UT to Tonopa

I left the hotel in the morning and decided it would be more fun to take US 89 south and find a way to cut over to I-15 than just take I-70 to I-15.

I noticed that Highway 153 would take me from Junction UT to Beaver UT. My GPS didn’t really tell me that it was a dirt highway (I had no idea something called a “highway” could be unpaved), but I figured I’d give it a try anyway. A few miles outside of Junction there were some switchbacks, where there were a couple of guys using one the switchbacks as a launch-pad for their hang-gliders. Farther along there was occasional snow on the road, but I was comfortable thinking I could turn around if the snow became “too deep”. This road also made it to 10,000′ of elevation. Pretty drive, I’d like to come back again.

There is a chance I took highway 21 west out of Beaver to highway 130 and took that south to Cedar City, and I might have just taken I-15 since I knew it was going to be a long day of driving.

I had lunch in Cedar City, refilled my water jug, and gassed up. I headed west on highway 56, over the border into NV (where the road becomes highway 319. I think I noticed there was a national monument or something north of there, someday I’ll figure out what it was and go and visit.

I turned south on US 93, going thru Caliente again, and keeping west on highway 375. This, again, is the Extraterrestrial Highway, and I remember liking the way the cholla cactus starts small on the west side of the ET Highway and gets taller and taller the more east one goes. I recall that the vegetation changes significantly as one goes east over a pass/ridge. I also remember there was a dead cow on the side of the road on my way out, and a week later on my way back it was still there in the same bloated shape. I was curious why it had not been scavenged at all.

It was getting close to sunset at this point, and I was liking the way the sky to the west was shaping up. As highway 375 turns west toward Warm Springs NV, I pulled over to take some pictures.

I got in to Tonopa late, staying at a different hotel. They recommended somewhere else to eat, and it was probably marginally better than the place the hotel I stayed at on the way out recommended.

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