For a little less brown and a lot more green, we headed to eastern Nevada to check out the Mount Wilson byway. This mountain is actually a volcanic caldera. It is a 66 mile dirt road winding high into the mountains near the Nevada and Utah border. In the lower elevations, pinyon and juniper pines line the sides of the narrow, goat trail like road. Higher elevations have aspen and ponderosa pines which create an almost Rocky Mountains feel. The weather was frequently rainy, which some how made it that much more beautiful. We also got to see a large group of elk which crossed our path a short distance away.
After the descent into the valley, we headed to Camp Valley. There were no signs of an actual camp, but this was once used by Native Americans. It was lush greenery with a good size creek that ran along the road. Beautiful pools developed here and there, making it's exploration a must.
As the road traveled through the valley, we passed old cabins and the Rice family cemetery. I really have no idea who the Rice family was, but would be quite interested in learning. Most of the tombstones are dated from the early to late 1800's. This is one of my favorite grave sites so far.
A few miles before the road became paved was the Eagle Valley Reservoir. The valley area was believed to have been occupied as far back as 5,500 BC and then settled by Mormons in 1864. Echo canyon was dammed up during 1969 and 1970 for flood control and water storage. Eagle Valley reservoir is a 64 acre state park, stocked with trout, several camp sites and very scenic.
That is so amazing and lush. I love cemeteries but here in Cleveland they are not as cool. My favorite cemetery is over a hundred years old and in the middle of a parking lot for The Movies 10. The paved all around it and put up a fence... Yeah that how we Clevelander's roll, you do not need a fancy jeep for that!
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