8/31 - Sparks to Elko, Nevada

We had a good, although monotonous, 300 mile drive from Sparks to a few miles east of Elko.  I-80 runs from east to west across the Great Basin which covers most of Nevada. The only way to describe this state is desolate.  It's no wonder there are only two cities of any size (Las Vegas and Reno).  

The view from I-80 going east out of Sparks this morning shows a view of the surrounding mountains which is typical of the Reno area. Few buildings on the slopes but the valleys between the mountains appear to be packed with people.

Somewhere along the route we passed these salt flats which came right up to the roadside. From a distance they look like water. The pioneers crossing this seemingly endless basin and range region must have been devastated when they found out they weren't.

Lack of water was the downfall of many a pioneer. There's very little to be found here. One of the major pioneer trails followed the Humboldt River which runs along I-80.  The river is pitiful in the summer. Not much water in it and, what little there is, is hardly drinkable. There was also no forage for the pioneers' animals so many of them died of thirst and starvation. It's truly a wonder anyone made it across this region.

For those not familiar with the geological term "basin and range," it describes the topography of 95% of Nevada which consists of vast numbers of mountain ranges and valleys (basins).  They are caused by the stretching of the underlying continental tectonic plate which breaks into blocks along fault lines. Some blocks drop to form basins while others are uplifted to form ranges. The pioneers must have thought they would never come to the end of the mountains.

The Great Basin is not a single basin but is made up of all these smaller basins and ranges. What makes it a basin is that there is no outlet to get water to the Pacific or Gulf of Mexico. The water either evaporates or sinks into the ground or flows into lakes like the Great Salt Lake, the Salton Sea and the Humboldt Sink.  

One of the many ranges along I-80, this one being rockier and more interesting than most. 

This is typical of the scenery along I-80, although there's been only one area of salt flats so far.  (That's the white on either side of the road near the tractor-trailer.)  This was also typical of the traffic today.

Road engineers managed to get I-80 around most of the ranges, and occasionally over a few.  This mountain required tunnels....two for I-80 eastbound and westbound and two for the railroad lines.

We've had quite a change in accommodations between this morning and tonight.

First, the pristine, ritzy, semi-crowded resort in Sparks with its pavement and astro-turf......

And now the spacious, lower-end park within a hundred yards of I-80 which is great for an overnight. We can't hear the interstate and so far haven't heard a train (the tracks are a half mile away). The gravel keeps the dust at bay and there's even real grass between the sites, the first we've seen in a while. (It's green only because it's being watered.) We've stayed in a great variety of places. In spite of checking reviews and pictures, you never really know what you're going to get.

Tomorrow it's back to I-80 and another 250 miles to Hill AFB north of Salt Lake City. We'll lose an hour going into Mountain Time, so will try to get an earlier start so we can beat the rush hour traffic between SLC and the base.