Trans NV 2008
- Thread starter dlbrunner
- Start date
dlbrunner
Adventurer
We came down through castle ridge, so I think this is the Blue Bird mine, but I could be wrong:
`
Engine thingy:
Evil mine shaft:
We rolled into Midas and stopped for a rest. The Lady who ran the bar was really nice. she sold us a bag of barley (forgotton shopping item) and cooked up a mean burger (It was lunchtime). I have had steak and lobster in this restaurant about 15 years ago. Long story, but the old owner is gone, and things have changed. Old buck, who lived across the street from the bar was an impressive trapper. Found out he passed on. RIP. Only met him a couple of times, but he was an interesting character.
The lady that owned the place had been excavating the outhouse on her property among other places and found this:
`
Engine thingy:
Evil mine shaft:
We rolled into Midas and stopped for a rest. The Lady who ran the bar was really nice. she sold us a bag of barley (forgotton shopping item) and cooked up a mean burger (It was lunchtime). I have had steak and lobster in this restaurant about 15 years ago. Long story, but the old owner is gone, and things have changed. Old buck, who lived across the street from the bar was an impressive trapper. Found out he passed on. RIP. Only met him a couple of times, but he was an interesting character.
The lady that owned the place had been excavating the outhouse on her property among other places and found this:
spressomon
Expedition Leader
Duncan...I hope you have more to show! This is like a big fix for a junkie...it helps get me through!!!
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. A good buddy of mine from Reno has a small house in Midas that he uses almost every weekend year 'round and has gotten to know all the locals there over the past several years. A tight knit bunch of great folks reside there is what I hear!
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. A good buddy of mine from Reno has a small house in Midas that he uses almost every weekend year 'round and has gotten to know all the locals there over the past several years. A tight knit bunch of great folks reside there is what I hear!
dlbrunner
Adventurer
Since I can't upload photos, I'll put in a little more commentary.
This trip is one of the longer journeys I have done. Rob and I hatched the the idea (we may not have been the first) probably 10 years ago. We had been exploring a lot in NW nevada at the time, I was just out of college and the Gerlach area was very appealing. As a boy though, I spent a lot of time with my dad and friends exploring the areas around Winnemucca and Elko. Rob suggested we go out on the summer solstice because we would have the longest day of the year. I suggested a route up over the Santa rosas to Midas. the rest is history so to speak.
That first trip was a couple 3 days, on the trip we decided it would be cool to cross the whole state on dirt roads. That first trip was a real trial by fire (literally), we spent nearly an entire day trying to cross the snowstorms from the west side over to Midas. The map showed a couple roads going over, but years of dormancy obscures 2 tracks pretty quickly. Defeated, we went all the way to the north end of the snowstorms near chiminey reservoir and headed back south. We were stopped at a fork in the road, just kind of relaxing for a minute when I smelled smoke. I looked down at the floorboard and saw a little flame lapping out of the gearshift hole. Sitting on a gas tank in that condition, I jumped about 10 feet in the air and exited the vehicle. After a day of cruising two track, the grass had bunched up inbetween the skid plate and exhaust pipe and caught fire. We managed to get the fire out and dropped the skid plate to get all the grass out.
As for this crossing. All I can say is this trip was epic. There are only a few I can say that about. Not epic from "totally extreme dude!" point of view, but more from the planning, then executing. We also had many fortuitous scenarios that unfolded keeping spirits up. At the end of the day, we accomplished the primary goal.
Were there issues, yes. The one that sticks out now is the loss of the on board air in the Rover. We determined the pressure switch konked out, probably due to a small air leak in the system. At first I thought the compressor wmay have sucked some water in, but that was not the case. I had the tools and ability to "patch" the problem, but determined we would go as far as we could without the ARB, there was one spot I was concerned about not having a locker, but there was a good place to work on the truck if needed. The locker would have been nice so the obstacle could be done slowly, but nothing a little skinny pedal couldn't overcome.:bike_rider:
This trip is one of the longer journeys I have done. Rob and I hatched the the idea (we may not have been the first) probably 10 years ago. We had been exploring a lot in NW nevada at the time, I was just out of college and the Gerlach area was very appealing. As a boy though, I spent a lot of time with my dad and friends exploring the areas around Winnemucca and Elko. Rob suggested we go out on the summer solstice because we would have the longest day of the year. I suggested a route up over the Santa rosas to Midas. the rest is history so to speak.
That first trip was a couple 3 days, on the trip we decided it would be cool to cross the whole state on dirt roads. That first trip was a real trial by fire (literally), we spent nearly an entire day trying to cross the snowstorms from the west side over to Midas. The map showed a couple roads going over, but years of dormancy obscures 2 tracks pretty quickly. Defeated, we went all the way to the north end of the snowstorms near chiminey reservoir and headed back south. We were stopped at a fork in the road, just kind of relaxing for a minute when I smelled smoke. I looked down at the floorboard and saw a little flame lapping out of the gearshift hole. Sitting on a gas tank in that condition, I jumped about 10 feet in the air and exited the vehicle. After a day of cruising two track, the grass had bunched up inbetween the skid plate and exhaust pipe and caught fire. We managed to get the fire out and dropped the skid plate to get all the grass out.
As for this crossing. All I can say is this trip was epic. There are only a few I can say that about. Not epic from "totally extreme dude!" point of view, but more from the planning, then executing. We also had many fortuitous scenarios that unfolded keeping spirits up. At the end of the day, we accomplished the primary goal.
Were there issues, yes. The one that sticks out now is the loss of the on board air in the Rover. We determined the pressure switch konked out, probably due to a small air leak in the system. At first I thought the compressor wmay have sucked some water in, but that was not the case. I had the tools and ability to "patch" the problem, but determined we would go as far as we could without the ARB, there was one spot I was concerned about not having a locker, but there was a good place to work on the truck if needed. The locker would have been nice so the obstacle could be done slowly, but nothing a little skinny pedal couldn't overcome.:bike_rider:
spressomon
Expedition Leader
alia176 said:Just had lunch with DsrtSage and he is telling me that you have loads more pics to upload....trying to light a :campfire: under your ********and while you're at it, unload Vista and install Win XP Pro.
Do tell about the hot chickiebabe....:suning:
Ali
Ok...I'll pile on :jumping: . But forget MS...just go new Mac and be done with the whole mess :rockon:.
dlbrunner
Adventurer
We woke up near midas. From there we motivated to Chimeny reservoir. Unfortunately we did not take the cool route, that I remember. First thing we saw was a cattle drive:
Then we met the cowboys/cowgirls:
They were up northeast of Paradise valley. Soon after we crossed the little Humboldt River:
Grady's truck:
After the little Humboldt, we crossed into the Santa Rosa Mountains. Incredible. Hinkey Summit, the arch (I led a route to the top. No biggie)
More Hinkey:
Flowers looking back:
After Paradise Valley we took the next Section of pavement. Our plans were to cross at sand pass road, then scoot over to Sulphur. Declining beer/food rations forced us into Winnemucca. after a Fine early dinner at the Martin Hotel, we hit raley's, and bought a beautiful prime rib roast. we Organized the coolers, dumped trash, generally got our crap together. After Dinner we headed out the Jungo Road to Sulpher, after that the Trego Hot Springs was our destination. Driving the Jungo road at sunset is truly killer, you can haul butt, and the views are crazy:
Hycroft Mine leach pads. They use sodium cyanide to extract gold (oxidized) then recover:
Again:
Then we met the cowboys/cowgirls:
They were up northeast of Paradise valley. Soon after we crossed the little Humboldt River:
Grady's truck:
After the little Humboldt, we crossed into the Santa Rosa Mountains. Incredible. Hinkey Summit, the arch (I led a route to the top. No biggie)
More Hinkey:
Flowers looking back:
After Paradise Valley we took the next Section of pavement. Our plans were to cross at sand pass road, then scoot over to Sulphur. Declining beer/food rations forced us into Winnemucca. after a Fine early dinner at the Martin Hotel, we hit raley's, and bought a beautiful prime rib roast. we Organized the coolers, dumped trash, generally got our crap together. After Dinner we headed out the Jungo Road to Sulpher, after that the Trego Hot Springs was our destination. Driving the Jungo road at sunset is truly killer, you can haul butt, and the views are crazy:
Hycroft Mine leach pads. They use sodium cyanide to extract gold (oxidized) then recover:
Again:
dlbrunner
Adventurer
The sun set rapidly on wednesday night:
Took another picture of the North East Arm of the Black Rock:
Got to Trego and thought it would be all good to camp for the night:
Started a fire, first one of the trip. (fire season ya'all. wood is heavy too, pain to carry):
We thought the spring had a healthy population of gambusia (mosquito larvae eating fish) but we were foiled. I never sleep with a tent, so camping in the summer near water can be an issue.....Mosquitos got nuts, we put out the fire and moved on.
Decided to do a nighttime black rock crossing. Orion has set for the summer, so my usual navigation points were absent. Rob had the point plotted for our camp, I think. Could be instinct. Me hanging on for dear life.
Took another picture of the North East Arm of the Black Rock:
Got to Trego and thought it would be all good to camp for the night:
Started a fire, first one of the trip. (fire season ya'all. wood is heavy too, pain to carry):
We thought the spring had a healthy population of gambusia (mosquito larvae eating fish) but we were foiled. I never sleep with a tent, so camping in the summer near water can be an issue.....Mosquitos got nuts, we put out the fire and moved on.
Decided to do a nighttime black rock crossing. Orion has set for the summer, so my usual navigation points were absent. Rob had the point plotted for our camp, I think. Could be instinct. Me hanging on for dear life.