DE VI - The Pony Express Trip Report

[Deleted member 13060]

I've been to the Belmont Mill. The bricks were made locally and are curved to match the radius.

If you can find the pock marks in the chimney there are chunks of lead in the bottom of them. The guys flying WWII fighters out of Tonapah (training base) used the chimney for target practice. P39 Air Cobras if I remember right....

 

[Hun]

Day 11 -- Great Basin - oh how great it is

Thanks Gary for taking it over the finish line! I was on holiday enjoying some beach time with my grandchildren before summer is over for them.

day 11 then --
Awoke to an already warm sun and enjoyed breakfast of eggs with sausage,,onion and corn tortilla strips. We packed up camp and headed north into Monitor Valley stopping at Potts Ranch to walk among the abandoned buildings. The 2 story wooden house was now home to a nest of Ravens so mama bird fussed at us overhead while we explored the area.









We continued north east on 025 into White Sage Canyon across the mountain into Antelope Valley. On a couple occasions, antelope darted across the road in front of us, one time it was a mother with her little one. From the valley we picked up elevation crossing Fish Creek Range and while passing Fish Creek Ranch nearly collided with an antelope trying to get out of our way. I was so enthralled with the race between us, I didn't think to grab a camera and capture the moment. We turned onto NV 50 heading east into Ely where we fueled and then stopped for lunch at the city park, a place we had previously visited on our Ghost Town trip in 2013.



Next destination was Great Basin National Park -- the only national park in Nevada -- established in 1986. A quick run through the visitor center and we were off to Wheeler Peak at 10,000 feet. A campground at the mountain top was still covered in snow. The overlooks provided views for miles out across mountain and valley and also an opportunity for a group photo. This handy group came equipped, tripods and auto-timers on cameras and we all hopped in the picture.
-- see Gary's post for the finished product.







Here Gary, I'll throw this one in. Thanks to Keith for snapping this shot of Scott and me with Wheeler peak in the distance.



We came back down the mountain and made our way down Strawberry Creek road to a quiet cozy campsite for the night. A skillet full of ground beef and black bean dip for the group was interrupted by a sudden thunderstorm so we dispersed to our respective tents and turned in early.

We camped at Elevation 7200', traversed 250 miles.

One more day to go before the trek home.

 

[gwittman]

It looks like I jumped too soon to close out the trip. I skipped half of our last day together. I do have one more photo to share from that day.
.
This beautiful wild stallion seemed to pose for us shortly. It looks like he even had a smile. When he decided to leave us it was like wind as he flew up a hill. He had what appears to be a few bite marks from a few fights but I love his colors.

 

[Hun]

It looks like I jumped too soon to close out the trip. I skipped half of our last day together. I do have one more photo to share from that day.
.
This beautiful wild stallion seemed to pose for us shortly. It looks like he even had a smile. When he decided to leave us it was like wind as he flew up a hill. He had what appears to be a few bite marks from a few fights but I love his colors.
View attachment 359015

I agree with you Gary. That beautiful horse was posing... or he had never seen the likes of a teardrop trailer before! He was a big horse, big enough to run with the Clydesdale team.

 

[Scott B.]

Potts Ranch - quite the oasis







A wild stallion



Wheeler Peak

 

[Hun]

Day 12 - Homeward bound

We awoke to Frenchie's wake-up call, a tap on our trailer window for an early departure. Keith and Gary were kind enough to wake up early to see us off and we rolled out of camp heading east on NV 50 with Frenchie and Michael, calling an end to another wonderful desert expedition.



Breakfast stop was at Denny's in Salina being the first opportunity we came across. We continued east on I-70 dropping south on 191 into Moab to meet up with Frenchie's longtime trail-leading friends. I am always spellbound when seeing the landscape in this great country of ours, especially near Moab.





A bite of Mexican for lunch and we headed to their house to collect a prize rack Frenchie had won. We got a photo montage tour of some 22 grandchildren and 13 newborn great-grandchildren - a brood to make any mother beam with pride and joy. Wrapping up our visit, we continued south on 191 into Colorado past Mesa Verde National Park and then south into New Mexico past Shiprock, the Rock and the town into Farmington to dine at Los Hermanitos before making the final trek to Rio Rancho. Karen and Sandy greeted us enthusiastically.

We enjoyed a quick visit and showers before retiring for the night after our 14 hours on the road. 639 miles traversed.

 

[Ace Brown]

It was at the end of the Death Valley trip after Frenchie had left us. We were headed up a wash to a mining area in the mountains. I can't remember the name of it. I ended up going around to the East side and went up to it the easier way.
.
I did a little research and am pretty sure it was Cerro Gordo.

That's correct. Talked to a guy later who came down it and said it was easy. But he was not pulling a trailer UP it.

 

[gwittman]

That's interesting Ace. I saw a post somewhere from someone that came down that trail about the same time we were trying to go up it. He ended up with a lot of body damage to his vehicle. That doesn't sound easy or he got off on the wrong trail like we did a couple times. Maybe he just could not drive very well but from what we were getting into, I think the trail was very tough due to a recent storm.

 

[Ace Brown]

I think that's the same guy I met later. He was driving a Taco and had pushed his rear bumper up into his taillight. He still claimed it was easy.