Twilight: Middle Loup River

Taken from the bridge leading into Nebraska National Forest, nautical twilight breaking into civil twilight.

On this trip from Arizona to Minnesota, I booked strange and out of the way campgrounds on Recreation.gov, and used that as a way to run the back roads and change up my itinerary. Each night I tried to roll into camp around sunset, get to bed early, and then drive whenever I awoke. I shortened a mattress so it fit in the back of my Prius with the seats laid down, and without a tent to set up, going to bed was simply rolling into the back, and driving was simply getting back in the front seat.

The campground at Halsey, Nebraska, was quite the production, with shower facilities, multiple camp sites, and lots of kind people. I pulled in and talked to my camp neighbor, who had survived the previous night’s storm by getting into his dually truck after his wife called him and said a big one was coming in. He got woke up in the truck to the sound of a tree crashing onto his abandoned tent. He really did luckily avoid death.

I took a long hot shower in the central camp bathroom, and went immediately to sleep after as I’d already eaten. I woke up in the near dark, just a hint of sunrise above me through the hatchback in the eastern dome of the sky. I stretched, brushed my teeth, peed, and crept out of camp with my lights off and the car in electric mode. Not a soul awake.

The Sandhills of Nebraska are a great joy to drive through. I’ve always been fascinated with the rivers in this land, and learned at the campground that these rivers are all spring fed, and have some of the most consistent flow rate in the world. Makes sense as the area is pretty much a desert, despite the grasses and rivers and forest.

I really enjoy starting the day this way, just slowing starting a day of driving with some meandering, then getting up to highway speed and putting in a good few hours before stopping for coffee and gas, and then pretending that I’m actually starting the day’s drive.