Loneliest Road in America

It was only a week ago that I was in the middle of nowhere’s desert all by my lonesome. I had to make my way from Reno to Ely, NV for work and I will readily admit that I was not excited about having to do so. I had done it once before and remembered the drudgery of passing each brush of sage mostly in the dark.

This time I was going to leave earlier to avoid the feeling that I had been sucked out into an endless dark abyss. I thought I’d bring my camera this time so I could keep myself occupied along the way by capturing little points of interest, which I will admit there were. After passing Sand Mountain and a tree full of shoes, I would soon be driving alongside bits of the Pony Express trail, passing the turnoff point for Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, and Hickson Petroglyph Recreation Area. Who knew Nevada had dinosaur bones? 

Somehow after hours of driving this long and lonely route a mental transformation occurs. Going this journey alone is like a mini rite of passage when a boy sets out to become a man, except that I for one am a woman. The surroundings begin their entrancing effects and an unexpected rush of strength and independence kicks in. Perhaps a remaining spirit of the old wild west. 

Between every grand mountain range lives another vast desert. Only a couple of hours traveling through this makes you wonder how Reno was selected by settlers. Perhaps its lower altitude (less snow!) and proximity to Lake Tahoe has caused it to thrive. This kind of thought is unavoidable during your first few trips on the officially titled “Loneliest Road in America .” This isn’t an easy trip to want to make, but once on the way something magical seems to happen.

So lets get to the pictures! There were many ops that I did not take because of my desire to stop driving. I thought that if I titled this work it would be something like Things you ain’t never seen (and never thought you wanted to.) And here it is.

            

 

            

         

         

  

  

       

 

 

~ by briannehall on April 6, 2008.