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• #Rhyolite ghost town trial#

The first sight of Mono Lake from the highway above is astonishing: a stunning, ethereal scene with its brilliant aquamarine color and striking tufa formations. Laini plots our route so we would stop at Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, in Lee Vining, California, where we have a picnic lunch. Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, Lee Vining, California © Karen Rubin/ Our visit, in October, is actually a terrific time.

Actually, the weather is quite cool and comfortable for Death Valley, which is the hottest place on the planet, with ungodly temperatures that reached 130 degrees this summer, but can also get frigid in winter. As we drive out of Tahoe, we watch the thermometer ticking up a degree every mile, until reaching the 80s.

and temperatures as low as 19 degrees, and by the end of the day, down to 275 feet below sea level at Death Valley. We pass the ski resorts at Lake Tahoe, where the road takes us up to an altitude of 8,000 ft. The fall scenery all along the way is breathtaking, going from wilderness, through these little Western towns and ranches. With meticulous planning and organization that the Army would be proud of, we pull away from Sonoma at 5:39 am, taking an interior route, east toward Tahoe, then south, passing the eastern side of Yosemite National Park. With an eight-hour drive ahead of us, we calculate when to depart in order to get to Death Valley in time to begin our exploration. For us, the treasures we find are not the material kind, but even more enriching. In the process, we discover that we are very much following in the footsteps of the miners who came before seeking the treasures in these landscapes. It impacts our route, where we stay (an Air BnB at the outskirts and the Ranch at Death Valley in the park, having double-checked their COVID-19 protocols), how we organize food and water to take with us (and ice chest) to cut down on the need to eat out.Īnd our itinerary is designed to pack as much as possible from such an expansive landscape into such a limited time. Our four-day trip to Death Valley has an overlay of planning that goes beyond planning for hiking in a vast desert: the coronavirus pandemic. In the quest, so very popular in these days of coronavirus, of finding open spaces to become renewed, revitalized, revel in nature and contemplate one’s place in the universe, there is no better place than Death Valley National Park, spanning California and Nevada. If the pics are kinda shaky, and the writin’ kinda sketchy, just be patient….Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park © Karen Rubin/īy Karen Rubin, Laini Miranda, Dave E. And, I decided to write about my findings so everyone could be exposed to the unbelievable history, scenery, personalities, and wildlife that make up our natural environment. So, I took a leave of absence from chasin’ critters at the course and struck out to follow the scent of adventure. Soon, I came to the conclusion that I had a new lease on life, and there were a lot of adventures waitin’ for me out in the wild. After a few harrowing days and nights lookin’ for water and runnin’ from the coyotes, I stumbled onto a golf course, and was taken in by the staff. “When people ask me about myself, I just hafta say I’m the luckiest dog on the planet! I was abandoned out in the desert just north of Las Vegas left to fend for myself. I’m postin’ a couple of pics of Rhyolite, but keepin’ Montgomery-Shoshone my little ‘ol secret….(now where is that metal detector?)…Hey, by the way, anybody wanna buy sum stock?” Well, I’m outa ice again, so back to the El Portal for a nice swim and barbeque with sum locals. Talk about a massive Ponzi scheme! At one time there were over 200 mining companies operatin’ at Bullfrog, with 200 MILLION! shares of stock sold in these companies, and only a handful ever produced any ore! Stock share prices were artificially raised every month creating demand, and the poor investors never knew there was a problem until it came time to cash in their shares! Man, history is kinda circular, huh? The “Steel King” dumped a ton of money in upgradin’ the mine, sold a bunch of mine stock, and the whole thing folded (along with Rhyolite and virtually all of the Bullfrog District) by 1910.

#Rhyolite ghost town trial#

Well, the trial went on without him, and Montgomery ended up winning and selling the mine to Schwab. An old building in the ghost town of Rhyolite.