We left Baker, NV this morning and headed for the town of Panaca, NV where Cathedral Gorge State Park is located.
Continuing west on US-50 we first had to climb up and over the Sacramento Pass, that's the big hump in the road on the map. Once we started to head south on US-93 we read a sign on the side of the road informing us that once again there were going to be NO SERVICES for the next 80-miles.
Our first chance for gasoline on US-93 would be in the very small town of Pioche, which is only 12-miles short of our destination of Panaca, which also has gasoline.
All three of the towns we were in today have only one gas station in town and for some unknown reason the gas in Baker was $5.39 a gallon and in both Pioche and Panaca it was priced at a more reasonable $4.79 a gallon.
ROVER's gauges told us we had enough gas to travel 200-miles and we only need to go 127-miles to reach Panaca, so we passed on the chance to fill up for $5.39 before a travel day (like we usually do). It was a little bit of a gamble, but we saved $12 by waiting to fill up in Panaca. Every little bit helps because it still cost us over $130.00 to fill up!
instead of going straight down the middle of the valley.
By 11:00AM we found ourselves setup in our new home. This is a First-Come-First-Serve campground, as are all of Nevada's State Parks, and we were fortunate enough to get Campsite #1 with a great view of the gorge. Next year Nevada will join all the other state park systems and start offering reservations in their parks too.
Of course in order to be able to see that view from the rear dinette window we had to park in the campsite backwards. That put the electrical hookups on the wrong side of THE POD and we had to run the power cord under the trailer. It also put our front door on the street side which is not our preference, but it turned out to be just fine.
First off we went to the Post Office to pick up a VERY important package that I had forwarded there last week. Along with our regular mail we picked up our brand new Starlink RV Satellite Internet kit. No longer will we have to deal with slow or nonexistent cell phone service to bring you these blogposts. Also no more data limits, so we can stream all the Amazon Movies and YouTube videos we want. It'll be a real gamechanger in the way we stay connected.
At the Post Office I inquired about where in town we could sit down and have lunch. She told me the Market across the street has prepackaged sandwiches and the Mini Mart in the gas station back out on Highway-93 has hotdogs, but there are no restaurants in town. Okay, I guess this is a very small town (pop. 870)!
So we returned to THE POD and Tricia prepared us both fresh sandwiches with the last of our ham and turkey, it paired well with the last of our potato salad. Tomorrow we'll have to check out the markets in Panaca and nearby Pioche to replenish our food supplies.
Before leaving Cathedral Gorge State Park this morning we drove around inside the park and snapped a few photos. Tomorrow we'll get out on foot and check things out a little more closely.
shortly after Cathedral Gorge became a state park in 1935.
Echo Canyon State Park is located less than 20-miles away and has a fairly new RV campground with twenty full hookups sites (water-electric-sewer) to choose from. There are thirty-three more campsites in the original North Campground that have only water hookups.
We have two weeks scheduled for this area of Eastern Nevada and just might have to split our time between Cathedral Gorge and Echo Canyon State Park. We'll see if I can get Tricia to agree to a move after spending a whole week in one place, something we haven't done since the first week in August, three months ago.
After checking out Echo Canyon State Park we drove into the town of Pioche, NV to search out some place to eat lunch. Unlike nearby Panaca, NV there were several options available to us. Two of them stood out from the rest to us, Gunslinger's and the Historic Silver Café.
They were located about a block apart and on the same side of Main Street, just like most everything else in town. We were able to find an oline menu for the café and it had something we both would be happy with for lunch. So we parked as close as we could, which was a block away, and headed for the door.
Once inside I knew we were in the right place because there was a single table available in the small dining room. We ended up taking seats at the counter and ordered our meals. The kitchen was overwhelmed by the lunchtime crowd and we waited a little longer than usual before our order was ready. By that time we were able to move down to a more comfortable table and wait to eat.
Tricia ordered the Meatball Sub with Onion Rings and I selected the Pulled Pork Sandwich with Fries. Both were devoured before taking photos ever entered our minds. Sorry!
After lunch we went around the corner to the Meadow Valley Market to shop for a few needed items. What we found was little more than a good sized mini-mart like you'd find in a gas station. We picked up a few items, but we're nowhere near done checking everything off of our shopping list for today.
On the way to "the other market" in Panaca, NV we passed by the sign for the Miller Point Scenic Overlook here at Cathedral Gorge State Park out on Highway US-93. We've shared a few photos of what the gorge looks like from ground level. Now it's time to show you what it looks like from up on the rim of the gorge.
Once inside you realize the store covers the entire building on this block. From the outside it looks like three separate businesses. After filling up our shopping cart the only item we couldn't find in either store was surprisingly Ground Turkey.
We are in the West, and I realize this is cattle country, but doesn't Jennie-O deliver nationwide product?
Oh well, guess I'll have to make tomorrow night's chili with Ground Beef. We've had two pounds of expensive grass-fed ground beef in the freezer since we visited Texas back in February. We'll have to remember to transfer it into the refrigerator before going to bed tonight and let it defrost.
Yesterday while visiting the Miller Point Scenic Overlook we discussed the chances of us both hiking the trail from there all the way down to the bottom of the canyon. The 1-mile trail winds up very close to the campground. While we're both fully capable of hiking 1-mile, especially since the first ½-mile is all downhill, both neither of us want to hike the ½-mile back uphill to return to the truck.
What do we do to solve this problem?
Well, being the nice husband that I am, I volunteered to hike ¼-mile down into the canyon with Tricia and then turn around and hike ¼-mile back up and drive the truck around to the point where the trail ends down in the canyon. Tricia was quick to take me up on my offer.
Tricia was actually waiting a short period of time at the end of the trail for me to arrive since I made a pitstop back at the trailer to use the bathroom.
After Tricia's solo hike down the Miller Point Trail we both checked out the odd "slot canyon" formations at the day use area of the park. There were several big enough for us to fit into.
Most were short in depth, maybe 50 to 60-feet deep, but the last one was well over 400-feet deep into the canyon wall.
CATHEDRAL GORGE STATE PARK
PANACA, NV
For only the ninth time since we started traveling we woke up to find it snowing outside!
Granted there's not enough snow on the roadways to make it unsafe to move today, but we don't have reservations that dictate it's time to move and we haven't reached the 14-day visitation limit here at Cathedral Gorge State Park, so why not wait until tomorrow to pack up and leave? Also, due to the fact that our next campsite selection is at a 460-foot higher elevation it just makes sense to wait for more favorable conditions.
The forecast is to be 7°F warmer tomorrow and no chance of any kind of precipitation, so we'll just sit tight and stay cozy right here until tomorrow.
By 10AM it had all but melted off the ground and shrubs, but not ROVER's windshield.
We decided to stay put and not move to higher elevations, so we're leaving Cathedral Gorge State Park this morning instead. For an extra $5 a night we upgraded to an electric site at our next location in Utah, it's still too cold to not run an electric heater during the day and the alternative of running the propane furnace 24/7 gets to be expensive. Not to mention, you have to be near a refill station because a 30lb. tank only lasts a little less than 2-days when it's low 50°Fs during the day and consistantly at the 32°F mark every night.
We've got one empty 30lb. tank and two full ones as we make our move today and a reliable source for getting them refilled at a Tractor Supply store at the next location.
We'll be staying put for an entire week and will post once again next Sunday!
Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?
