Project Shoal

[ski3pin]

I was just talking with a friend about this interesting place we visited for a "very short" time in 2006 so thought I would share. We have enjoyed our explorations around the Nevada backcountry and still can be greatly surprised at what we find. This is southeast of Fallon, Nevada and south of highway 50 near Frenchman. I would not make this spot a reason for a trip or a destination. If you find yourself in the area, you may want to take a side trip. It is thought provoking. With an interest in history of all kinds, I found this website with some background:
http://ndep.nv.gov/shoal/PSA.htm
Happy wandering!
N 39 degrees 12.010 minutes, W 118 degrees 22.888 minutes, WGS84 datum

 

[Barko1]

That's cool, I hope I'll get to it sometime. A related site in the Trinity Site here in NM which is the site of the worlds first nuclear detonation: http://www.atomictourist.com/trinity.htm Open 2x a year,I think early April and October.

 

[chnlisle]

I think I'll stick to Baja.

 

[craig333]

Interesting. I had no idea they detonated bombs outside the testing range.

 

[RJones]

Interesting. I had no idea they detonated bombs outside the testing range.


They were using bombs instead of drilling rigs for awhile!

Green Valley, Colorado

The aim of Project Rulison was to determine if natural gas could be easily liberated from underground regions. The test had a yield of 43-kilotons. After the test, the natural gas that was extracted was determined to be too radioactive to be sold commercially.
(39.487085°N, 107.95166°W)

Rio Blanco, Colorado

The Rio Blanco test site had three simultaneously detonated 30 kiloton bombs, each at the bottom of a shaft more than a mile deep. The blast was marginally successful in causing the gas to collect in the cavity and fissures produced by the bombs, however the gas was too radioactive to be sold commercially.
(37.978845°N, 108.303223°W)

 

[ski3pin]

Barko1 & RJones, thanks for the info on other sites. The idea of a short visit to the Trinity site interests me. We visited Los Alamos this past spring.

 

[Barko1]

If you head down towards Trinity let me know and I can suggest some other sites. The Trinity site is really quite a historic spot, even though there is nothing much there of course

 

[DirtyDog]

Thanks for posting this. Nevada definitely calls for some closer inspection

 

[Darryla]

A TRUE STORY. Someone I know very well worked on these projects at these locations. He was scheduled to go witness a blast and the night before got so drunk he missed the plane the next morning due to a hangover. All of his coworkers who witnessed the blasts died of a strange cancer shortly thereafter. I visited one of those friends when I was a little kid, I remember seeing him with a giant tumor on his forehead before he died.

Have fun out there.

 

[highz]

If anyone comes to visit the Trinity site, you'll be a few hour's drive from where I work at Apache Point Observatory. Give me enough advance warning, and I can arrange a tour of the observatory (or at least the telescope I work with) for anyone who is interested.

There's good dispersed camping in the Sacramento Mountains, too. Even more good camping west of Barko's neck of the woods.

Barko, thanks for the link to the atomictourist site. Interesting.

 

[Barko1]

Sign me up for the Telescope tour , been to you site a few times and enjoyed the view.

 

[highz]

Sign me up for the Telescope tour , been to you site a few times and enjoyed the view.


Barko - pm sent.