One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that we slept and ate at10,000 ft. How cool is that? Not bad for just randomly picking a camping spot and hoping for the best. It did get cold. Not surprisingly but thanks to a Kifaru woobie, a wonderful blanket that I had, I stayed warm. Ben on the other hand, well he strung up his hammock and got slightly cold in the upper 30 degree weather on the mountain. It was almost made up by the fantastic view of the mountain in the morning and it was pretty much made up for by the stronger coffee for both of us. As we were leaving the camp site our campsite neighbor asked if we were going to climb the mountain. He said that we were leaving one of the best hiking trails in American that goes to 13,000ft. Mount Wheeler just got added to my bucket list.
HWY 50 in the US has been called the loneliest highway in America. I don’t think they are wrong. Part of the photography that appeared in yesterday’s post was taken on HWY 50 and there is nothing to be seen. There is probably more cows then people along that road. HWY 50 parallels the Pony Express route, which had horse exchange points every 10 miles or so. The Pony Express was America’s first attempt at express mail service. At several point we did try to stop for gas only to find out when we got closer to the buildings that they were abandoned. So a small notThe scenery on HWY 50 was amazing, however, and driving into Utah yesterday just showed how diverse the country is. I’m always amazed that you can go from the lush green of Yosemite Valley to the desert of Nevada and drive through incredible mountain passes in Utah only to arrive in farmland growing corn. Pretty amazing.
I did stop and see Jaybriel Akoi and finally got to me his wife and daughter. It was as good time to catch up with Jay Akoi. I do appreciate it since it was Monday and he took off work to have lunch with us. We are currently just above Salt Lake City, Utah. After Wheeler Mountain Yesterday and an beautiful view of the mountains we drove up to Promontory, UT where the “Golden Spike” was put in marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. I thought it was important to visit it since I the first thing I saw in Sacramento was the Railroad museum and the start of the western side of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Hopefully we’ll make it to Colorado tonight but we are playing it by ear. Still having fun.