Rye Patch State Recreation Area, Nevada

Ah, the price of "civilization". We've stayed at Rye Patch at least twice before and had the place pretty much to ourselves. It was a rustic campground below the dam, with the Humboldt River trickling by the birdwatching was great. Our last visit was 2005.

Since then the sites have been paved, there's water available, including showers. We can't say exactly if the crowd this year (every space was full, and the group site overflowing) was due to the improvements or the weather, but it was quite a shock. Here's a view of the campground from the top of the dam.


We arrived here on Friday and as soon as camp was set up we went into hibernation mode, still recovering from the stomach flu (Noro virus) that we picked up over the 4th. We promised ourselves we'd spend Saturday hibernating too, which we did. (Sorry, hibernating makes for boring blog posts!) We weren't able to get our favorite spot, right on the river, but when it was vacated I went down and took a photo. It's a nice birdwatching location.


We did expend a little energy researching and planning a trip for Sunday however. It turned out to be a really enjoyable drive.

Starting with an old map of historic mining towns in the state we researched those in the immediate area to see if any were still in existence.... ruins, etc. In most cases there's nothing left but a notation on a map, as any lumber was usually cannibalized for use in other communities once mines were abandoned in the original one, and once a roof is gone adobe doesn't hold up very well.  Our research suggested Unionville, just over the mountains from our campsite, would be a good destination, so off we went. I'll post photos and description in the next entry. Today we are headed for Winnemucca, where we'll visit a couple of museums and bask in the luxury of city electricity and water service.

Gardnerville, Nevada

Our first few days here at Fish Springs have been pretty busy helping our hosts get ready for their Happy Birthday America BBQ.

We took a day off yesterday and headed for the mountains around Lake Tahoe. We packed a gourmet picnic, complete with wine and beer, and enjoyed an easy hike along a trail our hostess had helped to build. It was a community project her company was supporting. The trail affords a great view of the lake.... photos to come! We had a great time visiting along the way and munching on the goodies at a premier view site.

On the way home we stopped at the Genoa Bar.

Genoa is the oldest established community in Nevada, and the bar, established in 1853, is the state's "oldest established thirst parlor". It's quite picturesque. . . filled with deer heads, old time photos, signs of all types, a few pool tables, and a little bit of floor space for dancing - which some of us did! The bar has been used in shooting a number of movies, including John Wayne's "The Shootist" , Clint Eastwood's "Misery" and several others. Follow this link for more information about this historic building.

Once back at home we launched into additional preparations - hanging lights and other decorations, planning the food and all that's required for the BBQ. Unfortunately, about 2 AM Steve was hit with the stomach flu, so he's missed out on the folks that showed up this evening for dinner. We're hoping he recovers enough to at least sit upright tomorrow. He also missed out on the wedding..... John's daughter decided (on 24 hours notice) to get married in Las Vegas. Since he was already in Nevada, couldn't he just drive down??? So he hopped on a plane Saturday morning, attended the wedding in Las Vegas in the afternoon, and will fly back tomorrow morning to attend the BBQ. The wedding chapel in which the event was held publishes the weddings via live feed, so we were all able to attend too, without having to buy a plane ticket!

Fort Churchill, Nevada

We've been so busy since we arrived here at our friends' place in Gardnerville that I haven't gotten the last update posted...... so here it is!

We stayed two nights in the Fort Churchill campground, tucked away beneath cottonwood and Russian olive trees, swatting mosquitoes. It was a great place to relax, as we could stay in the RV and admire the scenery bug-free! The cottonwood trees were shedding their seeds so rapidly that at times it looked like it was snowing.

(Double click on the slide show for a larger version.)
Fort Churchill came into being in 1860, with the two-fold purpose of protecting the pony express route and protecting settlers from the native Indians. In actuality, the Paiutes who lived in this region really weren't a problem, but one rumor led to another and soon there was what has come to be known as the Paiute War or Pyramid Lake War, and this fort is the result.

This was not a bad post, as desert assignments go. The fort is on the Walker river, which supports a variety of wildlife. Hunting must have been pretty good back then. There would also have been the ready availability of water for the kitchens and laundry facilities at the fort. The fort was built with the idea of being a permanent facility, but as such things go, it was abandoned in 1869. A private buyer obtained rights to all the wood - doors and windows mostly - and dismantled it. The remaining adobe brick walls had pretty much melted due to neglect, as adobe buildings are known to do, until the CCC restored it in the 1930's. Some of their efforts have also returned to their original state, but thanks to a light coat of stucco there remains enough of the restored walls to fuel the vision of what the fort was like originally.