Road Trip West 6, The Longest Day
What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been
— April 14, 2026
Richard Rathe April 2026 (Birds, Flowers, History)
I planned to stay overnight in Flagstaff, AZ so I could visit the Lowell Observatory in the evening. Apparently they give tours during daylight hours and then setup smaller telescopes to view whatever's happening in the sky that night. Alas, dark clouds moved in and there was precip predicted for the early evening. So I went to bed early…
The Motel
In the late afternoon the room above me started rocking. It sounded like kids bouncing off the walls. This continued overnight in short bursts.
The next morning when I opened my door it had snowed!
I started loading my car, looked up and saw a box next to the door directly above mine. I looked a bit closer. It was for a child's trampoline!
I finished packing and went to the office to check-out of my room. There was nobody there. Then someone said Can Help You?
from this kiosk. I asked him where he was physically and he said Chicago?!
Las Vegas
The mountains to the south of the Hoover Dam are extremely rugged. But the dam, river, etc. were obscured by high concrete walls that suddenly appeared on both sides of the roadway. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster going through a tunnel surrounded by curved walls, high-voltage power lines, with glimpses of the sky above and the water below.
Las Vegas before noon is pretty dead. This is The City That Shouldn't Exist
as I learned from a recent podcast. It looked a lot like Tampa without the ocean. I cruised thru at a leisurely pace.
Highway 95
I proceeded north into a broad, open desert. The dust devils were so frequent that I actually got a picture of one. I had considered going over to Death Valley but the recent superbloom there was over, so I continued up Hwy 95.
Making War
I came to a small town were there was a tall fence with razor-wire, military vehicles with flashing lights, and soldiers at the gates carrying rifles. I learned later from a Jack Ryan movie that this is Creech Air Force Base where pilots fly drones all over the world. I did not stop.
Area 51
I came to an intersection with the road that must lead to the top-secret Area 51. These were the only services I'd seen for what seemed like a hundred miles, so I stopped. There was an okay rest area with the filthiest restrooms I had ever seen. Ironic considering the sign.
Beatty, NV
The road began to climb at Beatty, just over the border from Death Valley. The name sounded familiar and once I drove north out of town I discovered why—the only two legal brothels in the US. Both looked very unappealing and dilapidated. I did not stop. 😉
Positive Changes
As I continued up the road the terrain became more interesting. There were isolated Joshua Trees profiled against rising foothills. I noticed that some of those trees were in bloom and stopped to take some photos.
This road was deserted. I saw fewer than ten vehicles per hour. The mountains rose and I went over several small passes. It was a lovely drive!
A came across these ruins on a hillside. At first glance I thought they were an old pueblo, but they turned out to be the remains of a mining town called Palmetto
. Apparently the miners mistook the joshua trees for palms!
At one point the road went through a big crack in a ridge. It became so narrow there was only room for one vehicle at a time. At last I came to a high plateau with an open forest of trees that looked very familiar. When I came down into Big Pine, CA there was a sign for the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest I had just passed thru. (We visited the Schulman Grove last year.)
At that point I had dinner at the local BBQ place and began looking for a BLM campground. I found one by a small river that looked good on my map. There was no warning online nor local signage but—when I got there it was clearly closed. I found an alternative called the Pleasant Valley Pit and headed there. It was VERY DARK and the road conditions got progressively worse. I finally crested a hill where I could look down into the pit
—like something out of a post-apocalyptic science fiction movie. I found a site, set up my cot (there were no trees), and promptly went to bed. The stars were magnificent!
From left to right: Sirius (the Big Dog), Orion (the Hunter), the Hyades (Head of Taurus the Bull), & the Pleiades (the Seven Sisters, also part of Taurus)
Even though I was nominally done with my long day it wasn't over yet. The temps went down to freezing and my hammock gear was not warm enough for sleeping exposed on a cot. I got up about 2am and left the pit. I drove to the first scenic pullout on the road north and slept another few hours snug in my car. This was my view when I awoke…
Unfortunately the back roads
in to Devils Postpile and Yosemite had yet to open for the season. I drove further north to revisit Mono Lake instead. This time I went along the northwest side and found a boardwalk trail over wetlands and down to the lake.
I saw what might have been hundreds of Eared Grebes in addition to other waterfowl. According to allaboutbirds.org, …almost the entire population of Eared Grebes flies to Mono Lake, California, or Great Salt Lake, Utah
during migration.
The entire morning as I stopped along the road I was hearing Meadowlarks. This was refreshing for me because I haven't seen or heard an Eastern Meadowlark in years. They are considered a Common Bird in Steep Decline
. 🙁
There were a pair of dueling singers on either side of the boardwalk, so I was able to enjoy the songs and photograph them.
I found a small highway that lead south of the congestion around Lake Tahoe. Again I was almost alone on my final drive over the mountains and on down to Sacramento, my final destination.
(click any image to view or advance)
