The Hunt: A Single Day Snapshot of the Latest Ski3pins Adventure

Sagebrush Reconnoiterer

The Historian
Joined
Oct 21, 2024
Posts
366
Location
North Central Nevada
When Mr. & Mrs. ski3pins take a trip, I am among those privileged to follow along via nightly text messages on my phone from their InReach device. I often plot those on Google Earth on my computer; keeping tabs on their travels and safety for the duration of their trip.

As Monte has mentioned elsewhere on this forum and on his blog, I have at times in the past noticed that they were camped near a spot that held items that I knew would be of interest and have alerted them via a message back to their InReach and/or cell phone if I know that they have service; resulting in their curiosity getting the better of them and thus they go on a hunt. With rare exception, I refrain from giving them coordinates; instead subtle clues so that they can go and discover these gems for themselves. They love a good challenge!

Monte texted me today (April 23rd), asking if I would be interested in writing up a trip report of a single day of his current travels. So, in my best imitation of their excelling blog, EXPLORATION WITH THE SKI3PINS, here goes.

So, in the afternoon of this past April 21st, I received Monte's daily InReach “Camped here for the night” message. He and Julie were spending the night just west of the ghost town of Candelaria, Nevada, located in the west-central part of the state, south of Hawthorne.

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A Google Earth view of the ski3pins campsite in relation to the townsite of Candelaria. The open wound on the land and the large scab north of it has decimated much of the town, though what is left is quite interesting and photographic; if you can manage to maneuver your camera's lens in a direction of undisturbed landscape. And away from the destruction, there are still subtle things to search for and are waiting to be found.

Over the decades since the early 1980s, I have visited the ghost town numerous times, watching more of it disappear with time and modern strip mining. Over the decades several aspects of the site have eluded me, in that I never took the time to search out locations of interest that I had discovered in word or print in between trips. In those decades, modern mining have removed the earth, roads, and remains here, and have dumped them over there, while burying roads and remains; thus these aspects will forever continue to elude me. Things such as Candelaria's close neighbor, Metallic City, the water pipeline to far off Trail Canyon in the White Mountains near the California border, and the town's water reservoir are things that I often wanted to find and examine but are still yet an unfulfilled desire of mine. Fortunately, modern strip mining missed digging up and burying Candelaria's history as a railroad town. Fortunately, on past visits, I have been able to fully explore and document the railroad terminus area. I last visited Candelaria was in the winter of 2006.

Being an abandoned railroad buff, I saw that Monte and Julie had parked their rig and set up camp not only atop the current maintained road at a summit west of the townsite, but also atop the former Carson & Colorado Railroad's Candelaria Branch. That railroad began life at Mound House, Nevada – near Virginia City – in 1880. It's narrow gauge rails began growing east, then south, then back west again; entering California, turning south again then terminating at Keeler, California in the southern Owens Valley southeast of Lone Pine in 1883. Along the way, a branch of approximately five miles was constructed to access Candelaria.

So, I naturally notified them of their plight. “You are 1,520 feet from the old C&C turntable pit. It's to your northeast.” I knew that especially Julie, naturally and intensely curious, would be jumping at the chance to check it out.

Since the Candelaria Branch was basically a dead-end street, the means to turn trains around was required. In the case of the Carson & Colorado Railroad, it mean using an “Armstrong” turntable to spin locomotives around to reverse their direction; the topography didn't allow enough room for a turning wye. Armstrong meant just that – locomotives were turned by hand on a pivoted, rotating platform. The depot and yard tracks are located at a summit in the Candelaria Hills, a mile and a quarter west of downtown. A stone supported shelf was built on the slope to hold the depot and ancillary structures, as well as sidings; tracks came to an end about four tenths of a mile beyond. Below the depot is the site of the turntable on its own spur; it's rock lined pit still visible, along with a well worn path for station hands to push the locomotive 180° so that it can pull out, then back in to the opposite end of the train to return to the mainline.

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Google Earth view of the terminus, depot and turntable of the Candelaria Branch.

Not long after Monte and Julie set up camp, I began to notice on the forum that Monte was liking a few of the day's posts and made a couple posts himself; so I knew that he had cellular service and data. He also texted me phone to phone that he and Julie had just walked a portion of the railroad back down the hill toward the ghost town of Belleville, a milling center for Candelaria and along the main Carson & Colorado mainline. Along the way they came across a small diamondback rattler, who made sure that they noticed him with all his might. Just to be sure that he got my message about the railroad turntable pit – in case they had already put away their InReach device for the night before I originally responded – I sent him a regular phone text stating what I said in my InReach reply just as I turned in for the night.

At 0738 hours the following morning, I got a couple of photographs embedded in phone texts taken up on Candelaria Mountain during their morning coffee walk; one of them looking at their camper down below and inquiring if the railroad facilities were in the photo. The rest of the photographs posted here were taken by Julie with her phone camera.

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Looking down on their camp. The railroad terminus facilities start at the extreme right center.

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Later, while we were regularly exchanging texts with inquiries and answers, they dropped down from the heights down to the railroad and found the turntable pit.

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In the bottom photo, the depot and yard tracks sat up on the level to the left. Note the flat path around the perimeter. Imagine the trestle stretched across the pit with a Baldwin locomotive sitting atop, two men on each side pushing against handles on the turntable to spin the locomotive.

Candelaria isn't one of those boom and bust ghost towns, it continued as a town and mining community well into the Depression. The Carson & Colorado, which was then under ownership of the Southern Pacific Railroad, finally abandoned the Candelaria Branch in 1932 and pulled up rails.

However, there was another gem for Monte and Julie to find, which I mentioned in my original reply to yesterday's InReach text.

And the town's water reservoir, and the terminus of the pipeline from [T]rail [C]anyon is nearly due east of you and over the ridge.”

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A Google Earth view looking northeast. The Hendricks' camp is noted at the left, the turntable pit nearby. Across the mountain to the right, and right of center, is the water reservoir for Candelaria. The straight road below is atop the pipeline from Trail Canyon.

Candelaria is in a fairly waterless region; local water cannot sustain a booming and sizeable metropolis that Candelaria was turning into during its heyday. So a 27 mile long water pipeline tapped springs in upper Trail Canyon to convey water to a concrete reservoir located south of town near what was once Metallic City. Trail Canyon is on the east side of the northern White Mountains, near the California border. Monte and Julie have several blog entries over the years about their times at the canyon in search of native rock art. Fortunately, modern mining missed obliterating the reservoir. While preparing this report, I found this webpage with information about the pipeline and photos of what is left.


A game of textual volleyball continued throughout the morning, many asking for ideas as to how to access the reservoir. I texted them directions as well as screen shots from Google Earth from my desktop computer, which Monte also verified on his maps.

I also quipped: “This is the best that I can do without supplying the coordinates. Don't want to spoil the hunt.”

Earlier, Monte texted me a photo, taken atop Candelaria Mountain and looking south, and asking if it were the water pipeline. I responded: “It looks right. A scar running straight in an area where roads curve is a good indicator.” And then I added: “Instead of a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, you will find an in ground reservoir at the end of a pipeline.”

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The last part of the reservoir access road parallels the pipeline. Photos were taken.

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Then two minutes later, these photos came, along with the words: “And the pot of gold. Thanks for the treasure hunt!

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The Candelaria town water reservoir and likely a related utility structure next to it.

About three hours later, I got another InReach message alerting me to their next campsite. I should have known that they would overnight at what I teasingly call their “second home,” as it's so prolific on their blog, the Benton Hot Springs Inn. Julie is so adept to finding cancellations that Monte calls her the "Tub Whisperer." A fine way to finish off a day of treasure hunting!

Or as Monte finished up the day: “We are always ready for more. Our hunting licenses are current.”
 
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David, congratulations on an excellent excerpt of a day in the life of the ski3pins. I suspected (correctly) that your knowledge and travels have much influenced their explorations.

I hereby bequeath you the new title of… Wizard Historian, the man behind the curtain.

…and thank you for the superb report!
 

Sagebrush Reconnoiterer, I read with delight your report of their trip, and thanks! We were also communicating with them about the time you were, with few recommendations from our trip of a couple years ago. The Candelaria townsite has some great ruins, and the cemetery was pretty interesting too. I'll try to summarize a few facts from my wife Deb's talk on female prospectors. She'll talk about Ferminia Serras who mined there on June 11 in Reno (debfoxdesign.com).

Ferminia Serras had a mine there, I think The Central American in 1883. There were 13 saloons but no churches in Candelaria. Somehow she thrived in a mostly male environment. Evidence of her mine was completely wiped out by modern strip mining. I believe she left in the 1890s when Candelaria slowed down, and the later mines you see these days used modern mining technology with big machines. Not in her day! Ferminia was quite the character. Originally from Nicaragua, she had several husbands, a lot of children, and made a lot of money from her mines. She's one of several "characters" from Deb's talk who were female miners in Nevada and eastern California.
 
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To get an idea of an Armstrong turntable, here is an intact one, located on the same railroad at Laws Railroad Museum, near Bishop, California. Laws is about an hour and a half south of Candelaria

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It's design and operation is simple. A platform on a central pivot, upon which railroad rails are laid. Underneath at each end are small flanged wheels, riding along railroad rail laid around the perimeter of the pit. The locomotive and its tender (the car with wood, coal or oil to fuel the locomotive) is pulled onto the platform. Four men working in pairs grab onto a long handle on opposite sides, and push, turning the locomotive around. The locomotive is turned and can travel in the opposite direction.
 
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A historic photo of the turntable at Laws in use. Photo from the Laws Railroad Museum website.


The Southern Pacific Railroad filed for abandonment of the railroad between Tonopah Junction and Benton in 1933, not long after the Candelaria Branch was dismantled, and later removed the rails along the 50 mile route. Just after the United States entered World War 2, the Southern Pacific Railroad stopped service and abandoned the railroad line north of Laws; confining it to the 70 miles between Laws and Keeler. That line was the last operating narrow gauge railroad west of the Rocky Mountains. Southern Pacific abandoned and dismantled the railroad in 1960.

Below is the link to a documentary of the Carson & Colorado Railroad. It is comprised of amateur film movie footage of actual railroad operations on the line between Laws and Keeler, likely during the 1950s, the railroad's last decade of operation. Footage of railroad employees turning the locomotive on the line is found at the five minute mark. The entire video is 32:53 long.

 
Ferminia Serras had a mine there, I think The Central American in 1883. There were 13 saloons but no churches in Candelaria. Somehow she thrived in a mostly male environment. Evidence of her mine was completely wiped out by modern strip mining.
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Remains of strip mining at Candelaria, which ended in the early 2000s. When I was taking these photos, I found only two men working at the large warehouse at the mine facility, piddling about the warehouse yard with a forklift shuffling things around.

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Look closely just below and left of center. Might this be Ferminia Serras' mine, once deep underground and now an exposed tunnel cut through by open pit mining? :unsure:
 
Excellent job, sagebrush! Rubberlegs too! I'd also note that western mining history website noted by David, is Aaron's - DirtyDog founder of Wander the West - website and passion. It's a small world at times.
 
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I found a perplexing thing. The Western Mining History page shows the reservoir at Candelaria as:

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Which is shaped differently and definitely larger than that on the ground today. WMH also states that the reservoir was 500,000 gallon capacity. I haven't a clue as to how to calculate such things, the current photo doesn't look large enough to hold that much. This based on a search as to how many gallons does a standard swimming pool hold, which is around 20,000 gallons. The photo doesn't seem to indicate that the reservoir is very large, but measuring it in Google Earth shows it to be about 75'x88'. However, the WMH image doesn't seem to fit Candelaria's topography; no mountainous background, trees, rock and ground seem wrong. I'll have to check former Nevada State Hydrologist Hugh Shamburger's book on the Candelaria water system to determine if there was another reservoir.

I did a historic image search in GE and interestingly it appears that the reservoir held water at capacity in 1999.

In the current map, there is a straight line running straight up Candelaria Mountain. It made me think that maybe a pump was used to run water through a tunnel to allow water to be used on the western end of town for mines and mills there. But that line didn't appear until 2016 imagery.

Checking historic imagery in GE (clear imagery only goes back to 1999 and is blurry when zoomed in prior) and inspecting the topographic map (which predates modern mining), I don't see any other evidence of the town's water system.
 
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1 gal is .13 cu ft. So if the reservoir was 75 x 88, then the reservoir height would be:

height = 500,000 gal / [(75 ft) x (88 ft) * (.13 gal/ft^3)] = 580 feet.... hope I did the math and units right!
 
For those interested in the Candelaria water pipeline, I found a second part to that in the original post about the pipeline and what is there today. The person who posted it still didn't make it to Candelaria, but has a better appreciation for the difficulty encountered by those who constructed the pipeline.

 
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A historic photo of the turntable at Laws in use. Photo from the Laws Railroad Museum website.


The Southern Pacific Railroad filed for abandonment of the railroad between Tonopah Junction and Benton in 1933, not long after the Candelaria Branch was dismantled, and later removed the rails along the 50 mile route. Just after the United States entered World War 2, the Southern Pacific Railroad stopped service and abandoned the railroad line north of Laws; confining it to the 70 miles between Laws and Keeler. That line was the last operating narrow gauge railroad west of the Rocky Mountains. Southern Pacific abandoned and dismantled the railroad in 1960.

Below is the link to a documentary of the Carson & Colorado Railroad. It is comprised of amateur film movie footage of actual railroad operations on the line between Laws and Keeler, likely during the 1950s, the railroad's last decade of operation. Footage of railroad employees turning the locomotive on the line is found at the five minute mark. The entire video is 32:53 long.

Great photo of the old SP Mud hen especially on the arm-strong turntable.
I had a copy of the 100 years of SP and they had a great section about that route.
Thanks for ate info.
Frank
 
The USGS topo has RES marked on the north side of Candelaria Mountains, just east of the turntable location. My question, how was water transported from the reservoir on the south side - the one we visited - to Candelaria on the north side, through or over the mountain? And was there a second reservoir on the north side.
 
Here's an example of a railroad turntable. This one, in Monte Cristo, WA (now a ghost town) was built in 1893 and still works using the "arm-strong" method. I don't have information at hand if it was arm-strong back then, or used horsepower. The rails were removed in 1936, save a few that the discerning eye can find. We took this video last summer.

 
wow, the story continues to evolve -
we earlier find out that the skipm's do an inordinate amount of sleuthing around in the dark - no lights in their camper, and only red lensed lights getting out and about.
and now we are finding that some (?) of their destinations are controlled by a fellow out by Winnemucca (love that name).
i think i once met julie and monte, but it was daylight, and now i am wondering if i should reconsider who i actually met...
thx mr reconnoiter for shedding light on this travelling duo, and their whereabouts - albeit yesterday...
go
 
The USGS topo has RES marked on the north side of Candelaria Mountains, just east of the turntable location. My question, how was water transported from the reservoir on the south side - the one we visited - to Candelaria on the north side, through or over the mountain? And was there a second reservoir on the north side.

Good question, and one I was trying to find an answer to yesterday. Quick answer, I didn't find an answer.

It makes sense to me that a primary reservoir would be at the summit of the Candelaria Mountain Ridge, either in a straight line beyond the reservoir you visited or elsewhere.

From what I can find online, it is stated that the reservoir was at the head of Pickhandle Gulch, which ran down the north side of Candelaria Mountain and into the town near the cemetery. Pickhandle Gulch was where Metalic City was located. Modern mining has all but erased Pickhandle Gulch. Also, to access Pickhandle Gulch, I would think pipeline builders would have angled the pipeline differently in its final approach. Or a pipeline was simply laid across to drop water into the gulch.

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A line from the reservoir to Pickhandle Gulch. This image is from 1999. Mining was underway, but the ground disturbed far less than today. Dates prior to 1999 are too blurry to be of use at this zoom level.

This caught my eye when I was first in contact with you the other day.

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Note what appears to be a pipeline running up the mountain then terminating. I was thinking that water was pumped (possibly the use of the structure that remains beside the reservoir), run through a tunnel to be dropped on the north side of the mountain. Water would exit the tunnel above the railroad facilities. Then water could be distributed to the mines below that and on into town. Also note that it appears that a pipeline extends beyond the reservoir to the right. But it doesn't continue far as the ground appears to be disturbed by mining.

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But in the 1999 image the trench up the mountain is not there. It disappears from the map prior to 2016. What the purpose was for digging that I haven't a clue. It's interesting to note that the reservoir appears to be full of water in the 1999 images, the only year it is not dry.

I made an attempt to see if I could find online a readable copy of Hugh A. Shamburger's book, The Story of Candelaria and Its Neighbors, Columbus, Metallic City, Belleville, Marietta, Sodaville, and Coaldale, Esmeralda and Mineral Counties, Nevada. Shamburger was the Nevada state hydrologist in the 1950s and 1960s, who wrote numerous books focusing on a specific Nevada town, giving their histories and focusing on their water sources and distribution, along with a large amount of historic and present day photos. But I couldn't find any. I believe the Winnemucca library will have one, as I've checked out several of his books. I believe that book will be the authority.
 
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In regards to the line uphill from the south reservoir, and thanks for the historical GE photos as it confirms my observations, it is a more recently excavated trench leading uphill to what looked like a hole or tunnel. And a filled reservoir in 1999? Where did that water come from as the pipeline was gone?

I very curious now.
 
Wow! Amazing tag-team sleuthing. I love the historical perspective, Sagebrush Reconnoiterer, and the then & now photos. Very cool! Thanks to you all for sharing this fine adventure.
 
Here's an example of a railroad turntable. This one, in Monte Cristo, WA (now a ghost town) was built in 1893 and still works using the "arm-strong" method. I don't have information at hand if it was arm-strong back then, or used horsepower. The rails were removed in 1936, save a few that the discerning eye can find. We took this video last summer.

Thanks for that look back at that piece of RR history.
Turn tables usually have a flanged wheel that runs on a single rail track.
This one just has smooth roller wheels that run on the ground or maybe a cement track.
Frank
 

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