Oregon to New Mexico - 2 weeks, 4,000 miles, and 100 pounds of dog hair

[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.

 

[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:

 

[DirtyDog]

I had decided to spend a few days in the central Nevada mountains and see some more country and a few more mining towns. From Berlin I took the back road to Austin through Ione:

The weather actually made for a pretty spectacular drive that morning:

 

[DirtyDog]

I had hoped to take some photos at Manhattan and Belmont, but bad weather kept getting worse with intermittent blizzard conditions and high winds everywhere. A call to base camp for a weather check revealed bad weather just about everywhere within driving distance so I bailed out of Nevada and went to that one place you can just about always count on a little warmth:

 

[DirtyDog]

I took advantage of my unexpected stop in Death Valley to soak up some rays, do laundry, and get some more photos of the old borax works. Old Dinah:

 

[DirtyDog]

Harmony Borax Works:

 

[DirtyDog]

That night I stayed on the Colorado River at Davis Camp Park in Bullhead City:

 

[DirtyDog]

My next stop was the old mining town of Oatman, Arizona, near Bullhead City. The mountains around Oatman are pretty neat and have four wheel drive routes all over the place:

 

[DirtyDog]

Oatman, Arizona:

Old mine structure foundations - note the ariel tram towers:

 

[DirtyDog]

Funny sign in Oatman:

This poor guy regretted his decision to feed the mules. A gang of them followed him to his car, stuck there heads in the windows, and blocked their departure. When they finally did get dislodged from the mob of hungry mules, one of them chased the car down the road for a bit. Funny stuff.

 

[DirtyDog]

No food for this fella!

Well hello......

 

[DirtyDog]

Heading west, I followed old Route 66 out of Oatman. There was some kind of makeshift memorial at this viewpoint:

Mystery solved:

Old service station: