Pahranagat Valley (5/23 thru 5/25/2020)

First a correction to my previous post from Tonopah.  The airplane I incorrectly identified as a B-29 was actually a B-24, as pointed out by my son, Randy, who is well versed in WWII history.  With this information, I checked and found the B-24 named Mizpah flew 80 missions over Europe and was salvaged in New Mexico after the war.

Leaving Tonopah, I drove toward the Pahranagat Valley and the very small town of Alamo with one of the few RV parks in the region.  Part of my journey was over Highway 375, also known as the Extraterrestrial Highway because it passes by the infamous Area 51.  Activities at this Air Force facility probably involve testing of experimental aircraft and are classified as Top Secret.  Some have concluded the secret activities must involve captured UFOs or development of flying saucers.  Speculation has been ongoing for many years.

Enterprising business owners have tried to take advantage of this notoriety.   For example, these signs identify a store that sells only jerky.

The Pahranagat Valley itself is surprisingly green and lush, a true oasis in the middle of the Nevada desert.  A stream running through the valley has created several lakes, providing plenty of water for irrigation.  As a result, there are numerous ranches in the valley with cattle grazing in dark green grass up to their hocks.  Large cottonwoods line the banks of the river.

Of course, I didn't come here to see cattle, but to visit some of the half-dozen petroglyph sites in the area.  My results were mixed, mostly unsuccessful to be honest.  At the Crystal Wash site, I followed my directions to hike up the wash looking for markers placed by BLM.  Unfortunately, the markers are small and hard to spot in an area with lots of sagebrush and boulders.  The first marker I found was Number 4.  To find 5 and 6, I was instructed, go back to Number 1 and turn left.  I never found 1 (or 2 and 3 for that matter), but I did stumble upon 5 and 6.

I also found several piles of rusty cans, possibly thrown there by miners who must have eaten lots of beans.  There is also what's left of a car that looks  like it was hit by a train.

Here is an overall view of the Ash Springs site and a photo of a marker, about 15 inches tall. The markers were somewhat easier to find at this site, but I still didn't find all 16 said to be there.

Other sites I learned required long drives over rough roads, so I decided to forego those and went instead to one of the nearby Wildlife Management Areas with a lake.  This was a beautiful spot, managed by the state, but it had little or no wildlife.  I got one photo of a Western Kingbird.

The National Wildlife Refuge, a Federal park with two large lakes and some petroglyphs of its own, was closed due to coronavirus.  Hard to believe that thousands of acres in the wilderness would be at risk for infectious contact, but all access roads were heavily barricaded.

Tonopah, NV (5/20 thru 5/22/2020)

Tonopah is a variation on a Shoshone word meaning "small water" or "warm spring", no one seems to know for sure.  The Paiute also have a similar sounding word that means "water".  The town was named by its founder, Jim Butler, a rancher and part time miner who found silver ore while looking for a burro that had escaped.  One of the largest silver strikes in history, Butler named his mine Mizpah, a Hebrew word meaning "watchtower".   Numerous other mines were developed in the area, but it appears all have played out, leaving Tonopah to struggle for survival.  Butler and his wife Isabella (fondly known as Belle) are recognized in town by statues on Main St.

Here is a view of the town from a distant mountain, and the mountains seen as one leaves town to the south.

Being mid-way between Las Vegas and Reno, Tonopah is a natural stopping point for travelers between the two larger cities.  The Mizpah Hotel, built in 1908 and restored in recent years, is luxurious and was the tallest building in Nevada for some time. 

In 1908, the Great New York To Paris Road Race passed through Tonopah.  The original route of the race was to Nome, Alaska and then across the frozen Bering Strait.  Once the six cars in the race reached Valdez, conditions were so bad they changed plans and took a ship across the ocean.  After 169 days, the American entry (the Thomas Flyer) was declared the winner because the first finisher had cheated.  The Flyer is now in a Reno museum.

Jack Dempsey lived and fought in the area around Tonopah while building a career leading to the World Heavyweight Championship.  He and another man fought to a draw where each was to receive $150.  However, Dempsey's manager lost the money gambling.  In a rematch, Dempsey received the $100 prize directly.  He and the other fighter went to the bar to celebrate, but two gunmen came in and robbed everyone, including Dempsey.

Tonopah's population, once over 10,00, declined steadily and is now around 2500, but the remaining residents haven't given up.  They promote tourism any way they can think of.  The old Mizpah Mine is now the town's mining park.  Beyond that, mining artifacts can be found all over town.

The local high school athletes call themselves the Muckers, probably the dirtiest job in mining.

In addition to the Mizpah Hotel, visitors are welcomed to the "world famous" Clown Motel, which has an office lined with shelves containing 700 clown dolls.  The motel advertises "a vampire in every room".  If that's not creepy enough, the original town cemetery (1901-1911) is right next door.

Given its location in the middle of the Nevada wilderness, Tonopah is known for its dark skies.  To encourage stargazers to visit, the town has created "Stargazers' Park where folks can sit and observe the skies.  On a hill in town, two observatories have also been constructed for celestial observation.

Tonopah Station is the primary casino and shopping mall in town, but it was closed during my stay.  They also offer RV parking, also closed due to coronavirus.

Nellis Air Force Base, just north of Las Vegas, uses the desert land near Tonopah for testing new planes and weapons systems.  Even nuclear weapons have been tested there.  In fact, throughout the history of aviation, the Nevada desert has been a part of testing aircraft, as shown in a local mural.

The B-29 shown has the name "Mizpah" on its nose, but I found no record of a B-29 with that name.  There was a B-17 "Mizpah", however, shot down during a bombing run over Europe during WWII.

While I had not planned on staying in Tonopah, the town proved once again that almost any place can have an interesting story, if one only takes the time to seek it out.

Fallon & Middlegate Station, NV (5/20/2020)

After a week in Carson City, I wanted to re-visit Mono Lake in CA, but there were no open RV parks in that area.  Instead, I headed for central NV to check out rock art sites, taking a longer route than required in order to stop at Grimes Point Archeological Site near Fallon.  At this place, boulders scattered over a hillside contain some very old petroglyphs, perhaps as much as 8000 years old.  My route started on U.S. 50, known as "the loneliest road in America".

The basalt boulders, covered with "desert varnish", made a decent surface for pecking or carving figures.  You'll notice that some figures are so old that they have been re-covered, making them difficult to see.  Overall, the figures here are unlike most rock art I've seen, having little of the more common animal and human drawings.  Here are a few examples:

Mother Nature had some impressive art on display, too, mostly in the form of colorful lichens, which can sometimes be as much as 2000 years old.

Nearby are some caves, including one with rock art called Hidden Cave.  Unfortunately, this cave can be visited only by guided tour, offered just two days each month.  This was not one of the designated tour days.

Many people think of Nevada as a large, flat desert with Las Vegas at one end and Reno at the other.  In reality, depending on how one defines "mountainous",  Nevada has a valid claim for the title of "most mountainous" state.  Alaska has the most mountains and the highest mountains, Colorado has the most "fourteeners" and the highest mean elevation, while West Virginia has the highest percentage of mountainous land.  However, Nevada has the highest number of mountain ranges with more than 320 named ranges.  Nevada also has the largest number of mountains at 10,000 feet elevation or above.

Driving the interior of Nevada, it's easy to see the large number of mountain ranges, many of then snow covered still on May 20th, due to their high elevation.

 I was a little surprised to see large sand dunes near Highway 50 at a place called Sand Mountain Recreation Area.  You may not be able to see them, but a large number of vehicles were parked at the foot of the dunes while the owners played with their dune buggies and other OHVs.  As many as 70,000 visitors each year come to play on these dunes, which are up to 600 feet high.  In addition to vehicles, sand sailing and sand boarding have become popular activities here.

Eventually, I turned off the "loneliest road" at a place called Middlegate Station.  In the 1860s, there was a Pony Express station here where riders changed horses.  The Pony Express only lasted a couple years, but the station continued activity as a stage and freight station.  When Highway 50, also known as the Lincoln Highway, became the first paved cross-country highway, the station was restored as a bar, cafe and motel.  More importantly, it had the only gas available for 50 miles or more in any direction.

I regret not knowing more of this history while I was there.  It would be nice to have my own photos of this historic place, but I've borrowed some from the Travel Nevada tourism web site, since they appear to be in the public domain. 

I don't think I would have tried the specialty of the cafe, a Middlegate Monsterburger.

Approaching the town of Tonopah, I passed over several recent roadway repairs of damage caused by the earthquake five days earlier.  The 6.5 magnitude quake occurred just 35 miles north of town and caused cracks and sinking in the highway.  We felt the quake in Carson City as my MH rocked from side to side over one to two minutes.  In Tonopah, light fixtures and such swung during the event but there was no significant damage.

Tired from my drive, I chose to stop in Tonopah and investigate this town in the middle of the Nevada wilderness.