hiking

Nevada Road Trip: Around Caliente (Day 7)

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This day started with another trip to the Side Track restaurant, which, fortunately for me, was open for breakfast on Friday (as well as Saturday and Sunday). It did not disappoint, and I headed out for my morning with a nice protein fix.

First stop: Cathedral Gorge State Park. There is a nice visitor center here where I was finally able to buy my annual senior pass to Nevada State Parks. Better late than never. Of all the state parks I visited, this was the only one where I saw an actual park employee. The other parks all had fee stations, but you can’t buy annual passes at those. In the parks I was in earlier, I resorted to leaving a note in the windshield giving my phone number and saying I wanted an annual pass. It never came to that, however.

Here’s the blurb from the park’s site:

Cathedral Gorge State Park is located in a long, narrow valley in southeastern Nevada, where erosion has carved dramatic and unique patterns in the soft bentonite clay. The park’s beauty began with explosive volcanic activity that, with each eruption, deposited layers of ash hundreds of feet thick. Great walking trails abound for exploring the cave-like formations and cathedral-like spires that are the result of geologic processes from tens of millions of years ago. A photographer’s dream, the park offers stunning views of the scenic canyon and visitors can enjoy hiking, picnicking, camping and nature study. https://parks.nv.gov/parks/cathedral-gorge

If you have kids, you most definitely should go here with them. It is full of “slot” canyons for them to explore with little risk of them getting lost or hurt (same for us grown-ups). The “canyons” are all short, but you can go from one to another to another to another . . .

The view from Miller Point is supposed to be very nice, but unfortunately the road to it has been closed for months. I thought maybe I would hike up to it instead, but the trail was closed too. Once I saw the number of steps that would have been involved, I figured that was just as well. You can just make out some of the steps in this photo:

I very much enjoyed my brief visit here and would definitely go back, especially when they get the road to Miller Point open.

Beaver Dam State Park was the last of my planned sites to visit. It is 28 miles down a dirt road from US 93, eastward, almost to the Utah border. The park did not have much in the way of signage and I did not find many of the places that were listed on the map. An example of the type of problem: the map lists campgrounds “A” and “B” but the signs at the site itself only lists the campgrounds by names.

So, although I never did find any of the listed hikes, I did find one of the main sights I was hoping for on this trip: autumn foliage:

I got back from Beaver Dam State Park in the early afternoon. I had booked my motel room for two nights, but I realized I was only 2-1/2 or 3 hours from home. I called the kennel, and they could have Brindy bathed and ready for me by six, so I took off for Henderson.

Naturally, after all the hours on empty roads, I hit a major accident the minute I got into North Las Vegas. Turned the radio back on and rejoined civilization. Picked up the dog and was home before seven.

I had planned this trip to coincide with the “anniversary” of my little stroke last year which happened just before I was supposed to go on a long trip by myself. Although I had been on a cruise in June with a friend, I just felt the need to do something on my own and (with my doctor’s blessing) I am so glad I did it; I had a wonderful time and got a lot of confidence back. I want to explore more of Nevada soon: after all, I don’t want to let that annual state park pass go to waste!

Nevada Road Trip: Ely to Caliente (Day 6)

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This drive was all on US 93, The Great Basin Highway. A part of the highway is a Nevada scenic byway as well. I covered 135 miles or so (plus some side trips) on another fairly empty road.

In city driving, I always have the radio on and mainly switch among five different channels on Sirius XM. For some reason, listening to music while driving in town seems necessary. However, the minute I left the outskirts of Las Vegas, I turned the radio off and did not turn it back on until I got back to Vegas the evening of my last day.

There was something about being out in those broad expanses and on those empty roads that just called for silence. I also found that I was much more attuned to the actual driving experience: the sound of the tires on the road, the feel of the steering wheel under my hands, etc. Driving was a joy again just for its own sake during the whole trip.

I drove through the town of Panoche as it has a couple of historical sites and buildings, but the town just didn’t appeal to me and I drove on.

My first stop, then, was Spring Valley State Park. Here is the sign that greeted me at the lake within the park:

If you’re like me, at first glance, you assume it is warning you about fire danger. Look more closely and you will see that it is a “Harmful Algal Bloom Advisory”. Here are the four zones:

  • Clear
  • Watch: Keep Pets Away from the Water!
  • Warning: Keep Pets Away from the Water!
  • Danger: Keep Pets Away from the Water!

What I find interesting is that while the sign explains that the algae and cyanobacteria can be harmful to humans, wildlife, and pets, the main emphasis is on protecting your pet: “HABS can be deadly to pets. Don’t let pets swim in or drink water that shows signs of HABS.” Nothing about when humans should stay out of the water!

The park is named for the large number of springs that irrigate lush pastures in a historical ranching area. Volcanic tuff and sediment make the hills a light-gray, pink, and white backdrop. 

The next scenic spot of the day was Kershaw-Ryan State Park:

Situated in a colorful canyon, with towering walls up to 700 feet high and a long, verdant valley in between, Kershaw-Ryan State Park is an oasis in the desert, a sharp contrast to the rugged landscape that surrounds it. Natural springs grow a garden of wild grapevines, white oaks, fruit trees and willows, and a spring-fed pond provides a seasonal children’s wading pool. It is not unusual to see wild horses, deer and other wildlife come to the water. With plenty of places to picnic and a series of trails that wind throughout, the park is a great choice for hiking, camping and nature study. https://parks.nv.gov/parks/kershaw-ryan

If you ever find yourself in Caliente, I can highly recommend the Side Track Restaurant. I had a great turkey sandwich. When I asked about what the fries were like I was told to imagine if McDonald’s fries and Wendy’s fries had a baby; that would be their fries. And, yes, they were terrific!

Day 7 is more state parks around Caliente.

Nevada Road Trip: From Home to Beatty (Day 1)

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I hadn’t been on a road trip in years and wanted to take one to celebrate the one-year anniversary of my little stroke. Decided to visit a number of small Nevada towns and avoid any national restaurant or hotel chains.

I left home on the morning of the 18th of October. My first stop was actually just over the state border in California: China Ranch Date Farm (https://www.chinaranch.com/).

This place is less than 100 miles from Vegas and south of Death Valley. You have to want to go there just for its own sake, though, because it’s not really on the way to or from anywhere. It is not going to visited by hordes of tourists

I didn’t snap any pictures of the road on my way in, but here’s a few I took on my way out:

You would not want to be on this road in one of the areas infrequent rainstorms.

Here’s the gift shop:

They had a dozen or so different types of dates, date baked goods, souvenirs, rocks, and, of course, date shakes. One bathroom, a picnic table or two, and some hiking trails. It made for an interesting stop for an hour or so.

From there, I drove into Pahrump, which is pretty much an exurb of Las Vegas. Although it has around 45,000 residents now, it didn’t even have telephone service until the 1960s.

The main road through town has all the usual businesses and chains, but I was looking for somewhere local for lunch and settled on Mom’s Diner, which you can check out here https://www.facebook.com/people/Moms-Diner/100048743390385/# if you have Facebook (which I don’t).

The place was full of vintage items on the walls and had a great vibe. It was quite busy when I arrived for lunch on Saturday, but I only had to wait a few minutes for a table. They didn’t have any small tables and I felt a bit guilty taking up a table for four, but that soon sorted itself out: The family at the table next to me had 6 people and were having trouble fitting everyone in. I suggested we share my table, so rather than lunching by myself, I spent my time chatting with the grandfather about Pahrump and his history there. Made for an unexpected but interesting time. And the food was good, too!

Next stop was Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ash-meadows). Thanks to our dysfunctional government, the visitor center was closed, but the trails (and bathrooms) were still open. Ash Meadows is the largest remining oasis in the Mojave Desert, but it’s hard to realize that because there is not a lot of open water. Here are typical landscapes:

The water is almost completely grown over by bushes like this:

When you do glimpse the water, though, it’s stunning:

After a fairly warm afternoon of hiking the boardwalks, I headed for Beatty, NV, “Gateway to Death Valley” and home to 1,000 inhabitants (not counting the burros). After my big lunch, I just picked up a few snacks and a bottle of Diet Coke for the evening. I haven’t been drinking sodas much at all lately, but the day’s walking just seemed to call for it.

My room for the next two nights was in the Atomic Inn. I’ll let their website (https://atomicinnbeatty.com/about.cfm) speak for them:

Completed in 1980, the Atomic Inn (originally the Lori Motel) was built to accommodate defense contractor and military personnel working with the Ford Aerospace Corporation who worked at military installations at nearby Nellis Air Force Base – home to top secret installations like the world famous Area 51 (Groom Lake), the Nevada Nuclear Test Site (where over 500 above-ground nuclear bomb tests were tested, and the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository.

No wonder we call it the ATOMIC Inn! The Atomic Inn/Phoenix Inn is a retro-themed motel establishment dedicated to great value and great service reminescent of the good ‘ol days when Eastern Europe was the Warsaw Pact and the United States was ready to “duck and cover”! Now a popular Death Valley motel choice, the Atomic Inn / Phoenix Inn has survived the Cold War and has been remodeled into the 21st Century yet is still a classic. Rated as #1 in Beatty out of 6 motels on TripAdvisor!!!

Here’s the Inn and the steps up to my room:

Day two will be a ghost town, outdoor art installations, and Death Valley.