Four weeks of car camping and hiking in May/June. Our plan is (has to be) flexible. Two destinations: Santa Fe/Bandelier NM and Sunset Crater Vulcano/Wupatki NM are no longer viable due to big wildfires (Cerro Pelado NM and Tunnel AZ).
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.
Expo at Mono Basin Historical Society
Breakfast at Whoa Nellie Deli
Looking for last gas station…
…before driving on empty stretch of Rt 6…
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Camping at Baker Creek
Wheeler Peak from Baker Creek trail
Mountain Mahogany…
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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
West-central UT (Sevier Desert), highway straight to horizon…
…sharp left turn…
…colorful hills
Driving down to prehistoric sea bottom
Castle Valley Overlook
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Tunnel to Colorado National Monument
The way we came up to the top of mesa
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Monument Canyon View
Coke Ovens Overview
Ute Canyon View
Red Canyon Overlook
On I-70 along Colorado River (on the right)…
…into the Rockies
Dillon Reservoir, looking west towards Silverthorne
We had many long discussions on flying vs driving. Joanna was in favor of flying to Reno or Fresno, Piotr was for driving to Lee Vining. Both options required travel on public buses and overnight stays somewhere. Finding good parking spot near trailhead was an issue too. We decided to drive to avoid airports and to have greater flexibility. With focus on JMT, we did not spend much time sightseeing on the way. Â First day we just drove all day, 893 miles to Ogallala NE, and stayed in big chain motel (not good experience).
There was less driving second and third day, together 963 miles, across Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. We stayed at campgrounds  and slept in our converted car,  and enjoyed it: Flaming Gorge Firehole Canyon Campground near Green River, WY (recommended)  and at Ward Mountain Campground near Ely, NV (recommended). Both very good, except there was no water at Ward Mountain (not big deal, if we were notified in advance when we made reservation – we had to drive back to Ely to buy extra water). Firehole Canyon campground was excellent, with showers and very nice host. We had little time for evening walk along the lake in Flaming Gorge, but following day we made two one-hour stops: to check-out Great Salt Lake (water level was very low, we walked to the water’s edge on muddy/salty lake bed), and for short drive and lunch on Great Salt Desert’s salt flat near Wendover — great experience.
Driving across Nevada is interesting, for the landscapes and empty roads often in straight line all the way to the horizon, and then winding through hills and mountains. The longest stretch of our route without services/gas stations and pretty much anything else was 163 miles. On the last day we drove only 294 miles, had time to revisit Mono Lake South Tufa and remember exploration of Panum Crater (visited in 2012). Checked-in to Murphy’s Motel in Lee Vining, did some grocery shopping and visited Mono Basin Visitor Center to get advice from the rangers regarding where to park our car for a month. We decided to leave it in their large parking lot. We were worried new wild fires could cut-off access to Tuolumne Meadow/Tioga Road (another parking option we considered), and of course we were also saving time by avoiding  backtracking from Lee Vining to Tuolumne Meadow to retrieve the car after JMT.
It all worked out very well: we were all packed and ready at the motel in the evening. Early next morning, we just drove to the Visitor Center, parked the car and waited a few moments for YARTS bus to take us some 20 miles to Tuolumne Meadow, the starting point of our hike.
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
Flaming Gorge Reservoir
Great Salt Lake Desert
Great Salt Lake Desert
Mono Lake South Tufa
Mono Lake South Tufa
Flaming Gorge, view from Firehole Canyon Campground
Ready to go
Great Salt Lake…
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Great Salt Lake Desert…
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Nevada near Schell Creek (Schellbourne) Pony Express Station
Ward Mountain Campground
Driving across Nevada…
…rest stop…
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Boundary Peak NV, view from Hwy 6 in CA
Mono Lake South Tufa…
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Checking high mountains on the horizon, behind Panum Crater
Last look at Mono Lake and we are on the way to Tuolumne Meadow
Itinerary: Chicago ➜ North Platte ➜ Rock Springs ➜ Jackson ➜ Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center/Rockefeller Preserve/Phelps Lake trail ➜ Jackson ➜ ☞ Grand Teton Crest Trail ➜ Colter Bay Village/Taggart/Bradley Lake trail ➜  ☞ Yellowstone ➜ Cody/Granite Pass/Buffalo ➜ Devils Tower ➜ Black Hills/Lead/Keystone/Custer State Park-Wildlife Loop Rd ➜ Hot Springs/Jewel Cave/Sylvan Lake/Cathedral Spears trail/Needles Eye/Custer State Park ➜ Badlands Sage Creek Rim Rd and  Rt 240-Cliff Shelf/Notch and Castle trails ➜ Sioux Falls ➜ Chicago
In addition to Teton Crest trail and many walks in Yellowstone we also hiked to Phelps Lake, Bradley and Taggart Lakes, and Cathedral Spears.
Planned itinerary
Independence Monument View (Colorado National Monument)
Phelps Lake
