A different kind of desert: Nevada's Great Basin

We finally arrived to Vegas - a bit late, but safe! It took us a while to get to the car rental facility (by bus), formalities at the counter still take much too long (considering that they got all the necessary info already electronically), and, then: choices... A row of cars, same size (Medium SUV) and people with luggage - like us - overwhelmed which one to take. After 24 hours out and about, such decisions are not so easy anymore. Tires/miles on the meter/scratches/car make/year (Asian cars are usually more economical) - are all things to consider. 

After some back and forth, we chose a KIA Sportster with 35,000 mi., and, eventually, after a short drive, a bit after 9 pm, we arrived to our rather modest/run-down motel - photo below - which we had booked ourselves, thinking we just need a bed and a shower for this one short night... well, it was cheap, at least, and we had "Strip view" around the corner.

Didn't sleep well, thanks to a constantly beeping fire detector, and got up at 6 am to hit the road. Sun is up before 7 am here and when we left at 7, it was sunny and bright! Sun, for the first time in weeks, though we only had around 39 deg F (4 C) in Vegas! 

We grabbed a quick breakfast at a gas station before we drove on long, straight highways north. Only few (truck) traffic, the great high desert landscape of the Great Basin, traversed by snow-covered rugged mountain ranges. Drove in heights of about 4.000-5.000 ft (1200-1500 m) mountains reaching almost 10.000 ft. (over 3.000 m), and, boy, it became real cold: down to 6 deg F/-14 deg C.!

We saw herds of mustangs, but few people, just some gates with names of ranches along the road, buildings invisible or far in the distance. The distances between "towns" were up to 70 mi (110 km), gas meter had to be watched carefully. It's been a long, but beautiful drive (7 hours with 2 breaks) 435 mi/700 km - about the distance from Augsburg to Lübeck - and, all in the same state, Nevada!

On U.S. Hwy 93 and SR 318 we reached Ely, about half-way to Elko, and went for a walk to stretch our legs. Once in the past, we had already enjoyed a railroad excursion (pics above from railroad station), today we just looked around. Ely is a pretty remote moutain town, founded in the 1870s as a stagecoach stop and trading post, later it became one of the country’s major copper mining regions. The Nevada Northern Railway arrived in 1906. On photos below: Main Street Ely, one of many mural in downtown and one of the oldest casino hotels in town.

On we drove... wide open land, endless horizon, nature is king here. Figure that now: the whole state of Bavaria is about 70.500 qkm/27.240 sq.mi. large and is populated by approx. 13,2 mio. people - Elko County (in the northeastern corner of Nevada), where we are now, has 44.550 qkm/17.200 sq.mi of space, inhabited by only 55.000 people!

Some clouds came up when we approached Elko in the afternoon, but, it warmed up a little bit and is supposed to get warmer in the course of the week. We did some grocery stopping before we checked in the Hampton Inn & Suites. What a luxurious "castle" compared to what we had! But, seriously: this is a very well kept, nice hotel with large, comfy rooms, a bathtub, many TV programs and outlets, a fridge, free breakfast, and, even a view towards the Ruby Mountains - here at sunset.