Spring Camping In The Desert

It's the end of April and I just have to say how beautiful the desert is this year.  We've had record breaking rainfall so far this year and it's paying off in a big way with tons of color and a green desert.  It's great to get out and see it. 

Timm lead the Dunes and Trails ATV Club weekend ride this month just a short 70 miles from home near Mesquite.  We headed out on Thursday...a cold, windy, rainy day...but we knew the weather was getting better each day.  No riding on Thursday, just relaxing and catching up with friends.  Friday we headed out with Keith in the lead on the way to Virgin River.  Upon reaching our location we found out that all the rain that passed thru (and headed north) had covered the sand bar and the river was just moving too swiftly to play with any safety in mind. 

On our way back we topped out on the mesa and actually found a place Timm had seen on the internet...Double Negative.  It's considered 'earth art' if you can believe that.  Here is the link for more info.

We had lots of day trippers show up on Saturday morning and ended up with 18 riders.  We headed down the mesa and across the river and up the mountain.  Our first stop was at the slot canyon. 

Our real treat and adventure for the day was Cabin Creek.  We were heading up it.  Years ago it was a paved road up the canyon to a mine operation but the road was totally wiped out by the creek and now it is just an awesome trail on an ATV.  Keith's Rhino had a few tight squeezes but nothing he couldn't handle, even the sport quad did an fantastic job.  We also ventured to the Great Eastern Mine and the Key West Mine, along with an old steam engine remains (why it's there I don't really know). 

Oh, Nickel Creek was flowing and had a great waterfall.  We all hiked up to it and had our pictures taken there.  Here I am (the short one) with my BBF Liz.

Cassy rode 80 miles this weekend (Friday & Sunday).  Here she is with her daddy at the stone cabins on Sunday's ride.  What an amazing dog she is.  It was great to get out for the weekend with friends.  We shared great campfires each night and good rides during the day.

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.