TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2011

Ely, Nevada to Arco, Idaho

382 miles/1,889 miles

We left the Ely campground at 7:30 am, and stopped for breakfast at the “historic” Nevada Hotel, built in the 1920’s, with a restaurant and casino, with the casino likely starting within minutes after gambling was legalized in 1931.  To be honest, in Nevada, seemingly everything is a casino; I have to admit that I was bit surprised that there wasn’t a slot machine in the toilet stall.  While we waited for our food, Al decided to do a little gambling with about $3 worth of quarters that he desperately scraped up ( he had that “look”) but, in our changing world, it took $1 minimum, in dollar bills (or, credit card, naturally) only, to get you into the game.  Al's expectation of a big payoff was frustrated.

Heading north on Route 93, a few miles outside of Ely, we were stopped for 30 minutes for road construction.  Directly behind us was a tractor/trailer rig and I walked back to talk to Mary, the driver.  As we came into Ely yesterday, just on the west edge of town, we noticed the largest pile of excavated materials I had ever seen.  As I thought about it, I figured it had to be a mining operation of some kind and, talking to Mary, I found that I was correct, and got some details about it.



Waiting in Line for Road Construction



Al, Tom and Joe, Waiting for Construction



Al in the Waiting Line

Mary and her husband both drive for the company, a Japanese-owned operation, mining gold, zinc and, primarily, copper, a processed form of which, Mary hauls for $250 per day, from 1:30 am to 12:30 pm.  Each load is 40 tons, and she makes 2 runs per day; all of the material is shipped to Japan.  When I asked Mary what the material is used for, she said “for making bombs and stuff.”

Mary the Truck Driver

This morning, over breakfast, Tom noted that Nevada has the most mountain ranges of any state.  Leaving Ely, we rode north in the valley between the Bute Mountains to the west and Schell Creek Mountains to the east.  A little further north, Route 93 veered to the northwest and the Ruby Mountains came into view; we were in continuous sight of individual ranges for the better part of the day, some close up and some in the far distance. 

Bute Mountains Outside of Ely, Nevada

Al and Joe, with the Ruby Mountains

For years, I have collected individual rocks, as mementos of a place and time, mostly, not as a scientifically correct and label-the-rock kind of collection.   I have a number of black rocks with white inclusions, which is a geologic process whereby newly formed rock, in its molten form, breaks into existing rocks to form, when solidified, various veins of contrast.  I look for black rocks with white veins for the extreme contrast, and then look for patterns that appeal to me, and enjoy them as contemplative objects, representative of geologic time and the earth-forming processes that have given us the ever changing landforms that delight us in their great variety, without having to be educated with respect to those processes.  Today, as we rode along the Bute Mountains to our left, I noticed a gigantic inclusion, generally horizontal across the face of the mountain, about three and a half miles long (per my odometer) and several hundred feet high.    

The earth’s mantle – the outer crust on which we walk, or the portions of the crust under the oceans, are divided into a number of separate and ever-moving sections, referred to as plates.  The areas where the plates meet are the plate boundary, and it is along these boundaries that earthquakes and volcanoes occur, and where mountains are formed.  With respect to mountains, as these separate plates collide, portions of the plates are pushed upward.  As we ride along, it is, at times, a process clearly evident by the angular position of some portions of the mountains against the other.  As the plates are always on the move - up to four inches (100 mm) per year -  the mountains, therefore, are always growing.  This constant movement of plate against plate, builds up unreleased energy over a long period of time which, when finally released, manifests itself in earthquakes.

Because I have the smallest gas tank, our stops are somewhat predicated around my gas needs.  This morning we gassed up in Ely, figuring to stop again in Lage's; when we arrived, however, the gas station was closed - permanently.  The sign at the intersection where we were making a turn to the northwest, told the story.  I believe I made it on fumes!



Next Gas 78 Miles



Today, in Twin Falls, Idaho, after stopping on the north side of the gorge formed by the Snake River, it was clear that I have an oil problem, coming from the left cylinder.  There was not a BMW service shop in Twin Falls, but I called a local motorcycle repair place, who suggested I bring it in; in his view, it sounded “serious.”  First, however, I called the Vancouver, BC, BMW service department, where I took the bike in prior to the trip and, from my description, it was deemed likely to be a gasket problem on the oil filler cap on top of the cylinder. 

Tom at the Snake River Gorge, Twin Falls, Idaho

Al and Joe at the Snake River Gorge, Twin Falls, Idaho



The Snake River Gorge



Because I couldn’t connect to the web with my Blackberry, I called Rachel at home and she found two places in Missoula, Montana, that serviced BMWs.  I called them and they concurred regarding the gasket, so I pushed on, with the intention of stopping at Big Sky Motorsports on our way through Missoula to Seeley Lake, Montana.  Tom and Al had already left – I told them I would catch up to them or call, if the problem was more serious.  As it turned out, we were able to meet in the next town, Shoshone, Idaho, and we pressed on towards Arco, our destination for the night.

Towards the end of the day, we rode through Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, a vast area of black, volcanic material from a nearby volcano and from openings in the earth spewing vast quantities of rock.  Al and his wife, Susan, stopped there last year at some length, doing a little hiking.  Today, I stopped at a couple of Scenic Outlooks to take some photos, but didn’t take the time to linger.  Worth a visit, though.



Craters o the Moon National Monument





Volcano in the Distance, with Continuous Lava Beds



During the afternoon, we were passed by the same guy at least three times; when we got to the campground, he appeared again, right next to us.  We chatted with Wayne for a bit, then we all walked down the road to Pickles, a local establishment walking distance from the campground, for dinner, trading a few stories of our travels over burgers and a garden burger.



Pickles



Tom, Wayne, Joe and Al at Pickles

The Pickles Chair, with Al, Joe and Wayne



Wayne is from South Carolina, riding a blue and chrome Yamaha Cruiser (a Harley look-a-like) and has been on the road for 21 days, with 10 more to go, and will have rode over 6,000 miles by the time he gets back home.  Wayne has been everywhere, with no specific plan, other than being home by a certain date and will change his route in a minute if someone tells him about some place that interests him.





Tom with Wayne



Al and Joe Setting up Camp in Arco, Idaho

In Arco, the high school graduating class tradition since 1923 is to paint the graduating year on the rock cliffs above the town.  The size of the letters is somewhat deceiving because its hard to judge the scale of the cliffs themselves.  At Pickles, we asked about the numbers an there happened to be a local (Class of 1965) who, in his day, was hung by ropes on an tire inner-tube.  He said the leeters are as large as 80 feet in height.  Looking closely at the cliffs, it's clear that the tradition is not danger-free.  The waitress (Class of 2010) said that, no way was she hanging off the cliff - she only went part way up to lend moral support.  That would be me!



Arco High School Tradition



The Riders would like to acknowledge and say hi to our most far-flund readers: Nana in the Republic of Georga, friend of Tom and Kathy, and Phil, Joe and Rachel's friend from Vancouver, BC, currently in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia....Best Wishes!!