Cave Spring

Tonopah Field Office BLM

(map link)

Corral, it says. Cave Spring, it says. Ruins, it says. There's a couple prospects and a building marked too. Okay map, I thought, we can stop there and see what all the fuss is about. That's quite a few little marks.

Cabin, corral, and Rhyolite Ridge.

I did find myself deciding that the way up Rhyolite Ridge was up the valley north of the road and pick one of the later minor ridges to the top. The only trouble is the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project. (Sponsors of Radio Goldfield, oldies western and a whole lot more. Strongly Appalachian sounding when I first stumbled on it, playing "Christmas songs for folks who don't like Christmas songs" later, and highly recommended.) There's a bit of activity south of the road including "no unauthorized entry" signs and seemed like even more activity north of the road. No exclusive signs, but still worrying. So I discarded actually doing my plan for the Rhyolite Ridge as quickly as I made it.

Focusing back on Cave Spring, where there is indeed a corral and a structure.

The cabin is built up against the rock with earth covered roof. There's a bit of ruins to the right.

There's a short road that heads south. I decided to follow this to wherever it goes. There's something like a shallow cave near the end of it.

Rhyolite Ridge with a collection of cliffs on this side.

More cliffs above as I travel south.

What the road climbs up near.

There's some overhangs, the deepest at the far right.

I made my way from the end of the road over to the overhung ledge. The road was getting awkward in its loose, rocky steepness. It looks like many before me have done the same.

Up onto the overhang.

The view from the ledge. Not yet an open pit. (La sigh.)

Back across the ledge from the far side for the bookend view.

I looked a bit and headed back.

Another look at how steep Rhyolite Ridge is close to the good road.

And the randomly beautiful hills that would be my view if heading up that valley.

I got back and poked my way up a path behind the cabin to find the spring. Or a spring. It was capped and plumbed to a faucet below. Then I wandered along the main road where it enters a narrow pass. Here are the caves, looking carved by seeping water. Between rock layers is a very common erosion point and the layers some caves devide are very apparent.

The good, recently graded road, moist from the nearby water sources.

Not the cave side.

The side with caves.

Another view on the caves.

A bit more of this narrow pass.

The signs on the fence indicate the area is an archeological area and are very clear I shouldn't enter, so I didn't. There's more holes on up the hill, which I also left alone.

The vertical viewpoint on those holes.

So that is a look around Cave Spring. From there, I headed off to find camp for the next few nights. Traffic wasn't so bad on this side of the project as the other. There was only one traveler twice a day.

*photo album*




©2023,2024 Valerie Norton
Written 6 Feb 2024