Subject: Our Expedition In The Stillwater Mountains & White Cloud City Nevada.....
Date: 2/16/2016 3:57:04 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: LordOfThyNight@aol.com
To: ParanormalBuffalo@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSociety@googlegroups.com, paranormalghostsociety@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalGhostSocietyConnections@yahoogroups.com, TheParanormalGhostSociety@yahoogroups.com, SupernaturalFlorida@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalCalifornia@yahoogroups.com, ParanormalNevada@yahoogroups.com, Paranormalflorida@yahoogroups.com, sierraparanormal@yahoogroups.com, PGSPhantoms@yahoogroups.com
 
Mountain Well & La Plata Nevada
Expedition 1
 
As I was getting ready to turn on off into the mighty La Plata Canyon the sun was setting. It was gorgeous just hovering over mountains to the west. As a matter in fact it looked like Mars as the desert looked orange to a reddish color while the skies were full of beautiful hues from the sun. As I have told all my friends their is no place better for sunsets then being in the wild west. I have seen some of the prettiest sunsets of my life while exploring ghost towns in Nevada.
 
Mountain Wells resides about 10 miles from where I turned off then another three miles to La Plata. I want to put them on my site as a joint project since the town are sister towns or camps. One was directed more at ranching while the other one its mining. But the two were kind of sister settlements and went hand in hand together. While one might be mining the other settlement would be raising cattle and food for those miners.
 
The road through the canyon is smooth hardly any bumps for a dirt road in the middle of the Silltwater Range I have to say I was highly impressed. You could go 60 down it and its still very smooth of course on occasion there might be a pot hole or a rock so you do still have to pay attention.
 
The one thing I realized about Nevada is when you go into these less known canyons your going to see scenery that is captivating. Such as peaks that you cant see from the local towns in Nevada or from the highway. Once you go into these canyons its another world such as cliffs, rock formations, hidden peaks, waterfalls, creeks, flowers, butterflies etc etc.
 
The canyon meandered as I was traveling through it but parts of it were quite dark as the sides are very steep and its less then a mile wide. There was some cliffs I seen with this massive cave or den high up in it. You probably would need climbing gear to get to it maybe not I sometimes climb cliffs and I do not use any. Believe me you do not want to do what I do unless you are an expert I been doing this for years.
 
Unfortunately I was on my way to a ghost town so I spent time taking a couple photos and video. Maybe sometime can tell me what this cave is or if it even is a cave. Its just this giant hole up on the cliff that goes back. I know that their have been many caves discovered in the great basin. As a matter in fact we were not to far from the Cave Of The Red Haired Giants which is just north of where we were. Some caves over the years have revealed giant skeletons or some hidden Indian caves so you never know. I heard they found some caves with bones and artifacts in them high above Pyramid Lake. I suppose that man still has allot of ancient history to uncover in Nevada.
 
Further down the canyon was these massive cliffs with the sun setting it made them look reddish brown. It looked like a seen from the outback. Parts of Nevada look like Australia that is the honest truth. I felt like I was not even in Nevada when I was journeying in this canyon. No less some of the giant rocky cliffs were gorgeous as I was heading to these old pioneer settlements. Even though only a few foundations remain I still wanted to get back here because I am trying to do most of the ghost towns in the region and historic sites therefore this one also resides in this range.
 
We heard a weird noise coming from the tire had no idea what it was at first figured a small rock caught in the tread. I put it in park then walked out found out we had a flat tire. It happens time to time you just change it and go no big deal. The tire that I had on there came from a tire shop and they put a Coastal on it. Ummm yeah never have them put one of those on my jeep again. The tire was in good shape had good treads yet I had a flat and we do not know why. I think I had the same problem again where the bands may have separated or it had an internal problem. Its strange I spent the day offroading, driving through the expanse etc and the finest most intact road I was driving on I get a flat. I did not even hear the air leaking it just lost all its air within a few seconds.
 
I took the tire on off unfortunately the ground was really soft and the entire jack fell over. My entire jeep fell right down on the rotor oh man I was speechless. It fell so hard the rotor and brake were under 2 inches of soft dirt and sand. I had to have my kids get rocks in the desert then I had to slowly get the jeep lifted high enough to get the spare on. The jack kept sinking in the mud and slipping around to make matters worst I had a hard time getting the jack under the cross bar. The surface area to lift it is also small so I had to find a flat rock to put under it.
 
It had gotten dark outside I watched a light over the canyon which turned out to be a plane but at first I thought hey everyone were about to be abducted by some little green men. My real concern was what kind of weirdo might take advantage of us being broken down here. That is all you need is 3 hicks with guns and god knows you may never be found again. I know that sounds lame when I say that but I been there and I am armed to the teeth. So I could not waste time it took me long as it is to crank my jack then get rocks under it then boost the jack with rocks underneath and continue to get lift.
 
Eventually I had gotten enough lift but the tire still would not go on I had to literally dig a hole under the rotor to get the tire to fit on the rotor. I never was so happy to get the lug nuts back on but without digging a hole we were almost 2"s short. So it was good we dug a hole in the road to get the tire to fit on. It was hell my family was cold at night temps drop down to freezing and I was on the cold ground working tediously in the dark on getting us mobile again.
 
Once I had gotten the tire on I was like forget going up to La Plata lets just go eat. You have to understand that ghost towns make great paranormal investigations at night. But its always good to go to them first during the day. This is so you know where the mine shafts are, nails, foundations, sites and remnants of the past. At night in a canyon this dark you could be standing next to a miners cabin and you will never see it because of the darkness. You wont even see the mountains at night here even if they are right in front of you. Welcome the wild frontier once darkness sets in you deal with it or you don't but either way its a hindrance.
 
I had to smoke a big fat bowl of Girl Scout Cookies bud before I headed out of there everyone was laughing about that one but after trying to get your jeep unstuck in the cold darkness I was overdue for some party favors! Their was some sigh of relief you really do not want to run into anyone at night out here. People disappear in Nevada all the time hikers, ghost towners etc and trust me I have seen some properties in the desert with quite the vehicle collection which makes you wonder whose those belonged to lol. So did I need a smoke you bet your ass I did I earned my badges on this day for sure.
 
I just figured id return here in a week or two that way I could have the sun to find the remnants of the settlement back here. Besides I was planning on coming here soon again because id like to complete our second expedition of Dixie Valley and visit Middlegate which is not far from La Plata if you continue to take the road through this canyon so another day another victory perhaps. Hopefully next time I wont get a flat its not as bad as when I had gotten two flats in one day or even two flats at the same time while journeying here out west. Shit happens nothing is ever perfect anything can go wrong or right at anytime but we deal and we adapt just as we press on.
 
Driving back through La Plata Canyon along the bottom of the cliffs at night is pretty spooky. The canyon is so dark and narrow you cant see anything hardly. I would eventually make my way back to Stillwater which has become a part of Fallon and downtown eventually. It was good to see signs of civilization again but also I knew we were minutes from eating a hot meal something I had on my mind all day long while climbing around White Cloud City!
 
We went to The Wok which has Chinese, Thai and Cantonese Food. We ordered a feast and I had a huge pot of Saki. I tried so hard to get drunk and despite drinking a bottle of Saki all I felt is hungrier lol. We had orange chicken, orange crispy beef, Mongolian beef, crab puffs, egg rolls, crispy rice vegetable soup, shrimp, fried seafood rice, chicken wraps and so much more. The service was great the waitress was on top of things and it was a dinner of the ages. Now its not the best food I ate but being I was hungry from a hard days of adventuring it hit the spot. The restaurant was dim, fancy and they had beautiful Asian decor everywhere.
 
When we had left the restaurant everyone had forgotten about the flat tire. Were very resilient explorers even if we get a flat or get lost or whatever happens we always try to work past it. Therefore we went for a nice dinner after our crazy day. It was a day of wild horses, antelope, historical ruins, adventuring along a creek which took us high above the Stillwater Range. We journeyed through the vast desert and by the time our night ended I easily drove 300 miles.
 
I will return here very soon were definitely going to visit Mountain Wells and La Plata. Then will visit Dixie Valley and Middle Gate. I have not decided yet if I am going to do upper Coppereid or rather White Cloud City again. The upper portion has a flooded mine you cant enter and two other small sites of interest. I may in the future decide to just do it randomly when I am in that region again but for now ill be coming back to La Plata Canyon with a spare and a much better tire to go on my jeep because honestly I was only two miles away when I was stranded which in my opinion was pretty damn close its just to bad it had gotten dark. If we were on Spring or Summer hours we would have had more daylight to go check it out but it gets dark in this range really fast!
 
One could see why these towns died or were abandoned. Its a harsh desert with allot of isolation as everything would have to be imported in which probably cost allot of money. These little boom towns at one time did have post offices hell the Pony Express and Overland Route ran through the Sink and region as well. But all the towns back here were shortlived. Life was harsh you see how the cattle died well humans often met the same fate here whether they died in the mines or from some tragic accident. This is the frontier if you do not conquer it then it will conquer you.
 
It only takes one mistake while offroading along cliffs to roll your vehicle or while your climbing high above cliffs to grab the wrong rock or lose your grip to fall to your death. We always have to be spot on and safe when we do this type of work. There is more then just driving to some ghost town and walking around. We also have to extensively do other projects and get involved with such sites. That includes hiking in the mountains behind the town and exploring even the mines sometimes. There are no short cuts these places do not sit on a main road and if you want to see them you have to get off your couch work for it a little. If you want to see White Cloud City it takes a little leg work you can hike to the upper portion in the canyon or above it problem is I never found it. La Plata and Mountain Wells are easier to get to but the mountains around it hold some secrets as well!
 
I look forward to a second expedition out this way the Stillwater Range is breathtaking its a part of Nevada few folks ever seen or heard of. Then again allot of places I go are not that well known and were here to make them known. To unveil them before the world so you can enjoy these locations the same way I did. I honestly think folks are going to enjoy these great places its just hard to believe towns which once thrived barely even exist on the map anymore. It always amazes me when I visit such ghost towns and wonder what life was like back in the day here. You did not have amenities or jeeps everything was done via horse and wagon. Its hard to believe some ghost towns I been to at one time had 30 thousand residents and today have been reduced to mere ruins!
 
The one thing I learned living out here is you never know what you may see or encounter. Its a vast land and it holds its secrets well. It does not matter if others say oh there is nothing remaining trust me there is always something remaining even if its a foundation or mine. I guess what other men see as junk I see as treasure. I am trying to do what is right and preserve what is left of these locations. They get forever preserved on our website and enjoyed by millions all because we dare to tread where the angels will not.
 
We will be gearing up to make a second attempt at La Plata and it will be coming very very soon!  I learned a long time ago the wild west is about adventure and its not an adventure if you do not have a close encounter with death itself nor finishing off the day with a brew perhaps a hot meal at some saloon in the middle of nowhere. As I said before ten times the fun, ten times the danger and ten times the adventure this is how I describe the wild west! Any chance I have to put on my cowboy hat with a sheriff star and enjoy a taste of freedom is a damn fine day my friends a damn fine day!
Namaste,
Lord Rick
PGS Founder

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