31 RESOLUTION-WORTHY NEVADA EXPERIENCES YOU WON’T BACK OUT ON
1. INTRODUCING YOURSELF TO A WHOLE NEW INTERPRETATION OF “WILD & FREE” AS YOU WATCH THE NEEDLE CLIMB WHILE RIPPING THROUGH THE BLACK ROCK
Black Rock Desert – High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area
2. SNAGGING A SELFIE, OR COWABUNGA KARATE CHOP, WITH THE OFFICIAL GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF NEVADA
Off the Loneliest Road in America, between Austin and Eureka
3. EMBRACING THE FACT THAT YOU’VE NEVER REALLY EXPERIENCED TRUE DARKNESS UNTIL CAMPING AT 10K FEET DURING A NEW MOON AT GREAT BASIN
4. WATCHING A HERD OF THE SECOND FASTEST LAND ANIMAL STAMPEDE THROUGH THE SAGE, AND REALIZING THEY AREN’T FENCED IN
Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge
5. SOLIDFYING SOME SILVER STATE STREET CRED WITH SOME CUSTOM-MADE, HAND-TOOLED LEATHER SWAG FROM ONE OF NEVADA’S FINEST WESTERN ARTISANS
J.M. Capriola Co. and Garcia Bit & Spur
6. SEEING A NEVADA-STYLE ARBORGLYPH WITH YOUR OWN TWO EYES
Mount Jefferson and Alta-Toquima Wilderness
7. CHASING A GARGANTUAN GARNET CLUSTER WITH THIRD-GENERATION NEVADANS, THEN HAVING A RESIDENT SILVERSMITH TRANSFORM YOUR BOUNTY INTO A BAUBLE
Garnet Hill, and Ely’s Garnet Mercantile
8. TAKING BIG BLUE’S POSTCARD-PERFECT PANOS TO NEW HEIGHTS
9. EXPLORING ENDLESS RELICS AT ONE OF NEVADA’S 600+ GHOST TOWNS
10. CUTTING INTO A GARLIC-LOADED STEAK AT A LEGENDARY BASQUE JOINT
11. …AND CHASING IT WITH A PICON PUNCH, NEVADA’S UNOFFICIAL STATE DRINK
12. RELISHING THE FACT THAT YOU’RE THE ONLY SOUL ON THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN, THEN WAVING THAT VICTORY FLAG AT NEVADA’S TALLEST PEAK
Boundary Peak Wilderness – Inyo National Forest
13. BLASTING DOWN HIGHWAY 50 WITH THE WINDOWS DOWN AND MUSIC UP, REALIZING YOU’RE ANYTHING BUT LONELY
14. RENDEZVOUSING WITH EXTRAORDINARY WILDLIFE DURING THAT MAGICAL GOLDEN HOUR
15. HUNTING AN OFF-GRID HOT SPRING AND FINDING IT, EVEN IF THAT MEANS GETTING KNEE DEEP IN MUD
16. JOYRIDING THE MOST CONCENTRATED COLLECTION OF NEON IN THE WORLD ON AMERICA’S FIRST “NIGHTTIME SCENIC BYWAY”
The Las Vegas Strip Scenic Byway
17. SPENDING A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM… FOR REAL
The Bunkhouse at the Nevada Northern Railway
18. REELING IN A 20-POUND LAHONTAN CUTTHROAT AT A PREHISTORIC GLACIAL LAKE
19. FALLING ASLEEP IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK IN MIDDLE OF NOWHERE NEVADA TO THE SOUND OF NOT-SO-DISTANT COYOTE YELPS
Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge
20. SEEING FOR YOURSELF THAT JUST ABOUT ANYTHING GOES AT NEVADA’S OLDEST—AND WILDEST—RODEO
21. LEARNING TO ROCK CLIMB AT THE WORLD’S BEST OUTDOOR CLIMBING GYM
Red Rock Rendezvous at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and Spring Mountain Ranch State Park
22. REALIZING YOU LOST TRACK OF TIME AND SPENT THE WHOLE DAMN DAY CHATTING WITH LOCALS AT A TOTALLY PERFECT BACKCOUNTRY SALOON
23. JOINING THE POLAR BEAR CLUB — IN JULY— AT ONE OF THE CLEAREST BODIES OF WATER ON EARTH
24. PARTICIPATING IN WATCHING “THE MAN” GO UP IN FLAMES WITH 70,000 OTHER PARTIERS FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE
25. …AND SURVIVING YOUR FIRST BLACK ROCK CITY STORM, HAVING EVERY SQUARE INCH OF YOUR BODY COMPLETELY COATED WITH PLAYA DUST, AND BEING MORE THAN OK WITH IT
26. SITTING AT THE BASE OF THE OLDEST LIVING ORGANISMS ON EARTH
27. BEING MOVED TO TEARS BY A COWBOY DELIVERING THE BEST LIVE PERFORMANCE OF THE WHOLE YEAR
National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
28. COMMITING TO A NEVADA RITE OF PASSAGE BY BASKING IN THE REMOTENESS OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL HIGHWAY
29. RUNNING YOUR FINGERS OVER CLARK GABLE’S CIGAR BURNS IN A 117-YEAR-OLD BAR COUNTER
30. INVITING REAL-LIFE CHICKADEES TO LAND ON YOUR SHOULDER… AND EVERYWHERE ELSE YOU’LL ALLOW
Chickadee Ridge in the Mount Rose Wilderness Area
31. FAMILIARIZING YOURSELF WITH THE SENSE OF FREEDOM ACHIEVED THE SECOND YOUR TIRES LEAVE THE PAVEMENT, REALIZING THAT THE ROAD MAY STOP, BUT NEVADA KEEPS GOING
SO, WHERE WILL YOUR NEVADA ADVENTURES TAKE YOU THIS YEAR? #DFMI
Get Inspired
Related Stories