4 Days-2up NorCal to Death Valley

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by larryboy

Nice iguana pictures!!! Hard to see them.

Enjoying your report!!

Thanks for checking out the report. I have a feeling you really enjoy that desert... One of the iguanas had yellow stripes on it's tail. The big guy had the tail of a rat. I was so stoked to see them out there.

[Bob]

Nice trip and pics.

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by Bob

Nice trip and pics.

Thanks Bob. It was a great trip for sure.

[PinkPillion]

Day 3- 4/19/11 continued.

Onward to Scotty's Castle. I think we will park here--right in the shade.




Death Valley Scotty told everyone that he built this castle in northern Death Valley with money from his "secret" gold mine. That was not quite the truth. A Chicago millionaire and his wife built their "Death Valley Ranch" in the cool of Grapevine Canyon and they let their friend Scotty live there as a guest.

A gate to the stables.


Old Wagon.


Crazy staircase to a tower in the main house.


We were about to shell out the $22.00 for us both to take the underground tour of the house. Decided against it when they said it was a two hour wait. Ended up just looking around for a while.

Carved metal plate on door jam.


Neat wooden carving on top the gatepost leading into the court yard.


The stairs to the main house.


We bought a couple of Starbucks bottled coffees, filled up a few water bottles (good drinking water here), and enjoyed our last bit of shade before heading west on HWY 267 toward Bonnie Claire Flat.

Day 3 to be continued.

[PinkPillion]

Day 3- 4/19/11 continued.

Along HWY 267, we saw mill ruins on a hill to the left of us. After walking around for a bit and trying to figure out what was going on there, the GPS told us it was called Lippencott Lead Mill.

Formerly called Bonnie Claire(Clare). A small camp began to form in the Bonnie Clare District in the 1800s when a stamp mill was built then known as Thorps Wells. The mill handled ore from 3 nearby mines. In 1904 the railroad reached the settlement. A bigger railroad was built to the west of the town and soon after the life quickly ebbed out of Bonnie Clare. From 1942 to 1953, George Lippencott used the mill to produce bulk lead concentrate that was further refined for use in car batteries.


Bonnie Clare 1906.


The site today.


Stone residences.


Bigger stone building up ahead.


We continue until the road comes to a T at HWY 95 and turn right. There are those Joshua Trees again.


Soon we came to the town of Goldfield.

Gold was discovered at Goldfield in 1902, its year of inception. By 1904 the Goldfield district produced about 800 tons of ore, valued at $2,300,000, 30% of the state's production that year. This remarkable production caused Goldfield to grow rapidly, and it soon became the largest town in the state with over 20,000 people.

Too bad we did not have a whole day to explore the area. I am sure there is much more to see. Stopped for a break near some old mining equipment.


Then continued through town. Big stone buildings are well preserved here.



The town long ago.


The Goldfield Hotel now.


In the early 1900s.


Goldfield High School. 1908.


The Old School House now.


On to Tonapah, NV. Between Goldfield and Tonapah I see pronghorn antelope and mustangs grazing in the desert. Pics were blurry, maybe next time.

Day 3 to be continued.

[Callahan]

Great pics and keep them coming. Looks like a great trip.

[wesman790]

These teeny tiny flowers were near the tree.


Belly flowers! I grew up in the Amargosa Valley just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Funeral Mountains from Death Valley. We used to call those belly flowers because you had to get on your belly to see them.

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by wesman790

Belly flowers! I grew up in the Amargosa Valley just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Funeral Mountains from Death Valley. We used to call those belly flowers because you had to get on your belly to see them.

Belly flowers--I love that name! I did have to get pretty close for the picture.

[PinkPillion]

Day 3- 4/19/11 continued.

Gassed up in Tonopah, NV. The mission was to get to Hawthorne. Thank goodness it was not dark yet, otherwise we have been staying in the Clown Motel. Yikes!

Close to the Coaldale Juntion we stopped to check out the urban art.


Does that say WTF? Was thinking of my favorite Jo momma thread.


Inside the tower. Burning man influence no doubt.




I really liked this one. Too bad someone altered the eyes to zap Packman characters.


Made it to Hathorne, NV around dusk. Our bargain hotel--$44 Oh Yah. Dinner at the Mexican place down the street was tasty at about $30.


The key said #29 to door said #129? We drank St. Pauli Girl beer and called it a day.




Day 4 coming up next.

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by Callahan

Great pics and keep them coming. Looks like a great trip.

Thank you Callahan. I shall keep the pics coming.

[CREnorth]

Wow Pinkpillion, awsome rr and photos. I live near that area and have been to some of those sites, but still learned much from your report,thank you so much for posting.

[Eyes Shut]

Hi PP -- Nice trip report and pics! We were just in Death Valley ourselves (2 up on our R1200GS) in late February. We really enjoyed the trip to Scotty's Castle. We took the underground tour and found it very interesting.

BTW, those large birds in Death Valley are ravens, not crows.

[SoCalJeff]

Great thread. Looks like an awesome trip. I'm planning a trip out there in the fall. Thanks for sharing!!

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by CREnorth

Wow Pinkpillion, awsome rr and photos. I live near that area and have been to some of those sites, but still learned much from your report,thank you so much for posting.

Thanks CREnorth. The history of the Death Valley area is quite interesting. I usually try to research before we go on a trip so I know what I am looking at. This time I was not sure what we would actually get to see, so finding out about the sites after the fact was fun.

[PinkPillion]

Originally Posted by Eyes Shut

Hi PP -- Nice trip report and pics! We were just in Death Valley ourselves (2 up on our R1200GS) in late February. We really enjoyed the trip to Scotty's Castle. We took the underground tour and found it very interesting.

BTW, those large birds in Death Valley are ravens, not crows.

Thanks ES. Wow February must have been cold! I am bummed we missed the tour. There is so much of DV that we did not see, not sure if we will ever make it back to Scotty's Castle. Glad you liked the report. Ravens--I will have to fix that.