Drive from Tetons to Ely, Nevada



More critters....

 We started this morning with a little hike as described in previous blog. After the hike we got back in the car and set off west. We had picked a spot called Ely, Nevada as our target for the day. We estimated that it would take some 8 to 9 hours to get from the Tetons to Ely and it did. Felt longer based on the conditions which are described more below. Leaving the Tetons we had already travelled 3164 miles.



Salt Lake City

We drove for about 5 hours and stopped for dinner just west of Salt Lake City. The drive on I-70 from Salt Lake was straight into the sun. We got some great pictures of the sunset. As we travelled west from Salt Lake to the Utah/Nevada border the landscape was the same – salt flats on each side of us. I knew of the Bonneville Salt Flats but didn’t know the whole area consisted of salt flats. Salt flats are what they might sound like; very flat and white. Looked as unforgiving a place as any we had seen so far.

We hit the Nevada state line and of course hit a small gambling town. They get you at every entry point it seems. The town was called Wendover and looked like it was constructed in its entirety just this year.



Sunset heading west from Salt Lake

At Wendover we took Route 93 south into Nevada towards Ely. This stretch of road extended for maybe 100 miles but was the single most nerve wracking thing experienced on the trip. We got on this road around 9PM as it was getting dark and it continued to get very dark. The road travels through an area called the Great Basin area which supposedly has some of the best night sky viewing in all of the States. Based on our travels through this desolate area I bet this claim is true. Anyway, as we started off we kept seeing signs saying 

Sunset....

the area was an “open range” area. This means there are no fences along the road and you should be ready for animals crossing the road. Picture a completely dark road that is dead straight and on which you can do 70 mph. Now imagine an animal crossing the road. We were terrified of this happening and as I drove Aileen helped canvas the road ahead within our headlights. She spotted a horse standing just on the edge of the road pretty early in our 2 hour trip so we were on alert the whole time. She also spotted some scurrying rabbits and unidentified creatures the size of coyotes along the road. A white-knuckled ride for sure.

Sunset heading west from Salt Lake



We started seeing road signs for Ely at about the same time we could start picking up the Town’s glow in the distance. We estimate we could see the Town’s lights from about 50 miles away. I hear it’s the same when approaching Vegas but most likely on a bigger scale. This just gives an idea of how empty and dark the area was.  



Sunset...

We finally got to Ely, checked in and immediately went to a local watering hole. Definitely needed to unwind for a bit. We ended up at the Nevada Hotel and even played some electronic poker before calling it a night. What a long day! 
 


At the Hotel Nevada in Ely, Nevada



Sunset heading west from Salt Lake