Westward Ho - well, even more westward
After our stay in Denver we turned our sights further west toward the left coast of this great country. We headed up through an area of Colorado, west of Rocky Mountain National Park, following a route taken by John Wesley Powell in 1868. If you are noticing a trend here (my second reference to Powell) it is because Kari loaned me a book by Wallace Stegner, "Beyond the Hundredth Meridian" that is a biography of Powell. When Powell was still very young he headed an expedition to the Rockies and his route took him west from Denver, over Berthoud Pass and up into the area known as Middle Park and specifically Hot Sulfur Springs and the head waters of the Colorado River (there and then known as the Grand River). We were retracing part of his journey along the river.
We went over Rabbit Ears Pass then on down into Steamboat Springs. We were just astounded by how green it was here.
We then continued onto the Western Slope and on into Utah (again).
We stayed a couple of nights at a reservoir called Starvation in the town of Duchesne. That's our little silver coach in the middle of the picture.
We traversed the rest of Utah in one jump but chose to stay off of interstates. Instead we took a delightful road (US 191 out of Duchesne) over a 9,000 foot pass.
Then we followed US 6 until it hooked up with US 50, known as the "Loneliest Road in America."
The panorama above is of Sevier Lake along US 50. From a distance it looks like there might be some water in it but it is just an illusion. The stretch of road from Delta, UT to Baker, NV (just across the border) is about 83 miles and there is nothing out there.
We continued on US 50 across Nevada stopping at a strange little town called Austin. According to the historical markers in the town, it was at one time the second largest city in Nevada (during the silver and gold booms) with over 6,000 population. It clings to the side of a mountain and has a very strange feeling. We took a walk around town and passed a motel on the main drag. Two men were sitting in front of their motel room, in the shade (it was in the mid-90's), and we said "Howdy" and exchanged pleasantries. They were visitors like us and used the term "goofy" to describe the town. It fit.
Here is a little of the goofiness: we stayed a the Austin Baptist Church and RV Park. Yes, the RV park is owned and operated by the church. Apparently the church elders were looking for a building for their services and the biggest house available included the RV park. I guess they figured it would help support the church. The brown building in the photo below is the RV park office and sanctuary.
The view left something to be desired!
The area of Nevada we were crossing is known as the Great Basin. It is mostly scrub desert cut through by multiple north-south mountain ranges. The valley floors in between the mountain ranges were at about 5,000 feet of elevation. The passes were from 6,500 feet up to almost 8,000 feet. I'm sure we went over a dozen or more passes between the Utah border and Fallon, NV.
Each of the valleys has a dry lake bed.
As we were driving through this terrain I was wondering if there might be some sand dunes, similar to the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. Sure enough, just east of Fallon we saw what is called Sand Mountain. It is a BLM recreation area not a national park so there were dune buggies roaring all over it.
But now, we are ready for some greener scenery. We head towards Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas next.
We went over Rabbit Ears Pass then on down into Steamboat Springs. We were just astounded by how green it was here.
We then continued onto the Western Slope and on into Utah (again).
We stayed a couple of nights at a reservoir called Starvation in the town of Duchesne. That's our little silver coach in the middle of the picture.
We traversed the rest of Utah in one jump but chose to stay off of interstates. Instead we took a delightful road (US 191 out of Duchesne) over a 9,000 foot pass.
Then we followed US 6 until it hooked up with US 50, known as the "Loneliest Road in America."
The panorama above is of Sevier Lake along US 50. From a distance it looks like there might be some water in it but it is just an illusion. The stretch of road from Delta, UT to Baker, NV (just across the border) is about 83 miles and there is nothing out there.
We continued on US 50 across Nevada stopping at a strange little town called Austin. According to the historical markers in the town, it was at one time the second largest city in Nevada (during the silver and gold booms) with over 6,000 population. It clings to the side of a mountain and has a very strange feeling. We took a walk around town and passed a motel on the main drag. Two men were sitting in front of their motel room, in the shade (it was in the mid-90's), and we said "Howdy" and exchanged pleasantries. They were visitors like us and used the term "goofy" to describe the town. It fit.
Here is a little of the goofiness: we stayed a the Austin Baptist Church and RV Park. Yes, the RV park is owned and operated by the church. Apparently the church elders were looking for a building for their services and the biggest house available included the RV park. I guess they figured it would help support the church. The brown building in the photo below is the RV park office and sanctuary.
The view left something to be desired!
The area of Nevada we were crossing is known as the Great Basin. It is mostly scrub desert cut through by multiple north-south mountain ranges. The valley floors in between the mountain ranges were at about 5,000 feet of elevation. The passes were from 6,500 feet up to almost 8,000 feet. I'm sure we went over a dozen or more passes between the Utah border and Fallon, NV.
Each of the valleys has a dry lake bed.
As we were driving through this terrain I was wondering if there might be some sand dunes, similar to the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. Sure enough, just east of Fallon we saw what is called Sand Mountain. It is a BLM recreation area not a national park so there were dune buggies roaring all over it.
But now, we are ready for some greener scenery. We head towards Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas next.
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