Day 60, Middlegate to Silver Springs, 82 miles

There was nothing much to keep us in Middlegate, so we fled for the desert hills. Matt swears that he could feel that hefty dose of red meat administered by 'the Monster' last night; so he shot up the pass with extra vigour. One of the bar flies last night had informed us that Top Gun had been filmed between Middlegate and Fallon (the town where we were now headed.) Fallon is the training base for Navy Pilots ('You two characters are going to Mirrermar!') So we were pleased to see the sign warning 'Low flying aircraft' and kept our eyes peeled for Mavericks in the sky.

Apart from a few helicopters, the landscape remained consistent; dusty desert and rocky mountains (although no match for the actual Rocky Mountains!) The road stretched out before us and few cars passed by. Unfortunately some head and cross winds slowed us down, but we both pushed onwards with 'Highway to the Dangerzone' aptly ringing in our minds' ear.

Approaching Fallon, we passed the Air Base which was abuzz with aircraft (although nothing quite as aggressive/impressive as we were hoping for; once again, reality has failed to match Hollywood.) As is the case with most of the bigger remote towns we've passed, Fallon was underwhelming. We prefer the smaller towns; free of Walmart and fast food. Yet, if you can't beat (the prices)-join em'. While shopping for dinner in that retail emporium, we were stopped by a guy who asked if we were cyclists from England. Turned out he frequently hosts touring cyclists and had recently had the English couple cycling a few days ahead of us; Alex and Jess. Alex had told him about us and this guy wanted to know if we would like to stay with him; come over for dinner or just do our laundry! We were taken back by this generosity (and by how small the world can be sometimes!) However we wanted to get more mileage done, so politely declined and hit the road.

West of Fallon the hills became a little greener. At 80 miles we stopped to camp in the State Park of Silver Springs. The only thing emptier than the park itself was the resevoir within it. Message boards indicated that there is normally fishing and boating here, but the low water level meant that the shower blocks and other facilities were shut for the season. This turned out to be a bonus, as it meant we could camp 'rugged' with the entire park seemingly to ourselves.

Matt built a campfire and we were treated to a lighting show on the horizon as we tucked into tin-foil cooked dinners. The dramatic pink sunset gave way to a brilliantly starry night. With few days left in the desert, we were grateful to finally observe the vivid Milky Way in all its' milkiness.