< more recent | 8-14 March 2022 | older >
14 March 2022: We did our pre-run of the Goldpoint route for this year’s Death Valley Experience, and had to make some changes to the original trail plan because a section of the old trail was now closed off. We found a nice route that was a little more interesting from a wheeling perspective (though this is one of the really easy runs, driving-wise). We took a little time to spend at the Stateline Mine site to look around and see what might make for a good photo stop for the group, then headed into town to meet the owner of the one bar/restaurant/museum that the group has contracted with to provide lunches for the event. Was a good day out in the desert…
13 March 2022: Back on the road finally and transitioned from Nevada to California, arriving in Death Valley late in the afternoon. I was a bit concerned if I would be able to find a campsite, since everything is so crowded everywhere these days, and Mesquite Springs is “first come, first serve”. Luckily I found an open spot, even though it was not in my preferred part of the campground (my favorite spots are the ones that overlook the wash, but they were all occupied, so I had to take one of the “central” spots a bit surrounded by other campers — many in RVs and vans). But it just felt good to be back to camping under the stars after almost a week in the time-warp casino hotel. Tomorrow we start scouting for the upcoming Death Valley Experience.…
12 March 2022: Actually got out on the river today, joining a group kayaking to the Emerald Cave. It was a short and mellow paddle to the cave site, and the “cave” wasn’t really all that spectacular, but on the return paddle we had a wonderful big horn sheep encounter on the edge of the riverbank that made the day.…
11 March 2022: Did a bit of research to find the exact coordinates of the Fort Mojave ruins and located the site, but though maps seem to show an actual legal road, the whole area was fenced off and locked behind gates marked “Do Not Enter” with clear signage saying it is closed to motorized vehicles.…
10 March 2022: A quick outing to a petroglyph site nearby and a chance to reflect on the ancient ones who created the rock art here. Like much of the southwest there is an overlap of histories in this area, and the strangeness of the “frozen-in-time” feeling of the Laughlin strip casinos adds to a sensation of being in some kind of “time warp” that randomly strings these different histories and cultures together …
9 March 2022: Laughlin is near the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and though I had to spend yet another day taking care of administrative and logistical matters online, I was able to find time for a short break and get out into the landscape…
8 March 2022: Busy day mostly online working from a hotel room at the casino. Finally Took some time to just stroll along the riverfront before an early dinner as evening fell. The ambiance of this strange casino strip seemingly stuck in another era is slightly surreal.…
THIS MONTH:
Getting ready for the next big road trip. Heading southwest and into the desert for some new exploration as well as a few of our favorite events. We will be road tripping south and then west, with some stops planned in Louisiana and Texas, before honing in on Arizona, SoCal and Nevada for a month or so…
COMING UP SOON:
Every Day Is a Clean Up Day in 2021. Ladies Offroad Network has partnered with TreadLightly! to create a year-long program that encourages members to pick up trash on the trails whenever they are out off-roading. Participants simply pick up the trash, weigh it, take a photo, and log the location and time it took, then upload the details. At the end of the year there will be a series of prizes based on pounds of trash removed from the trails as well as participation in other TreadLightly! initiatives. This is a great way to do some good on a local level and make a larger impact via the national program…
Advanced sand dune training with Barlow Adventures at the Imperial Sand Dunes in southern California. This three day driving and navigation program focuses on moving safely and effectively through large dunefields. Skills-building exercises are intended to improve pace, line choice and vehicle control, as well as developing precision map and compass navigation technique…
Trail Guiding for the California 4-Wheel Drive Association’s second annual Death Valley Experience fundraiser event running March 30-April 2, 2022. Each day will feature a choice of runs to some famous, some infamous and some secretive points of interest within Death Valley National Park. The runs will depart from Furnace Creek and from Stovepipe Wells. Some of the points of interest we will visit during Death Valley Experience 2022 include Zabriskie Point (famous), Barker Ranch (infamous) and the Racetrack (learn the secret of the moving rocks). Other points of interest include Dante’s View, 20 Mule Team Canyon, Artists’ Drive, Chloride Cliffs, Aguereberry Point, Skidoo, Titus Canyon, and Darwin Falls. All of the trail runs are suitable for novice drivers and SUVs with high clearance and 4-wheel drive…
USnomads.org is very proud to be presenting a brand new kind of rally experience for 2022 — the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally a ten week event that participants can do from anywhere within the continental U.S.A. Competitors design their own routes as part of the rally, then drive it in a points-based online competition that includes optional activity tasks, quests and weekly challenges. The rally will run from 6 June – 14 August and is open to any driver within the United States who has an off-road capable vehicle — stock or modified. Registration is now open and continues until 31 March or until the event is full, whichever comes first. For more information see the Rally website or Register Now …
ABOUT GOLDPOINT NV:
The area that would become Gold Point was first settled by ranchers and a few miners during the 1880s. The small camp of Lime Point was formed a few hundred yards west of the present town, at an outcropping of limestone. When new discoveries of gold and silver established the major mining towns of Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada in the early 1900s, a flood of prospectors returned to Lime Point. In 1902 silver was discovered in the area, and the old camp was revived and renamed Hornsilver (an informal name for the silver mineral chlorargyrite). Scarcity of water in the area required that the ore be shipped to nearby Lida for milling. The nearest major supply town was about 250 miles north at Unionville, a mining town northeast of present-day Lovelock. The miners did not find silver in abundance, the costs of shipping the ore to Lida became too high, and, within a year, the settlement was abandoned. In 1905, the Great Western Mine Company began operations about a half mile southeast of Hornsilver and discovered a rich silver vein which brought a stampede of miners back to the camp. In addition to the rich silver ore, gold was also mined in small quantities. By 1908, the tent homes turned into more permanent wooden structures and the camp became a boomtown that consisted of 125 dwellings, a post office, bakery, hotels, cafes, a store and numerous saloons. As deep ore bodies were extensively developed, the town peaked at a population of around 1,000 with over 225 wood-framed buildings, tents and shacks throughout the camp. In 1909, litigation due to claim jumping brought many of the area mining properties into the courts. These many lawsuits, along with inefficient and costly milling practices, halted the town’s growth just a little more than a year after it was established. Before long, most of its businesses closed and its residents again moved on. But Hornsilver was not yet a ghost town, as mining operations resumed again in 1915. In 1927, a miner by the name of J.W. Dunfee went down the mine and made an even better discovery – gold. Within a few years, more gold than silver was being mined and the town’s name was changed to Gold Point. It was after this discovery that Gold Point enjoyed its longest period of success, at a time that the rest of America was suffering from depression. However, when World War II began, the government ordered all gold mines to shut down as nonessential to the war effort. Mining at Gold Point stopped, and once again most of its residents drifted away or went off to war. After the war, mining resumed on a smaller scale and continued until the 1960s when a cave-in occurred from a dynamite blast at the Dunfee Shaft. More expensive to fix than the quantity and value of ore extracted would pay, the mine closed…
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
1-7 March – Glamis Training
16-28 February – Roadtrip Southwest
1-15 February – Long Island
8-31 January – Long Island
1-7 January – Florida to NY
28-31 December – Okefenokee NWR
24-27 December – Ocala National Forest
19-23 December – Heading South
10-18 December – Long Island
1-9 December – Paris
16-30 November – Paris
1-15 November – Roadtrip East
25-31 October – Roadtrip East
17-24 October – LON Top Ten
7-16 October – Rebelle Rally
1-6 October – Rebelle Training
24-30 September – Rebelle Training
16-23 September – Roadtrip West
1-15 September – CT Training
August – Paris
July – LI & CT
June – LI & VA
16-31 May – Long Island
8-15 May – Return to NY
1-7 May – Southeast Utah
23-30 April – LON Bogi’s & 5+
16-22 April – LON Navigation
8-15 April – Sedona
1-7 April – Nevada
16-31 March – New York
8-15 March – Death Valley
1-7 March – Arizona
22-28 Februay – Alabama Hills
15-21 Februay – Mojave Road
8-14 Februay – Death Valley
Archive
SPECIAL REPORT
All about exploring ghost towns and abandoned places in the USA and beyond, with tips, and information on the many different types of sites to be found across the globe, including detailed guides for eight specific sites… [read]
REFLECTIONS
EGYPT: CAIRO REFLECTIONS
A quick overview of impressions from a stop in Cairo during our recent scouting mission in Egypt and Sudan … [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
A look into south-eastern Algeria on the border with Libya and Niger: overlanding with the Tuareg in one of the most remote corners of the Sahara … [read]
