Delamar

This has been a big summer for The Nevada Traveler, and with so many different trips in 2014 it's hard to decide what to chronicle next.  But after 30 seconds of brain time I've decided to go with Delamar.

I'll start out with one simple, cliché statement: Delamar is well worth the visit.  The ruins look and feel so much different than most other Nevada ghost towns; in fact as I came around the bend and into the the site it bore to mind the ancient, hoary ruins of Ancient Greece - there are a great number of stone foundations, often built very close together, and scattered over a surprisingly large area.

Delamar may not have survived the traditional bonanza/borrasca cycle, but it is a jewel of Nevada history. Gold was first discovered here in 1889 (the year my grandfather was born, by the way...the more you know) and a camp by the name of Ferguson was established.  Five years later the holdings were acquired by Joseph Raphael De Lamar who, of course, named the town after himself.

The ruins are extensive, and it is most remiss that I didn't spend more time at the site.  It is worse that my camera was on its last legs.  Still, it would be more remiss if I didn't share what I have, so without further ramblings I'll just put up all the purdy pictures.

Also nearby is the site of Helene.  Between the two towns is a quaint little cemetery (beyond this point the road into Delamar gets a little "blue," so be forwarned when making the trek lest ye find the need to hitch a burro to pull off of a boulder.

Happy traveling!

Cathedral Gorge

Well here we are, already the end of June, summer is nascent, and I've already taken two major excursions through the Silver State.  And what do I have to show for it?  Many, many pictures and precisely zero blogs.  Now, for the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and my parents' nuptials I have decided I'd better jot something down for posterity.

The geographic center of the State of Nevada bearing 

the weight of my plumpitude.

Over Memorial Day I had the opportunity to scratch several things off of the ol' bucket list.  Unfortunately riding the Nevada Northern wasn't one of those items, but several other, more significant items were.

Like having an Alien Burger at the Little A'Le'Inn.

Part of the Memorial Day Weekend excursion was an obviously incomplete yet exhaustive/ing romp through Lincoln County, something I've been eager to do as far back as I can remember.  Unless you are unfortunate enough to live in the bowels of the state a trip to Lincoln County is less a jaunt than it is a grueling death drive.  Beautiful and intriguing, yes, but long, tortuous, and riddled with free-range cattle.

They actually warn you about the cattle as you walk out the door.

There is a realistic chance that the last words you'll hear another human "udder" (heh heh) 

in leaving this place will be: "Thank you for stopping by, watch out for cows!!!"

So to kick off my summer chronicles, since these particular pictures are easily accessible, I present a photographic montage of one of Nevada's true wonders, Cathedral Gorge, set aside in 1935 as one of Nevada's first four state parks.  Gradual erosion through the Panaca formation has lead to...well, what you see below.  In this case there's not much to say, I suppose (although I could regale you with my tales of driving from Caliente to Panaga to Pioche, back to Panaca, back to Caliente, back to Panaca in search of lodging...lodging which didn't exist/was booked solid forcing the fortuitous overnight stay at Cathedral Gorge that begat these pictures, but what would be the point?  I won't waste your time with that drivel), so I hope you enjoy my modest photography of one of Nevada's true wonders.

(Editor's/Author's/Photographer's/Editor's/Publisher's/Owner's Note: considering the scale, it was rather difficult to truly capture the park with the equipment I had available.  Perhaps at some point in the future I will return and do it up right but in the meantime these will have to do, pig...these will have to do.)

I bet you wouldn't believe I took this picture from the men's room.

Well I did, and if a place has a men's room with a view this awesome,

well, you know you've found a treasure.

Slip Happens

Challenge Accepted