Tag Archives: travel

05/01/22 – The High Road/Jungo Road/State Route 49

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Former State Route 49, also known as Jungo Road, is an unimproved road from County Route 447 (former State Route 34) near Gerlach east to Winnemucca via the ghost towns of Sulphur and Jungo. It crosses the Kamma Mountains northeast of Sulphur. Most of the route runs parallel to the Feather River Route, a rail line originally built by the Western Pacific Railroad. In addition to an access for the ghost towns, the road also is an access for the Black Rock Desert from the East.

Although still commonly referred to as State Route 49, the dirt road is not maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation. It was eliminated as a state route as part of a Nevada state route renumbering project that began in 1976. The highway last appeared as a state route in the 1980 edition of the official Nevada Highway Map. Today, the portion of the road within Humboldt County is designated County Route 55.

Source: Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_State_Route_49

05-01-22 – Fly Ranch Geyser

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I’ve been waiting to visit the Fly Geyser for well over a decade, and I finally got my chance! This beautiful feature is on private land and can only be visited by attending a nature walk hosted by Friends of Blackrock. Do Not Trespass! The poor decisions of others resulted in access being denied to everyone for many years.

Fly Ranch Nature Walks

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Fly Geyser, also known as Fly Ranch Geyser is a small geothermal geyser located on private land in Washoe County, Nevada, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Gerlach. Fly Geyser is located near the edge of Fly Reservoir in the Hualapai Geothermal Flats and is approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high by 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, counting the mound on which it sits.

In June 2016, the non-profit Burning Man Project purchased the 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) Fly Ranch, including the geyser, for $6.5 million. The Burning Man Project began offering limited public access to the property in May 2018. The geyser contains thermophilic algae, which flourish in moist, hot environments, resulting in multiple hues of green and red, coloring the rocks.

The geyser has multiple conic openings sitting on a mound: the cones are about 6 feet (1.8 m), and the entire mound is 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m) tall. The Fly Geyser is the result of man-made drilling in 1916, when water well drilling accidentally penetrated a geothermal source. The temperature of the water exiting the geyser can exceed 200 °F (93 °C).

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly_Geyser

2022 Road Trip – Roadside Randomness

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For my 2022 birthday I took a road trip through Gerlach, NV and onward to Moab, UT. Here are some things I saw along the way.

11-01_02-19 – FL to CA

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Some lovely sunsets while driving back to Los Angeles from Key West

10-18_19-19 – CA to FL

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A cross-country road trip through California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida all the way to Key West.

02-25-18 – Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness

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The Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a rolling landscape of badlands which offers some of the most unusual scenery found in the Four Corners Region. Time and natural elements have etched a fantasy world of strange rock formations made of interbedded sandstone, shale, mudstone, coal, and silt. The weathering of the sandstone forms hoodoos – weathered rock in the form of pinnacles, spires, cap rocks, and other unusual forms. Fossils occur in this sedimentary landform. Translated from the Navajo language, Bisti (Bis-tie) means “a large area of shale hills.” De-Na-Zin (Deh-nah-zin) takes its name from the Navajo words for “cranes”.

02-24-18 – New Mexico Wander, Route 4

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A leisurely drive up Route 4 as it passes through Jemez Pueblo and Jemez Springs as it climbs steeply into the Jemez Mountains and Santa Fe National Forest, to the southern boundary of Valles Caldera National Preserve.

02-24-18 – National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

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The nation’s only congressionally chartered museum in its field. An intriguing place to learn the story of the Atomic Age.

Exhibits spanning the early research of nuclear development through today’s peaceful uses of nuclear technology.