Two Weeks in the Great Basin

[OTG Ben]

A week ago today, we started our adventure on the Great Basin Heritage Trail that would take us across much of northern and central Nevada and even into Utah. This is a day by day update of that trip.

Day 1: Virginia City to Stillwater Wildlife Refugre
Mileage: 142

Starting on October 11, I met up with a small group of folks in Virginia City to head out on the 2,000+ mile Great Basin Heritage Trail over the course of 14 days. Rolling into Virginia City at 8:30am, the rumble of loud trucks could be heard around town. Driving through the main strip, a large inflatable archway denoted the official start of the race. Taking a quick tour of town, I met up with our small group of folks.

In order to make up a bit of town, we opted to skip the normal route and instead took the rather trail over the pass that goes by the old Como mining camp. This section of trail was incredbily rocky and rather slow going. Finally making it past the slow going sections, we hit a series of BLM and county dirt roads, regularly cruising along at 40-50mph. Along the way, we stopped at the Mad Max playa (we deemed this an appropriate name given the burnt out, abandoned vehicles), and another stop at an old Pony Express station with the corral still in place, and remnants of the old water tank and possibly living quarters.

Finally making good time, we set our sites for the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge outside of Fallon. Late in the afternoon we finally made it to the Wildlife Refuge. Running short on daylight, we found a beautiful spot upslope of the regure, with inredible views of the many lakes an playas that dotted the valley. The sunset camp was the best I've seen in a long time!

Gold Rush truck race would kick off the following day.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 2: Stillwater Wildlife Refuge to Willow Creek Reservoir

As the sun rose over the massive basin, we could see what we thought was a massive lake, was actually a playa stretching several miles across. We hit the road at 9a sharp headed northward towards the Jarbidge Mountains, which we'd hopefully reach by day 3. Our first big stop of the day would be at the old Midas ghost town, which isn't much of a ghost town afterall. While there are many old buildings, Midas still has 11 residents. Pulling into the old mining camp, we were surprised to see a dozen or so people gathered outside the Bighorn saloon. We parked and made our way over. Turns out there were so many people in "town" for a celebration of life. We had a libation, and chatted with one of the locals Paige who filled us in on the goings on in town. The population would soon be to 9, as two of the residents head down to Arizona for the winter.

We said our good byes and continued northward once again. The planned itinerary would put us somewhere in the vicinity of Willow Creek reservoir. The roads were in good condition and we were blazing along. By the time we made it to Willow Creek, the sun was just above the horizon. We found a nice spot overlooking the dam and lake and settled into camp. We were once again treated to another sunset for the ages!

Rolando treating the group to tamales for breakfast.

We made good time on the way to Midas!

Having a quick libation at the Bighorn saloon. Be sure to ask for Paige if you drop in.

On the way to Willow Creek Reservoir.

Camp overlooking reservoir.

Another epic sunset.

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

I have friends who lived in Midas, right across from the Saloon for several years. They moved to Central Alaska when the mining company mothballed the mine and he went to work for one of the company's mines up there. He was good friends with Paige.

 

[OTG Ben]

I have friends who lived in Midas, right across from the Saloon for several years. They moved to Central Alaska when the mining company mothballed the mine and he went to work for one of the company's mines up there. He was good friends with Paige.

Wow! Small world. Paige is definitely a good dude, and was pretty amazed at the expedtion we had embarded on. The Saloon is damn proper given the size of Midas (11 residents), and a must see/drop in for anyone passing through.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 3: Willow Creek Reservoir to the Bruneau River (Jarbidge Mountains)
I'd been waiting for this day for quite some time. Why? Well, Jarbidge and the Jarbidge Mountains have been on my to do list for quite some time. I also knew that the Jarbidge Mountains would provide quite a change in scenery from the sea of sagebrush that we'd been travelling through for the last several hundred miles. The reason we chose to run the route in reverse starting with segment 3 was due to favorable weather forecast that showed mild temperatures and no precipitation in northern Nevada. So off to Jarbidge we headed!

Our first big stop of the day was at Tuscarora ghost town. Tuscarora was founded after a local Shoshone had shown a settler a gold nugget in the late 1860s, and by 1870 Tuscarora was an official town. Like Midas, Tuscarora isn't much of a ghost town as several residents still live there, but there's nothing like the Bighorn Saloon like you'll find in Midas. Rolling through on a Sunday in the off season, no one was out and about. We kicked off the tour of Tuscarosa by making a stop at the old graveyard. We found headstones from the19th century, and even one from 2024!

We wandered throught town and up the mountain to an old brick tower. Apparently, this was the chimney of the Indepedence Mill towers that overlooks the main part of town. After spending about an hour in the cemetery and town, we decied to head north towards the Jarbidge Mountains.

Like the Australian outback, the American outback is filled with lots and lots of dust!

I wonder, was Adele born in Tuscarora? 42 years young, RIP Adele!

This impressive chimney overlooks the town of Tuscarora.

Blazing a trail through the sea of sagebrush. Are we in Jarbidge yet?

Making our way through the foothills of the Jarbidge Mountains.

Camp along the Bruneau river. It would get damn cold in this canyon!

Pete playing around on his HAM radio setup.

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

Our first big stop of the day would be at the old Midas ghost town, which isn't much of a ghost town afterall. While there are many old buildings, Midas still has 11 residents.

Midas used to have its original schoolhouse, located a block off the main street. It was restored by town residents with financial aid from the mining company. My first visit to Midas was in 2001 and a couple of friends and I were allowed to camp in the school yard in our separate rigs. In the spring of 2008 my wife and I visited town and found the school had burned down, doing so in 2007. Townsfolk are mum about the cause.

 

[PaulT]

Day 3: Willow Creek Reservoir to the Bruneau River (Jarbidge Mountains)
I'd been waiting for this day for quite some time. Why? Well, Jarbidge and the Jarbidge Mountains have been on my to do list for quite some time. I also knew that the Jarbidge Mountains would provide quite a change in scenery from the sea of sagebrush that we'd been travelling through for the last several hundred miles. The reason we chose to run the route in reverse starting with segment 3 was due to favorable weather forecast that showed mild temperatures and no precipitation in northern Nevada. So off to Jarbidge we headed!

Our first big stop of the day was at Tuscarora ghost town. Tuscarora was founded after a local Shoshone had shown a settler a gold nugget in the late 1860s, and by 1870 Tuscarora was an official town. Like Midas, Tuscarora isn't much of a ghost town as several residents still live there, but there's nothing like the Bighorn Saloon like you'll find in Midas. Rolling through on a Sunday in the off season, no one was out and about. We kicked off the tour of Tuscarosa by making a stop at the old graveyard. We found headstones from the19th century, and even one from 2024!

We wandered throught town and up the mountain to an old brick tower. Apparently, this was the chimney of the Indepedence Mill towers that overlooks the main part of town. After spending about an hour in the cemetery and town, we decied to head north towards the Jarbidge Mountains.

View attachment 114648
Like the Australian outback, the American outback is filled with lots and lots of dust!

View attachment 114647

View attachment 114646
I wonder, was Adele born in Tuscarora? 42 years young, RIP Adele!

View attachment 114645
This impressive chimney overlooks the town of Tuscarora.

View attachment 114644
Blazing a trail through the sea of sagebrush. Are we in Jarbidge yet?

View attachment 114643
Making our way through the foothills of the Jarbidge Mountains.

View attachment 114642
Camp along the Bruneau river. It would get damn cold in this canyon!

View attachment 114641
Pete playing around on his HAM radio setup.

View attachment 114640

Looks like Pete has a Cha TDL antenna up about 20 feet or more. Wonder if he had much luck making contacts.
Paul

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 4: Bruneau River through the Jarbidge Mountains and to Slide Creek
We awoke to a thick frost and temps in the high 20s. Shasta's dog bowl had a thick layer of ice. Being nice and comfy in my camper, I had no idea that a good chunk of the night had been in the mid to high 20s. Needless to say, we were a bit slow to get rolling as we waited for the sun to peak over the mountains and shed its warmth into the canyon.

Day 4 would find us climbing higher into the Jarbidge Mountains. But before we could make it to the outpost of Jarbidge, we'd need to traverse the narrow and overgrown shelf rode through the Bruneau River Canyon. I'm sure if I was in my old land cruiser this track would've have been so bad. But for 10+ miles, the road is barely wide enough for my full size, many sections have steep drop offs, and to make matters more frustrating, a good portion of the track is overgrown with all kinds of trees and shrubs. I managed to pick up hundreds of new pinstrips, including a big one across the top of my hood! Now I see why the boys in the southeast use limbrisers!

We finally made it through the canyon and onto the main thoroughfare that passes over Bear Creek Summit. The road up and over the summit is wide and graded, easy enough for a Prius! We zoomed up the mountain taking in the changing colors of the aspen. I had no idea the Jarbidge mountains were filled with so many fall colors. While we managed to catch a fair bit of yellow and oranges, many of the aspens had already lost their leaves. It seems like early October would be the best time to witness fall colors in this corner of northern Nevada. Upon making it to the pass, we took a side road to a nice knoll overlooking some of the higher peaks in the Jarbidge Mountains, and to the north of us stood the barren Snake River plain.

Dropping down from the pass was rather easy, and about 30 minutes later we were pulling into Jarbidge. With only one fuel pump in town, we lined up taking our turns to refuel at just under $7 per gallon-- right about what we expected! The guys went down to the only open establishment in town for ice cream, and others for burgers. The folks in Jarbidge were all rather friendly, and I've gotta say, the mountains are spectacular! Leaving town we drove through an impressive canyon with many hoodoos dotting the landscape. Unfortunately, I didn't capture any photos but I definitely have some video that'll make it's way onto the video route guide

After making our way out of the Canyon, we began climbing higher and higher up a massive hill. We decided to check out Slide Creek Campground and determined it would make a suitable camp for the night. Having the entire campground to ourselves, the coyotes sung their feral lullabies in the distance. We gathered around the fire, wondering if another early winter night would pay us a visit-- we were camping at 8500' after all!

Most of the trail along the Bruneau River was narrow, overgrown two-track.

Fall colors in the Jarbidge mountains.

Somewhere above Bear Creek Pass approaching 9,000 feet.

Looking out at the Snake River plain. The Jarbidge mountains are effectively the northern boundary of the Basin and Range province around these parts.

hey say Jarbidge has the most remote post office in the lower 48!

The famous Red Dog saloon doesn't reopen til November, when the winter crowds begin visiting Jarbidge.

The folks in Jarbidge aren't big fans of the Federal Government. Google "jarbidge shovel" and you'll get the full story!

A view of the Jarbidge crest above camp.

Camp at Slide Creek.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Interesting TR, thanks for sharing.

Here’s a link to the referred to Jarbidge Shovel, and that’s quite the story. I simply picked the first on the Google search, there’s probable more opinions.

 

[Sagebrush Reconnoiterer]

There is a Alert Nevada camera on a high point on the road coming off of Bear Creek Summit that runs down into the west side of Jarbidge. Cameras are live and take a photo every half minute or so.

ALERTCalifornia - Deer

alertnevada.live

You can look at an image where the camera is currently pointed at, or open full size a panorama and look a 360 degree view as if you were standing there and turning around. On the fixed image you can do a time lapse of various lengths up to 24 hours. The camera location got snow last night and it's bright and sunny there now.

The Alert camera system has cameras on mountaintops all over California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Idaho.

ALERTCalifornia - Operations

alertnevada.live

 

[OTG Ben]

Interesting TR, thanks for sharing.

Here’s a link to the referred to Jarbidge Shovel, and that’s quite the story. I simply picked the first on the Google search, there’s probable more opinions.

Like many things in life, the politics of extreme rural communities (and many communities for that matter) are often filled with irony. The desire to have the Federal Government move aside, while receiving disproportionate amounts of federal tax dollars per capita. No need to go down this rabbit hole

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 5: Jarbidge Mountains to Bonneville Salt Flats
At 8500', we had expected the same bitter cold that we'd experienced along the Bruneau River-- except it never arrived. Upon waking up to the soft golden light of the rising sun, there was no frost to be found. And best of all, since we weren't tucked into a deep mountain gorge, the sun rose over the high sagebrush hills not long after the expected sunrise according to my Garmen watch. Before making our way towards the Utah border, we drove up the hill to snap some photos of the Jarbidge Crest, the highest peaks of which are well over 10,000 feet.

After leaving the Bruneau River gorge behind, the roads were wide and well manicured, and I expected them to stay that way as we departed camp. Except they didn't. Travel was slow going as we bounced along on a rocky and pock marked filled road. Pete radioed back that he needed to stop to investigate some squeaking. Turns out his Yakima rack was failing. With some quick roadside engineering, we were able to secure the rack with some tiedown straps. The plan was to monitor how the rack was holding up and then figure out what to do if it wasn't. Following behind Pete, I could see the rack hoding, but it was swaying side to side in a way that was certainly putting stress across all four of the support bars. After a dozen or so miles of bouncing along, Pete decided there was no way he'd be able to finish another 8+ days on the trail with the rack in its current condition. Pete planned to hit the hardware store in Wells and engineer a much sturdier fix.

We wished Pete well as he set off down the highway. We followed the same stretch of pavement for a few miles before jumping off onto the dirt once again, and onto the lands of the massively large Winecup Gamble Ranch. The rolling hills sagebrush covered hills were once again in front of us, but this time odd mesas and other geometric shapes topped many of the hills. The three of us kicked up dust while averaging 50+ mph as we ripped across the desert. Soon enough we were on a bumpy county road and closing in on the Utah state line. But before we could cross into Utah, we'd need to drive a short stint on the Interstate that would bring us to the twin cities fo West Wendover/Wendover. After filling up on some much needed fuel, we made a beeline for the salt flats where I launched the drone and took photos of the alien landscape that we were driving on. And then I got the call from Pete, who rolled out onto the Salt Flats a few minutes later!

After our fun on the salt flats, we set off looking for camp. We ended up at a great spot on BLM land overlooking the salt flats, with some impressively craggy cliffs behind us.

The morning alpenglow at Slide Creek.

600+ miles of mostly dirt covered before heading out on the trail!

The Jarbidge Crest. Can you spot the Matterhorn?

Lots of bumps led to...

A broken Yakima Rack (do not recommend for overlanding/off roading!). Trailside engineering at its best.

Will we make it to Utah today?

Pilot Peak in the background, Utah only a few short miles away!

Yep, we made it to Utah alright (Bonneville Salt Flats).

Camp overlooking the salt flats on a warm fall's night.

 

[Foy]

Great TR so far! I'm curious about your route from Tuscarora to the camp site on the Bruneau River and to Jarbidge from there. From your GPS track it looks like you split the Independence Range and Bull Run Mountains by going over Maggie Summit to just south of Mountain City, then east on 930 past Sunflower Reservoir to 745, then north on 745 (Meadow Cr Rd) to the Bruneau River just south of Rowland. Then you flipped a 180 back south/southeast on FR 067 upstream up the Bruneau to Charleston before getting onto the Charleston-Jarbidge Rd (751) and took it north over Coon Creek Summit and Bear Creek Summit finally descending the 2,500' into Jarbidge. It further looks like you looped up into Idaho on the main route through Murphy Hot Springs and turned back south into Nevada once at the top of the grade coming out of the East Fork Jarbidge River's canyon. Reckon you guys DID need some fuel in Jarbidge!
If that's the route, you were close to where an infamous "Death by GPS" incident occurred (Albert and Rita Chretien in March 2011--she survived, he died). Their van got stuck near Rowland. And if you went across the tablelands south of Murphy Hot Springs headed back towards US 93 south of Jackpot, you drove past Robinson Hole, site of the 1989 Rainbow Family gathering. There, attendees had to drive in from Murphy Hot Springs to the lip of the canyon, park, and backpack their gear 3.5 miles, descending 1,500', to reach the site.
Looking forward to hearing a little more about that overall route if you can touch upon it.
Foy

 

[OTG Ben]

Great TR so far! I'm curious about your route from Tuscarora to the camp site on the Bruneau River and to Jarbidge from there. From your GPS track it looks like you split the Independence Range and Bull Run Mountains by going over Maggie Summit to just south of Mountain City, then east on 930 past Sunflower Reservoir to 745, then north on 745 (Meadow Cr Rd) to the Bruneau River just south of Rowland. Then you flipped a 180 back south/southeast on FR 067 upstream up the Bruneau to Charleston before getting onto the Charleston-Jarbidge Rd (751) and took it north over Coon Creek Summit and Bear Creek Summit finally descending the 2,500' into Jarbidge. It further looks like you looped up into Idaho on the main route through Murphy Hot Springs and turned back south into Nevada once at the top of the grade coming out of the East Fork Jarbidge River's canyon. Reckon you guys DID need some fuel in Jarbidge!
If that's the route, you were close to where an infamous "Death by GPS" incident occurred (Albert and Rita Chretien in March 2011--she survived, he died). Their van got stuck near Rowland. And if you went across the tablelands south of Murphy Hot Springs headed back towards US 93 south of Jackpot, you drove past Robinson Hole, site of the 1989 Rainbow Family gathering. There, attendees had to drive in from Murphy Hot Springs to the lip of the canyon, park, and backpack their gear 3.5 miles, descending 1,500', to reach the site.
Looking forward to hearing a little more about that overall route if you can touch upon it.
Foy

I'll need to look at our route in Gaia to get back to you, but I don't believe we hit Maggie Summit or Sunflower Reservoir. We arrived at Wild Horse Reservoir from the south via burning a few miles of pavement.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 6: Bonneville Salt Flats to Lookout Pass (start of Segment 2)
Day 6 would find us near the start of segment 2 of the GBHT. Pete determined his trailside engineering wouldn't be able to sustain several more days of washboards, so he opted to head off to Salt Lake City around 6am to buy a new rack. The morning was rather mild, and as soon as the sun rose, the temps began climbing immediately. After breakfast and tea/coffee, we were on our way once gain. After fueling up, we decided to make a quick stop at the historic Wendover Airfield. After leaving town we hit a decent stretch of pavement and then found ourselves following in the horsetracks of the historic Pony Express trail. There are numerous old monuments, markers, and even old stations along this stretch of the trail. Some of the stations are decrepit rock walls that are falling apart, while the one at Simpson Springs had been renovated with a completely new roof!

As we traversed the Pony Express, the massive Salt Lake Desert could be seen in the distance. Such an immense and white basin is an impressive sight! As we made our way along the PNX, we passed through Fish Springs Wildlife Refuge and stopped by the hot springs cave. Humans have been inhabiting the area for 11,000 years, and the cave happens to be a Native American heritage site that is barred off to prevent any vandalism or degradation of the site. The nice thing about the stretch of trail through the wildlife refuge is that it fallows at the base of the hills, with the massive basin directly on your left stretching dozens of miles off into the distance-- pretty neat!

Eventually we began closing in on the town of Eureka, and we got a ping on the Zoleo that Pete had installed the new rack and wanted to know where abouts we'd be camping. I told him we planned to camp within 20 miles of Eureka. We found a nice site amongst the Juniper near Overland Pass a few short miles from the highway that leads to Eureka. Pete ended up rolling into camp with about 30 minutes left of light. He was properly greeted with a cold beer and we commenced building a fire. Rain was in the forecast, and drizzles and light rain began to move in around 8:30pm, at which time we vacated the fire to our tents and vehicles.

Sunrise over the salt flats.

Wendover Army Airfield.

The PNX station at Overland Canyon wasn't in great shape, but the view atop the hill is fantastic.

Ripping through Fish Springs Wildlife Refuge.

Hot Springs Cave. Native Americans have been in the Fish Springs area for at least 12,000 years!

This renovated PNX stations at Simpson springs was the most impressive that we've seen on our trip.

I love reading the inscriptions on these T-markers that are found all across the west.

Camp for the night. Rain would be coming soon!

 

[OTG Ben]

I'll need to look at our route in Gaia to get back to you, but I don't believe we hit Maggie Summit or Sunflower Reservoir. We arrived at Wild Horse Reservoir from the south via burning a few miles of pavement.

@Foy Here's a closer look at our route into northern Nevada. We cut across North Fork Jack Creek Summit to make it to hwy 225 and then up to the Bruneau River Canyon.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 8: Notch Peak Wilderness to Ward Mining District
Going to bed the night before, we know the forecast called for the possibility of snow overnight. I had hoped to launch the drone in the morning to get capture some epic photos of videos of Notch Peak, but that was dashed up seeing dark, grey skies stretching across the horizon. Camp had gotten a light dusting, with the higher peaks seeing a few inches more. It was cold, but not nearly as cold as our night at the Bruneau River. My guess is that it had been subfreezing for perhaps a few hours looking at the minimal amount of ice in Shasta's dog bowl.

So while I may not have gotten those epic drone shots of Notch Peak, which was shrouded under a thick layer of mist, the winter wonderland did create some fantastic photos and videos as we departed camp and climbed through the mountains across the basin. We weaved our way through the mountains, gawking at the snow covered canyons and hills. Eventually our track put us on a short stretch of pavement that would take us back into Nevada and into the Pacific time zone. With an hour regained, we deiceded to make a quick sidetrip to Great Basin National Park.

Great Basin NP is Nevada's only National Park that's fully contained within the states, and one of the least visited National Parks in the west. We had hoped of doing the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, but due to the snowfall, the road was closed a few miles up from the visitor center. Instead, we decided to take the gravel road that goes up past Grey Rocks. Wheeler Peak was beautiful, but I really do hope to go back one day and do the scenic drive and perhaps a bit of hiking as well.

After our quick stint at Great Basin NP, we continued westward through the mountains. Wheeler Peak dominates the mountains in this part of the state, and if you didn't know you were in Nevada, you might mistake it for a high peak in the Colorado Rockies. Our travels would take us past the old Osceola ghost town, which is still privately owned and fenced off from the public. Old mining equipment, buildings, and warn down vehicles dotted the landscape below us. The road past Osceola would put us back on the pavement once again that would lead us to Ely.

I'd been looking forward to making it to Ely. Ely had public showers at the local aquatic center and a Napa Auto Parts store, which I hoped had an air filter in stock for my truck. That pesky check engine light had persisted off and on ever since it first appeared just outside of Eureka a few days before. We'd hit the fuel station first, then it was off to the aquatic center. I'm still in disbelief they only charge $2 to use the public showers, which were quite nice and clean! After freshening up, it was off to Napa. Upon putting the air filter in, the check engine light disappeared, but would it stay that way? We decided to hit a local burger joint within one of the casinos that turned out to be quite good (Smash n Grab).

After freshening up, filling our fuel tanks and our bellies, it was off to find camp. I had some leads on spots around the old Ward Mining District. A cold, brisk wind was pushing through the basin where Ely sits, so anywhere down in the valley seemed like a precipitous choice. So up the mountain we went, first past the old cemetery and eventually to the end of the road right below the old core sample warehouse. The wind was still howling, but at least it seemed we had some cover between two ridges. We settled into camp, using some old tin siding to protect our fire from the wind. I'd read that Ely has one of the shortest growing seasons in the contiguous United States (77 days I believe). I wondered if we'd be subjected to freezing temperatures once again.

Honestly, I was a bit excited to wake to the snow covered truck!

Notch Peak was under the same cloud layer a few miles down trail.

Departing camp, westward we go!

A winter wonderland in the Great Basin!

Our limited visit to Great Basin NP.

Grey Rocks area of Great Basin NP.

Climbing through the mountains west of Great Basin NP.

Wheeler Peak under a shroud of mist.

Camp below the old core sample warehouse in the Ward Mining district.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 9: Ward Mining District to Lunar Crater
With the wind howling the night before, and Ely's reputation for having one of the coldest climates in the lower 48, we were prepared for subfreezing temps into the low 20s. But the bitter cold temperatures we were expecting, never came to fruition. It wasn't warm per se, but if it did dip down to freezing, it was only for an hour or two. By the time the sun began rising over the Basin Ranges, temps ascended into the 40s and then 50s pretty rapidly.

Our first order of business was to check out the remaining buildings at the old Ward Mine. An old warehouse had seen better days as it's aluminum corregated roof was beginning to cave in. The old warehouse stored thousands of core samples, many of which are still neatly organized and labeled in hundreds of cardboard boxes within the warehouse. It's pretty cool to pick up one of these core samples samples, and then to imagine that it was extraced out of the earth several thousand feet below us-- who knows if this is true, but it makes a great story! The one thing that is certainly a bit concerning, and this seems to be a constant within the extraction of minerals, metals, and other resources, is that these mining companies can simply just leave all this crap here! While some of the old mining relics give a sense of novelty, it's not difficult to see why so many mining companies have such bad environmental track records. We always harp on folks who don't clean up their camp, well it seems the mining industry at large never got the message :/

After our quick tour of the remnants of the old Ward Mine, we headed back down the mountain to the massive stone charcoal kilns that were used to separate silver from the mined ore. The impressive kilns stood about 30 feet tall. It was said that it took 6 acres of juniper and bristlecone to fill one of the kilns with charcoal. Local tribes like the Shoshone and Paiute relied on the harvesting of Pinyon pine seeds as one of their major food sources, and as miners and settlers cut down the juniper and pinyon woodlands, unsurprisingly, it became a major source of contention between native groups and the settlers who were encroaching on their ancestral lands.

But we had a lot of mileage to make, so soon enough we were back in our rigs and kicking up a smokescreen of desert dust. We wrapped through a series of canyons near Red Mountain. For a few miles, it felt as if we were in southern Nevada or southern Utah. The rocks looked like weathered greenish and red sandstone, but after some quick research, the surrounding mountains are a limestone escarpment, while Red Mountain is actually of volcanic origain. Either way, Red Mountain and the surrounding landscape was pretty cool!

Eventaully we made our way to the Lunar Crater backcountry byway. I'm not sure what it is, but I absolutely love driving though and camping next to cinder cone fields. And this valley was filled with cinder cones-- take away the sagebrush cloak and throw in some creosote bush for good measure, and you'd think you were in the Mojave National Preserve, which has an amazing cinder cone field (and fantastic places to camp as well!). We made a beeline to the lunar playa. This was a pretty substantial playa, probably a couple of miles in length and perhaps a half mile wide, and the dried lakebad was super tightly packed. So we did what boys do. We ripped around the playa kicking up more dust, raced each other, and managed to capture some pretty crazy video footage as well.

While our original plans had been to push on north of the lunar crater, upon arriving at the crater, I just couldn't resist proposing this as our camp for the night. The crater sits high above the surrounding cinder cone basin, making its home on the backside of a volcanic hill. We took a side spur which led to an impressive camp at the lip of the crater that also had an amazing view of the cinder cone fields and the lunar playa several miles off in the distance. A warm breeze pushed up an over the crater-- I knew we had to camp here for the night!

The core sample warehouse at the old Ward mine.

We wondered where these samples were pulled from the earth-- maybe 2,000' below where we were standing!

The massive charcoal kilns used to heat up the ore and extract silver from the Ward Mining district.

This section of wavy green and red rocks near Red Mountain had us feeling like we were in Gold Butte National Monument in southern Nevada.

Racing across the Lunar Playa.

The Lunar Crater was definitely in my top 3 campsites for the trip!

Looking over the cinder cone fields.

Can you spot the Lunar playa in the distance?

If you blow this image up, you might be able to see our group. Imagine this is a baseball diamond, our camp sits at around where the first basemen would position himself-- lightly left of first base.

 

[OTG Ben]

Just finished part I, which covers days 1-7 (Virginia City to Eureka, UT) along the Great Basin Heritage Trail!

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 10: Lunar Crater to Diana's Punchbowl

It was a rather mild night camping next to the Lunar Crater. The group awoke to blue skies without a cloud in sight. I took the opportunity to climb the hill overlooking the crater. As I raced up the hill with Shasta trying to beat the rising sun, it was clear the hill provided the perfect vantage point overlooking the crater, cinder cone fields, and the wide-open expanse of the Great Basin that surrounded us. I would not have minded camping at the crater for another day, but we had more trail to cover!

Our first stop of the day would take us to the Project Faultless test site. In 1968, the military used this location (along with others scattered throughout the Great Basin) as a nuclear test site. The test yield of one megaton caused substantial damage to the surrounding land, including the creation of new faults and significant ground displacement. Talk about a blast-- it's absolutely insane that we humans develop weapons that have the potential to end life on Earth as we know it.

Continuing our journey, we finally began to encounter wild horses. You'd think 1,000+ miles into our trip we'd have seen dozens of wild horses at this point-- hope! We saw maybe 2-3 before this beautiful trio, and in the coming days, we probably encountered another 3 or 4 dozen wild horses. The route would eventually take us to the old mining town of Eureka (Nevada), but before making it into town we stopped at an old mine just outside of the town limits. Other than a number of historic buildings, there wasn't a whole lot going on in Eureka, so we decided to mingle with the locals while grabbing a bite to eat at the Owl Club.

Upon finishing lunch, we climbed up the hill to the old Ruby Hill ghost town. Unfortunately, the old mine is mostly fenced off but many of the old buildings still remain. The hills surrounding Eureka are littered with dozens of old mines and prospects. I wouldn't mind going back and spending an entire day exploring the area. As our convoy zoomed between two towering mountain ranges, the sun began to sink lower, and we weren't coming across any suitable camp sites. Finally, we decided to head to one of the waypoints of our planned route for the day and over to Diana's Punchbowl-- score! There was a big flat clearing at the base of a small hill.

Scott drove his Bronco atop the hill and began yelling for us to come up. We were all setting up camp and most likely thinking about a cold libation, so our eventual trek up the small hill may have been a bit more delayed than Scott would've preferred. But upon reaching the top of the hill, we could see a massive hole of maybe 40-50' across that was emitting steam. Diana's Punchbowl! About 15' below, a pool of hot water slowly released bubbles. The punchbowl is known as a travertine dome, a type of limestone that built up from the mineral-rich water over the centuries.

After the novelty of the punchbowl wore off, we headed back down the hill and began settling into camp. It was another magnificent night beneath the horizons as billions of stars and other celestial objects illuminated the night sky.

Sunrise overlooking camp and the Lunar Crater.

Project Faultless nuclear test site.

While the sea of sagebrush is a constant throughout the Great Basin, the mountains have their own distinct geology had characteristics.

It took 10 days before the wild horses really started to show up!

Remants of one of the many old mines just outside of Eureka, NV.

Eureka, Nevada, not Utah this time!

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We took full advantage of the restaurant at the Owl Club.

Ruby Hill mine and ghost town overlook Eureka.

Great Basin topography, and dust of course!