2005 04 25 Truckee to Tonopah
Today I left Truckee at about 10, got the Jeep serviced in Reno, ran a couple of errands, and was on the way to Tonopah by noon. I drove a familiar route, I80 east to Fernley, US50 east through Fallon and then to Nevada 361 south to US95, which heads south and east to Tonopah before heading further south and east to Las Vegas. This is a really nice drive, especially once past Fallon, where you're quickly in the middle of nowhere. It was a beautiful day. The Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park is about 30 miles off NV 361 and I have always wanted to see what the mine ruins therr look like. Turns out the mill there is well preserved. I learned from a ranger that the roof blew off the mill about 8 years ago and has since been replaced. Even though a lot of the machinery was hauled out and sold for scrap during World War II, some of the stamp mills remain. It's a cool building and I shot some film there. There are also fossil remains of ichthyosaurs to be seen, but I didn't have time to do the hike out to them. Next time.
Here are a few snaps of this mill.
 |
 |
 |
I shot some film here, but since the ranger told me to stay on the lowest level of the mill I did not shoot much. It would have been quite cool to get up into the upper levels of thei structure. Since it has been partially rebuilt it seemed sturdy enough, but I did not want to get thrown out. Not that anyone was around.
On the way out I drove to the semi-ghost town of Ione, which is about 7 miles away. This is still a functioning town, although the signs conflict as to how many people live there. It's either 41 or 12. There are a lot of very old abandoned buildings, some new, and a lot in between. The mine is no longer functioning. On the way back out to 361 from Ione I chased the schoolbus, which seemed to be making about 80 MPH across the gravel..
 |
From here I drove south to the junction of 361 and US95, and the town of Luning. In Luning there is this abandoned feed store, and I have always wanted to photograph it. This time I did, since the light in it and on it was so good.
 |
 |
 |
I shot a lot of film in and around this structure. It looks like a rather lame subject for a lot of photography, but it wasn't. The light was really nice inside and out, and there was just a lot of material to work with.
Tomorrow I am going to reshoot the old wooden B-24 hangar at the WW II vintage military airport in Tonopah, and then see what else I and find.