#middlegate

In 1986, Life Magazine called Route 50 through Nevada the loneliest road in America. They actually issued warnings for parts of the drive. Cathy says lonely does not begin to describe it. Forlorn, desolate, rough, isolated, remote, vast, haunting, and yes, hauntingly beautiful.  Continue reading The Loneliest Road

Middlegate, Nevada.,

NEVADA ADVENTURES: A HWY 50 STOP FOR EPIC BURGER

There’s A Small Town In Nevada Known For Its Truly Epic Burgers It might be a bit of a stretch calling this tiny community a town. Home to just a handful of people, Middlegate contains just three businesses: a bar, a gas station, and a restaurant. However, people are known to make a stop at the restaurant specifically for their famous burgers. This place is one of the Silver State’s greatest…

The Shoe Tree of Middlegate - Middlegate, Nevada

Near the one-horse town of Middlegate, Nevada, on US Highway 50, the so-called "Loneliest Road in America," set against a backdrop of barren, arid desert and mountains, grows a lone cottonwood tree strung with footwear. Trees decorated with objects--shoes, underwear, gum, or whatever else passersby have handy--are as wholesome as apple pie, and nearly as common in America. This shoe tree, however, has a particularly good story (and a lot of shoes) attached.

It happened like this: on a warm desert night, a newlywed couple camping beneath the large cottonwood got into an argument. The woman, a quick-tempered sort, threatened to walk away. "If you do," growled the man, "you'll have to walk barefoot." He then proceeded to throw her shoes up into the tree and drive off to a nearby bar, where the bartender, an upstanding citizen if ever there was one, convinced him to return to his wife. He drove back to the cottonwood tree--needless to say, his wife was still there--and the couple managed to reconcile and live happily ever after. They returned several years later with their first child to throw his shoes up into the tree under which they had fought and reunited. The rest, as they say, is history.

Witness the footwear of generations gone by. Participate. Drive barefoot the rest of the way. In the summer, the shoes might look from afar like some odd fruit hanging from the leafy boughs of the cottonwood. In winter, they make a particularly impressive spectacle, set against a background of desert frost.

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UPDATE: The shoe tree was cut down by vandals on December 30, 2010. As of early January 2011, Nevada authorities are still in the process of trying to track down who killed the tree.