We left Pioche after 10 days and headed to Ely NV for some cooler temps, (although once we forced to wear long pants we were ready to turn south, what were we thinking?)
Most of the journey along 93 was quite boring and as we passed the Extra-terrestrial Highway we could imagine UFO’s and aliens setting up camp here. Plus we were the only ones on the road so it felt quite eerie.

We had thoughts about visiting the Great Basin NP, but every sign we saw for it was 65 miles in the other direction, so we’ll have to visit another time.

As we approached Ely we were on the lookout for elk, as advertised, but we didn’t see any, must have been the wrong month, day, time, it’s always something. It did look like a great area for a migration though.

 

 

Arrived at Cave Lake Campground and had an “oopsie ” trying to get in,  it wasn’t built with a 40’ motor homes in mind. Second attempt with the car unhooked was a charm and we pulled into a delightfully large site.

The offending entrance.   It must be said that the navigator drove to scout a turnaround and we successfully made it on the second attempt.

We had to assume this was the cave of Cave Lake, but this was a close as we got. It looked  a little insignificant to be the namesake  of the park, but neither one of us was about to get out of the car and check it out. 

There are probably a herd of 50 elk out there, but we let them be.

And this was the lake, not terribly impressive. 

The following day we wrapped up warm and went exploring and looking for the elusive elk. As is our MO we just started driving along a trail. Not far along the trail we saw a couple of deer.

 

We didn’t find out until later but we were on the Success Loop Scenic Drive at about 8,500 ‘. the scenery was quite varied and beautiful.  Even at this elevation we kept passing cyclists on their accent or descent.

 

A lovely lane of Quaking Aspen trees (Thanks Terri!!).

We left Ely for Elko NV. after 1 1/2 days. Before we left we stopped at CMC Tire in Ely to get the wheels torqued, as it had been 200+ miles since the new sneakers were put on. All were good!

You need the right tools for this job, and this guy had one. He was from McGill, about 10 miles down the road, not quite a ghost town, but the pandemic hadn’t help.

The drive to Elko was pretty boring drive at first, then some gorgeous scenery and suddenly we were in the Ruby Mountains.

 

We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and the GPS was confused, once in a while he’d say “in 300 yards turn left” , it was a field. He’s not fooling us so much anymore, we almost ended up in someone’s driveway but we aborted at the last minute.

Finally we arrived at our campground, and there’s nothing like the exhilaration you feel when you see empty sites, especially after a long drive and plan B is 30 miles away, the downer was no AT&T cell service, Verizon was weak but later AT&T returned with a vengeance  and stayed.

This was such a beautiful area, lake, mountains and a small town, Spring Creek, being developed between the mountains and Elko which gave us a couple of restaurant and grocery store options between the two. There was a lot of Native American area around so new development wouldn’t go far.

Imagine this lake in warm weather where there are marinas and beaches on all sides and boats filling the lake. 

 

 

 

Lamoille Canyon was about 10 miles from camp where we found a 12 mile scenic drive through the Ruby Mountains. Plenty of turnouts to stop and marvel at the scenery.

 

 

The road makes its way through glacier carved canyons with waterfalls everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the foot of the canyon lies the small town of Lamoille with a population of 280. The pass by trade keeps them alive and well with a beautIful church, a hotel and one or two eateries.

 

 

 

 

Leaving Elko on the way north to Idaho again not much scenery but one stopping point on the way is Jackpot, right on the Nevada/Idaho border. Easy on and off camping, campground at Cactus Pete’s which is the only establishment there, park your vehicle, put your $24 in the box and leave in the morning.

 

 

Only a few trees but they call it a forest.

And so our saga in Nevada comes to an end and a new chapter in Idaho begins.

We’re hearing  a loud noise coming from our back air conditioner. It’s working, we just paid a fortune for our service, tires and repairs, so let’s move on and keep our fingers crossed