Dan Will Travel
I'm Dan and I WILL Travel
Is it:
A. A Sasquatch like creature that the Shoshone believed could capture and eat people?
B. The most remote town in the lower 48?
C. A law breaking Nevada town, openly defying Nevada law as a PST zone state and operating totally on Mountain time?
D. The place to be for 4th of July, Halloween, and other opportunities to party?
E. The scene of the last stage coach robbery in US history?
F. A bumper sticker that you can get there?
The answer: all of the above!
I am not quite sure how I found this town and its hotel, and, 6 hours into the drive up from Elko, I was not quite sure if I ever would find it, but I did. As you will see below, the population is about 16 or so, but they have a store, two bars, a hotel, and a gift shop. And, as of this week, a freshly graded dirt main street!
If you want to go to the county seat, Elko, it is 6-7 hours, of which 4-5 hours are dirt roads up and down the mountains. If you want a quick trip to the store, then it is Twin Falls, Idaho, a mere 3+ hours to go 100 miles, with only 20 or so of the miles being on dirt. There are NO other options. Yes, the most remote town in the 48 states.
But, the restaurant is open until 10 every night! And the bar until everyone is done. I was there on a Tuesday, and it was busy! And the stories they tell of the holiday parties? Amazing, all night events. Granted, all participants interviewed seemed to have limited memory of the details……
Why does this all happen here in this extraordinarily remote old mining town? I think they all WANT to be there and like the life. Everyone seems happy.
Lots of shots below, which I hope you enjoy and the stories with them.
A road “blockage” to work though. I am about 45 minutes into the dirt road part here.
I loved this shot of the clouds and meadows. Around here I came across a herd of about 20 antelope. They were going the same direction I was and as I got up to 35 mph, they were now far ahead of me. They must have been running at close to 50 mph!
About 2 hours into this road, I had seen no one, and then a 53′ tractor trailer rig comes around the bend. What he was doing here I will never know, but it sure woke me up!
Beautiful scenery along the way, hour 4 or so of rutted dirt roads by now. Understand I had no maps, most intersections were without signs (I guess people around here steal the signs?) so I was sort of guessing from the navigation. I tried entering in Jarbidge, but it had no knowledge of the town. My car was making weird scary noises, it was late in the day and I was feeling lost.
And then, finally a sign that they could not steal! it was still an hour from this sign, but I felt like I would eventually get to Jarbidge!
I have arrived! The Outdoor Inn. Booze, grub and rooms. What more could you want after about 7 hours from Elko?
Of course, if the hotel was full, I could always stay here. It is open 24/7 and free.
A gift shop for your shopping convenience.
Questionable combination of things here! But it and what follows show the quirkiness of the town
Yes, that is what it says. Hey, this is not Seattle for sure! But, although I think they are kidding, I chose to not park there.
Have you ever heard of a Mormon cricket? I had not and after taking this shot went back into the bar to talk about it. (Brave of me, I thought, being in Mormon country and all.) Well, it is a cricket that seems to periodically infest places sort of like a cicada. Nasty creatures and they do try to drive over them. I later saw some and they were not pretty. And not small.
What a cute alternative to a simple “No Solicitors” sign?
OK, After a fun night in Jarbidge, it is time to start heading home. Thanks for coming along on this trip with me.
That distinction goes to the Bristlecone pine trees, which are found at extreme elevations in the great basin. These trees live pretty much at tree line which is about 10,000 feet in this park. They thrive where essentially nothing else does, and are thought to live for over 4,000 years. Even when they eventually die, their wood does not rot. It just lays there in the elements for maybe thousands more years?
This tree was born around 1500 bc and is now 3600+ years old! And still doing fine, thank you.
How do you put perspective on the age of something this old? I have some shots below of places I have been and how old this guy was when they were built. I think it really puts this tree’s age into perspective.
Temple of Concordia, Sicily. Built 440 BC. The tree above was over 1,000 years old when this was built!
Karnak temple, Luxor Egypt. Built 1330 BC. Our tree was about 170 years old then.
The Roman city of Palmyra, Syria. Peaked around 260 AD. Our tree was one thousand seven hundred years old then!
These little seen living trees are truly one of the most remarkable things on earth. Just for their age and resiliency against such odds. Let’s all hope that climate change is not their final undoing.
Beautiful for their bright gnarled trunks, this one is sort of mostly dead I guess. I wonder how long it has been standing there?
A close up of the trunk of one. See the true bark to the far right on the trunk? That is essentially all that is still “living” as we define it.
Still alive.
Two that are now gone. When they died I do not know nor how long they will stand there.
Dead how long? Scientists have core dated living and dead bristlecone pines building a history of over 9,000 years! So this beautiful log might have been here in total for 5,000+ years?
This is a remote, but very spectacular national park in Nevada on the Utah border. It features desert of course, but also high peaks, 5 distinct climate zones all easily visible from the park roads and trails, a really good cave, and bristlecone pines.
The great basin is comprised of most of Nevada and parts of Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California. What defines it is that within it, the rivers never leave. They just eventually die out. In the Great Basin, particularly in Nevada are a series of mostly north-south mountain ranges that reach up to 13,000 feet, well above the desert floor. These are ecologically the same as islands in an ocean, totally unconnected from each other. The plants that can live in the mountains cannot live in the desert below. For me, the most remarkable plant is the bristlecone pine. The next post will go into more detail about them.
Most all of us have been to Las Vegas. Look at the shots blow. Does this look like the Nevada that you know? Really surprising scenery, all due to elevation.
Along the park road.
Lehman Cave. I am not really a cave person, but this one was really quite good. very colorful.
One of the more rare formations that it is known for.
High peaks, meadows and snow. In June. In Nevada.
The light color trees are aspens just leafing out at this elevation. Higher up they were still in winter mode.
This is from 10,000′ in the bristlecone pine forest looking to the high peaks not far away. Still a fair amount of snow to be found at my elevation.
A close up of the rugged peaks. In the cirque off to the right is the only glacier between the Rockies and the Sierras.
Well, it would not be a Dan travel post without a dead tree would it? Nice one I thought.