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Pat, Marge, and I looked for something new and got all we bargained for. The town of Elko has a little bit of everything: casinos, brothels ("Dance and Diddle All Night Long"), bail bondsmen, the Northeastern Nevada Museum, happily a couple of Starbucks, and more. We found the Stray Dog Bar with fabulous cheap food and icy beer and went back more than once. Marge raves about the Ruby Mountain Amber (brewed locally in Wells, NV).
We did dayhikes all six days, and when the temperature in Elko was 90 (102 in Salt Lake City), the Rubies were always in the 70's.
The photos tell most of the story: some days we met no people at all, and on the hikes that were popular by local standards, an extra half hour of hiking would get us to a secluded ridge, pond, or canyon. The switchback trails were easy on the feet, and the offtrail scrambling was delicious. The bushwhacking is more akin to rockhopping, except for one day we had to thrash through aspens: these weren't upright, gently swaying and trembling in the breeze as we Easterners might imagine. They were evil dwarves that had entwined their spindly trunks just low enough to trip you with each step and would be right at home on Mt Huntington or Hitchcock!
It's a horsepacking mecca, but we met only one rider the whole week. We took the stock trail in Lamoille Canyon one day and didn't meet a soul, human or horse. It was a thrill to come face to face with a wild horse in Overland Pass, the 1860-61 route of the Pony Express. He looked at us and went back to grazing about 25 feet away. I was sure he was just a domestic animal left out to pasture, but the scars on his body told a different story.
The first day out, we had just gotten out of town when a herd of antelope crossed the road just in front of the car. We were unable to stop in time and if there had been one more, we'd have hit it. Speed limits were too high on those back roads anyway, and after that we drove cautiously, pulling over often for the monster trucks that everyone drove.
Soldier Basin is a most astounding place, wide open and inviting to wander in any direction you choose. The whole place is adorned with flowers that I'd never seen, so it was sometimes hard to choose between the flora and the scenery.
The Ruby Marshes are the location of a National Wildlife refuge. We walked for a few miles, but the ranger was right when she told us we'd just drive the birds ahead of us, though I did get some shots of the bigger birds. The place was crawling with egrets and ibis, and there was a flock of about 20 sandhill cranes, all standing around in the tall grasses facing the same way, like meerkats smelling the wind. After that we drove the levees and got pretty close to the smaller birds.
Pics are here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/560368663IsDJak
We did dayhikes all six days, and when the temperature in Elko was 90 (102 in Salt Lake City), the Rubies were always in the 70's.
The photos tell most of the story: some days we met no people at all, and on the hikes that were popular by local standards, an extra half hour of hiking would get us to a secluded ridge, pond, or canyon. The switchback trails were easy on the feet, and the offtrail scrambling was delicious. The bushwhacking is more akin to rockhopping, except for one day we had to thrash through aspens: these weren't upright, gently swaying and trembling in the breeze as we Easterners might imagine. They were evil dwarves that had entwined their spindly trunks just low enough to trip you with each step and would be right at home on Mt Huntington or Hitchcock!
It's a horsepacking mecca, but we met only one rider the whole week. We took the stock trail in Lamoille Canyon one day and didn't meet a soul, human or horse. It was a thrill to come face to face with a wild horse in Overland Pass, the 1860-61 route of the Pony Express. He looked at us and went back to grazing about 25 feet away. I was sure he was just a domestic animal left out to pasture, but the scars on his body told a different story.
The first day out, we had just gotten out of town when a herd of antelope crossed the road just in front of the car. We were unable to stop in time and if there had been one more, we'd have hit it. Speed limits were too high on those back roads anyway, and after that we drove cautiously, pulling over often for the monster trucks that everyone drove.
Soldier Basin is a most astounding place, wide open and inviting to wander in any direction you choose. The whole place is adorned with flowers that I'd never seen, so it was sometimes hard to choose between the flora and the scenery.
The Ruby Marshes are the location of a National Wildlife refuge. We walked for a few miles, but the ranger was right when she told us we'd just drive the birds ahead of us, though I did get some shots of the bigger birds. The place was crawling with egrets and ibis, and there was a flock of about 20 sandhill cranes, all standing around in the tall grasses facing the same way, like meerkats smelling the wind. After that we drove the levees and got pretty close to the smaller birds.
Pics are here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/slideshow/560368663IsDJak
