2005 trip log for Bob and Brenda Exploring!

Trip Log 2005 ! !

Jan 17,2005

Well we got flooding up in Overton and deep snow and avalanches on the spring mountain and Charleston range. I need photos of the Wildrose Kilns for an article we are working on. So Death Valley here we come. Just to start with, Death Valley jct has been cloased for a year, due to last summer flooding. We head south to Shoshone and come in through Badwater. Now my map shows that I have to come in from lookout mountain side to get up Wildrose canyon. I think they must have cloased that back in the 50's. Now we turn around and go all the way back to Stovepipe Wells. Instead I thought we would give lookout townsite a shot. well, Wes and I killed way to much time going rock by rock up through Stone Canyon. I finally gave up and made a mad rush for Wildrose. Now Wildrose is 44 miles south of Stovepipe on a blacktop, at least till the last two miles. Just about a mile up this dirt road we hit ice covered snow! We plowed our way till the snow got up to the bumper and a up hill grade, Yep, I had to walk about a qaurter mile. My luck the sun was down over the range and the kilns were all in shadows. I still got pictures, but not like I wanted. Its a return trip!

Wes and I learned a great deal about Death Valley, including the 2.65 gas. The next time we know where we are going and it would take long to get there. We had a ball, even though the weather was a little againist us.

Total mileage this trip 487

Feb 13,2005

Well call it cabin fever, or rain fever, or just a good old fashion spring fever. All this weather is just a pain. Brenda heard on the Las Vegas News, that the snow was gone on all of the mountains ranges around Pioche. So I got up early and watched the sunrise, very bright with a few clouds. That was enough for me, we're off. The game plan for today was to get the Panaca Summit Charcoal Kilns first. Then I had the historical site of Lien real close to there. After that it would be the Charcoal Kilns up close to Atlanta, off of MT Wilson road, I also wanted Atlanta and Silver Park as well. Then on the way home stop by Bristol Wells.

Everything looked great till we got up to Alamo and the clouds were down below the mountains. Panaca Summit at 6734 feet, the snow was three feet on the level. Several people had pulled off the road and backed out. But we made a try for it anyway. I got about a mile or so and the snow was getting deeper. We had a hell of a time getting back up hill to the highway. By the time we got to Pioche, I was driving in fog so bad I could not see past my hood. I was able, with my GPS to located the turn off to Atlanta Siding, we did find it. The whole valley was socked in bad. We drove on up to the MT Wilson road, and started plowing mud over the tires, and after several hours of exploring finally found the Kiln. By now I was worn out from the driving and low on gas. Yep, I threw in the towel and called it a day, I had all of the fun I could stand in one day.

We both really had fun, even though it did not work out like I wanted it too. And we will have to return and get Panaca Summit after the snow melts.

Total mileage this trip 430

Mar 6th,2005

I have wrote a history profile on the Sterling Mine and now I need photos. Everybody thinks I need someone to go with me, so Stephanie got elected. Its a good day for an outing. So we made a mad rush for the Sterling area. I know there is nothing left of the townsite, but I hope to get something in the area. To start with I left my map at home, so I got on the eastern approach to sterling. If you do not have a good 4wd it is a waste of time. The roads are all washed out from the rain we have had. So I had to find some old wagon trails, which have not been used for years to get around the impossible spots. Instead of going around the point and down to Sterling, we went over. I got several good shots of the area and a in ground water tank made of stone.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun four wheeling, and now I can update Sterling!

Total mileage this trip 110

Mar 20th,2005

For once I do not care what the weather is going to be like. I need photos and we are going to make a try at it. Priority number one is the Panaca Summit kilns. It looked great when we left Vegas, the sun was out and we had just enough clouds to make great photos. When we got close to Panaca the clouds were everywhere and things did not look well. As we reached the Summit, we hit a bad snow storm, it was really coming down. Wesley and I were lucky we got out of it at the mouth of Kiln Wash. There were still large drifts and mud up to the running boards. As we arrived at the kilns the sky opened up and the sun glared through, just in time for my photos.

As we came down from the Summit, I could see that Bennett Pass was socked in tight. I could not see the mountain for the snow and clouds. We decided to make for Silver Park and Atlanta mine area. This would be the most northerly part of our trip today. Well at 6000 feet we hit three inches of snow on the road, and by the time we reached Silver Park at 7200 feet it was eight to ten inches deep. I did get a bunch of photos of Atlanta mine and Silver Park as well. We were lucky the snow was hard and dry. It started to snow while we were at Silver Park really bad so we got the photos and run.

Well on the way back I had to fight a heavy rain going across to Bristol Well, but again, just as we reach our site the sun came out for about twenty minutes. I was able to confirm that there was once four kilns and that one of them was tore down to build the smaller stone cabin. You can see the charcoal burnt stone in the cabins wall. I got a ton of photos and it started to get late on us. So I went to plan B, and we went to find the Mendha Siding on the way home. There was nothing left of the site but a few cans and some wood laying around. The power line had come through and completely wiped out everything, if there was anything left at that time. I did get a few shot of the railroad bed and trash as usual. I will be glad when daylight saving time gets here, we will have more light to make longer days.

Well with all of the photos now taken for our first article, we can move on to our next trip to Hot Creek for Article 2. All and All Wesley and I have a lot of fun four wheeling, he did bring the jack and shovel this time. He acts like he does not trust my driving. Anyway, he has a LOT of mud to wash off the truck after this trip.

Total mileage this trip 485

April 17, 18, 19, 2005

Finally our first camp out of the year. This was planned to be a four day trip. We are going to do the Hot Creek Range Charcoal kilns and Project Faultless.

Sunday we rolled into the Hot Creek Valley about 1:30 PM. Brenda and I started by returning to Tybo for some new photos and to get the measurements of the Tybo Kilns. They put a new roof on the old school building and are rebuilding some of the old shacks. Things are starting to look up around here. Next stop the Hot Creek Ranch.

Well we could not find anyone at home, so Brenda reminded me I forgot to get chain saw gas. Quick run over to Black Rock Summit Station. I found out from the owner that my friend Water Bob was no longer at Hot Creek. He has moved with the old owners and a young guy was now taking care of the Ranch. On the way back we stopped and found the young man at home and visited a while. Brenda gave him the home made cookies we always bring Bob, hate to break an old habit. I took the time to renew my photos of Lower Hot Creek and upper Hot Creek as we drove up the Canyon. It was starting to get late and I wanted find a good camp ground over in Kiln Canyon before dark. We drove on around and came up the back way to the Charcoal kilns. I drove to the end to check it all out. The wind was blowing so hard at 7900 feet I decided to go down lower to find a camp.

The game plan was to get up in the morning and take the back way up to Four Mile Canyon Kilns. So we drove up past Big Fish Lake and drove about 12 miles or so, this was a rough wagon trail to follow. It took us five hours to get up there and back out again. It looked like no one has used this trail in years. It was better suited for ATV's, than trucks. After we came down I drove back through Hot Creek Canyon and headed for Six Mile Canyon for photos and measurements of all of the kilns in it. We redid our photos for the lower set and then stopped at the middle set for new photos. After that I took the road up Wood Tick Canyon for the three in it. I did not know about these kilns the last time we were up here. The last set was farther up Six Mile about half a mile. Now I have all fourteen kilns built by Henry Allen on the Hot Creek range. This was a lot of fun considering the high water run off this spring. I crossed the creek about ten times and it was over my bumper in a couple of places.

The last stop for today was Project Faultless. This would give me all day tomorrow and Wednesday morning to explore Kiln Canyon. It seems the Feds are back to clean up the mess after thirty years. They are drilling a hole just about a quarter of a mile north of the main shaft to test to find out how hot everything still is. They have set up a couple of trailers and a earth mover and seem to be doing a lot of work. They now have keep out signs posted. You can only go so far, but I got some photos anyway. I was hoping tomorrow would go better.

By now it was getting late and I wanted to have my T-Bone and Lobster before dark, so we made a dash for camp. Going through Hot Creek Canyon I came upon a truck headed our way. They rolled down their window like they wanted to talk, so I stopped and visited. I was just starting to find out where they lived when the Lady in the truck said Brenda. It seemed they are fans of our web site. I thought she recognized us, but Brenda reminded me we had our caps on so that's how she new. I never ran into anyone who has seen our site before. This I thought was cool! Well we talked to long, supper was after dark anyway.

The plan was to spend all day exploring in the morning. Well supper was over by eight and I kicked back and made a couple of drinks. The fire was great and we were really enjoying the moment. Tomorrow also marks the date that Brenda has put up with me for twenty years. I promised to take her out for steak and lobster, just the two us, alone. Hey, I do not lie, this is as far out as you can get and we are all alone for sure. It was about that time that the first big flake hit me. Brenda started to get all bummed out, so I assured her it was too late in the year to mount to much, so not to worry. It stopped and started again several times, so we turned in about ten. Long about midnight, I had to take a whiz. As I pulled down the sleeping bag I found the top of our tent at the end of my nose. Another thought hit me, I like to drive in my flip-flops and I had for got to bring my shoes. After beating the tent from inside to get the snow off, I stepped out barefoot. About four inches of snow was over everything, Brenda woke up and hollered what was wrong and I assured her nothing, go back to sleep. We woke up that morning looking at the same thing, at the end of my nose. It looked like about a foot on the level.

Brenda asked me what is plan B, it seems mother nature likes to mess with my plans. I told her I was going to flip a coin to make up my mind. I lost the dammed thing in the snow and never did find it. I could see the valley below and the range to the west was all white. Game Plan, head to Vegas the trip is over. I just about froze my feet, flip-flops are not good snowshoes. We did enjoy the trip for the best part. Next year on our anniversary we will have to go and freeze somewhere together again.

Total mileage this trip 750

June 13, 2005

Well I need to get out and I also need photos of the Tecopa Charcoal Kilns updated. So, Wesley and I took a drive up to Wheeler Pass. It was a shame what we saw. The last time I was up there a few years ago, the main kiln was still standing and the other two were in bad shape. Now they are all down. Nothing but ruins left. I got my updated photos and then headed down to Clark Canyon for update photos of the Yount's Sawmill ( Clark Sawmill). Everything was pretty much the same as last time, but the gate was locked.

Now I wanted to add something new to my list. So we headed for Crystal Nevada. It is a fairly historical town even some people still live there. I am not sure I want to post what the historical facts are, I am listed on several educational websites for children to use as a reference. It was real interesting and I got a few photos as well, had a hard time keeping Wesley in the truck. He thought we should go inside a few places and take photos. The museum could have been interesting, I often wondered what they would have there.

Well all and all we had a great trip and equally good weather.

Total mileage this trip 188

June 26, 2005

With our Journal deadline getting close, I had to drop down to Plan D on our June Newsletter. I need update photos of the Cottonwood Kilns at Owens Lake in California. The weather turned out great, HOT. Wesley and I got several good photos of the kilns. While we were in the area, I tried to find the old Cottonwood Sawmill. It seems there is nothing left of that one. We also looked for the railroad siding as well , the information I got from the locals say it is gone too. There are signs of the old railroad bed all along the lake bed, but nothing for a good photo.

The next stop was back at the Wildrose Kilns on the way home. I manage to get better photos than our last trip when the snow was up to my knees. We found the Lime Kiln, located behind the fourth kiln from the south. It was covered in snow last time, all that is left was the foundation.

Now we can do a little ghosttowning. The Harrisburg site I found had a lot of stuff still there. The Cashier Mill was awesome, as well as the townsite they call Aguereberry Camp. After Harrisburg we went on down to Skidoo. There is nothing left of the townsite, but there was some good old photos displayed on the sign. We did not find the cemetery, but that will have to be another trip. I did find a good place to get Death Valley photos, Aguereberry Point. The view from there is totally breath taking. I will have to do a page on it to show some Death Valley photos.

The trip was long and took us all day. We had a great time and found many reasons for another Death Valley saga.

Total mileage this trip 512

July 10,11,12, 2005

With the photos from Kiln Canyon taken on this trip, we can put the Central Nevada Glorious Past Journal to rest. Done deal. After the last trip up to the canyon, I do not believe I will see 10 inches of snow this time. The weather is running in the 110's, around Vegas, so this could be a great trip.

Thinking of the Journal, first stop is the Central Nevada Museum. I do not have it listed on my site and I want to meet Eva La Rue, who runs the museum, and editor of the Central Nevada Glorious Past Journal. Well, I will list it now on my site.

While we are in Tonopah, I always wanted to get photos of the B-24 Hangers at the airport, maybe I can find some history to go with them, they were a big part of Nevada's effort for the War.

10:00 am, now we head for Kiln Canyon, or I should say Italian Springs first stop. After a short drive and a heathy walk, we found nothing up there. Actually, we found some cattle and a large bull who did not seem to like visitors. We left him and the springs, then ran back over to Kiln Canyon. I thought we would just go all the way to the end and work our way back down. Three Brick Kilns, three charcoal pits, one large stone house foundation, a couple of smaller foundations, two oven like stone foundations and two hours of walking. Beautiful place!

3:00 pm, now we arrive at the Tee, or intersection. Here you can behold two brick charcoal kilns, two stone house foundations and the stage road up to Tybo. I really do not know what came over me but, I had to try the stage road to see how far I could go. Bad idea! I had to drive three quarter of a mile before I could find a place to turn around, and it was not wide enough to turn around. After using my bumper guard to push a few boulders over, and getting on top of several, we made it, I don't know how. At that point we were only a quarter mile from the off road kilns, over the ridge and down in the next canyon. roughly 200 feet climb up, and about 500 foot drop down and we would have been there. By this time I was in no mood for this S''. It was going on 4:30 pm by the time we got back down to the Tee, camp time. We drove down to about 50 yards above where the map shows a road going north over to the next wash and made camp. After camp setup, and a couple of soda's, we explored to find the road. Yeah, lady luck was with us, there was no road. The tree's were too close and too big to plow over, so that left me with one thought. More soda's! That night we made plans to walk first thing in the morning.

Breakfast over at 9:00 am, with water, cookies, cupcakes, M&M's, and camera in hand we set out. You could probably get an ATV across the mile to the wash, but it would not be easy. The canyon going up the back side of the mountain to the off road set of Kilns is too narrow and rough for an ATV. It was only about a mile up to the kilns, but it seemed a lot farther, with the heat well over one hundred. Melt in your mouth, who wrote that slogan, he has never been in Nevada. We found a site about half way up, trash, stone foundation of something. Finally, at about a mile I sent Wesley up to climb as far as he could, hoping to see the kilns. When I called him on the radio, he said he could not see any kilns at all. Then, he called back and told me he could see some red showing through the trees about a hundred yards ahead. I was about ready to beat my self over the head with the melted M & M's, the camera cost to much. Two brick Kilns, surrounded by trees, still standing. This was a nice set to find. There was also another charcoal pit and several of the small oven like foundations. We explored for about an hour after cooling off inside the kiln. Well we have our photos and the trip is a great success. Time to head back to camp. By the time I reached the bottom of the canyon, I had heat blisters on both feet, and I was warring shoes this time. We ended up walking from shade tree to shade tree to get back over to camp. Time for more soda's, the day is done for my part.

In the morning after breakfast, Wesley and I drove up through Hot Creek Canyon and around to Tybo for up dated photos of the town. On the way home we stopped at the Clifford Mine to get new photos and the McKinney Tanks as well.

Now I really love it when the whole trip go's as planned. Wesley and I had a lot of fun despite the few draw backs. The weather was hot, we were hotter, and it did not snow! This is the best way to learn history, first hand. I ended up with 365 photos and a great trip!

Total mileage this trip 540 miles by Truck, 6 miles by foot!!

Sept 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 2005

Among all the historical and mining sites, I thought it was time to get a little Nevada Heritage. The Paiute, or Walker River Paiute to be accurate. We also had research to do on the Bodie and Benton railroad article, basically, I needed photos.

Day one was mainly just getting there. Brenda and I run up the back way using 394 out of Bishop, heading north. First stop was to be June Lake where one of the old Bodie flat cars is on display. After we finally found it, it was off to Mono Mills on the south side of Mono Lake. There is not much left of the mill except a little wood and a monument. On the way back to 394, Brenda saw the south tufas in Mono Lake. So we had to drive down to the parking lot and walk down to the lake. They are kinda cool if you have not seen them before. I will post a Mono Lake page with the photos I took. By this time it was starting to get well into the afternoon. Brenda was getting tired, so we decided to spend the night in Hawthorne. I really enjoyed our three night stay at the Sand and Sage Motel. If we had more money, more often, I think I would motel it rather than camp. Maybe I am just getting old, no, that can't be it.

Day two, with great weather we headed out around 11:00 am. Todays priority was to meet Professor Straka at Bodie at 1:00 PM and get photos of the Bodie and Benton depot on the hill above Bodie. Then we were to do a little research and see if we could find out anything about what was left of the railroad. We started out after Tom's arrival for the museum to get new photos of the old horse drawn hearse's, and then take the mill tour for renewed photos. I found out that if you want to get up to the Depot you have to get a guided tour, and they were only on Sundays. So we wondered around town taking pictures of some of the old buildings, and what was inside as well. This took us about three hours or so before we headed out the north end of town to find the Gray Mill. It was located over the ridge to the east of Bodie. There I found the first two stamp set that I have ever seen. The old mill had a set of five and a set of two still inside. From here it was a short drive up the old back road to where we could see the depot, about a half mile above. The wind was blowing a little and the sun was now in the wrong place to get any good shots of it, but I got a few anyway. Well all of the walking got the best of Brenda, so we took Tom back to his car and drove over to Hawthrone to kick back and spend the night. Tom had made plans to stay down at Mammoth for that night. While we were at the museum, we found out that the Mono Mill had a turn table for the engines right below the mill, actually the map drawn for us showed it acroos from the mill, anyway it was a good starting point.

Day three, we were to meet at the junction of 120 and 394 at 9:00 am, found the grave of the unknown prospector. We pushed Brenda a little too much the day before, so she decided to spend the day in the room and it would be Tom and I for this trip. The first thing on the agenda was to find the turntable. Well, after a little hike, we found the turntable north of the mill, at the mouth of the ravine right beside the railroad bed. We also found an older man who had a book with a map, he was planning on driving around the backside of Mono Lake. Now this was not on my agenda, but we started to follow the rail bed and see how far we could get. Have you ever spent a whole day exploring and not travel any distance. We did follow the bed, and we spent a lot of time looking for the Lime Kiln that was a siding. It got hot and we got tired, both of us headed for Hawthrone. Plan was to continue our search tomorrow for the Kiln, I figured we just walked by it.

Day four, after breakfast we headed back to Mono Lake. This time we started at the Ore Car Monument on 167. We drove down a ways and then started a foot search. We thought if we could not find it by the time we hit Warm Springs, we would take the other lake road back up to check down closer to the lake. There is a lot of sand and dunes between 167 and Warm Springs, and the road back was long gone. So we drove the same way back up to the Hiway, and then headed for the information center at Lee Vining. After talking to several experts, we found one that knew what we were talking about. He found a map, for $9.95, that had the Lime Kiln on it. Yep, it is on the other side of 167, north of Warm Springs. Rather than take the Wood Canyon county road, that branched off and went right to it, I decided to take a shortcut. After about two to three hours, and four or so miles, we finally found the Lime Kiln and I got some really good photos. I did not know at that time how close we were to the upper trestle, or we would have made the drive up. We did find the lower trestle on the other side of the lake below the mill. There is nothing left of it, just the ravine it went across. The afternoon was getting late and I was getting sunburned, so we called it a day and went to Fallen for the night.

Day five, Tom got out early and headed to Schurz to the Festival. Brenda and I got there about 10:30 just before the parade. Today we were to learn as much as we could about the Blessing of the Pine Nut and Festival, for our article. The Festival is in four parts, I will provide more details on my site, but for the best part it is the parade, powwow, Stick Games, and the evening Blessing of the Pine Nut Dance. They also sponsor the rodeo that takes place at the same time, the third weekend in September every year. This was the 75 Annual Festival. I don't remember when Brenda and I have had so much fun in one day. Watching the Professor as he joined in the Blessing Dance eagerly that night was the best part. Sorry Tom, I had to mention it. I got a lot of photos witch I will post some soon. The Festival is free and they provide a free lunch as well. The food was awesome I thought, I really like the Indian bread they sold at the stands. We made a day of it and left around 11:00 PM I think. Tom headed back to fallen for the night, he was going up to Eureka the next day exploring. Brenda and I drove back to Hawthrone for the night and came back the next day for the rodeo. The rodeo started at noon and lasted about four hours. After that we started our drive back to Vegas, arriving at around ten that night.

I would have to say, this has to be the best week long trip we have made in the last five years. Brenda had a ball, and we didn't have to deal with all of the camping gear. I finally took home around 1100 photos, it will take me a bit to go through them all before posting. Brenda says we are going again next year!

Total mileage this trip 1420 miles !

November 6th, 2005

Well it has been a while, and we need to get out of the house. Wesley and I decided to tackle Plan B for todays trip. It is overcast and not a lot of sun, but it is not real cold. We started for Pioche about 7:00 am. Priority for today is the Bristol Wells Cemetery.

After we drove up to the Kilns at Bristol, I saw a two tracker headed south. It was just about a half mile and it was right on the road, you can not miss it because of the fence. There were four mounds and one marker left to be seen. I don't know how I ever missed it. I had explored several roads around there, but not that one.

After the cemetery, I wanted to take Wesley up to the Silverhorn I found five years back. We explored the Fairview Range for about two hours, Yeah, I forgot how to get there. I think we were real close at one point, but I turned down hill and I should have went up. I did not want to kill to much time doing this because I still wanted to stop at the Boot Hill Cemetery at Pioche before running the Bennett Pass road for the charcoal kilns on our way home. So we left and drove to Pioche.

When we got in Pioche, for the sake of time I stop at the Museum to ask about how many Cemeteries they have in town. Lucky I did, they have three, and she told me how to get to the Boot Hill. At the end of the Comstock Road, you can not miss it. This was a pretty cool cemetery. They planted them all in a row, I think they redid the head boards, but they looked cool anyway. Got some good pictures. Now we are off to Bennett Pass.

A fossil hunter I met a while back told me there were Charcoal Kilns up on Bennett Pass. We drove up there and there were roads going everywhere. After running up and down a few, I decided to go on over into Dry Lake Valley, if I did not find them by then, we would have to head south for 93 to get gas at Ash Springs. We were starting to run low, and I did not want to backtrack. I guess I will have to e-mail my friend for more information. It will have to be another trip back to find them. Well, that is how things always go. It seems we always need to return.

We had a great day exploring and I got some really good shots. I can at least add two more Cemeteries to my list now.

Total mileage this trip 401 miles !

December 7th and 8th, 2005

Well in a all out attempt to make one last run for this years, Ely is going to be it. In hopes that the weather would cooperate and let me get a shot at the Diamond range we headed out. Miles before we got to Ely I could see the mountains were snow covered. Brenda and I pulled into Ely about noon. First stop was to be Al and Donna's to visit. Al told me the snow level was at 6000 feet. That means everything I was after would be covered in snow. We visited the rest of the day and Donna cooked up a great supper, then we checked in at the hotel. It seems I had a cold working in my lungs and I was up most of the night.

We got up early and headed down stairs to the restaurant, I went out to the truck to get a pack of cigarettes and found my spare pop froze solid. This was not a good sign. We had a good breakfast, but it hit hard and I was really feeling sick now. I had no alternative but to go back to the room and lay down. I very rarely get sick but Brenda brought some cold medicine, so I took it and laid down. That was it, lights out till about 4:00 pm. Well, Brenda wanted to go shopping so I found her a couple of dollar stores. The day was shot so we went back to the hotel to have dinner, thinking it may settle better this time. Still feeling like crap, we went to the room for the night.

In the morning we slept in and finally made it down for breakfast around 10:00am. I spent about three hours driving around town taking pictures of all of the murals I could find. This town has a lot of murals. In hopes of salvaging something out of this trip I stopped at the Museum. They really have a nice one. We did the museum several years ago but it is a lot better now. Besides I did not get very many pictures last time. So I ended up with the murals of Ely and the Museum. We finished off the day back at Donna's visiting some more.

All and all it wasn't a really back trip, we have had better, but we enjoyed what we could. I always enjoy talking with Al and Donna. We all agreed to do the Diamond Range in the spring, after the weather is over. Well the showers worked good this time at the hotel, if you have ever stayed at the Hotel Nevada you will know what I mean. This will pretty well end the trips for this year. Except for the pasting of Brian, it has been a good one!

Total mileage this trip 577 miles !

Total mileage in 2005 = 5900 miles

Total mileage in 2004 = 4427 miles

Total mileage in 2003 = 6213 miles

Total mileage in 2002 = 7462 miles

Total mileage in 2001 = 7087 miles

Total mileage in 2000 = 2163 miles

Total mileage since August 2000 = 33402 miles