We made last minute decision to take different route on the way back home: crossing Utah and Colorado to Denver on I-70. We made short stops at Great Basin NP, Colorado National Monument and Silverthorne at Dillon Reservoir. We divided the extra day saved on JMT between these places to have at least some time to look around. We stopped in North Platte for the last night just to break the miles.
But first we had to get back to our car in Lee Vining: 3-hour 122-mile ESTA bus ride from Lone Pine and 1-mile street walk to Visitor Center, final backpacking effort of the trip. Our car was fine waiting for us. We stopped briefly at Mono Basin Historical Society exhibition to examine old, rusting machines and then had dinner for breakfast at Whoa Nellie Deli (Piotr had big steak and two x-large lattes with extra shots) and very soon started crossing Nevada on now familiar Rt 6. We diverged in Elly to visit Great Basin NP. Found nice spot at Baker Creek Campground (recommended). Tickets for full Lehman Caves tour were sold-out and road to Wheeler Peak Summit Trailhead was closed, we walked nature trail near visitor center and hiked 4-mile Baker Creek loop instead. Interesting flora ecosystem – Pines, Aspen, Curlleaf Mountain Mahogany and shrubs. Wheeler Peak always in the background. Stopped for lunch at Baker Creek picnic area and started driving towards Utah.
Driving across west-central Utah:  straight empty highways for miles (flat Sevier Desert), then colorful hills, and later cliffs and canyons with interesting  rock formations. We only had time to stop at couple of viewpoints on I-70, but agreed we should come back to explore this part of the country.  It was getting dark, so we decided to stay at motel in Green River. We later regretted the decision – campground at Colorado National Monument was great, as we discovered next day, and far better option even if we arrived very late. Dark clouds greeted us when we arrived at Colorado National Monument, but not much rain fell and the rest of the day was mostly sunny. We spent several hours on 23-mile Rim Rock Drive on top of the mesa. Stopped many times to view canyons and walk short trails to interesting rock formations. We spent afternoon and evening driving into the Rockies, across Vail Pass to Silverthorne. The area was packed with tourists, mostly bikers, but despite arriving late at Heaton Bay Campground we got nice campsite. Next morning we did two short walks: along the banks of Dillon Reservoir and to the Old Dillon Reservoir. The rest was just driving: CO, NE, IO and IL – familiar route we were on multiple times before.
Independence Monument View (Colorado National Monument)
Independence Monument View
Ute Canyon View (Colorado National Monument)
Ute Canyon View
Life can be realy wonderful if you work hard to achieve great things. But small people who must deal with every day horrors also count. You need us, I think.