Bob Scott Campground, Nevada

July 9 

We left Fish Springs, through Carson City and turned east on hwy. 50 – Nevada’s Loneliest Highway.

Traveling east, we pass through mining country, and then out into the wide open spaces of the Great Basin. A little east of Fallon a highway points to the the Navy's Centroid Facility. This area contains a simulated air defense network, including approximately 20 operational radar installations. Most of this area is publicly accessible, with the exception of areas immediately surrounding the radar installations. You won't see much more of it than the sign on the highway as the facility is situated quite a ways off the road.

Whizzing by in an automobile the highway does look lonely now, from the asphalt, but examining the map one can see what a busy area this stretch of Nevada has been over the years. The Pony Express Route, The Overland Express Route, and the Lincoln Highway all share this same ground along this stretch of the Great Basin. 

The map is dotted with the names of long gone communities, rail sidings, ranches and mines, in addition to currently active military installations and test sites, like the Centroid Facility. There are remains of stone and wooden structures at several points along the highway, some with historic information plaques. If you use your imagination it’s far from lonely or boring!

We spent time in the well-known town of Austin a few years ago, so didn’t stop this time, choosing instead to move on to the campground. See the post on that previous trip here.

About four miles east of Austin we stopped at Bob Scott Camp Ground. This is a nice, quiet hideaway that's probably designed more for hunters than today's average RV traveler. There are only 9 spaces, and 1 group site, and most are fairly small. We managed to find one we could tuck ourselves into. The restrooms are small, but do have running water, though no showers.

Sheltered by juniper trees, the sites are fairly private. The campground is surrounded by a log fence to keep out cattle and other grazers one would suppose, as you cross a cattle guard when entering. Shiner found crossing the cattle guard a bit of a challenge but eventually tiptoed across it. 

We hiked up the hillside in back of the campground (outside that log fence) and she really enjoyed the opportunity to check out all the rodent holes, follow the hunters' trails and just generally run around like crazy. This is a very dog-friendly site for large critter like her who need some space to run now and then.

A curious phenomenon had occurred in the area recently, leaving the ground resembling Swiss cheese. 

Closer inspection revealed nymph shells, some stuck in the holes in the ground and some on branches, and a few adults that didn’t survive the hatch – cicadas! 

Considering the number of holes there were hundreds and hundreds of them crawling out of the ground at nearly the same time. It must have been quite a sight to see when they were all hatching! 

More info on the cicada hatch of 2013 and a chart of when and where the next hatch can be expected. Most of the western states don't show up in the chart, but maybe yours does! The site includes a video of the nymphs as they emerge from the ground and a wealth of additional information on cicadas. According to the chart we're due for them in Texas in 2015.