two pretty giant mountains. Something that will be hard to beat for a long time.
