Seven Troughs

I've neglected my poor blog for too long; with winter comes a comparative lull in travel.  However there are still a couple of points I have yet failed to include: a visit to the Sheldon Refuge (the second installment of the Geologic Legacy series), a short jaunt from Austin to Battle Mountain on the scenic NSR 305, and a day trip to Seven Troughs I made the morning after Thanksgiving.  So what better time than February to share a few secrets from November!?

Turns out I picked a good time to go: the day I made the trek was a balmy 60 degrees (or so claimed my Jeep) with a few high cirrostratus clouds riding a stately breeze; by the very next weekend, however, things had changed quite a bit.  For my trusty steed and I, though, that Friday was a good day for deserting.

NSR 399 out of Lovelock

Trinity Range

If you lived here you'd be home by now!

Trinity Range 

Trinity Range, Turnoff from 399 to the Seven Troughs Road

Seven Troughs Range from Seven Troughs Road, Trinity Range

Seven Troughs Range

Unfortunately I never did make it to the camp of Seven Troughs itself, but I did manage to see some impressive geography and two historical sites.

VERNON

Vernon was one of the many communities to spring up in Nevada during the early 20th century mining boom.  So little information is extant (or readily available anyhow) that I must apologize: it was founded in 1905, had an operating post office from Nevada Day 1906 until July 31st 1913, and by the end of the Great War the town-site was essentially abandoned...with most of the frame structures eventually moved to the nearby Tunnel Camp (see below).

So what's left?

Some of the jail.

Everything looks better with basset hound.

The Vernon tetanus farm; my jaw was seized with excitement.

An adumbrative stone foundation.

And some inspiring views.

TUNNEL CAMP

Mining activity took place here up into the 1950s, but the establishment of the camp, much like Sutro nealy 60 years before, was in support of a boring (I probably should say "tunneling," but it would be redundant, not to mention stolid, to recycle the name of the camp in its description - I'm sure the work itself was anything BUT prosaic) operation to provide drainage for the mines at Seven Troughs, a project which was abandoned in 1934.

So what's left here?

"Mine!" - Moffet

Those shirt have been hanging there untouched for over half a century!

It still WORKS!

Privacy is forgotten when you have scenery like this to take the place

of an old Nebraskaland magazine when you...you know.

????

So...enough to make the trip worthwhile by itself.  In addition to the lonely remains of buildings, many of which are still in sufficiently adequate condition yet to provide shelter (quantity of deer mouse feces may exceed federal standards however), there is also a small graveyard...

 
...which, far from being forgotten, has seen fairly recent use.

Beloved family pet.

Just outside the graveyard's border.

No names to be found, however.

SEVEN TROUGHS RANGE

After exploring Tunnel Camp, having left Reno fairly late in the morning and with short late-autumn days working against me, there was not much time for a thorough exploration of the mountain range itself.  Having just enough time, more or less, to drive up to the crest from Vernon before rushing back to the Pizza Factory in Lovelock I made one last side jaunt up the narrow canyon to complete the day.

Utah juniper, the only indigenous tree I came across in the Seven Troughs area.

The Seven Troughs crest from the Northwest

Granite Springs Valley...sorry about the lens flare

(although I'm reasonably sure J.J. Abrams doesn't have it trademarked).

Looking toward the Selenite Range in the distance.

Although I wasn't able to make it to the sites of Seven Troughs or Mazuma, the couple of hours I spent wandering around this lonely if not entirely remote sector of Nevada were not only well worth the travel time, but also whetted my appetite for my next adventure out here (I can't leave the area only half conquered now, can I?).  Plus I got to meet a few new friends along the way!

Wild Burros

Wild Horses

Wild Horses

Antelope

And the adventure ended as it began...in Lovelock.

Happy traveling!

Goldfield Days 2013

I'm going a little out of sequence here.  My last post chronicled a short venture into the Owyhee Desert and was the first post of a two-day set.  I procrastinated a bit in getting to Day 2, and then I was blindsided by Scott Oxarart's write-up in the RG-J chronicling a much more thorough visit to a not insignificant chunk of the same amount of territory as my Day 2 article would have detailed, so...I'll just wait for the dust to settle a bit before the Great Caldera Search Article #2 (in G major) hits a screen near you.

Goldfield Days - this is one of two weekends each year I have circled on my calendar.  "Why," you ask?

Most towns in Nevada outside of the two major metro areas still harbor a certain degree of pride in themselves, their neighbors, and their communities.  To celebrate themselves, their history, heritage, and uniquitude (a term I just invented and simultaneously copyrighted) many of these cities, towns, hamlets, and CDPs hold annual festivals and welcome all comers.  Tonopah has Jim Butler Days over Memorial Day weekend; Jarbidge has Jarbidge Days the second week of August; Austin has Gridley Days (now conveniently combined with their Independence Day festivities) - to name three.  So, of course, Goldfield has their Goldfield Days over the third weekend of August each year, and while you probably won't see single- and double-jack drilling contests (you'll have to go to the Nevada State Mining Championship during Jim Butler Days to see that) there is a sprawling plethora of organized events throughout Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for those who feel the need to be on the go, and another sprawling plethora of exhibits, beer gardens, and even the desert itself with many of the trappings of a turn-of-the-century mining town extant on the outskirts of town for those who prefer to go at their own pace.

Or, if you're Moffett, you take it ALL in.

Now I know Goldfield is not for just everyone: the nearest grocery store is 26 miles away, the motel has but four rooms available, and it's a notorious speed trap.  But I promise you will never feel as "at home" anywhere (even with your own family, I reckon) than while you are strolling up and down Crook Avenue, popping in and out of storefronts, cheering on the pie eating contestant, &c. 

And I won't bore readers with tales of our exploits (I will brag about Moffett, though, who took a blue ribbon in the Pet Parade - HEEZSUCHAGOODDOG!!!).  But I will note that I had the best taco of my life at the Mohawk, not to mention some of the best chicken I've had in a good, long while at one of the concession booths on Euclid - my friend's son came in third in the pie eating contest, and...oops, there I go with the boring exploits.  

There's pie.  There's beer, both root and "tasty."  There's also a new restaurant in town, the Dinky Diner; unfortunately I was a little too late getting there, so their culinary delights will have to wait for another trip.  

But now that I'm back I'm running into a problem: finding ways to write about it.  Having such a great time usually spawns a great wealth of creativity, but...well, the whole weekend was an "experience," and as such it's difficult to detail without either a.) experiencing it yourself, or b.) reading the minute details of someone else's experience and living vicariously through them.  While that's kinda the point of a blog, it would become tedious indeed if an article degraded into "and then we went to the old Cook Bank building where Moffett and I wet our whistles, and then we went to the telegraph office, and then we went to the high school, and then we went to the courthouse..." so I'll just end while I'm ahead with a few of my better snaps and a short encouragement for the reader to experience Goldfield Days themselves - I promise that throwing caution (and possibly a little prejudice) to the wind will reap unimaginable rewards.

Goldfield Days Parade

I think you've had enough there, Moffett.

Columbia Mountain

At the close of day.

Nightlife

Home Means...

Yes, that's a pit bull in a muumuu.

Available at the Goldfield Gift Shop

Dust Devil Crossing Highway 95

A Cozy Weekend Home

The San Antonio Mountains at Dawn

Gemfield

Oh yes, and on the way home I had the luxury of eating one of Socorro's burgers in Mina.  I recommend...I HIGHLY recommend...I DEMAND you try one the next time you drive through Mina.