Westbound Route 50 - Through Utah and the Great Basin

Business took me from California to Colorado in 2009. I drove there on Interstate 80, which largely follows the route of the pioneers, and then Interstate 25 took me down the eastern side of the Rockies to Denver. For my return trip, I decided on a more scenic route, which would take in a long section of Route 50.

Created in 1926, U.S. Route 50 extends from West Sacramento, California to Ocean City, Maryland, a distance of 3,008 miles.

After crossing the Rocky Mountains and passing through some magnificent mesa country, I connected with Route 50 at Grand Junction, Colorado.

San Rafael Reef

The highway department has thoughtfully constructed a parking area at the eastern approach to the San Rafael Swell, so that the traveler can pause and take in the large uplifted block of Navaho Sandstone called San Rafael Reef. I climbed a knoll to get a photograph. There I met geologist Ron Schott, who was taking a 360-degree Gigapan photo of the Reef.

Route 50 passing through the Reef.

I passed through the Reef and entered the Swell proper. This is a rugged and unforgiving country, and hauntingly beautiful, especially with a thunderstorm in the distance.

Route 50 exited the San Rafael Swell, and then wound around the Wasatch Plateau and the Pahvant Range. I was now at the eastern edge of the Great Basin. About thirty minutes later I pulled in to the small town of Delta, where a motel room awaited me.

After dinner, I went to a small grocery store and purchased a six-pack of Polygamy Porter. The tagline for this Utah beer is Why Have Just One? With its alcohol content of 4%, I had two.

I left Delta before dawn and headed into the Sevier Desert. I pretty much had the highway to myself. Out in the Great Basin, these long stretches of empty road can lead the mind to wander, until the pronghorn antelope are seen standing in the middle of the road. Then the brakes are applied, and the adrenaline rush follows. The antelope walk to the side of the road, and stand there bored while waiting for the vehicle to pass.

I have had this happen to me a few times.

Pronghorn Antelope in the Sevier Desert.

The Confusion Range.

I crossed the Confusion Range and entered Nevada. The stretch of Route 50 through Nevada has been coined "The Loneliest Road in America."

And it certainly can be lonely. One can drive for miles and miles, over one mountain range and across a basin and up another mountain range and down into another basin, before passing a vehicle.

Fallon Naval Air Station was conducting a war exercise this day. I saw some inflatable targets off the road in Edwards Creek Valley, and took the photos below. I stopped for a break at the ruins of the Cold Springs Pony Express Station. A military truck with an inflatable target pulled in. I inquired of the driver, a Civil Service employee, about the exercise. He said the inflatable targets are moved to different locations for the pilots to find.

At Labou Flat and Fairview Valley I was treated to a nice airshow. A fighter jet streaked low across the highway. A missile was fired skyward, to simulate an anti-aircraft attack. The jet then dropped a bomb on a distant target.

I stopped at the side of the road to watch more. I was not the only spectator, for a few more vehicles were stopped far down the road.

The military treated us to a few more bombing runs. A jet would fly across Route 50, a missile would be fired in its direction, and then the jet would drop a bomb on a distant target. I would watch the puff of smoke grow in size, and then the boom would finally reach me.

I watched two or three of these runs, and then I resumed my drive home.