A Hit, a Miss, and Hot Tub Bliss

We took Hwy 50, “The Loneliest Road,” out of Great Basin and our first stop was a small BLM campground on the Illipah Reservoir. Arriving in the early afternoon on Monday, 6/5, we had our pick of spots and chose one on the hill overlooking the small lake. For a free campground, this place was deluxe! The sites were huge, well separated, and each had a covered picnic table, firepit, and fence wind screen. There were several pit toilets and garbage service. Plus the views were lovely and it was a kick watching the trout leaping out of the water. A total HIT!

Oh yeah, you can call this one a hit! :) 

Our view of the peaceful Illipah Reservoir and surrounding hills.

Rog and I hiked around the reservoir, even though there wasn’t an official trail. We had to do a little bit of scrambling over rocks on the far side, but after some of the trails we’ve tackled, it was a piece of cake. Lol. We stayed just one night and headed out the next morning for a National Forest Campground where Rog was looking forward to doing some mountain biking.

Hiking around the reservoir.

Deserted at dusk.

We arrived at the Bob Scott Campground around lunchtime on Tuesday and found it totally empty. That turned out to be a good thing, as there were only 10 sites and most of them were way too small and/or sloped for us to use. We spent some time picking a site and then getting level. The campground wasn’t horrible, but it was clear that it hadn’t seen even a passing nod at maintenance in quite a while. The restroom was dirty and unkept, the guy’s side was padlocked shut, all of the water spigots were damaged and only a few worked at all, there was garbage laying around and the cans were overflowing. Even so, by evening the campground was almost full, so we were glad we’d arrived early.

Hwy 50, "The Loneliest Road" - from the hill above Bob Scott Campground.

The main attraction was the mountain bike trail which was right across the road. Rog took off early the next morning with plans to ride about 30 miles. The trail turned out to be all double track (old 4x4 road) with none of his beloved single track at all. It was also a whole lot of steep up, up, up and then steep down, down, down. About 3pm Rog called asking for a pick-up in the town of Austin, about 10 miles away. “Oh, and bring the Neosporin.”  I couldn’t believe the crazy elevation gain/loss on the road to Austin. Add in a new set of rock rash and no wonder he was beat! Between the so-so campground and less than stellar mountain bike trail, we’d have to call this one a MISS. 😊

Cahill Valley Loop Trail

Mountain biking on 4x4 roads, not Rog's favorite.

At least the climb was rewarded with a lovely view.

The "trail" climbed up and across these hills before descending to the town of Austin.

Stokes Castle.
Built in 1897 by a eastern financier with mining interests in the Austin area.
It was modeled on a family painting of a Roman watchtower.

Our original plan had been to boondock another night in Nevada, and then head for Mona Lake across the California border on Friday. Then Rog saw some reviews of a campground in the little town of Benton, CA that had hot tubs at each campsite. Oh, we were all in for that. We called and they had just one spot still open for Thursday. Whoohoo, consider yourselves booked full! 

We arrived at 2pm and got set up. There were no hookups, but each site had a hot tub fed with 130° water from the local hot springs. To adjust the temp you just turned up or down the feed from the hot spring. Heaven! We positioned the rig for privacy and spent the rest of the day, part of the night, and the next morning until check out rotating in and out of the tub to soak our old and abused bones. It was pricey, but I definitely think we got our money’s worth! Lol. BLISS!

Now, this is the life! Lol. 

Enjoying the view while we soak our old bones. 

Soaking under a full moon. Ahhhhhhh.

We did manage to drag ourselves out of the water long enough to walk around the tiny town and up to the historic cemetery. The hot springs have been a draw for over 150 years and the town is full of old buildings and antique farming equipment. Very cool.

Most of the town was historic buildings that were no longer in use.

1875 Benton Jail. In case we get too rowdy in the hot tub. Lol.

A Red River Special Separator and old flat bed wagon with tree limbs for wheel spokes. Fun!

Historic Benton Cemetery.

Aged 39 years, 11 mos and 8 days..... but, who's counting. :) 

Our next stop is the Mono Lake area near Lee Vining, CA. We don’t have reservations, but there are a couple boondocking spots and several Inyo National Forest campgrounds in the area, so we’re confident we’ll find a spot to land.