RonnieAdventure #0265 - Northeast Nevada - 2017

The Utah-Nevada State Line runs across the highway between and through buildings dividing Wendover (Utah) from West Wendover (Nevada). "Wendover Will," the historic icon welcoming people to Nevada, was originally next to the state line; but he has now been moved a few blocks out of town near a park with several other exhibits.

Adjacent to "Wendover Will" is one of the few remaining sections of the "Victory Highway" that was completed in 1925 and ran from Boston to San Francisco. The Victory Highway took a more southernly route than the previous continental Lincoln Highway that had been surveyed by Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower marked the Lincoln highway with concrete markers, but the Victory Highway was marked with bronze eagles,  Only five of the original eagles are known to still exist.

The arch in West Wendover represents the original Victory Highway arch that was used at the dedication ceremony on June 25, 1925. The dedication ceremony was held just east of Wendover where the highway crosses the Bonneville Salt Flats.

While we were camped in West Wendover, there was a car show in the parking lot of one of the casinos and admission was free!

Lamoille Canyon, located on the west side of the Ruby Mountains just southeast of Elko, is probably one of the best kept secrets in Nevada. This is the wettest high range area in the State and is a sportsman's paradise. In addition to all of the big game found in the area, there are numerous high alpine lakes stocked with trout and very few fishermen make it to this area. 

We did not camp in Lamoille Canyon on this trip, but on a previous trip we did a day hike from the end of the road up to some of the lakes. While we were hiking up the trail, we met a fisherman returning from a several day outing that was smarter than most backpackers -- he had two pack lamas to carry all of his camping gear.

Between 1841 and 1869, over 250,000 people traveled about 2.000 miles across western United States on the California Trail. To commemorate their journey, a California Trail Interpretive Center has been construed just west of Elko. The center has a number of movies, learning centers, historic demonstrations, and other exhibits to help people understand the hardships that the pioneers faced on their journey westward.

There is even a display explaining the expression "I Saw the Elephant" that was commonly used by the pioneers who made the westward journey. The expression refers to "the giant size of the challenges, terrible hardships and life-threatening dangers they faced during the long three month passage."

Before leaving Nevada, we passed by the North Wildhorse Dam, which was full to capacity and water was flowing over the spillway. The drive from the dam to the Idaho State Line was Spectacular!

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