5.26.2008 Las Vegas to Ely, Nevada

Leaving Las Vegas under overcast skies and heading north west for Death Valley. Being that I was a bit on the bright side and not paying enough attention to the map. I took a short cut on Rt 156 which I thought would save me time getting over the mountains to Death Valley. Well, at the 8000 ft level with snow and at a dead end and a very strong recommendation from the Park Ranger that I turn around.....
So back to square one and a couple of hours of wasted time I finally got into Death Valley. Spent the night in the valley with the winds blowing in excess of 20 knots but I had enough large rocks holding the tent down that I was in the No Worries stage.

Next morning out of the National Park to Scotty's Junction where the weather was a bit nasty. At this point is was all of my multiple layers of clothing, winter gloves, balaclava and anything else that would take a bite out of the wind, rain, cold and outright nasty conditions that would stay with me for the next 6 hours.

Someone, some where forgot to tell Mother Nature that summer is here......

Across the Great Basin it was and if I thought that the roads in the outback in Australia were straight, the Great Basin proved me wrong. Straight roads from horizon to horizon with snow on the mountains all around you. The only thing missing was road kill and the great smell that went along with it.

It was the late hour that I pulled into Ely, Nevada for the night. It was a grass lawn for the night with clear skies for the first few hours before it was rain, hail, rain and finally frost. The morning sun did come about but it would be many hours before the rays would envelope the tent. The camp site did have free coffee which put a glow on the morning activities.......

Being that I thought an extra day spent in Ely would prove beneficial to the local business and a chance to check out the local areas. Weather cancelled all thoughts of going any where as it was either raining or hail or both and snow on the road to add another flavor.

Tomorrow its into Utah for another week or so