Nomad Life - Day 360

This morning, I woke up at 0400 (with alarm) in the Jail House Motel & Casino (Ely) and started teleworking immediately.  Outside, it was sunny and cool (mid 30s).  Since it wasn't provided by the hotel, I skipped breakfast and, instead, worked until checkout time (1100).  At that point, I went outside to continue working my in car.  By then, the temps had risen to 53 F and it was shaping up to be another great weather day!  While working, I kept hearing loud noises near the hotel and later concluded that these were train whistles, probably related to the historic steam engine that runs during this time of year.  Back to my telework effort: I've been instructed to use my iPhone hot spot (i.e., no more Wi-Fi in hotels or restaurants) and this has mostly been seamless; however, I sometimes have unexplained drops (frustrating).  During one moment when everything was working correctly (1120), I moved my car about a half mile and filled up my tank at the Shell station on US-50 (on the east side of town).  Once again, I had great gas mileage: 32.1 miles to the gallon!  Next, I drove to the place where Google Maps said I'd find The Corn Dog Company.  When I arrived, I found only an open gravel parking lot.  A further search revealed that the business was a food truck, which never showed.  Instead, I drove to the nearby McDonalds and picked up lunch (to go) at 1135.  After that, I ate my mid-day meal in my car while wrapping up my telework.  Feeling like I'd made enough progress to take a break, I departed Ely at 1200.  Though I continued east on US-50, I was pleased to see that I'd found US-6 (which also drives on to Cape Cod).  Highlights of the drive included passing the Ely Elk Viewing area and several other interesting State Parks - sadly, most were a significant drive away from US_50 and I declined to take the bait.  Meanwhile, I entered Humboldt National Forest and, a bit after that, climbed over Connors Pass (7722 feet).  The flat area that followed definitely helped with my fuel conservation efforts and, bonus, there was very little traffic.  About 40 miles east of Ely, I started a very long climb that took me up and over Sacramento Summit (7155 feet).  After that, it was downhill and flatter as I made my way to the junction with NV-487.  Since I wanted to visit a new National Park Service Unit, Great Basin National Park, I took this latter road, saying farewell to US-50 ("Loneliest Road in America").  By 1305, I'd arrived at the Visitor Center at the entrance to the park.  Inside that building, I found an interesting little museum, which included a cross section of an ancient Bristlecone named "Prometheus".  On top of the display, visitors were allowed to look through a super-strong microscope to see the tiny rings.  Nearby, I found an interesting artifact: someone had, long ago, left behind their rifle (inside the park boundaries) and rangers had found it, still leaning against a tree, more than 100 years after it had been misplaced/lost/neglected.  Leaving the Visitor Center, I drove through the town of Baker (5318 feet above sea level) and got on NV-488.  During the drive deeper into the park, I toyed with the idea of taking a tour of the Lehman Caves.  By the time I arrived at the Visitor Center at that location, however, I'd decided not to tarry too long in the area - I still had a lot more driving to do.  Instead, I checked out the inside of the museum (it had mockups of the inside of the caves) and then made my way to the entrance to Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, a 12 mile route to the Bristlecone Forest.  I'd really wanted to see that but had been warned that the road had previously been closed due to recent storm damage.  Hoping for the best, I climbed up the narrow road above 9000 feet above sea level.  At times, the road had no shoulder or guard rails - the valley below seemed so close and I naturally skewed towards the "solid ground" (mostly on my left side).  The views of the Great Basin (to the north and east) were tremendous, though.  Sadly, I did find the road blocked at mile marker 6 miles.  This dead end, "The Mather Overlook", did provide good views of snow covered peaks nearby.  A ranger had told me it was only an 11 mile round trip if I wanted to hike to the bristlecones but I skipped this option and started back downhill at 1400.  In an effort to take care of my brakes, I made a few stops on the way down, including stopping to learn about the Osceola Ditch (manmade canal designed to improve mining operations).  I reached the bottom of the scenic drive and NV-488 at 1430 and then got on NC-487 again, hoping to pass through a few new counties for my birding statistics.  By 1430, I'd left Nevada (for the first time in nearly a month) and entered Utah (and the Mountain Time Zone).  From there, I was in Millard County and was following UT-21.  An ominous sign reported: “Next Services 75 Miles” and I was glad I still had plenty of fuel.  This drive, which was mostly flat with short climbs (including over Halfway Summit, 6253 feet), featured lots of "dust devils" and was covered with tumbleweeds, made me think that the "Loneliest Road in America" has a little brother...  Temps had risen to 62 F during this time but my detour for birding didn't really yield any sightings.  I entered Beaver County at (the new) 1605 and I noticed a change in the terrain.  In addition to the subsequent summits (both 6460 feet) being unnamed, I was soon driving down a pronounced downhill into actual farmland!  I passed through Milford at 1650 and encountered my first real traffic in days.  When I reached the town of Beaver (1720), I got on I-15 Business and made my way on to I-15 (north).  By this point, I had started up an audiobook and settled into a relatively easy drive with good speeds.  I did cross over one summit (6600) but it seemed very small compared to what I'd seen during the previous two days.  Before long, I reached I-70, which I took towards the east.  I entered Millard County again and was soon driving through Fish Lake National Forest.  The biggest pass in this area was called Clear Creek Summit (7180 feet).  At 1750, I crossed into Sevier County (a new county for birding) and began to pass through extremely rocky terrain which was mostly covered with taller trees.  The Interstate soon began a huge descent and I was careful with my speed and brakes.  Since I was still searching for birds, I exited I-70 and took US-89 to the south.  Just after that, I encountered a paved bike trail called (mostly) the Candy Mountain Express Trail.  While following this, I encountered lots of history and natural beauty.  On this latter point, the Marysvale Canyon I entered (Sevier River) was deep and dark and very pretty.  I was hoping to reach something called the Big Rock Candy Mountain and I passed this just after 1800.  However, I really wanted to get into Piute County, which was located just south of the landmark.  From 1820, I parked along the road (near the river) and turned on my Merlin App.  It was difficult to hear anything, though - by then, it had gotten quite windy.  It was also much cooler, especially with the sun going down.  My patience paid off because I got my first sighting of a Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay - he landed on a tree right next to my car and started singing away until my bird ID app registered him.  Score!  After that, I drove a short distance north on US-89 (Sevier County again) and parked at trailhead for Candy Mountain Express Trail (AKA Sevier River Bike Path).  Nearby, I could see a place that offered an overnight stay in a train car!  Between 1830 and 1850, I walked on the trail and did some more birding.  As I was crossing a rickety bridge over the Sevier River, I was startled to find a new kind of bird below - he was behaving very strangely.  While he didn't make any noise, his plumage and antics helped me determine that I'd had my first sighting of an American Dipper.  It's hard to believe that my decision to detour away from the "straight line" route in search of birds paid off so well today!  After one mile of walking, I got back in my car and headed north until I reached I-70.  By then, the sun had mostly set and a huge moon had risen in the east.  I started listening to World Series Game 3 and this made the time pass quickly.  I arrived at the Super 8 Richfield at 1910, checked in and quickly got settled.  At 1925, I walked next door to Arby’s so I could order dinner (ate inside restaurant).  After that (1935), I drove south on UT-120 hoping to find a sports bar the hotel clerk had told me about; sadly, I hadn’t heard the name clearly and never found it.  Back at the Super 8, I decided to walk around a bit more to complete my step goal.  During this time, I noticed a nearby gas station (Chevron) and started wondering if I could find an alcoholic drink there.  Actually, I didn’t have high hopes for finding anything affordable but was pleasantly surprised to find an extremely good price for a Cayman Jack Margarita (24 Oz) at 2000.  Feeling good about my good fortune, I continued walking in the parking lot until my pedometer informed me that I'd reached two miles for the day.  After that, I returned to my room and got set up for the next work day (this included officially wrapping up my telework day).  Meanwhile, I watched more of the World Series; strangely, this is the first TV I’ve turned on in a hotel in quite a while...  Before bed, I watched movies and did some Duolingo exercises.  Bedtime was at (new) 2320.  Very glad to have completed the long drive across the Great Basin - from here, I'll mostly be in the Rockies!