Fort Churchill

Between 1861 and 1869, the Fort Churchill garrison protected Nevada citizens from hostile Indians. After the troops departed, the Federal government auctioned the buildings for $750, and the buyers removed the valuable wood roofing. Over the years, with each rainfall, the exposed adobe walls further dissolved into the ground.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps began restoration work on the ruins, with the idea of keeping them in a state of arrested decay. The work continues to this day. Indeed, there may be more restored adobe than original in those photogenic walls.

Wild Kat Ranch

Just south of Mina, 61.73 miles down the road from Berlin, Nevada.

The Nevada Ghost Town of Berlin

Berlin is a state park today because it somehow escaped the destruction that befell so many abandoned mining towns in Nevada.

The park brochure tells us: "During its heyday, Berlin and its Union suburbs supported 200-250 people including miners, woodcutters, charcoal makers, a doctor and a nurse, a forest ranger and a prostitute."

The Berlin Mine was in operation between 1898 and 1911. When it closed, the citizens moved away.

Now the nearest prostitutes are at the Wild Kat Ranch, just south of Mina, 61.73 miles down the road.

On October 7, 2001, as I was pulling my truck into a gas station in Fallon, enroute to Berlin, I heard over the radio that we had begun our attack on Afghanistan. Continuing on, I listened intently to the news until the radio reception faded away. The AM and FM broadcasts we take for granted did not reach these parts of the Great Basin Desert. At Berlin, there was a ranger or two at the park entry, and a few miles uphill, at the other end of the campground, was one other person. Essentially I was alone. I set up camp and turned on my shortwave radio. For the rest of that cold evening, I sat at the camp table next to the lantern, and at times I walked into the darkness to gaze at the countless stars overhead, all the while listening to announcers from the British Broadcasting Corporation giving updates on the invasion.

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.