Explore Nevada 2011 (3 Viewers)

[spressomon]

Great Read, really enjoy your writings. "Word Smith" comes to mind.

Thanks Keith! I enjoy putting down words but I seldom have the patience for it. And its all the more difficult for me without easy editing/proofing tools within vBulletin, etc.


Photos courtesy of Steve White.

Pic one: The gang, minus the photographer at the rim of Lunar Crater
Pic two: Grill'n
Pic three: The man himself: Steve White

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Great Read, really enjoy your writings. "Word Smith" comes to mind.

Spresso is a "Coffee smith" Sometimes a "margharita smith" Occasionally, a "word smith".

 

[spressomon]

And hopefully a sockeye-smith in a few weeks


Photos courtesy of Tom Ferrin.
Pic one: Onur and me
Pic two: Alvaro and Poquita
Pic three: Coming down Six Mile Canyon

 

[Cruiserdrew]

And hopefully a sockeye-smith in a few weeks

I'm going to catch more than you. Not that it's a competition or anything crass like that! LOL

 

[spressomon]

You always do! I'm not too proud to admit you are a better fisherman than me! Its a privilege just standing next to you watching you catch 3 or 4 to my one! And no matter because we always eat good fresh salmon!

 

[WILLD420]

Thanks a lot. I wasn't even hungry till I thought of fresh blackened salmon with some nice fresh veggies and a cold drink.

 

[spressomon]

Saturday June 18th:

With a little later start to our day, thanks to about a dozen or so dead empty big bottles saluting us from the campground picnic table as the sun rose over the trees, we cooked up another nice breakfast before launching up the trail to Hamilton. But while everyone was still taking their time and since I had plenty of fuel I opted out of camp a little early to go do some recon on a trail I spotted the previous day.

The trail is actually a very interesting loop trail...or at least the 1/2 I got to see before the radio was alive with chatter about the group being ready to roll north! But its marked for future explore and quite possibly another great camp location tucked up under Duck Water Peak in the White Pine range!

Speaking of crackling radios I, once again, led the group by having the most trouble with my 2m TX and RX. One of these days I'm just going to have to bribe Rusty Dan to come over and prove his talents on my troublesome set-up. Thankfully Gary and Tom had HTTs, antenna adapters, power adapters, etc. to keep me communicating with the group!

The ride north from our camp at White River CG was yet another morning run of unique beauty. This is a super trail that you all should put down on your list of to dos. Nothing technical but just sheer mountain terrain in all its glory.

To add further interest and even suspense and anxiety to the day: Several of the "single tankers" were already below 5-gallons left in their fuel tanks. Onur needed to get back to ABQ and his job at American Toyota where he keeps all our parts requirements fulfilled so he exited on Saturday evening for the long haul back; he was missed especially for his extra fuel cans strapped to the roof of his 80 . Sean's low tank light came on just after we left Currant the day before! And we still had a good 50-miles of combined dirt and highway before getting to our next refuel in Eureka.

But we decided the day before since a couple of us had plenty of fuel with our aux tanks we'd go get gas if anyone didn't quite make it to Eureka. So there was regular chatter on the 2m about everyone's fuel levels that morning .

This is a stretch of trail we've previously driven and never not seen mule deer or elk...in quantity. One year we counted a line of over 75-head running up the ridge. But once again we were denied any opportunity of seeing more than a mule deer here or there on this trip. Maybe the sudden warm weather pushed them to higher ground. Anyone's guess.

We arrived in Hamilton, stopped to stretch the legs and check out some of the mine artifacts strewn all over. Once again if you've not seen Hamilton you've got to put it on your list! Above the ghost town of Hamilton lies another ghost town: Treasure City. What a cool name eh?! And due to snow blocking the shelf trail you need to traverse that has on two, and now three, previous occasions blocked any chance of driving up to check it out I still have yet to set foot or tire in Treasure City. AT 8,920' Treasure City might just be the highest ghost mining town in Nevada!

Oddly the only other folks we saw this entire trip, other than the 'city folk' in Hawthorne and Tonopah (oh yeah...and one local youngster that came by to introduce himself at our Belmont camp), were a couple of SUV rigs and about 6 folks in them pulling trailers with a couple motorcycles and mountain bikes in tow we saw the day before on the road to Lunar Crater! When you can spend nearly a week off-road anywhere and not come across a single soul you know you've found a slice of remote heaven!

After too little time getting to explore all things Hamilton (you could literally spend a week exploring just the surrounding Hamilton area) we ventured north towards Belmont Mill and then on to Hwy 50 and the run into Eureka. Once we got to the highway I decided to drop back and run sweep behind all the guys with low fuel just in case one ran dry. But not long after I heard a "pop" that sounded like an exploding glass soda bottle, or similar, upon stopping to air up I realized I had a leaking rear PS tire. Fortunately it wasn't a fast leak...so I pushed about 60psi of air into it and off I roared to catch the group ahead. I had to refill it once more for the 25-mile highway stretch into Eureka. And once there I quickly swapped the spare on before lunch. Thankfully and quite surprisingly given how long their low fuel lights were on no one ran out of gas getting to Eureka!

Photos courtesy of Steve White
Pic one: Sitting around the campfire at Six Mile Canyon
Pics two and three: On our way to Cow Canyon

 

[locrwln1]

Great write up and pics as usual. Makes me long for those areas again. Next year perhaps when the truck is more ready.

Jack

 

[TrickyT]

Great trip write-up, Dan!

...
Oh boy what an overgrown trail. Even by MY standards . You know its bad when the brush sounds like scraping fingernails on a chalkboard...only its not a chalkboard easily erased! Is your Land Cruiser! And you ESPECIALLY know its bad when the glass is getting scraped! I really did feel bad (no really...I did actually feel bad about this ) for Sean and his never before pinstriped perfectly waxed 80. I wish someone would have recorded all the chatter from the 2m over that stretch of trail! I can't even imagine driving/riding an ATV or quad through there. We kept pushing along thinking anytime we'd come into a clearing and have all the extreme bushwacking behind us. Nope...nada chance...

You left off the part about Alvaro needing to give you a little push from the back so you could get your hundy off the rock you got stuck on while crossing the waterfalls.

 

[spressomon]

A few pics from Tom Ferrin of Eureka Nevada. This town's folks have real pride in their little place in Nevada!

 

[spressomon]

Speaking of lunch in Eureka. There's a little grill slash diner, DJ's Diner and Drive-In, located on the south end of town that is now for sale. This has been the only half decent grub spot in Eureka so naturally I guided us to the spot. They were open for business however when I asked, since there appeared to be a bit of line of waiting customers in there, the young gal at the counter how long it might be to get lunch for all of us: She just rolled her eyes, gave me a sigh and said "a while". Good enough for me: Exit stage left.

I had, apart of looking for a nice flat parking lot to swap my spare, saw a new, at least since we had last been to Eureka 2-years ago, La Fiesta Mexican eatery located on the east side of main street/Hwy 50 about mid-town. So off we went and boy am I glad we did! They make everything from scratch and is truly a must stop for grub if you find yourself hungry in Eureka!

And low and behold what was right next door to the Mexican restaurant? Three guesses and the first two don't count! Yep...an espresso cafe! In Eureka Nevada! Well to be honest I didn't have my hopes up...just like 99% of the espresso cafes all over in and out of big and small cities...that we'd get the real deal. But since my mypressi was on vacation for the remainder of the trip what choice did I/we have?

Well I could not have been more wrong on my assumption! The woman behind the counter and serving as the barista, who might well have been the owner, whipped me up a shot of espresso that rivaled my own! Thick rich crema floating atop a fresh roasted and ground tasting double shot of espresso. And a local photographer's interesting photo collection of nearby Nevada scenes made the cool little cafe all the more interesting! Another place to come back to anytime you're in Eureka and wanting a little buzz!

And then it was back on the highway towards all points in between Reno and Sacramento. I had originally planned to get to Great Basin Park where I wanted to see a recently discovered natural arch, Lexington Arch, located in the southern portion of the park. And normally it doesn't take more than a tank of fuel to keep me out wondering; but to be honest I had such an incredible explore of Nevada the 6-calendar days I'd been out gave me the rare sensation it was at least double that amount of time! And that was a GOOD thing! So I decided to join the Cali-Caravan and head home.

But we had a couple more stops to make on the way back. One being the now cut down infamous Shoe Tree. And then a stop at Middlegate.

Photos courtesy of Steve White

 

[spressomon]

If you've ever been to Middlegate you may have met the guy that hangs out there. Don't know his name but "Slim" might be quite appropriate. Well as we were hanging out on the board walk Slim sauntered up and struck up a conversation. Once he knew we had a German, 3-French and a Venezuelan in our group he departed english and went right into the three languages communicating very fluently in each! Unfortunately I don't think anyone got his photo and I'm damn sorry we didn't include him in our group photo. What a character! You just never know who or what surprises you'll find in remote Nevada!

So that brings my little essay to a close. More memories to fuel me until the next adventure! Thanks to all for yet another "10 on a 10 scale" trip!!!

Dan

Photos courtesy of Steve White

 

[OGBeno]

Thank you Dan for all of your hard work leading this epic trip...

As always, it was very memorable.

See you all at SnT this year.

 

[spressomon]

Great trip write-up, Dan!



You left off the part about Alvaro needing to give you a little push from the back so you could get your hundy off the rock you got stuck on while crossing the waterfalls.

I forgot about this one along with the snorkel deep stream crossing(s)

 

[spressomon]

Thank you Dan for all of your hard work leading this epic trip...

As always, it was very memorable.

See you all at SnT this year.

No...thank YOU! That's a long haul from ABQ buddy!

 

[thumper]

that was one helluva write up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I just wish the planets would align for once allowing me to go on another trip and see what my 80 can do.

The only thing I don't understand is that for all the years I've gone camping and exploring, my experience has been simple food, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. You guys take this thing to the next level and beyond. I might say that the food y'all come up with would rival that of a classy 5 star sit down type restaurant. I must say, I am suitably impressed.

Thanks for sharing the photos and the story.

jon

 

[Dunkane]

thank you Dan, i've a big smile now on my face, thinking to all this adventure ...
i miss you all yet !!...c u next time !! with more foie gras (i know how to do now with the US customs !!!)

i really enjoy this fabulous trip with you dudes...dan, onur, gary, alvaro, andy, tom, steve, bill, Sean, my friends peter, jp and titi...the toyota Gang !!!!

take care all of you !!!

our pics here :
https://picasaweb.google.com/dunkane/USA201102

 

[alvarorb]

Here are some of mine:

Napoleon and Goyo

The President! (Read with French accent)

Two hungry Euros

Regards

Alvaro

 

[spressomon]

Alvaro: I'm glad you got a photo of Slim! And Napoleon at his side I forgot all about that! Great levity for late in the day!!!

 

[alvarorb]

Here's a couple of videos from the trip:

Dunkane at Cabela's


And this one:





Regards

Alvaro