Northern Nevada, Part 2 - August 3, 2005 (Re-run)

 Medical Update: My first radiation treatment went well, 24 treatments to go.  Also, I now have a chemo pump dispensing drugs into my body via the port on my chest.  The pump is about the size of a hand grenade, though not as heavy.  It comes in its own custom-made case made of  Gore-Tex with a shoulder strap to keep it close to me.  I've never seen one on anyone else, so I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows at the WalMart.  Naturally, it is a little awkward in certain situations, like sleeping.  I actually dreamed of it the first night, but in the dream I pulled it around on a small trailer.  As my friend, I wanted to give it a name, like Tom Hanks in Castaway.  I eliminated "Gore" for obvious reasons, and "U Haul" seemed a little impersonal, so I settled on "Tex".  A real friendly, down-home name, don't you think?

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Another day in Northern Nevada took us into the East Humboldt Range, where a steep and narrow road leads to a gorgeous alpine tarn known as Angel Lake.  The twelve mile road has incredible views over a vast valley and into Utah.  A popular camping area, Angel Lake also has numerous hiking trails, some of which lead to other mountain lakes.  We took the one that goes around Angel Lake.

 

Not far off our planned route lies a true ghost town called Metropolis, a great example of a plan that didn't quite come together.  Early in the 20th century, a businessman convinced investors to form a company that was going to create a planned farming community in Northeast Nevada.  The company dammed a creek to provide for irrigation and proceeded to build many fine buildings required for a town.  Unfortunately, the company had failed to acquire water rights to the creek and a nearby city sued them.  Without that water, Metropolis struggled mightily.  Locusts ate the little wheat grown, and once the residents killed off the coyote population, the number of jack rabbits soared and they ate the crops.  After 1920, stores and other businesses began to close and Metropolis became a ghost town by 1950.