NV 2012 - In Memory of the Crewmen.

Great Job Men
and isnt that part of Nevada special? I love the whole area you guys are ridding in.

moar please

Crazy, I was talking to some buddies who work with me a the fire dept. and I was showing them the crash site since it's on my ride in august. I'm riding from denver to portland and we we just saying about how there should be a plaque there. Awesome of you guys to do that. Thanks for the ride report. How has the temp been during the day?

Well done men, well done.

I'm sure their families would be grateful for your remembrance of their loved ones.

awesome. can't wait to read/see more!!!!

RIGHTEOUS! Simply righteous.

A couple years ago I rode from Soldier Meadows Ranch in the Black Rock Desert up to Denio Junction to gas up, then back, on my 50th birthday. I remember standing out there in the desert between Pyramid Lake and Denio surrounded by sage and solitude drinking a Miller my buddy snuck along to celebrate that monumental day and lamenting "Can you believe right now there are people packed into Disey World? Look at this...Why would you want to be there if you could be out here?" This crash site must be close to where we were. I just told my 9 year old about this as a bedtime story.

We WILL get out to see your tribute/monument. Thank you for revealing and creating another bucket list destination.

Very well done.....they should always be remembered

Day 2 - June 2nd.

Miles on bike: 1338
HRS on bike: 55.1

We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning at Bog Hot Springs, packed up the bikes and prepared for another awesome day of riding!

Steam off the springs




Camp.




I found this little surprise under my tent...at least it wasn't in my tent!




Trever rode up to see the source of the spring....notice the one sandal lol.




We left Bog and headed to Denio Junction one last time to top up on fuel, eat a good breakfast and ditch the shovel at the truck.
Trever lost a sandal on the way back from the bomber so he will also pick up a extra pair that I had in my gear bag.

Trever and his one remaining sandal lol. (video snap shot...sorry about the quality).




A day of incredible riding! We departed Denio Junction and headed north into Oregon, we will then angle back into NV.










Orange Coolaid in the Desert.




Here they come.





We come across a cool old ranch and stop to check it out.




The Ranch






Someone had some skill working with rock. Amazing.










What's left of a wooden wagon.




Andy taking a ride.




A little further up the road was another old abandoned building....wonder what the story behind this one is?




A home brew implement along the trail. Looks like it was maybe used for ??. The axle on top looked like it was used to raise/lower something.




Back on the trail.








We stop on a hill to soak in the view.




The snow covered Steen's and Alvord Desert in the background.




My ugly mug




The view in the glasses.




Andy found out his new camera doesn't charge the battery via USB.....he's now using the Droid.




Alan enjoying the view....LOL.





Back on the trail again.










The Views were incredible...no matter how much you looked you couldn't soak them all in.






Andy getting ready to snap some pictures as the bikes roll by.




Stopping for a snack.






And back on the trail.






Soon we come across an abandoned mine with huge tailing piles. There is a large mill works here, I love checking out sites like this. I would love to see pictures of it back in it's hay day.




I roll up to the mine and wait for the others.





Andy pulling up to the site.




Alan rides up to the top of the tailing pile.










We hop off the bikes and check out the site. The mine is called the Opalite Mine and was used to produce Mercury. The Opalite Mine produced a total of 12,367 flasks of mercury (a flask is equivalent to 76 pounds) between 1927 and 1961, with the vast majority of the production occurring before 1943.




It had to be a big undertaking back in the day to haul all this concrete this far out in the desert.












Lots of relics litter the site.






A audit close to the mill site...I'm sure with tailing piles this big there are more audits in the area.




At the base of the mining operation lie a couple old cars. I'm amazed that it's still preserved this well, must not be a lot of drunks with guns out here. I wonder when the last time it moved under it's own power was.







A tire from the car.....amazing stuff like this last's this long out here.




Remains of a truck of some sort....I wonder if this truck hauled supplies to the site when they were building the mill?






We left the mine site and headed to Mcdermitt, NV for fuel and lunch. After fueling up we found the Snack Stop and stopped for a burger. I filled my hydration pack up with water and put a 1.5 liter bottle in my pack as well, I had been out of water since we left camp this morning and I was really thirsty at this point!




We had good cell service here so we called Mark to find out where he was at. He was getting ready to leave home (still 9 hrs away) and would watch our SPOT tracks and try to intersect us some where. To save time he would drive his truck as close to us as he could get then unload the bike and catch up with us.

Here Trever is talking to Mark and trying to figure out approx where we will meet up with him.




Trever hamming it up for the camera




We left Mcdermitt with full stomachs and full tanks of fuel.






One of the many stream crossings on the trip.






Shortly after one stream crossing Alan got stuck in some large sage brush....luckily he was trapped just long enough for me to get my camera out








Alan on the BRP




Another stop for a photo op.














A little further up the trail we come across another old abandoned ranch. A lot of work went into building these old houses. Who lived here? What a hard life it must have been.






The windows haven't even been broken out....not many teen age derelicts out this far I guess lol.




Ready to light.




Needs a little remodeling.




The rare two hole outhouse




Andy trying it out




After leaving the ranch we headed to our destination for the night....another Hot Springs. We arrived at "The" Hot Springs shortly before dark, set up camp and started the routine of making dinner etc.




The Source...very cool formations.






The hot water is piped down to a tub by the stream.




Camp for the night.






Alan setting up his tent




Andy found that his chest protector and backpack provided a bad rub point on his collar bone...he was left with a egg sized sore....ouch! He will find a way to mod his gear in the am.




And a beautiful sunset to top off an awesome day!







End Day 2
Miles on Bike: 1515
Hrs on Bike: 60.7

LOTS MORE TO COME.....

Hodakaguy

Looks like somebody stole the metal tub that was there the last time I was out there. :ddog


Nice ride!!

Thank you for taking time to honor lost airmen. A lot of us would think to ourselves that there should be something like a plaque at the site to honor their memory, but we wouldn't act on it. You followed through and deserve the thanks and admiration of the entire ADV community.

Now, about the Opalite Mining site....it had nothing to do with jewelry...

Any operation that big in the middle of the desert in Oregon or NW Nevada is likely a mercury mining operation. Sure enough...

http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/ecsi/ecsidetail.asp?seqnbr=2491#characteristics


Turns out that there is another mine nearby that was operated at the same time that had their ore processed at the Opalite Mining operation, hence the big tailing piles. Mercury was in high demand during WW2 for switches, bomb fuses, and other detonators. The government paid top dollar for high grade ore so anything that wasn't dripping with mercury was thrown into tailing piles. While the tailing piles at Opatlite consist of ore that has been processed, but there is still a lot of mercury contained within the ore as they were high grading. It's best not to disturb it too much. There should be signs warning of the danger.

Thanks again for the memorial!

Thanks for the link....very interesting reading. I updated the post to reflect the new information. There are signs at the site warning of contamination.

Hodakaguy

Wow! Your pictures are really getting me pumped for our visit next week.

I noticed one thing missing tho. Where is the Westy?

Westy stayed home this trip...It's getting ready to undergo a major transformation. Just picked up a 250hp Subaru H6 that I'll be installing soon.....Then a lift, 16" wheels, brush gaurds/tire carriers etc. Oh Man....Can't wait!!

Bringing the engine home...with what else than a H6 powered Vanagon .





Hodakaguy

Cool thread and trip. It caught my eye because I thought you might be the ones who rode through our burn area yeasterday on the nevada/utah border. I got a kick out of it because one guy ran from our LEO, who is a real whistle dick. Unfortately he got caught by another leo. The only time he could have ran from a cop on public land and NOT get away was that day.
It seems somewhat related because we had a heavy airtanker, Tanker One-one, go down on our fire. No survivors.
I have been in critical incident stress management for couple days now, and it is still keeping me awake at night. I am planning a trip this weekend on my bike to visit the site by myself.

That is terrible about the crash....I hope you find piece at the site.

Hodakaguy

Nice RR, Glad too see you made it back to put the plaque up.

Great Job Guys. It is a special place and deserves special recognition. Thanks, Joe

By the looks of your map you traveled around the Granite Mountains above Gerlach. I've spent many a night camping in that area above the Black Rock Desert. I'm going to visit the crash site in the fall if I can time it right and will certainly sign the book.
Thank you for the effort taken in placing the plague. Great RR.

HodakaGuy

PM me your mailing address, I would like to make a contribution towards the plaque.

Thank you from a Veteran to you and your buddies for the time and effort put into remembering and honoring the fallen.

Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

I would like to just thank you gentlemen for having the moral fiber to take a moment to do something that has been forgotten for 65 years. Being retired military, and having served at Gowen Field Boise, Idaho for many years, it makes me proud to know that there are good Americans still. Thank you again. Jim. "The Admiral" let me in on this event.