We spent a lovely weekend with Clive & Aileen at their stunning house in Nevada City, CA and mooched around the lovely old gold-rush town.
In the evening we had great Thai food and danced at the oldest pub in town – the Crazy Horse Saloon and Grill!
Heading east, route 50 across Nevada is supposedly the lonliest highway with nothing along it for miles and miles… it wasn’t so lonely in fact and the scenery was interesting – high plains – with boondocking spots aplenty!
It took a day and a half to cross and we stopped along the way for a bath at Stephen’s Hot Springs – out in the middle of nowhere! We arrived at Great Basin National Park – which isn’t a basin at all – it’s high and impressive mountains – on the eastern side of Nevada and camped at the only campground in the park that had any room – Baker Campground.
We took a guided tour into the Lehman Cave system – always interesting with the strange rock formations.
We also drove up to the summit area (over 10,000 ft high) and had a specatular hike along the Bristlecone Trail, looking at some of the oldest trees in the world – some 5,000 years old!
We continued east into Utah and drove up Bryce Canyon which was mobbed with tourists. The canyon was interesting, indeed spectacular – but in order to do it proper justice, it’s evident that you have to primarily visit on foot to appreciate the scenery and numerous trails. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time – and the crowds were off-putting – so we continued east.
Traveling east for some offroading fun . . . . . .