We departed California and headed to our next overnight stay in Dayton, Nevada. We toured the small town and learned that Nevada’s first gold discovery took place in 1849 in Dayton. The town went through several name iterations, from Pause & Ponder, to Chinatown, to Nevada City, before settling on the name Dayton. US-50 in Dayton was part of the Pony Express Route in 1860-1861. The California Trail that originated in Missouri passed through it, too. Dayton holds the distinction of performing the first marriage and first hanging within Nevada.
This is the oldest saloon in the area, dating to 1887. |
Dayton State Park is a small, 10-site campground with no hook-ups that costs $25/night (including the $5 vehicle day-use fee for non-residents of the State of Nevada.) Despite what the website said about the size of our reserved Site 7 (Max Length 60'), we could neither access it nor fit into it lengthwise even with disconnecting and parking Big Boomer elsewhere. Luckily, a ranger was at the campground. He stated that the website indicates inaccurate site sizes (I rechecked the Nevada State Parks website. The "home" page for Dayton says all sites "can accommodate up to 34' RVs." However, the reservation page still shows Site 7 as able to fit a 60' rig!). He further asserted that there is only one site that would fit us, but it is occupied by one of the Park’s “frequent” guests who camps in his car. Not to worry, he said. He has a good rapport with the guest. The gentleman who was car camping graciously agreed to switch to our reserved Site 7 and relinquish his Site 10 to us, which had to be 80+ feet long! It fit Big Boomer/Suite Retreat without unhitching. We were able to squeeze the Rambling RV Rat Pack Rubicon onto the site, too.
The Park has a trail (which Mom and I hiked), a pavilion, and a playground within the day-use area. |
Mom realized just a few days earlier that our stay in Dayton
was not far from the home of Quartzsite friends Marlys/Earl. So, we were thrilled to get together with
them, help Earl celebrate his recent birthday, and meet some wonderful new
folks.
On our way back to our campground, I saw a sign indicating we were just 30 miles from Lake Tahoe, Nevada. So, I convinced Dad to take a little side trip to get a flavor for the area.
The next day we continued to traverse along US-50 in Nevada,
dubbed by Life Magazine in 1986 as the “Loneliest Road in America”. Things sure have changed since 1986. Truth be told, we saw quite a few cars on our
travels.
Thanks to our solar set-up and the freedom it provides us to avoid crowded RV Parks, we are back to boondocking for a couple nights along SR-722, in East Gate, Nevada, courtesy of Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This small piece of real estate offers easy access on/off US-50, peace and tranquility, 365-degrees of majestic mountains, and magnificent dark skies to view celestial bodies. We had no neighbors during our stay, but my investigation and analysis of area scat confirmed that some moo-moos and jackrabbits were residing here recently. Furthermore, I heard the howl of a lone coyote loud and clear during the night.
I believe when people die, they become a star in the sky. So, I like to gaze up at the stars and say "I love you" to those departed souls that I hold close to my heart. |
Other than a horrific haboob coming through
on our second night (which made for some cool photos), we had a wonderful stay.
While enjoying our time off-grid, we visited a few interesting places, like Sand Mountain Recreation Area. This paradise for riding the sand dunes was a bit of a ghost town on this mid-week, 97F degree day. The grounds were once home to a Pony Express sub-station.
We also visited the Shoe Tree, a Roadside America
attraction. Sadly, I could not make a
contribution--this stuffed rat does not sport footwear!
But I gladly made a creative contribution to the “Preamble to the Constitution” Rock Art Exhibit. A man from Washington, D.C., toiled for 5 days in 2017 to spell out the entire preamble to the U.S. Constitution with rocks. With two American flags acting at quotation marks, his preamble artwork spans for nearly a quarter mile. Many folks have added their own rock art creations in the area.
Those three great words: "We The People..." |
More of the preamble. |
"...Establish this Constitution of the United States of America" |
I decided to add my self portrait rock art in front of the American flag to act as an exclamation point! |
Following the BLM road signs off US-50, we also visited the Fairview Peak earthquake fault within the Dixie Valley Watershed of Nevada. The result of 6 earthquakes and 2 aftershocks in December 1954, the fault runs for 60+ miles!
Fairview Peak, like so many majestic mountains, has been desecrated with an array of antennas. |
We hiked the trail to get a good view of the fault. The Rubicon looks rather small from up here. |
There are two types of faults, a strike-slip and a dip-slip. Strike-slips produce horizontal movement and dip-slips produce vertical movement. Seismologists consider this fault a dip-slip. |
I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning, excited for our day’s adventure at Nevada’s Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. We stopped first at Middlegate, an unincorporated community of 17 residents along US-50. Its Middlegate Station, once a stop on the Pony Express, is now a one-stop-for-all-your-needs center. It has an RV Park, motel, bar, restaurant, and the oldest fuel station I have ever seen with an above-ground tank attached to the pump! Interestingly, I have learned Middlegate is now a Harvest Host location, too.
Reminiscent of the Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer, Alaska, Middlegate Bar has dollars displayed everywhere: hanging from its ceiling, plastered on its walls, framed near its cash registers, etc. |
How's this... |
...for old school filling station! |
We arrived at our destination, Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. It has one entrance price of $10 for
non-residents, a bargain for a place that features two very different
experiences. Berlin is the site of a
late 1800s mining town featuring some original buildings. Ichthyosaur is home to fossils of a marine
reptile that lived some 225+ million years ago.
We sprang for the personal tour of the fossil house for an
additional cost of $5/person. But it was
well worth it. Our young docent, Jordan,
was a wealth of knowledge! We thought
for sure he was a paleontologist by the amount of information he imparted and
his ability to answer all our questions completely and succinctly. But he is not a college graduate—heck he is
not even a college student. He is all
self-educated on a topic he just finds fascinating. How refreshing! I learned the first
ichthyosaur discovery here was in 1928, but by the 1960s, the remains of 40
creatures were excavated. Ichthyosaurs
could weigh from 20-40 tons and could span as much as 50 feet in length. They most closely resemble today’s dolphin.
After our tour, we hiked down to the campground to check it out. Though there were several sites that could fit us, the access road to the campground (2 miles of gravel, narrow, winding roads) could be problematic if two-way traffic were present. I guess that is why the campground restricts the length of RVs/campers to 25 feet.
Views from the campground. |
We had our lunch in the picnic grove and then hiked some trails to view Berlin.
Mining in the area began in 1863, when silver was discovered in nearby Union Canyon.
One of the structures from the Union Canyon Mining Camp that has somewhat survived the test of time. |
Overlooking the site of Mayette Mill, which processed the ore mined at Union Canyon. |
Mom was the only one of us who wanted to hike down in 90F degree heat to see the remnants of the Mayette Mill. |
Berlin Mine was established in 1895, 3 decades after Union Canyon Mine. Its total production was nearly $850 thousand, a pretty good return on investment since silver was only valued at 60 cents/ounce and gold at $20/ounce at that time. But all good things come to an end, and Berlin Mine was abandoned by 1914.
Berlin Mining Camp as seen from the Park entry road. |
Remains of the Machine Shop. |
This was once the Mine Superintendent's Cabin. The structure now serves as the Visitor Center. |
The structure on the far right is the Berlin Stamp Mill. |
Inside the Stamp Mill. All the trees in the nearby forests are second growth, 'cause this Stamp Mill chopped down every available tree to power its boilers and steam engines. |
Park officials classify Berlin as being in a state of “arrested decay”. But how better to understand life during those silver and gold mining days, when boomtowns blossomed and inevitably busted, transforming them into today's ghost towns.
Time to go! Talk to you again soon!
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