True about the silver sage but there are plenty of dirt strips and dirt roads to land in Ely area. The databases we use have landable places every 20-30 miles. Landouts are actually rare as the conditions are strong enough that you fly near 18K under strong cloud streets the whole day. We rest on the weaker days. Also thunderstorms are more common later in July when the monsoon hits. All that said, Ely (and most of the Great Basin) is a great place to fly for those who are comfortable flying in the middle of nowhere...

Ramy