Denver to Great Basin National Park

Rab The Rover
Rab The Rover @RabTheRover ·

Early start, excited energy. Flying, miles and miles crawling by. New places in the desert, hot, beautiful, under appreciated. Sad, dusty towns, fading into the endless stretch of time. Hot, howling wind, never ending. Flat, straight, surrounded by silent wonder. Bleary eyed, climbing, twisting road, colder air, cleaner air. A quick hike, a clear head. Mexican food, hot Gatorade, a quiet camp. Heavy sleep.

My Adventure

We left home at 6am on the dot and absolutely flew through Colorado, gassing up in Fruita before pushing into Utah. We tried our best not to stop, just too much ground to cover. It was hot and windy, and we had a few issues with the fridge but we managed to sort them out quickly. We stopped for a late lunch in Salina, at a place called moms diner. It was a sad little restaurant in a sad little town, but it go the job done. We then spent several hours driving through rural Utah, stopping briefly to check for damage to the truck after smashing into a HUGE tumble weed. The transition to Nevada was neat, other worldly, but incredibly windy. We burned a lot of gas fighting the head wind to get to Great Basin national park. We took the scenic drive to the top, the temperature dropped from 93 to 61 in just 30 minutes of driving, an interesting experience. We did a short hike to a pretty lake then headed back down into town for some decent Mexican food and hot Gatorade (it’s all she had). After that we pushed north to find a lovely campsite among some junipers on BLM land. It was absurdly windy until about midnight, then the moon came up bright, so I wasn’t able to get any star pictures, I fell asleep hard for about 5 hours, all in all a great day.

Desert landscape with layered rock formations, sparse vegetation, paved road, and parked vehicles near a rest stop structure under clear blue sky
View from vehicle dashboard driving through a rocky canyon pass with 6 mph curve warning sign on a clear desert highway
Main street of a small town with vintage brick buildings, parked vehicles, mountains visible in the distance under clear blue sky
Mom's Cafe storefront with yellow awning and string lights on a sunny day in Salina City, mountains visible in background
Welcome to Salina City mural painted on a stone building with picnic tables and benches in foreground under clear blue sky
Arid high-altitude desert landscape with sparse vegetation, rocky mountains, fence line, and clear blue sky with scattered clouds
White Ford Ranger with pop-up camper parked on desert ranch road with mountains in background under blue sky
Expansive high desert landscape with sparse vegetation, gravel terrain, and snow-capped volcanic peaks in the distance under blue sky with white clouds
Alpine lake with turquoise water surrounded by coniferous forest and rocky mountain peaks with patches of snow under clear blue sky
Alpine lake with turquoise water surrounded by coniferous forest, rocky shoreline, and clear blue sky with scattered clouds
Alpine lake with turquoise water surrounded by coniferous forest, rocky shoreline, and snow-patched mountain peaks under clear blue sky
White Ford Ranger with roof rack parked on a paved mountain road with snow-capped peaks in the background under blue sky
White Ford Ranger with roof rack parked at high desert overlook with mountain range and valley views under blue sky
Mountain valley vista with sagebrush foreground, distant peaks, and high desert basin under blue sky with scattered clouds
Sandra's Taqueria food truck with white and red exterior parked on stone patio under shade trees on clear day
Silver Ford Ranger pickup truck with roof-mounted tent set up at a desert campsite surrounded by juniper trees and mountains at dusk
White vehicle on a rocky dirt road through desert terrain with cottonwood trees and mountains in the distance under clear blue sky
Weaver Cr Loop dispersed spotVIEW ON EXPLORE MAPWeaver Cr Loop dispersed spotDispersed · Free · 39.1128, -114.3005→ SaguaroVIEW IN BUILD GALLERYSaguaro2021 Ford Ranger XLT FX4→
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