Loneliest Road

We had 5 days to make it through Nevada, and decided to follow Route 50, also known as the loneliest road. Many years ago, M and I took a car trip down historic Rt. 66 and we loved all the old motels and weird road side attractions. Route 50 isn't as kitschy, but still has some historic buildings. Mostly it is known for wide stretches between services. We filled up our gas, propane, and freshwater tanks before heading out. Our first stop was Great Basin National Park. Even though it was a weekend, the campground was pretty empty and we snagged a spot with a view of Wheeler Peak. The kids and I did some short hikes and they earned their junior ranger badges and M got a few good runs in. We did not find the 4,000 year old bristlecone pine! The conditions at the top of the mountain were a bit too extreme for us to do the 5 mile hike (25 degrees and snowing). 

Nevada was not what I pictured at all. I had been to the Las Vegas area many times and in 2019 we drove through on I80, to the north. However, it being spring, the scenery was really beautiful. Lots of wild flowers, aspen groves starting to open up pale green leaves on the mountains, snow-capped peaks in every direction. After leaving Great Basin N.P., we had a general plan to head towards some hot springs M had heard about from one of his friends. We ended up stopping at the Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area which had free camping (BYO water, there are no services). It was a great spot, being only 1/2 mile down a bumpy gravel road. I hate taking the camper down long bumpy roads because things fall down in the cupboards and some of the screws shake loose. This area had some cool places to hike and view petroglyphs and camping area was also next to pretty much endless acres of BLM land. 

One morning, the kids and I walked a few miles down a trail and found a rock to sit on. After being very quiet and still for a few minutes, we started to spot lizards and birds doing all sorts of things. Two raptors on a cliff started screeching and swooping at a tree, which scattered a bunch of black birds. It was really cool to watch and also a novel experience to sit still and be quiet and also hear so little man-made noise around us. We are trying to practice mindfulness and being quiet more often so this was a perfect place.

We did end up finding the hot springs. We had to follow a very long, very bumpy road. There are a series of natural pools fed by the hot spring, but at one end, someone had placed a large livestock trough and piped the spring into it. You could swing the pipe out or into the pool depending on how hot you wanted the water. It was only about 65 or 70 degrees outside and the hot water felt amazing. The panoramic views and peace and quiet were an extra treat. 

Before we knew it, it was time to drive the rest of the way to Truckee, which is our temporary home-away-from-home for the next month. I'm glad we had some time to experiment with all our off-grid equipment. M was able to work from all the remote places we stayed thanks to our solar panels and mifi. 

I highly recommend route 50 in spring. Towing our trailer was not a problem with the grades and we topped off our gas tank at every opportunity as recommended. Definitely bring water and plan to conserve if you are camping.