Pointed north on SR-318 my rig is headed for Historic Ely NV just off of US-50 the Loneliest Highway in America. Rolling into this one-casino, railroad, hunter's town, I was hearing a grinding noise coming from the front drivers side wheel well. Slowly driving through town I found a Napa Auto Parts store (closed), while searching around for a flat spot and some lighting. It was getting late so I decided to do some exploratory mechanics to diagnose the problem. Before leaving on my trip I had my rig serviced, from my regular mechanic, brake pads all around, front rotors turned, rear replaced. In addition in front, both bearing grease seals were replaced as well as the passenger side bearings (inner and outer). At the time I told the mechanic to replace both sides on the bearings, he said the driver side was good and did not need it, I went with it. 
Getting myself set-up in the Napa parking lot I start to see the problem. Right off the bat I notice my driver side wheel has play, bearings right! My first though is great, I should have replaced both sides and be done with it, but No. Thinking no one else to blame but myself for cheapening out on the bearings. Once I got into the repair I realized I did not have all the tools to do the job. I was missing snap-ring pliers. With Napa closed I put my rig back together and decided to find camp near-by and start over in the morning.
I found camp about 10 miles outside of town and chilled for the night thinking of all the possibilities of what went wrong. In the am I broke camp headed for town and the Napa store. I purchased a new set of bearings and decided that finding a mechanic in town to do the repair would be best, (tools, grease and pressing the bearing race onto the hub).
As the day was burning on I was looking for camp before the UT border. Leaving Ely on US-50 there's a developed dispersed campground about 20 miles from Baker and the Great Basin National Park called Sacramento Camp. Here the nights skies were crystal clear and dark. Sipping on a frothy I was mesmerized by the blazing shooting stars, meteors and space debris streaking across the sky. In the morning after coffee and a bit of brekkie I broke camp and turned on to CR21 heading into Utah.
Pushing on I connected to CR130 heading south and running on Gap Rd looking for camp. Spying a dirt trail I shifted into 4wd and came to the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs, a rugged rocky hillside covered in ancient art. Hundreds of petroglyphs show us a glimpse of how the ancient indigenous people lived, hunted and the rituals of their tribal beliefs, are all preserved in rock. From the artist's eyes who painstakingly carved them so long ago to the present day explorer their message is still told today through this incredible display of rock art.
Climbing up through a set of cliffs I found a wonderful remote spot among the old growth junipers overlooking a tireless landscape to make camp for the night.
🚙...... Authors note: second post of my Summer Expedition, 2021 Tour series, buckle-up and follow the adventure!