SATURDAY: After nearly a week of hot, windy, uncomfortable weather, we were ready for a break. Last night the wind finally died off just after sunset, and the outside temp shrank away from 85F and began to drop quickly. Clearly, we were feeling the effects of weather system passage.

This morning at 5AM, the outside temp was 39F. Karin and I simply laid in bed and listened to our bones gently cracking from thermal shock. After a 46F temperature DROP, the new day showed its new temperament. Mid-day temps never got much out of the 60’s, and the wind was mild. This was more like the Spring high-desert that I remembered so fondly.

We dropped down out of the hills and scouted around briefly for a camp closer to Ely. The parks were full (again), and we eventually chose just a decent flat spot 30 yards off a secondary road. No need for a special camp, we just wanted a quiet place to stay since we are westward-bound again tomorrow anyway.

Before heading for town, we back-tracked south for a bit to check out the Ward state park, where some old charcoal kilns are on display. These 30-foot-tall beasts were used to make charcoal (duh), which was used in ore-smelting during the heydays of Nevada mining history.

The era was significant in many ways, but perhaps two of the most compelling were the cheapness of labor and the utter disregard for the land. The next two signs tell the story better than I can. With silver at a few dollars an ounce, the nearly unimaginable magnitude of labor to mine, grade, transport, and process the ore was comparable only to the today-unthinkable predation of surrounding natural resources.

Six acres of forest for one tone of ore. Seventy continuous miles of clear-cutting. Sometimes we pine away for “the good old days”, but in this case I’m glad we’ve changed. Well, some of us anyway.

As we walked the area and explored the sights, the desert once again surprised and delighted us. Hidden down deep in a low drainage, an active stream coursed down the slope. It’s always a charming experience to come upon water in the midst of a sage-covered dry region with only pinions and junipers for shade.

Karin stopped to admire the wild roses that flanked a tiny desert “waterfall”. Damselflies darted about the green grass, and the gurgling stream made a pleasant contrast to the dry breezes.

It’s worth mentioning that, when Howie negotiates a dirt road, objects behind his grand posterior tend to receive a bit of a dust bath. Thus it has been for many, many miles for both the bicycles and for Ralph. Both were coated, plus Ralph still had thick layers of dried mud caked in place from the Yampa bench road run.

The bikes had to stay with Howie, but Ralph went to town for a bath. Much better, and we don’t have to change clothes every time we drive him. There’s still a lot of grit hanging around, but at least he is a decent shade of black once again.

While in town (Ely), we took the opportunity to check out the old railroad museum. We’re not really train buffs, so we passed up the ride up to the old mine (1.5 hours, $30/ea). But we were still impressed, as always, by the technology that won the West. They spare no effort here, running real steam engines (coal-fired), original structures and cars of all types, and dressed in period costume all around.

Saturday evening came around at last. Karin is at Mass and I am sitting in Ralph typing.

Life is good.