G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

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October 5, 1999

Early the next day (10-5), I stopped at the gas station/store that is about halfway between Tonopah and Ely. It was nice to find a cold drink and a hot (microwave) sandwich, and important to find a restroom. It was called Black Rock Station, and is the gathering place for a community of two people.

The road was so deserted today that I began to feel like I was in a Stephen King novel. I kept looking for the Dark Man to be walking down the other side of the highway on his way to Las Vegas.

Counties are very large in Nevada, not populous mind you, but very large in size. When I got to within about 30 miles of Ely, I finally passed out of Nye County and into White Pine County. I had been in Nye County, all on US Rt. 6, for 132 miles. Can you imagine how long the school day is for some of these rural kids who commute to the county high school in Tonopah each day!

Click on thumbnail to see full photograph.

As isolated as I felt during the day, the feeling turned to absolute aloneness that night. My campground of choice (actually I had no choice) was located 45 miles short of Ely, about 2/3 the way up Currant Pass, and a half-mile off the highway. I was the only camper, happy or otherwise, but it was a really neat experience. I arrived early enough to gather firewood (mostly sagebrush), take a soap-less bath in the stream, and prepare a hot dinner with boiled stream water. Once it got dark, the only lights that I could see were those of my campfire and those of billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond. The only noise was that of the small, bubbling stream just 20 feet from my campsite. Very peaceful.