Mt. Charleston

Took our new Explorer out and about and up to Mt. Charleston Saturday.  Not much snow left on the mountain at all, but Cassy did find a little bit to eat and roll in. 

Let Cassy roam around up at the Mary Jane Falls area.  It's still chilly but nice in the sun. 

Nice to get out. 

Timm said he should'v brought some long sleeves. 

Yup, that pretty blue Explorer is ours. 

The desert overlook has had a lot of improvements. Lots of information boards and lengthened the trail.

You can see for miles. 

Stopped up at the old lodge for lunch.  They have a dog patio.  Cassy enjoyed a cool bowl of water and even had a burger off the doggy menu.  

An Easter Ride

Last weekend was spent with family and friends as we enjoyed a barbecue for my birthday.  Yesterday I saw my kids, had doggie daycare and two weddings this weekend so Easter Sunday was spent with just the two of us.  We give praise to God for everything and know Christ is risen.

Since my quad has been out of commission for months and recently repaired, we set out for the desert hills of Nelson, NV.  The desert was gorgeous today!  It was a bright sunny day, the desert flowers are blooming and we enjoyed a peaceful ride over to Keyhole Canyon.

While there are a ton of petroglyphs on the rocks in that area, I found something I've not seen before in that area...painted glyphs.  You can always see and find something new...even in a place you've been to many times before.  I thought I'd share with you today.  Have a blessed Easter.

Crystal leads her first ride

As Trailmaster for Dunes and Trails ATV Club for 2009, Crystal lead the last official ride of the year.  We rode a new area close to home for us called Cottonwood Valley.  We enjoyed wonderful weather on the day we rode.  I actually post-poned the ride a week.  The original date was cold, rainy, snowy and down right miserable.  Thanks to all who showed up to support me...22 riders in all!

We rode from the parking area, south to Good Springs.  Along the way we made several stops including this fabulous view of the Las Vegas Valley.  We enjoyed ice cream and a mini tour of the historic Pioneer Saloon in Good Springs.  On our way back we stopped at a couple of mines, let the riders explore them for a while.  We also stopped at an old house just past one of the mines.  It's an old A-frame cabin tucked up one of the canyons.  Still standing but in much dis-repair.  It's so cool to find stuff like this out there.  We also found some indian petroglyphs near our lunch stop.  No wild burros this trip although we did see a pair of them on our pre-ride.  I got stuck in a snow drift...dang bald tires...most embarrasing for being the leader.  No one made fun of me but I was embarrassed.  Timm came to my rescue and winched me out...my hero.  He was also my backup, giving me support all day.  Thanks goes out to Alan for being my tail gunner, what a great guy.  Timm has lead many rides for the club and I am glad I pay attention to what he does, it really came to good use on this ride.

Riding the Ghost Train

Over the Labor Day weekend we rode the Ghost Train on Ely, NV. We both love trains, they take you back to a simpler time and a much slower pace. I love the sound of the train on the tracks. We took the steam engine to the west, out towards Ruth and the copper mine. It is a 45 minute trip one way so it's a good deal for the price. All our years here in Nevada and this was my first time to ride this train...Timm rode it just a week or so before me on the Martin Man Reunion. (I know what you're asking...where's the post for that adventure? Haven't seen any pictures from that trip yet, when I do there will be a post.)

This route passes thru two tunnels. "Look down and away from the engine." the guide says. The steam and soot have to go somewhere you know.

ATV Club Rides Ely, NV

Holiday weekends always bring extra members out to ride and Labor Day 2009 was no exception. We based ourselves in the Ely KOA. They were very accomodating and friendly, the spaces are wide so you don't feel like you're on top of your neighbor, large trees shade every site, and you can ride your ATV in and out of the park. They even offered up a BBQ dinner and breakfast Saturday and Sunday for a small fee. We had dinner Saturday night and Timm enjoyed breakfast both days. Eldora is a mighty fine cook and the proceeds go to the children's cancer fund.

Here we are Saturday morning...28 riders strong ready to head out for a day of adventure. Timm was the ride leader so he gave his required speech...ride with your lights on, wait at turns for the rider behind you, and so on.









One of our prettiest places to ride was Sawmill Canyon. What a gorgeous place this is. We pre-rode this area on Friday and tried to connect over to the next canyon but it just got too rough. I hate to say it but I pulled out the 'girl card' and said someone else was taking my quad over that section. (I know, I know...I've never said that before...I was having a really weak moment apparently) It definitely wasn't a trail to try and pursue with so many riders so like much of the area around Ely, we had to backtrack our way out of the canyon.

Eventually, we made our way to Ward Cemetary and Historic Mining District. Unfortunately, the mining district was not accessible. There were large burms with deep trenches behind them where all the roads used to be. GRRRRR! The cemetary was neat though. Our plan was to go see the Ward Charcoal Ovens from there and to head over the mountain at that point. Another big GRRRRR! You can't get close to them without paying $4/person and the trail that connected up over the mountain is now closed! Two years ago, it was a fairly new ATV trail constructed by the Forest Service with wooden bridges to cross the creek and other neat stuff. Now, it's closed to ATV use and a housing development is built on part of what used to be trail access. It is so frustrating!!!!


Anyway, on a happier note, we also rode on the east side of Ely on Saturday's ride. Saw some gorgeous territory, found an old mine site, many took a steep trail to the top of one of the mountains for an amazing view of Ely, the Steptoe Valley, and more. You could see forever and a day.

We enjoyed lunch in a lush meadow that had a spring and some water troughs. I'd like to hide myself there to see what kind of wildlife comes out towards evening.

Our last stop on Saturday's ride where the train stops to turn around. We barely made it in time. It was neat to see them disconnect and re-connect the train. There was a boy losing his mind when he saw all of us along the tracks and the stopping point. Funny stuff.

All in all, it was a good trip, with lots of wonderful people. There were a few issues that will soon be resolved, and a few closed trails that made it really frustrating for Timm. Alan's quad broke down before the weekend even started. Some major repairs need to be done because the service technician didn't complete his job. I don't think those that follow know how the weight of responsibilites feels for the ride leader. Hopefully, someday they will step up and lead a ride.

Memorial Day...part 3

Thank to Alan for sending over some pictures so y'all can see.

Here are some of the burros we saw almost daily. This group actually had 7 in it at the time. Never could get very close to them. They run pretty quick too...not like the lazy ones you see in Red Rock waiting for food by the roadside.

Taking a break on the trail.

No place to turn around up here guys...stay on the lower level.

Another old mine structure...how did they decide where to look for gold anyway. Did they say "This place looks good I guess, let's try here."?

This is the Carrera Marble Quarry. Each tier is about 10-12 feet tall (I know, it looks so tiny in the picture). So gold isn't the only thing they looked for around here. We even found the fountain in the middle of the Carrera town sight. Awesome! They ran wood piping from Rhyolite for the town. You can still see some of the remains from it. Apparently, Carrera was a busy place.

Memorial Day Vacation...part 1

We took a couple of extra days for Memorial Day and headed to Beatty, NV. What is in Beatty you ask? Most of us only stop there for gas and potty break (and some candy from Eddie's World) on trips between Reno and Vegas; but, for those that like to explore and wonder there is lots to see in the desert around Beatty. Well, that's us and a few of our friends (14 joined in for the adventures). Each day we took off from the RV park on our ATV's to explore and find interesting stuff...and we weren't dissapointed.

Rhyolite is a ghost town just a few miles outside of Beatty that was a hopping place in it's hayday. Banks, bars, brothels, hotel, and a school among the bunch of buildings that remain in this once thriving mining town. If I remember correctly, the volunteer at the bottle house (yes, someone used bottles to build his house) said there were 53 bars in town. No wonder that guy had plenty of bottles to build with...a great recycler! That's my hubby, Timm and my BFF, Liz in front of the Mercantile in Rhyolite. I'm in the picture with my hubby that overlooks the town and the valley beyond.

Out in that valley roads wonder off the highway up to the mountains to many mining ruins. This is one of them. It's hard to believe that folks could and would drag such heavy materials up the mountain side to construct these pieces so they could mine for gold and other minerals. We found more than a hand full of these structures. They are kind of a hopper where the ore would be dumped into then it would slide down thru the shoots to fill trucks, ore carts on train tracks, etc so it could be hauled off and be processed. What a hard life that must have been.

Here are some old buildings still remaining from another day's adventures. They are for some sort of storage I think...to small for people. They were next to a larger building that had collapsed. There were several large structures like the one above as well as several others, but seeing how my camera battery died I can't show them to you. I was so bummed. So I'm waiting for photos from friends to show you the rest.

Look for part 2 of this adventure in a few days...when I get more pictures.

Tachatticup Mine

It was a gorgeous day Sunday and I really felt the need to get out of the house. We gathered up the kids and we all headed down to Nelson for a mine tour. We haven't been there in forever so what the heck. Besides, it was good for the whole family to do something together. We picked up some chicken and enjoyed a picnic lunch and headed for Nelson. These guys have done a ton of work down there and have had the mine tour going for a few years now. There is so much stuff to look at and wonder through...it's so interesting.

They take small groups into the mine, you can see levels below and above you. There are about 3 miles of tunnels in that mountain! Cassy even went of the tour...she's such an exploring dog, really she loves to explore.

I took a ton of photos of old stuff....signs, gas pumps, buildings, cars, and more. Timm even posed for this one, wouldn't get into the car though. I would like to go back and explore some more around there. We were told they are used in many photo shoots, videos, and movies. In fact Toby Keith is supposed to be there soon for a vidio shoot...to bad they can't say when. In a short time the cactus will be in bloom and the whole area will be even more spectacular, I think we'll go back again then. If you want to get out of town for a day, this is a great place to explore!