Moments in Dirt and Ink

Tonopah Field Office BLM ( map link ) Stopping in the Tonopah Field Office, I found it a lot less tourist directed than Bristlecone (Ely) or Caliente had been. The woman directing the office traffic said she wishes Battle Mountain (their district) had a nice recreation guide like that one from Ely. There isn't. You can find a brochure about a few people buried in the cemetery next to the Clown Hotel, though. She did find someone who could tell me a little about the roads. As long as there hadn't been any big rains recently (no... I think?) the road over Emigrant Pass might be good enough. The road past Coyote Springs would be excellent. There are no developed trails in the area. I started with iffy hoping for a big circle. Emigrant Pass is just one of the many so named because it happened to have an emigrant trail over it. This one happens to be in the Silver Peak Range. If I don't mind the several areas of gravel rubbing the underside of my car, it's good east of...

Caliente Field Office BLM ( map link ) I picked up three brochures for petroglyph sites at the Caliente Field Office including the one for Crystal Wash. Between the rough location of #98 Crystal Wash Petroglyphs on the Ely District Recreation Opportunity Guide (on the wrong side of the highway) and the description in the brochure, which referred to mile markers that have almost entirely vanished from the highway, I guessed my starting location was a little further down an unnamed road than geocache GC14GG1: I'd Go a Mile for a Smile-Elephant Poop . It is another one saying you could take your mamma's Jetta down the road, and this road is smooth. The sagebrush down the middle still provided some very audible bumping and the faint wash near the start could get worse over time. Still, I got to the end and found a small dirt parking area and a register. (Infrastructure! Confirmation of correct location!) The register seemed to think one could expect to find brochures in the b...

Las Cruces District BLM (map link) I was free! Well, almost. The last hammer blow that the builder felt she couldn't quite do herself had fallen. It had been a little longer than the one, maybe two months expected and I seemed to have been kept quite busy through it all, also not expected. Inspectors came and signed off on it, but I still had a couple days to keep a small farm going while the usual farmer was gone. That is just keeping the ducks, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, cockatiels, parakeets, and guineas all got fed and chicken eggs gathered and a few things watered. The dogs have automatic feeders. This actually does give me plenty of time to do other things. It had gotten way too hot in that extra month, unfortunately. Still, I needed something for May, didn't I? And there lurks Big Hatchet, still to be climbed. Big Hatchet will continue to lurk for me. Maybe I can get there, maybe I can't. "You've got a short wheel base, that will help." The st...

Las Cruces District BLM (map link) I meant to park at Rainbow Wash, but instead found my backup parking at a road beside a benchmark. It was tempting to leave Lightning Dock Mountain to the end of the hike when there was actually a chance of some lightning. Poetic. Exciting. It seemed more sensible to go up it first, since it was likely to be dark by the time I got to it at the end. I walked a few steps along the road then turned cross country to the lumpy peak that looked so delightful on my way to (North) Pyramid Peak . The light this day wasn't giving it quite so nice a showing. I encountered the first range fence of the day almost immediately. I ducked under it at a wash, let a couple steer run off in unnecessary fear, and strode on. The little used road of my start with Lightning Dock Mountain a short way off. South Pyramid Peak might be the point on the right. Cotton City for a bit of civilization. There was a laundromat once. The ocotillo haven't leaved ou...

Las Cruces District BLM (map link) Pyramid Peak is a "P1K" as the mad peak baggers say. Only a couple have gone after this particular one, but they were willing to say a few things about it on Peakbagger . It's not all that long starting from where the Continental Divide Trail crosses Animas Road, so I decided to add in Rimrock Mountain as well. I could get in a bit more hiking on the CDT (bonus) too. I used the public lands layer on Caltopo to make sure I could stick to public lands. There are multiple range fences to navigate, but I could do it all on state and federal lands. I got to the start later than hoped because I had a lot of dirt to drive before backing up onto a little used parking space beside the road. I still managed to catch a hiker just packing up from camping next to the random seeming bear box that turns out is one of the water caches along the trail. Pyramid Peak sits like a child's drawing above the meager markings for the CDT as it cross...