Cave Lake State Park, Nevada

We spent two nights here in Elk Flat campground, just east of Ely, one of the prettiest places we've stayed as far as the actual campsite. We'd planned on only one night, but had a nice chat with the ranger and he encouraged us to stay another night so we'd have time for a little exploring. The campground is very nicely designed, with the sites not only level and well groomed, but far enough apart with shrubby junipers in between so each is quite private. We're up fairly high, so the nights are cool, and there are still wildflowers everywhere.

The closest town is Ely, where we went exploring. The town looks fairly prosperous compared to many small towns we've passed through. They've done a nice job of emphasizing their history too. There are large murals on several of the buildings, and they've preserved many of the old downtown shop fronts.

The connections to hard rock mining and ranching are evident in the murals as well as inside the restaurant where we ate lunch, the Hotel Nevada.

Inside, the decor consists of a proliferation of western memorabilia, including a huge boa constrictor snakeskin, the primary view in the corner where we sat, in addition to motorcycle themed items and a classic 1948 Indian bike. As we passed by this morning there was a row of bikers parked outside, so they obviously cater to them.

One of our favorite street scenes was this mural with mining theme and a small sign included up front with the mining equipment. Can you tell what the local folks think of Mr. Reid? (Click on the photos to enlarge them) The largest version of the sign (and there were several around town) was at the east end of town. It also offers some poetic advice.

We spent a couple of hours yesterday wandering around on Garnet Hill, just west of Ely. This was a site the ranger recommended once he learned we were interested in rock collecting. It's covered in my central Nevada geology book too, so we had good directions. We did find a few samples to add to the mineral case. We also had a great view of the Robinson Mining District - the two pits in view in the photo are Liberty, on the lift, and the Ruth, farther back on the right.

There are several other mines in the district, clearly the primary employer in the area.

Ely is on the eastern section of highway 50, also known as the Loneliest Highway. Towns are not only small but few and far between, and so is the traffic. We've seen only a few other travelers as we head west. It's a very historic part of the state however. Ghost towns and old stone and wooden cabins are spotted all along the highway.As I write this, we passed a cattle drive just to the south of the highway. Cowboys on horseback pushing the cattle on to a different area of the range. There's also the modern touch, as we share the highway with a bicycle race!

There are a few additional photos in the slide show. Click on it for a larger view