I slept well pretty much all night. I was exhausted from the previous few days. The wind picked up in the middle of the night and it didn't bother me at all. The traffic on the road was non-existent throughout the night and early morning. Amazing. It was a tad chilly at 62 with a 10mph wind while breaking camp but once I was on the road it was perfect. The smoke haze was just thick enough to hold down the temperature most of the morning. The wind switched to south so I had more tailwind than headwind in store for the day. In only a few miles I arrived in Baker, NV. I already knew it was an extremely small town with few services. Plus I had gained an hour so it was barely after 6am for the residents. There was a campground store, not open, two restaurants, also not open, and the post office didn't have a faucet. There was a running creek in town amazingly but I went to the community church and it had a faucet! I rolled over to the visitor center for the Great Basin National Park, which didn't open till 1pm, oh well. Bet they had snacks. So this would be almost three days without a store. I had enough to get by and with plenty of water I confidently rode on towards a relatively short carry to Ely, which would have everything. I was already dreaming of AC and a shower. But I had two climbs first. The initial one was mostly gradual till the last mile or so which was steep and rocky. The descent was the same way, steep and technical at first, giving way to better road and less grade. I rolled through a former gold mining town of Osceola, which is funny because I rode through another Osceola on the edge of the National Forest in Florida in April of this year. I was then spit out onto US 50 again. Traffic was sporadic. But it came in bunches. I saw a group of about 10 approaching, and I just got off the road. Sure enough two cars pulled out to overtake. On such roads you really have to pay attention to the oncoming traffic, so as not to be flattened. Soon though I turned off and said goodbye to a strong crosswind and picked up a tailwind and gravel for the beginning of the long second climb. It was the same deal as the first, gradual, skip the grades 6-8%, and move past directly to 12+% and super rocky. It was a challenge just to ride it, but I managed, and at the top I had service so I went ahead and booked at hotel in town, my mind made up. I was dirty as hell and pretty tired. And the next couple of days could be very hard. So the gradual descent turned into actual pavement through a state park that had a lake and an actual running creek with water in it and everything. I even heard it make noise as it tumbled down over the rocks, but hidden by tall grasses. My route turned me off of this lovely pavement downhill to go straight up a wall. I double checked the route on my phone, and it was correct. It was difficult to even walk up it. Typical powerline road. Seriously one of the steepest grades I've ever pushed a bike up. But it was short. Two more of these ups and downs then I rolled into the valley where I could see Ely up ahead. So I checked out and expected to be there soon, but the road wouldn't cooperate. It just kept getting rougher and rockier. Flat, but full of holes and ruts and washouts everywhere. After an interminable slog, I FINALLY emerged onto a paved street. Right away I looked towards town and actually spotted the Motel 6 sign, crazy such bad road was so close to civilization. So I can finally wash up after all I've been though lately and rest a bit, although town days are full of extra chores and I never seem to be able to rest as much as I'd like. But I'm glad to have it and it's really cheap but it's got a hot shower and AC. The lap of luxury.