12 DAYS: DAY TWO, FREDONIA, AZ TO ELY, NV

What a great day on the bike.

I love seeing places I have only seen in winter all fleshed out in summer looks.

Although I have been to Kanab and Cedar City many times, it is usually in the winter.

Today I saw the green, the immense mountainous green.

Weather was amazingly nice. Started out cloudless, but by the time I had reached Cedar City a few thunderheads emerged to the north.

Then while I had lunch (tacos, of course…) the sky filled with incredible texture and thunderheads everywhere.

Just outside of Cedar City I ran into some smoke from a nearby wildfire, but the road seemed to take me around it and up in elevation. I only smelled the fire for about 30 minutes, then it was behind me and in front of me was beautiful, clear air.

There’s a beauty to this kind of desert that is hard to explain. It has depth due to the rolling hills, and it has texture that the AZ desert I am most familiar with doesn’t have. Lots of scrub bushes, and a thick, dry, grasslike plant that glows in backlight and adds color to the desert floor.

The color of gold and yellow. It is still a desert, but it is one that gets a lot more moisture than the Sonoran desert gets.

I was surprised by all of the incredible mountain scenery that surrounded me. The map didn’t indicate that to me, but I need to learn to look more closely. The road was 70% mountains.

And then came the prairies. I guess it is what they call the ‘basins’. These are massive valleys that slope down to the bottom, then climb back up on the other side. I went through two very large and one large and each had mountain passes between them.

BTW, when I left Milford (cute town) the sign said 83 miles to next services.

And those services were two unmanned pumps next to a trailer. Insert CC and get gas.

Wow… the expanses were incredible.

And BTW, it was another 65 plus miles till I saw another gas station so if you go, take a few gallons along in a can.

Thunderstorms were all around me but all I got were a few drops and a couple of dozen miles of recently soaked pavement.

And did I mention how lonely these roads are. I stopped to make photos for 20 minutes and not a single vehicle passed me.

Eery.

Ely, Nevada is an interesting little town. I don’t know what makes it tick, or why it even exists here other than as a place for the weary traveler who happened to end up on Highway 50, “The Loneliest Road in America”. It is where the 50 meets the 93… another super lonely road I will be taking tomorrow as I head off to Twin Falls, ID.

Lots of old stuff in Ely, but the outskirts are bustling with new fast food, quickie marts, and auto parts stores.

All in all it was a super lovely day.

Now, on to the photos.

The roads seemed almost like a post apocolyptic adventure… long, straight, and lonely.

My kinda diner.

Serving my kind of lunch.

More barbed wire and old wood.

A couple of the vistas that I was privy to today.