Day 7…Middlegate to Austin
| Street Map | Satellite Map | Topo Map | Route Profile |
Jerry mentioned the Mormon Crickets. These 3 inch long insects are all over the road. The locals say this years crop is small; they are usually about 4-5 inches long! There are thousands of them in the sage and crawling on the road. They apparently scavenge the dead ones that get crushed by cars; you can imagine what happens to the scavengers then…it’s Crush Hour in Nevada!
Just outside of Middlegate we detoured on Highway 722, also known as Old Highway 50. Few cyclists take this route because of it extra climbing involved. After doing it, I can’t see passing it up. Carrol Summit was beautiful. Along the route I saw lots of hummingbirds, a pair of Grouse and swallows.
I found an American flag lying on the pavement….it had been run over at least once. I carefully folded the flag in a triangle and will take it to Denver. My patriotic action on Memorial Day.
About 6,000 feet up, the canyon closed in and became a beautiful riparian corridor with willow and some of the largest birch trees I have ever seen…their girth was nearly 3 feet at chest level.
I was disappointed to see how many people had brought their toys up into this beautiful canyon…ATV’s, motorcycles and jeeps. Seems like every vehicle was hauling a toy and a trailer. I saw five RV’s parked at one pullout, all with generators humming…I will stop ranting now!
The downhill was a blast, and the basin was LONG! We must have ridden 30 miles across the basin. Along the way, a river had overflowed it’s banks. We saw some yellow headed birds…tanigers?
We stopped at the Mountain Motel, which had recently been renovated after being closed for two years. The manager, Alice, was over 70 but still spry as can be. The motel was clean, yet very simple. The beds and pillow were new and we slept great!
-Rick