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| Nevada Beach, Lake Tahoe |
I left Walnut Creek on the 21st of September. I took Interstate 80 to Sacramento where I picked up US 50 that runs 3,052 miles from Sacramento to Ocean City, Maryland. The first day took me through Lake Tahoe and Carson City before opening up on to what Life Magazine once called the loneliest road in America.
Lonely, desolate, magnificent, grand, beautiful are all adjectives I would use to describe the road between Carson City and Ely, NV (pronounced eelee by the locals). The spaces are so vast I felt the camera could not properly capture the landscape. I would go an hour without seeing another car on the road. The towns are few and far between. There are no services for the hundred mile stretch between Fallon and Austin. It was magnificent.
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| US 50 East |
My first night was in Ely, a dump of a town where I was lucky to find a motel room. Between the bikers, hunters, and men in Haliburton jumpsuits in big black SUVs the town was full up. I did manage to find a motel (I use the word loosely) that still had a room but no Internet connection. So, I went to bed early and got out of town at first light after a decent breakfast that featured what the locals call a scone, but is really Navajo fry bread with goop on top. On bite was enough to satisfy my craving fro this local delicacy for all eternity.
My plan had been to drive to Moab, Utah the next day but travelers I met said they had a problem finding a room there. As a result I decide to push on through to Telluride. The day took me through more incredible scenery with not much more signs of civilization. The signs I did see made me grateful that there weren't more. At Scipio, Utah US 50 joins Interstate 70. That stretch between Scipio and the turn off to Moab has got to be one of the most spectacular stretches of highway anywhere. By the time I got to Moab, I was so sated with scenic splendor I breezed by Canyonlands and Arches national parks only stopping for gas. Moab is the gateway for Arches and Canyonlands and a mecca for off-road bicyclists. The town was indeed packed so I was glad I still had a few hours of daylight to make the final stretch.
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| Paradox, Colorado |
I got to
Telluride after dark. Fortunately I was on the twistiest part of the road before the sun set. David Oyster, a classmate from college and former roommate from my salad days in Los Angeles welcomed me into his home and we stayed up talking. The next morning I walked out to the living room to a jaw-dropping view of the mountains and the town below. David conducts 4 wheel drive tours of the Imogene Pass that runs through the abandoned mines above Telluride and had one scheduled for the morning. I was able to join the tour that was a treacherous climb up a marginal road past abandoned mines and mind-boggling views to the summit at 13,000 plus feet. Telluride is at 8,700 feet. Fortunately I had spent the last day mostly above 5,000 feet so I wasn't completely overcome by the altitude. During the gold rush days there was a mining town named Tomboy about half-way up the pass. There were dozens of mines in the area. Tomboy was larger than Telluride at the time. Today the mining days are long gone and only a few ruins and boarded up mine entrances remain -- well, and some capped toxic tailings ponds. There had been snow the previous week so we couldn't make it to the summit. If David hadn't been driving, we might not have made it back down. Not a road for novice drivers.
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| Imogene Pass |
Back in town we went to the local farmers market and had lunch. That night David made a fabulous meal of organic local chicken, summer squash, and lentils. My contribution was margaritas made with fresh lemon and lime juice.
The next day, I attempted a yoga class but the effects of altitude finally caught up with me and I was only able to finish half the class. In the afternoon we took of to Gateway, Colorado to rendezvous with cyclists completing the 100 mile Telluride to Gateway Ride. The drive there through Dolores River Canyon tests the limits of my adjective vocabulary. I had never heard of this place but it is as astounding. We took Colorado route 145 along the Dolores River. Yet another magnificent stretch of land. We had a late lunch at
Dolores Canyon Resort before heading back to Telluride along the lower canyon road. Another day of superlatives.
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| Dolores River Canyon |
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