Road Trip 2012: Tuesday 10/16

422 miles and camped at Antelope Valley RV Park in Delta, Utah.

Fallon Nevada to Delta, Utah.

Site 25, Antelope Valley RV Park.  My site borders an alfalfa field.

I traveled through desert all day, and I end up with an alfalfa field out by back camper door.

Well, the Loneliest Road in America lives up to the name.  In the span from Fallon, Nevada to Delta, Utah, there are only three towns Austin, Eurika, and Ely.  In that stretch, the highway crosses what is referred to as "Basin and Range" topography.  There are numerous mountain passes to be crossed, with broad valleys in between.  The vegetation ranges from nothing (I really mean nothing) to sagebrush to small pines.  I saw quite a few beef cattle, sheep, and horses grazing on the rather barren vegetation.

Valley leaving Fallon, Nevada.  Absolutely no vegetation.

Group of aspen trees among dried sagebrush on a mountain pass.

Looking down on the town of Austin from the mountain pass.

Mountain pass.

Valley floor.  See the windmills on the left side of the road.

Another mountain pass.

Another valley floor, this time leading to Delta, Utah.

I had one very interesting stop at the Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area, near the town of Austin. The Hickison Summit is rich in prehistoric resources.  Some of these prehistoric sites date back 11,000 to 12,000 years ago.  At that time the recent melt water from the glacial period supported many lakes in the valleys.  It appears that people were living around these lakes.  This period of human occupation of the Great Basin is referred to as the Western Pluvial Lakes Tradition.  Zoey and I took about a mile hike around the self guided tour.  I'm amazed that the petroglyphs have not been vandalized or defaced.

Petroglyph

Close up of the above.

More

And more

Still more

And even more

I wonder what they were trying to say?

Zoey mountain climbing in the petroglyph area.

There is a time zone change at the Nevada - Utah border.  So I had to set the clocks ahead one hour.  Now I'm only two hours behind my home time.  I think my plan for Wednesday is to head toward Rocky Mountain National Park.  I'll stay somewhere west of the park, and then drive across the park on my way to Fort Collins Thursday.