ON THE ROAD
CARSON CITY-BOUND
BY BOB BEERS
I drive from Las Vegas to Carson City more often than I fly. By air, the trip demands five long hours, factoring check-in, security and baggage claim � and that�s if Southwest Air is flying on time. By land, it calls for six brisk ones, with help from the Nevada landscape and some loud rock �n� roll.
With spring about to bloom, I will be able to drive my preferred route again, the most scenic of available avenues to Carson City � one a tad longer than six hours. It�s also sprinkled with character.
The journey begins the same way as the winter route, north on U.S. 95 through Indian Springs, home of the Air Force�s Predator unmanned surveillance aircraft. The Mercury turnoff, the next landmark, is headquarters for the Nevada Test Site. Demonstrators who just can�t get their arms around the concept of deterrence used to regularly get arrested at the entry gates, visible on the right. Mercury is also where U.S. 95 drops from a divided four-lane road to an undivided two-lane road.
Past the turnoff to Pahrump rests Amargosa Valley, home of Southern Nevada�s largest dairy farm and the Amargosa Sand Dune. The dune is on the left, and if you have an hour, you can connect with the child in your heart by making the short drive, hiking to the top and rolling down. Watch for ATVs and �sandboarders.�
Continuing northbound, Beatty, a 100-year-old mining town, is next. Rhyolite, about 15 minutes out of Beatty, is one of the best and most fascinating ghost towns in the state, and by far the best within a two-hour drive of Las Vegas. A left at Beatty�s stop sign leads to Rhyolite, while a right steers to Carson City.
After an hour or so, Lida Junction appears. Today it�s home of the Cottontail Ranch and nothing else, except Highway 95�s conclusion as it�s time to head west where the drive becomes scenic. The town of Lida has been abandoned since World War I or so, but it�s nestled in a stunning mountain valley. The road eventually drops into Fish Lake Valley. Here you�ll briefly slip into California, where the road forks left toward Bishop or right toward Dyer. Go right and gas up in Dyer.
As you continue north, the spectacular White Mountains are on your left. The north end of this range features Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada at 13,193 feet � even though just barely in Nevada (hence it�s name). At the next fork, bear left toward Montgomery Pass rather than right toward Tonopah.
Within a few miles, you veer left onto U.S. 6, up and over Montgomery Pass and into California, staring at stunning views of Boundary Peak.
Benton Station is the next town, and here you will turn off U.S. 6 onto California State Route 120, my favorite stretch of the entire trip. This great road leads through an inviting landscape of forests and volcanic ash fields before joining U.S. 395 at the south end of Mono Lake. Well-marked sightseeing and hiking opportunities include the twisted mineral deposits left by thousands of years of evaporation at Mono Lake, called tufa towers, and Panum Crater, an obsidian volcanic plug reached via a three-quarter mile hike.
At U.S. 395, turn north and follow it to Carson City. Along the way, you will climb and drop thousands of feet in elevation, with remarkable views of mountains, lakes and rivers.
On a final note, check the Cal Trans website (www.dot. ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/) beforehand, as Highway 120 is not plowed in the winter. LW
