Turning point

Saturday Evening, Ely Nevada

I left the motel in Moab this morning about 8:15, stopped at Denny’s for breakfast, then started westward… not exactly, the most direct route would have been to head directly for Green River, instead I turned north east and followed the Colorado River… The river is one of Moab’s recreation draws… they offer raft trips, kayak trips, shuttle services for floaters… There are camp grounds, and a couple of resorts… one of which was surrounded by grape vines and they had signs up advertizing their wines and wine tasting… Why is it we need to plant grapes and make wine at every tourist destination?

Moab is defiantly a tourist destination… as a result it is a young town, full of 20 somethings from all over, outdoor enthusiasts, working in the various tourist spots, and guiding tourists. The tourists are dominated by Europeans though out the desert southwest. They have adopted the Kauai Red Dirt shirt as their own... I ignored those, but bought a Monkey Wrench Gang shirt at a book store...

Anyway, along the Colorado, climbing out of the canyons until I reached I-70… Then, a little before 10:00, I turned and headed for home. This was the first interstate since last Sunday, when I was Interstate 15 for 20 miles headed into Utah from Nevada… Now I drove across half of Utah… through Green River, where I got gas, and glimpsed the last of the great rivers that make canyons land look like it does… Along the way I have crossed the Colorado, the San Juan, the Mancos, and now the Green.

I drop off of I-70 onto I-50, the anti-interstate… cross I-15 (an pick up more gas, its 89 miles to the next services…), then off on what is called the loneliest Highway in America (I know a lot of Nevadans who claim Hwy 6, the road I am driving tomorrow is less traveled though more remote country.) I cross the Nevada state line about 2:30, and the clock is set back to Pacific time… I gain an hour… I pull into Ely about 2:30, check in to my hotel, then go down to the railroad to find out what is happening at the depot.

Ely is home to the Nevada Northern Railroad… the 120 mile long railroad was built to haul copper ore out of the mines below Ely to a smelter a few miles to the north at McGill. Then further north some 80 miles to connect with the Central Pacific Railroad. When the copper mines were closed in the early 1980’s the railroad stopped running, but was not scrapped… Eventually it became the property of the county, to be operated by a local nonprofit… the railroad left everything when they shutdown the property, particularly the shops at East Ely and anything that was inside… including 3 steam locomotives, a steam snow plow, a steam crane, tools, spare parts, and probably someone’s half eaten ham sandwich.

I got a tour, then said hi to the general manager, then took the evening train ride… It was a geology train, with a group of geologists on board explaining what the rocks were and how you find copper here.

So now I am finishing up this post, and will go to bed… tomorrow I drive home… Across Nevada on Hwy 6, right at Benton Springs in California onto hwy 120, by Mono Lake and over Tioga Pass in Yosemite. Google says its 529 miles With luck and a tail wind I will be home by 6:00 pm