Day 30. The Loneliest Road

We left Tahoe early this morning in chilly temps but clear blue skies. We immediately crossed into Nevada and joined Route 50 which took us through Carson City, the capital city of Nevada. We ignored the many casinos and before long we could see how this route earned it's reputation as "The Loneliest Road".

The route heads East across the Great Basin of Nevada. Just incredible vistas of desert and an occasional mountain ridge to cross over. We did encounter this massive sand dune, known as Sand Mountain.

 Route 50 also follows the original route of the Pony Express. There are remnants of the Sand Springs Station at the foot of Sand Mountain but it was early in the day and we had many miles to go so we did not take the detour.

 Rest stop in the dessert - the only one we saw!

This description of the history of the Pony Express was at the rest stop which was close to the site of a second derelict station at Cold Springs. Sadly the Pony Express never turned a profit and closed four days after completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph, made redundant by the rapid communication provided by the telegraph.

We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Eureka. No picnic today as there were no spots in the shade to be found!

Then back on the highway to finish the day.

 Still lonely!

We are now in Ely (pronounced EElee) another tiny town, originally made prosperous by copper mining. We have checked into a neat little Motel for the night - glad to get out of the heat of the desert!

Total days mileage : 347.