Today’s plan was to drive through Nevada via highway 50, from Ely to Carson City. Highway 50’s little slogan is “the loneliest highway in the nation” or something like that. Kind of strange, but makes sense… We travelled through basin after range after basin after range… I was surprised by how I got pretty good cell phone reception in the majority of the valleys, and it’d go down or cut off in the mountains throughout the state.
We made a bathroom stop at Hickison Petroglyph Site that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We checked out their short (0.6 mile) trail near their campground. We saw other petroglyphs signs for dirt roads that went off into the distance – no time for such an adventure. It was a cool little pit stop to stretch the legs and such.
And then we kept heading west. We decided to go north to Pyramid Lake to check it out. We saw a small part of it – I didn’t really want to keep driving in the dark.
So despite not really having a plan initially, I still managed to take some photos today. Last full day. Tomorrow is home free.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Basin and Range, all day.
Hickison Petroglyph site. Some of the petroglyphs are scratched in, some are carved in. These are scratched in. They look kind of like arrows. Can you see them?
“The petroglyphs at this site may represent hunting or fertility magic – or they may merely be prehistoric graffiti or doodling. Many archaeologists believe that the horsehoe-shaped glyph is a female symbol. Also, note the historic graffiti to your right [left in photo]. “RY” may have been one of Captain James Simpson’s crew.” – trail guide pamphlet.
View looking west from scenic overlook along trail.
Looking back toward the sandstone to the east.
Sand Mountain. This seems a very popular recreation site for the Fallon area.
Loving the clouds…
Hills outside of Pyramid Lake. See the paleo-shorelines? It may be a little hard to see in this particular photo.
Popcorn Rock. This is actually tufa (calcium carbonate) that formed through hydrothermal vents in the ancient lake that used to cover much of Nevada.
Pyramid Lake is 27 miles long.
Some tufa close up. Amazing structural formations, different than those at Mono Lake.
Leaving Pyramid Lake, heading to Reno and further south to Carson City.
