Lars70
Observer
This story has been gestating for awhile- over a year, in fact, since the gear was packed up and put away.
After being inspired by a couple of threads on this board, I decided to shift my attention from wandering around central Nevada to a bit further north. The goal became to drive from the Utah border to the California border with minimal wheel time on pavement. Our choice of the first week in October proved to be interesting weatherwise, which became a concern as the departure date drew nearer, but with fellow travelers converging in northeastern Nevada from California, Washington, Arizona, the logistics meant locking in the dates. Most of us planned to rendezvous in Wells, with a final mustering in Wendover, after which we would depart the pavement. Hopefully for 6-7 days.
My first day, traveling across I-80 from NorCal to Wells, NV, gave no hint at all of the weather we would encounter later. A dry lightning storm had scoured most of northern Nevada a couple of days before, igniting brush and grass spot fires across a broad swath of the state.
Eventually we made it to a nice stopover campsite in the northern end of the Ruby Range, south of Wells. The following morning dawned bright, warm and calm.
No time to linger; the last of our party was waiting for us in West Wendover, where we met for breakfast before gassing up and preparing for leaving town. But... given that Wendover was where the crews of Enola Gay and Bockscar trained for what became their place in history, we had to pay a visit to the airfield.
After being inspired by a couple of threads on this board, I decided to shift my attention from wandering around central Nevada to a bit further north. The goal became to drive from the Utah border to the California border with minimal wheel time on pavement. Our choice of the first week in October proved to be interesting weatherwise, which became a concern as the departure date drew nearer, but with fellow travelers converging in northeastern Nevada from California, Washington, Arizona, the logistics meant locking in the dates. Most of us planned to rendezvous in Wells, with a final mustering in Wendover, after which we would depart the pavement. Hopefully for 6-7 days.
My first day, traveling across I-80 from NorCal to Wells, NV, gave no hint at all of the weather we would encounter later. A dry lightning storm had scoured most of northern Nevada a couple of days before, igniting brush and grass spot fires across a broad swath of the state.
Eventually we made it to a nice stopover campsite in the northern end of the Ruby Range, south of Wells. The following morning dawned bright, warm and calm.
No time to linger; the last of our party was waiting for us in West Wendover, where we met for breakfast before gassing up and preparing for leaving town. But... given that Wendover was where the crews of Enola Gay and Bockscar trained for what became their place in history, we had to pay a visit to the airfield.
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