Snow

It's a good thing I'm retired. Here's why:

I got up to get an early start and headed to go over to the east side of the park and maybe do some exploring at Mono Lake or the Mammoth Lakes area. It was cold last night and there was a slight drizzle when I left. When I got to the turnoff to go through the mountains, a ranger was there blocking the road. They just closed it due to the bad weather. Bad Weather!! The road just barely had a dusting of snow! Apparently a few cars had already gone off the road and they expected conditions to worsen. He told me that the state had closed all the passes except for the two freeways, neither of which were anywheres close to where I was.

I decided to just head back towards Sonora and then go north until I found an open pass. Which ended up being about 4 passes. I went east on highway 88, ending up Carson City Nevada. From there I just continued heading east on highway 50 through the middle of Nevada. I figured I'd just go straight towards Moab, Ut and Mesa Verde.

I'm an Amateur Radio Operator, a HAM for short. This guy must have a big station! He even has spirits in it.

As strange as this may seem, I really enjoyed the long drive across Nevada. There isn't much through the middle of the state. Mostly you cross deserts and mountains, one after the other. Each is kinda interesting in it's own way. There just isn't much there.

I spent the night right off the road at one of the state's historic markers. This much be a common practice as each is a bit off the road with a large parking area. The night was great. I sat outside and watched the full moon rise. Not a bad experience actually.

This was fun. I just came from those mountains over there. I stopped in the middle of the road and took the picture. Didn't have to worry about traffic.

Then I turned around an took this picture of where I'm going. That's Nevada. Highway 50 just keeps doing this.

The next day I continued onto Moab, stopping at the Great Basin National Park. I wouldn't go out of my way for this one, but it was along the way. I think Nevada needed a park and this seemed as good a spot as any to have one. There are some caves there with ranger guided tours.

At Moab I camped next to the Colorado River in one of the BLM campsites a little further down the road from where Gary and Martha camped when we were there in the spring.

The next day I got up and drove to the Needles Area of Canyonlands National Park