When planning our trip, we wanted to go new places and explore out of the way areas. Independently, we both came up with NEVADA! Ask yourself, besides Lost Wages and Tahoe, what do you know about Nevada? And no, Reno does not count. Coincidentally, Outside did an article on interesting stuff to do in Nevada. So it was settled, we were headed that way. After leaving Palo Alto the second time, our ultimate destination was Great Basin National Park, way over in eastern Nevada on Highway 50, “the loneliest highway in the world.” After several Red Bull-fueled hours driving east from the Bay Area, we pulled off of the lonely highway in the middle of lonely and got some sleep. We were far from the park, but there was no need to get there in one night. Upon waking up the next morning and some exploration, we found a hill we wanted to go climb. On the way up, we popped over a ridge and saw a HUGE FREAKING SAND DUNE! I’m not talking big pile of sand, I’m talking a 400 foot tall mountain of sand. We found out later that it is actually called Sand Mountain, which is fitting. The hill-climbing plans were quickly scrapped, and we pointed the silver beast towards Sand Mountain. Now, I’m from the desert area of Southern California (and I mean climate wise, not culture wise, smartass!). Nate is from the mountainous state of Idaho. On the way over to the mountain, I saw a section of road that looked a little soft. Duly mentioning that fact, I was proved correct when the van soon sank itself right up to the rear axle. Fitting, really; I got the van stuck in the snow, Nate got the van stuck in the sand. After gathering all of the rocks and various traction adding devices we could find, we got the beast back out on to firmer ground and wisely decided to walk the rest of the way. It was then that Nate made quite a wise rule, which I’ll call the “stuck-beer” rule. The rule states that he or she who shall, upon mistimed or misguided directional governance of the aforementioned “Silver Beast” (heretofore referred to as “Van”), cause or initiate the impossibility of further translocation of “Van” to desired ultimate destination, shall owe unto the accompanying traveler in “Van” one (1) beverage container of suitable alcoholic beverage that is not expensive in either price or taste. Translated: Get the van stuck, you owe the other person a cheap beer. I like it.
Once we finally slogged through the sand on over to Sand Mountain, we found that it was not some undiscovered paradise, but rather covered in motorcycles and ATV’s. While it took us 10 minutes of hard hiking to get to the top, the motorcycles got there in about 30 seconds. Gotta love dead dinosaurs. On the way back down, I did my best to fill my hair, pockets and shoes with sand by jumping as far as I could and crashing back down in the sand. It was a ton of fun.
Our adventure quotient duly satisfied for that day, we were back in the van and reached Great Basin National Park that night. There was just about nobody there, and we snagged a campsite 15 feet from a little creek for some tasty burritos and hot chocolate. One more day of road tripping done.