clikrf8
Senior Member
We just returned from a 4 week camping trip from NW Washington to Nevada via OREGON and a tiny slice of California. I quit blogging as no one ever read them anyway but did do a more visual journal using the Morpholio app on my iPad. I wanted to upload one but file size is too large. I post on Facebook for friends and family.
We enjoy exploring Nevada as there are few people where we go. Our hobbies are ghost towns, photography and rockhounding just being where it is really dark and quiet. We found some nice chalcedony like agates and jaspers plus pretty rocks we liked for character and color. Ghost towns were more elusive as increased modern mining has destroyed a few plus now sites are gated. We snuck in a few photographs, too.
We love the sunsets and one lasted quite a long time. We saw several King snakes and rescued one from a road, bald and golden eagles, foxes, coyotes, many hawks, several owls, magpies, etc. We like being in such a different environment from our native PNW. Junipers, aspens, pines, sage, rabbit brush, Joshua trees don’t grow where we live. Well, we have a few pines and aspens on our acreage but they aren’t native.
We spent about a week in the Tonopah area because we found some ghost towns that weren’t off limits plus found a rockhounding site in a book where there were some nice rocks that hadn’t been cleaned out. My husband is on an opiate for back pain and Tonopah has one drugstore that is not open Friday-Sunday so we had a few large extra days to drive back roads. We found a few places to check out like Goldfield, Goldpoint, Columbia, Belleville, Ralston and Candalaria. Goldpoint is now privately owned so although it is not falling apart, you can’t really poke around exploring. Also, I am not fond of seeing RVs parked in an old mining town like here and Belmont. It ruins the ambiance. The owner I was told bought it from BLM.
We also spent much of our time dispersed camping. An old gravel pit, Candalaria, a flat spot off 361, another gravel pit, and along the California Emigrant Trail near Golconda. Until we arrived on the Oregon Coast where it is becoming almost impossible to Boondock due to posted no camping signs, we only spent $18 on camping in 3+ weeks. I think we like our dispersed campsites the best.
We found a gravel road that had some nice agates that was in no book. We were checking out gravel pits and our dog Blitzen began to whine. That usually means he has to go, now! I got out to walk him when I saw agates everywhere, the white lumpy ones. We quickly filled our pockets and plan to return next Spring.
On the way from Tonopah to home, we drove the Poleline Road towards Gabbs. We stopped to see the Crescent Dunes solar array that powers 75,000 Nevada homes. The intensity of the sun heats salt that powers the generator. Novel concept.
We drove two questionable roads asking where did the road go? One was an alternative to 95 after visiting the Gemfield Rock Pits. It looked like a decent road on Benchmark Nevada map. And, it terminated at a paved road off 95. It began okay then worsened. It ended up near a good sized ditch at the paved road so we had to use 4x4 plus drive out at an angle. We did see a mama burro and her baby, though. The other was the road that was or followed the California Emigrant Trail. It became rutted, washed out and at one point we were driving along a rock cliff with a drop off into the Humboldt River on the other side. It was also very sandy and at times I didn’t think our lumbering beast would make it.
Anyway, we love Nevada and plan to return next spring to explore more of the north. Sad about the Lemoille Canyon Fire. I just read about it on this forum. We were there a few years ago. Beautiful area.
We enjoy exploring Nevada as there are few people where we go. Our hobbies are ghost towns, photography and rockhounding just being where it is really dark and quiet. We found some nice chalcedony like agates and jaspers plus pretty rocks we liked for character and color. Ghost towns were more elusive as increased modern mining has destroyed a few plus now sites are gated. We snuck in a few photographs, too.
We love the sunsets and one lasted quite a long time. We saw several King snakes and rescued one from a road, bald and golden eagles, foxes, coyotes, many hawks, several owls, magpies, etc. We like being in such a different environment from our native PNW. Junipers, aspens, pines, sage, rabbit brush, Joshua trees don’t grow where we live. Well, we have a few pines and aspens on our acreage but they aren’t native.
We spent about a week in the Tonopah area because we found some ghost towns that weren’t off limits plus found a rockhounding site in a book where there were some nice rocks that hadn’t been cleaned out. My husband is on an opiate for back pain and Tonopah has one drugstore that is not open Friday-Sunday so we had a few large extra days to drive back roads. We found a few places to check out like Goldfield, Goldpoint, Columbia, Belleville, Ralston and Candalaria. Goldpoint is now privately owned so although it is not falling apart, you can’t really poke around exploring. Also, I am not fond of seeing RVs parked in an old mining town like here and Belmont. It ruins the ambiance. The owner I was told bought it from BLM.
We also spent much of our time dispersed camping. An old gravel pit, Candalaria, a flat spot off 361, another gravel pit, and along the California Emigrant Trail near Golconda. Until we arrived on the Oregon Coast where it is becoming almost impossible to Boondock due to posted no camping signs, we only spent $18 on camping in 3+ weeks. I think we like our dispersed campsites the best.
We found a gravel road that had some nice agates that was in no book. We were checking out gravel pits and our dog Blitzen began to whine. That usually means he has to go, now! I got out to walk him when I saw agates everywhere, the white lumpy ones. We quickly filled our pockets and plan to return next Spring.
On the way from Tonopah to home, we drove the Poleline Road towards Gabbs. We stopped to see the Crescent Dunes solar array that powers 75,000 Nevada homes. The intensity of the sun heats salt that powers the generator. Novel concept.
We drove two questionable roads asking where did the road go? One was an alternative to 95 after visiting the Gemfield Rock Pits. It looked like a decent road on Benchmark Nevada map. And, it terminated at a paved road off 95. It began okay then worsened. It ended up near a good sized ditch at the paved road so we had to use 4x4 plus drive out at an angle. We did see a mama burro and her baby, though. The other was the road that was or followed the California Emigrant Trail. It became rutted, washed out and at one point we were driving along a rock cliff with a drop off into the Humboldt River on the other side. It was also very sandy and at times I didn’t think our lumbering beast would make it.
Anyway, we love Nevada and plan to return next spring to explore more of the north. Sad about the Lemoille Canyon Fire. I just read about it on this forum. We were there a few years ago. Beautiful area.