July 12 - Black Rock Desert

Thursday morning, I dealt with the flat tire at the local Les Schwab , and then made my way to the Nevada state line (where the pavement changes in the photo below), and took Nevada 447 southeast to the little town of Gerlach. After a gas fill-up, I went northeast, up onto the flat 25+ mile-long mile playa of the Black Rock Desert . Since the vastness of the playa is almost completely flat, it's tempting to set the cruise control for some high speed, and take your hands off the steering wheel (would I ever do such a thing?!?), and then just "pilot" your car like a boat, making occasional course changes as you watch your progress on the GPS computer.       40.7800, -119.2000 

Nothing grows on the playa itself, but there are many hot springs along the hills that line the edges of this former lakebed. These hot springs can be identified at a distance as oases of green on this otherwise beige desert. The first hot spring I came across was the Trego hot spring,       40.7706, -119.1178  where there was a BLM logbook, and warning signs about the high water temperature. Despite their tempting deep blue color, most of the springs are too hot to touch. The next hot springs I investigated were the Black Rock Springs,       40.9700, -119.0100  which are just west of Black Rock Point — the southernmost hill in the range that divides the two "Y" branches at the northern end of the playa. Black Rock Springs were apparently once used as a farm. An amazingly well preserved wagon is at this site.

That night, I camped out on the playa, about a mile west of Black Rock Springs. When the wind is not blowing, the playa is surprisingly quiet — no leaves rustling or animals stirring. At these times, the only sound was my own breathing. Shunning my tent, I slept with my sleeping bag right on the playa, watching the myriad of stars you don't get to see in the city.