The middle of the end of another challenge

Much ado about nothing? Actually it was something but we didn’t accomplish much before we had to stop and start again. After packing the car and getting in and out several times to adjust layers and the electronic equipment (computers and our receivers), we started out at 7:00 AM (or a little before) and headed for MacDonalds for breakfast. Even with the Nevada laws, that appears to be one of the few places that is non-smoking and it was just down the road. We were bundled up because it was pretty cold so we didn’t stay long before we headed back to the hotel to check out. In and out of the car some more while we rearranged and settled in again. Uh oh, we have all our heavy coats on and we won’t be getting out again for a couple of hours! So, we stopped again and did the in and out thing getting heavy coats off and re-situating everything! At last, at 8:09, we were finally on the road heading towards Las Vegas via Pioche, NV.

The sun is out and the temperatures are warming (it’s 27º)? I guess we are ahead of the storm that is coming from the west. The weather channel said Ely would have 2-3 inches of snow today but apparently not this morning. As we headed down 93, we saw some beautiful clouds in the distance. Mike warned us that those clouds meant high winds up there. Unfortunately, we will be facing some of those high winds along our route. We had planned to do a little geocaching around Ely before we left, but we cancelled our plan because of the weather threat. Hopefully, the direction we are headed will be hit with a less intensive storm than we would be getting back home in California or that we would have encountered had we stayed longer in Ely. Actually, based on what we are seeing, the storm is a myth! Other than the cold and high clouds it is pretty beautiful at the moment.

We found our first cache at 9:20 AM. The temperature gauge in the car gave the temperature as 36º (we were having a heat wave), but the wind chill factor quickly made it a lot chillier. We were at a rest stop but we had to walk about 250’ in the wind to get the cache. When we get to a cache, Mike opens and closes the back window to get his heavy coat out. When he rolls up the window, the car automatically locks. So I was still in the car when the other three headed for the cache. I was going to get out and take a picture but all the bells and whistles would have gone off and I didn’t have a way to stop them. Larry got back ahead of Cynthia & Mike and I couldn’t let him in the car. When C&M returned, they unlocked the car. Poor Larry was frozen. Now we have a set of keys available in the car so we can undo what Mike has done when he rolls up the window.

This particular cache was placed by one of the Nevada Delorme Challenge finishers. Unfortunately, people can use this cache to complete the challenge and they no longer need to drive through the beautiful valley and up Mt. Wilson to complete this quad. It is a shame to miss this great adventure. We are glad that we traveled through Lake Valley and up the mountain when we completed the challenge. Somehow, these easier cache placements detract from the challenge and the opportunity to see the real beauty of Nevada.

We have now found our Lincoln County cache. Two down and one more to go. The cache we chose to do was “Hop to It”! And hop to it we did! The cache was about 450 feet from an historical marker and the ground was covered with snow and with each step our feet sunk about 8 inches deep. We were hopping from foot to foot and trying not to sink too deeply! The historical marker identified this area as the Jack Rabbit Mine Location. An early settler picked up a rock to throw at a jack rabbit and discovered silver! We should be so lucky! Hopping through the snow didn’t find us any silver but we exercised enough to earn our lunch.

Our first cache in Pioche was “Boot Hill at Pioche”! We were in the part of the cemetery named “Murder’s Row”. According to the sign, 72 men died with their boots on and were buried here before anyone died of natural causes. All the tombstones were of wood and had engravings on them describing the way the person died. We were interested in one particular tombstone: Courtney Morgan who apparently was "Feared by some, respected by few, detested by others, Shot in back 5 times from ambush". "He must have been one mean dude!” said Larry. The residents of Pioche obviously take pride in this section of the old cemetery. The area is well maintained and a single old cowboy boot was appropriately placed on each grave site.

After leaving Pioche, we headed to Cathedral Gorge. It is a beautiful spot and we took lots of pictures. Both Larry and Mike got their fancy cameras out for the occasion. The gorge was formed by the erosion of soft bentonite clay. What we saw looked like "cathedral-like spires" and caves. It was a beautful spot and we took lots of pictures. To see the rest (and if you have permission), click on this picture and head to Flickr!

We do find such interesting places when we travel through Nevada. At the Bullionville historical marker, there is a path leading to an old cemetery on the hill. Of course there is a cache somewhere in the cemetery. We just had to find it. The wind was brutal but Larry and Mike made the grab and took some pictures. Cynthia and I watched them from the comfort of the car on this one. We did learn from the marker that Buillionville was established in 1870 when Ely and Raymond moved their five-stamp mill here. Eventually, more mills moved to this area and everyone prospered for a couple of years. Eventually, however, the nearby town of Pioche made some decisions that resulted in the demise of Bullionville. The nearby hill was the spot designated as the burial site for the original residents.

We arrived in Caliente, NV passed lunch time so we found the local eatery (The Branding Iron) and had hamburgers for lunch. They were OK but didn’t compare with Middlegate Station. We enjoyed our break and picked up a couple of nearby caches. The town of Caliente apparently got its start as a railroad town but they turned their depot into City Hall and office buildings rather than a shopping area.

Further down Hwy 93, we came upon a couple of mustangs. One of them was actually in the road (partially). We slowly approached and started snapping some pictures. Eventually, they both moved up the hillside. We were worried they might wander back to the road and people move at a pretty fast clip along this road. Guess we can’t worry, though. They have made it this far in life and traffic has been pretty scarce as we traveled on our journey. We will assume they will be safe.

As we continued down Hwy 93, we decided to check out a cache at the Pharanagot Lake Wildlife Refuge. Mike told us that this lake is fed by springs rising up from earthquake faults in the area. The lake and the cache are located off an access road that follows the highway. After finding the cache, we continued on the road until it was supposed to meet up with the highway again. Unfortunately, it came to an end and the only way we could continue was if we had an emergency. We debated whether we were in an emergency situation but we decided that wanting to get to Las Vegas didn’t qualify as an emergency. So, we turned around and went all the way back to the only access point at the other end of the lake. Now we are back on the road again and getting closer to Las Vegas.

Our final Lincoln cache before heading to Clark County and the Hotel was located near an historical marker at the 3rd Standard Parallel. The marker identified the location of the original boundary between the Territories of Utah and New Mexico. Eventually Nevada was formed from the south western area of the Utah Territory and the boundaries were relocated.

Our final stop for the day was at the Sun Coast Hotel in western Las Vegas. We actually picked up our first Clark county cache in the parking lot of the hotel. The rest will wait until tomorrow. We learned very quickly that a good deal on a room does not mean a good deal for anything else! To begin with, there is no such thing as free wifi access at the hotel. Furthermore, it would have cost us 12.00 per computer per 24 hour period. So, for the two of us it would be $24.00 times three days. Sorry, internet access is not worth an additional $72 for the few hours each day we would want to use it. Maybe tomorrow we will find free access at a nearby coffee shop. In addition to the internet, any other amenities are not free and are, in fact, on the expensive side--even the coffee. Interesting! I guess they are right: what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas---including money. And we don’t even gamble!