Central Nevada Ghost/Mining Town exploration April 28-into the first part of May.
- Thread starter locrwln1
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First causailty back home safe.
I don't want to steal Jacks thunder so I'll wait with the rest of you for a trip report. Meanwhile, I broke a front diff ring gear this morning so I'm back home, thanks to Jack and Dan and a trail fix.
The trip was spectacular and we have no regrets. Well maybe
may regret some of the pinstriping.
but overall it was great.
I don't want to steal Jacks thunder so I'll wait with the rest of you for a trip report. Meanwhile, I broke a front diff ring gear this morning so I'm back home, thanks to Jack and Dan and a trail fix.
The trip was spectacular and we have no regrets. Well maybe
may regret some of the pinstriping. but overall it was great.
Pics?
It was an absolutely amazing trip. Words can't describe what we did and the scenery we drove and camped in. We had hummingbirds keep us company 3 out of 4 campsites; saw pronghorn antelope, mule deer, song birds and we were serenaded by several owls at o-dark thirty this morning! Thank you Jack & Darcie for putting this together and sharing your insight about our great state!!! I can't wait for v.2.0 next year 
A few pics from our excursion...
A few pics from our excursion...
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...a few more...
...and a few more...
...and some more...
Pic 3: I think these are Mountain Bluebells...but we saw them in only one spot...and they were gorgeous!
Pic 3: I think these are Mountain Bluebells...but we saw them in only one spot...and they were gorgeous!
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...they keep coming...
...it was a great run...
Pic 2 is a meteorite crater....
Pic 2 is a meteorite crater....
...couldn't help myself...
....Pic 1 is a meteorite crater...
....Pic 1 is a meteorite crater...
...almost through...
Pic 1 is the now infamous R&P Creek...
Pic 1 is the now infamous R&P Creek...
... A D'luxe motel offering; Wagon Jack Shelter; And our wonderful hosts .
.
Awesome pics! I hope to go on this next year. Nevada has such a bad rep for us Californians as an ugly desert. There is so much more than that and it is such a diverse, beautiful place.
That pic of the oversized load shovel thing is insane!
And did the 100 tow the trailer through that river?
That pic of the oversized load shovel thing is insane!
And did the 100 tow the trailer through that river?
What are you talking about?? Nevada IS a big bad ugly windy rocky dusty arid desert place ....AND California is paradise. That's why almost 35 million folks have made CA their home
!No...we were scouting on this leg and I left the trailer in camp.
- Thread starter
- #56
First off, let me say what an excellent trip and an outstanding group of people to share it with.
Now for the trip report with pictures...
Five days and 920 miles, with as much dirt as we could manage. This trip was planned very openly, by that I mean while we had a plan, it was expected and meant to be changed at any moment. When a road caught out attention, we took it. If we didn't get to our original destination, it was no big deal. This was more about adventure than the destination.
Day 1: We started out Saturday, east on I80 to Fernley, caught US 50 east to Fallon, filled up and continued east. We turned east onto SR 722 towards Eastgate. Past Eastgate, we turned south onto dirt. We crossed over the Desatoya Mountains into Smith Creek Valley to Berlin. We set up camp and walked up to the Ichythyosaur Fossil site, checked it out and walked back to camp. Everyone relaxed for a while, before we drove back down to Berlin to check out the ghost town. We returned to camp, had dinner and talked the night away...
Day 2: As everyone was packing up, a guy from NorCal was leaving the campground on his KTM heading toward Texas. Much like us, he was taking the interesting route there, so I helped him by suggesting the same route we were going to be taking. He agreed and away he went. The good news is that I was able to see his track all the way over the mountain to the valley. Now to us. We got packed up and turned east over the Shoshone mountains to the Reese River Valley. We turned north. As we were traveling up through the valley, a side route was noticed, so we took it. The road turned west out of the valley and back into the Shoshone's. Spressoman/Dan lead this one. We turned up into Riley Canyon which according to the maps hooked up with Underdown Canyon, so away we went. This road started out very nice, then we hit the willows, let the pinstriping begin. Spressoman and I didn't mind, RustyTLC/Dan and were not as happy. We got out of the willows and into one of the most tree laden canyons I have ever been in. So yeah the pinstriping continued, but what a canyon, it was absolutely beautiful. Amazing rock formations, mountains and trees. Awesome. We topped out on the pass(over 8000'), took in the views and headed down Underdown Canyon. Another amazing canyon. We made it back down to the valley and headed into Austin for gas. Looking at the snow still up in the Toiyabe's, we decided that the Kingston pass wasn't going to happen this trip. We headed east on US 50 to SR 376. We stopped in Kingston for a quick re-supply and down to Ophir. We looked around and decided we didn't want to camp there, so we headed down to the South Twin Toiyabe Trailhead and set up camp. Darcie and I took a hike up the South Twin river canyon, awesome. Spressoman/Dan set up his shower and so Darcie and I decided it was time for a shower also. We set up our Zodi shower. What a difference a shower makes.
Some pictures...
Now for the trip report with pictures...
Five days and 920 miles, with as much dirt as we could manage. This trip was planned very openly, by that I mean while we had a plan, it was expected and meant to be changed at any moment. When a road caught out attention, we took it. If we didn't get to our original destination, it was no big deal. This was more about adventure than the destination.
Day 1: We started out Saturday, east on I80 to Fernley, caught US 50 east to Fallon, filled up and continued east. We turned east onto SR 722 towards Eastgate. Past Eastgate, we turned south onto dirt. We crossed over the Desatoya Mountains into Smith Creek Valley to Berlin. We set up camp and walked up to the Ichythyosaur Fossil site, checked it out and walked back to camp. Everyone relaxed for a while, before we drove back down to Berlin to check out the ghost town. We returned to camp, had dinner and talked the night away...
Day 2: As everyone was packing up, a guy from NorCal was leaving the campground on his KTM heading toward Texas. Much like us, he was taking the interesting route there, so I helped him by suggesting the same route we were going to be taking. He agreed and away he went. The good news is that I was able to see his track all the way over the mountain to the valley. Now to us. We got packed up and turned east over the Shoshone mountains to the Reese River Valley. We turned north. As we were traveling up through the valley, a side route was noticed, so we took it. The road turned west out of the valley and back into the Shoshone's. Spressoman/Dan lead this one. We turned up into Riley Canyon which according to the maps hooked up with Underdown Canyon, so away we went. This road started out very nice, then we hit the willows, let the pinstriping begin. Spressoman and I didn't mind, RustyTLC/Dan and
were not as happy. We got out of the willows and into one of the most tree laden canyons I have ever been in. So yeah the pinstriping continued, but what a canyon, it was absolutely beautiful. Amazing rock formations, mountains and trees. Awesome. We topped out on the pass(over 8000'), took in the views and headed down Underdown Canyon. Another amazing canyon. We made it back down to the valley and headed into Austin for gas. Looking at the snow still up in the Toiyabe's, we decided that the Kingston pass wasn't going to happen this trip. We headed east on US 50 to SR 376. We stopped in Kingston for a quick re-supply and down to Ophir. We looked around and decided we didn't want to camp there, so we headed down to the South Twin Toiyabe Trailhead and set up camp. Darcie and I took a hike up the South Twin river canyon, awesome. Spressoman/Dan set up his shower and so Darcie and I decided it was time for a shower also. We set up our Zodi shower. What a difference a shower makes. Some pictures...
We didn't have a shower, probably why we were always in the tail gun position.
was talking about a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse on the way home to add a few ammenities to our kit. This is a very positive sign.
I can't tell you how much we enjoyed this trip. And how much we are looking forward to the next one.
I'll try to post some pictures later today.
was talking about a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse on the way home to add a few ammenities to our kit. This is a very positive sign. I can't tell you how much we enjoyed this trip. And how much we are looking forward to the next one.
I'll try to post some pictures later today.
- Thread starter
- #58
Day 3: We packed up and headed south into Carvers, really a nice bunch of people. Took two stores to get what we needed, but very helpful. After the fuel up, we continued south. As we were next to the huge gold mine, Spressoman/Dan noticed a dirt road heading west into Jett Canyon, so we took it. Another amazing canyon. We crossed the creek several times working our way up the canyon. We finally reached a point where, my Taco and Rusty/Dan's low riders were stopped. So we hiked for a while longer. We didn't make it to the top, but again what a view. We headed back down and stopped in the shade for lunch. We made it back to the highway and turned south. We then turned east up to Manhattan over the Toquima range and up to Belmont. We continued north into Monitor Valley. Had to be one of the most scenic valleys. As we approached the Geographical center of Nevada, we noticed another road that headed east into the Monitor Range. So we took it. I know, I know...Another spectacular canyon/pass. It was getting late so we started looking for camp. We turned up into the North Fork canyon on the east side of the range and found a beautiful campsite, nest of a small creek. Another great night of great company.
Day 4: We decided to leave Spresso/Dan's trailer at camp and explore up the canyon with Spresso leading the way. Rusty/Dan taking second and I took tailgunner. Things started out great, another amazing canyon. We crossed into Spressoman's aptly named R&P river. Spresso/Dan lead the way and had no problems, of course. Well it was Rusty/Dan's turn, he drove up the creek and started his exit. As he was attempting to get up the slippery slope with stock bald tires, bad things happened. He slid sideways and got into a bad situation. So Spresso/Dan had to back up and give him a tug. We got Rusty/Dan out and pull up the trail a little ways. I was able to make it up with out drama. As we start up the trail, Rusty/Dan's 100 makes a horrible, mechanical sound. We get turned around and head back down. It's still making a bad sound so we find a level spot to check things out. With a little checking, we determine that he stripped a tooth or two off of the front R&P. So, we removed the front drive shaft and drive flanges, so that he can drive out in two wheel drive. We make it down to Antelope Valley and head north to US 50. Rusty/Dan and decide it would be best to head home. So we parted ways. Spresso/Dan and I continued east on US50 to Eureka. We topped off and continued east and turned south on the Hamilton road and up to Hamilton into the White Pine Range. We had lunch and tried to make it up to Treasure City, but the snow decided otherwise, so we headed down the Hamilton-Pioche Stage road. The views and sites never stopped. We saw a huge herd of Mule Deer, wild horses and amazing views. We turned east onto the Beef Pass road and down to the White River road/campground and set up camp.
Day 5: We got up and headed back up to the Currant Creek road, again amazing view after amazing view. We made it to US 6 and turned west to Currant, which is nothing more than a junction. We turned north on SR 379 into Railroad Valley. As we were heading north, Spresso/Dan noticed that there was a Meteor Crater on the east side of the valley. Well we had already passed the easy roads, so we worked our way around the valley looking for the access back over to the east side. We ended up on some trails that looked like we were the first in about 30 years to travel on. We finally found the crater and located some metorite debris. We turned north and traveled up the eastside of the valley to Duckwater and met up with SR 379. We continued north through the valley into the dirt again. We made it to US50 and turned west. We made it to Eureka around lunch time. We noticed the Haul Truck Bed, sitting on the side of the road and thought it was just going to the mine just outside Eureka. So we grabbed a little lunch, fueled up and started west for home. We caught up to the wide load just as we were getting into Austin. Luckily it turned north toward Battle Mountain. Just put our heads down and headed home.
Again, just wanted to say what a great bunch of people to share our experience with. Time for more pictures...
Day 4: We decided to leave Spresso/Dan's trailer at camp and explore up the canyon with Spresso leading the way. Rusty/Dan taking second and I took tailgunner. Things started out great, another amazing canyon. We crossed into Spressoman's aptly named R&P river. Spresso/Dan lead the way and had no problems, of course. Well it was Rusty/Dan's turn, he drove up the creek and started his exit. As he was attempting to get up the slippery slope with stock bald tires, bad things happened. He slid sideways and got into a bad situation. So Spresso/Dan had to back up and give him a tug. We got Rusty/Dan out and pull up the trail a little ways. I was able to make it up with out drama. As we start up the trail, Rusty/Dan's 100 makes a horrible, mechanical sound. We get turned around and head back down. It's still making a bad sound so we find a level spot to check things out. With a little checking, we determine that he stripped a tooth or two off of the front R&P. So, we removed the front drive shaft and drive flanges, so that he can drive out in two wheel drive. We make it down to Antelope Valley and head north to US 50. Rusty/Dan and
decide it would be best to head home. So we parted ways. Spresso/Dan and I continued east on US50 to Eureka. We topped off and continued east and turned south on the Hamilton road and up to Hamilton into the White Pine Range. We had lunch and tried to make it up to Treasure City, but the snow decided otherwise, so we headed down the Hamilton-Pioche Stage road. The views and sites never stopped. We saw a huge herd of Mule Deer, wild horses and amazing views. We turned east onto the Beef Pass road and down to the White River road/campground and set up camp. Day 5: We got up and headed back up to the Currant Creek road, again amazing view after amazing view. We made it to US 6 and turned west to Currant, which is nothing more than a junction. We turned north on SR 379 into Railroad Valley. As we were heading north, Spresso/Dan noticed that there was a Meteor Crater on the east side of the valley. Well we had already passed the easy roads, so we worked our way around the valley looking for the access back over to the east side. We ended up on some trails that looked like we were the first in about 30 years to travel on. We finally found the crater and located some metorite debris. We turned north and traveled up the eastside of the valley to Duckwater and met up with SR 379. We continued north through the valley into the dirt again. We made it to US50 and turned west. We made it to Eureka around lunch time. We noticed the Haul Truck Bed, sitting on the side of the road and thought it was just going to the mine just outside Eureka. So we grabbed a little lunch, fueled up and started west for home. We caught up to the wide load just as we were getting into Austin. Luckily it turned north toward Battle Mountain. Just put our heads down and headed home.
Again, just wanted to say what a great bunch of people to share our experience with. Time for more pictures...