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[DirtyDog]

The one western state I have never been to was New Mexico. Not only did I want to see the area, but I needed to get some mining town coverage of the state for Western Mining History. New Mexico is a long drive from Oregon, which is the primary reason I had never been there. Finding the time for such a trip isn't easy. Finally I was able to carve out a two week period to git er done, and on March 19th Diego and I hit the road.

I was also hoping that this trip would be a spring break of sorts. Weather in Bend this time of the year is various shades of crap, so I packed the duffle full of shorts in anticipation of some SW style spring sunshine. Shorts never left the bag, but every layer of warm clothing I could find sure did. But more on that shortly............

I decided to take some backroads through NE Nevada, near the Blackrock Desert. Nevada border:



I pulled over on a gravel road to check my map and a rancher pulled up and offered a spot on his land to pop the top, complete with wifi:



Heading south towards Gerlach (this is just to the west of the Blackrock Desert):

[DirtyDog]

While driving on state road 34 (north of Gerlach), I discovered a spot where the George W. Lund Petrified Forest was preserved. The petrified logs/stumps here were several feet in diameter. It's amazing to think a lush forest once grew in this desert area:

[DirtyDog]

My first planned destination of the trip was Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park in central Nevada. This park is really in the middle of nowhere, which is part of the appeal. This is a place where an old mining town is preserved AND they found dinosaur fossils. Have you ever heard of anything cooler than that? Me neither.

Edited by DirtyDog, 08 April 2009 - 11:22 PM.

[DirtyDog]

The ghost town of Berlin:

[DirtyDog]

More Berlin:

[DirtyDog]

And even more Berlin:

[DirtyDog]

Ichthyosaurs!

[DirtyDog]

The campground here was nice and I had it all to myself so I stayed two nights:

[DirtyDog]

Sunsets in Nevada are always spectacular:

[DirtyDog]

On my second night at Berlin-Ichthyosaur I had a change of weather - and a sign of things to come throughout the trip: