2015 Road Trip: Part 23 (NV-UT)

Nevada to Utah
Bonneville Salt Flats
Day 38
5.21.15

Nevada presented me with a snowless night, which I was happy to have for a change.  Since I had the fly off the tent, the light from the northeast sunrise had woken me up nice and early around 4:30.

Diffuse sunrise over the Nevada desert

I had myself some breakfast, and then I was going to head back into the Las Vegas area to get gas for the day.  However, I realized that there was a station right along the highway on the road to the Valley of Fire SP where I had stayed, so that made things smoother.

I had considered convoying up to Salt Lake City with Eliot, but we were both unsure of which route to agree on, so we left it to decide on this morning.  Since I had woken up so early, and with many miles ahead of me to get to SLC, I chose to just begin the journey north.  I think this worked out well for both of us since we wanted to take different routes anyway, and I was interested in getting to REI before closing to pick up my order that had arrived.  (Yay ice axe, leash, and backpack!)

I chose to take US-93, which comes up the eastern corridor of Nevada. I thought about taking I-15, which goes direct to SLC, but the interstates are not ideal for road trippers who want to see the world go by at a reasonable pace, compared to concrete barriers and multilane traffic for endless hours.

Rt. 168 in southern Nevada

Let’s all be honest here, there isn’t too much else but desert in most of Nevada.  You have these mountain ranges that run north-south, filled in between with flat high-elevation valleys.  The mountains were of an interesting quality compared to others I’ve seen so far on the trip.  These were rugged and had no plant-life on them – just bare rock.

As I drove north, however, this changed slightly.  I was seeing more shrubbery, and at one point I came to this awesome canyon that was made of layered sedimentary rock, but it was all jagged, perhaps to make the road.  (I always feel bad when I see obvious cases of terrain destruction for the sake of a road.  But then again I go drive on all those roads…so who am I to talk?)

Towns out here are few and far between.  Like 30 or 40 miles apart.  But the place where each of these towns came to be seems to be logical after having driven through.  There are small stretches of wetter land where a stream or a creek runs through, and people flock to this area, since there is grass, trees, and by contrast to the desert, it appears like a rainforest.

Just north of Ash Springs, NV, I had to make a choice, continue on US-93 to the right, or take Rt. 318, which appeared to be more direct.  This isn’t a problem a call home couldn’t solve, so I asked the ‘rents, and the decision was made: take Rt. 318.  Very happy to have taken that, though I have no reference point to begin with.  Route 318 appeared to be almost Icelandic, or what I imagine to be Icelandic.  Rounded hills that look like they were carved by fire and ice.

Because everything is all so spread out in this region, making it to each town becomes its own milestone, because you might see other humans walking around, or maybe a few stores, or a gas station if you’re lucky. More and more, I have had to plan out my gas stops, since it can easily be over a hundred miles between stations.

As I made it to Ely, which is about halfway up the state, some of the roads reminded me of the twisties along the road from Flagstaff to Sedona, AZ.  It was here I could have filled up with gas, but no, I had to live on the edge.  Just out of town, I saw a sign that told me “124 miles until next gas station”.  I figured if I put some effort into being economical in my driving, I could make it to Wendover, UT which is the town right after you cross the border.  By economical, I mean setting cruise control at 65 instead of 75.  When you have straight roads for 30 or 40 miles, that’s really all there is to play with.  No fun with the steering wheel here.

There is a shortcut that uses US-93 Alt. to get to Wendover, and it was here that I began to watch the thunderstorms roll through.  Because of the expansiveness of the valleys, you can see them from miles and miles away.  Some of them shot down lightning, and this was really fun to watch.  I ended up getting some rain, which was amazing because it cleaned some bugs off the windshield.  Rain is the only good solution for bugs because it takes so much elbow grease with glass cleaner I find it’s just not worth the effort.

After making it 367 miles on one tank, my new record, I filled up across the border in Utah.  (The empty light didn’t come on, so I may have had many more miles left – this shall be tested some time with an auxiliary tank.)  Wendover is a special place for those who call themselves motoring enthusiasts, because it is the town where many people congregate for events at Bonneville Speedway, on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Being in the area, I decided to go up the road a bit to where the salt flats are supposed to be (or begins, since this is a massive area we’re talking about).

I saw a funny ditch that I guessed had to be filled with the saltiest water you can imagine (no I didn’t taste it – there were weird bugs in it).

Continuing on, the salt flats began to have some water in them, making it into the largest mirror I have seen.  With mountain peaks in the background, the only way to tell the horizon is to look and see where the image starts its reflection.  I’ve been through the flatness of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona, but this beats all I’ve seen.  You could eat dinner on these flats and you’d be sure it wouldn’t slide away on you. Guaranteed.

I took my lunch break around here, just to sit for a while and feel just how flat it is.  It’s a weird feeling that messes with your perception, and pictures really aren’t the same.  When you’re there, you can’t tell how far away anything is, or if it’s truly there or a mirage of something you can’t really see.  The fun part is that I-80 crosses through the flats for 60 miles, so you have some time to think about it.  And if you run out of thoughts, there is a speedometer accuracy test you can do along this stretch.  They tell you how long it should take at 75mph to go one mile, and so on.  I found this odd since the speed limit here was 80; why not make the test at 80 so I don’t have to go through the effort of changing my cruise setting.  Utah DOT making life hard for us all.

I was very excited to get to Salt Lake, so I could see the lake as well as the mountains that line the eastern since of the city – the Wasatch Mountains.  Before I could get there, I was gifted with a torrential downpour.  Full service bug-cleaning rain I’m talking about, folks.

I arrived at REI and was very happy to pick up my new ice axe, its leash, and a multi-day backpack that actually fits me.  It was like Christmas all over again.  The opportunity that comes with owning an axe is overwhelming.  You can safely climb mountains that would otherwise kill you, and of course you can say “Hey, don’t mess with me, I have an ice axe.”

I found a place for camping east of the city in the Uintas called Soapstone Basin, where many RV campers apparently go to camp for free.  (This is a trend in my camping, since I share the goal of “free” with them, so I end up surrounded by them.)  The drive west through the Wasatch Front range and part of the Uintas was spectacular, even on an overcast day.  This certainly made up for straightness of Nevada.  I admit it took some time to get used to a 3-lane highway that twists tightly through a canyon, but after awhile, I got into it, and was successfully able to avoid apexing corners.

The roads climbed to nearly ten thousand feet, as I passed through interesting towns like Kamas and Francis.  (Kamas is interesting because it’s my grandmother’s last name.  I failed to meet anyone with the surname Kamas.  I also didn’t try hard enough.)  The road for Soapstone Basin was much rough than expected, but nothing Wombat couldn’t handle.  There was snow on the edges, a sign of true elevation this time of year.

I had heard (and experienced) passing showers and thunderstorms for the evening and through the night, so I quickly found a spot and set up the tent, since it wasn’t raining.

My campsite, pelted with hail.

This was a longer day for mileage, coming out to 576 miles.  The total to date is 6928.

Day 38: 576 miles.