Forbidden Universe

Paranormal => The Paranormal & Ghost Society => Topic started by: AngelOfThyNight on February 16, 2016, 04:48:34 PM

Title: Our Expedition In The Stillwater Mountains & White Cloud City Nevada.....
Post by: AngelOfThyNight on February 16, 2016, 04:48:34 PM
Our Expedition In The Stillwater Mountains & White Cloud City Nevada.....

One of the more beautiful mountain ranges less known about in Nevada is the Stillwater Mountains. Nevada has allot of beautiful mountain ranges some of them are entirely different worlds once you journey up in them. I am not talking about just staring from miles away but actually exploring some of the canyons and gems tucked away by them.

An example of such gems are ghost towns like White Cloud City aka Coppereid, Mountain Wells and La Plata. These are not large ghost towns but they reside in canyons or at the mouths to them. Its amazing over the years of journeying I have been able to enjoy nature and history all at the same time. When you think you seen it all you realize that you have just begun.

Back in the day many mining and ranching towns were built along this mountain range. For example back in October of 2015 I was in Dixie Valley which is this ranching ghost town found on the eastern side of this range. I remember having a picnic in the range at some natural springs and seeing a wild horse graze. On the western side of this range is the Carson Sink or Stillwater Valley. Its a mix of a massive sandy desert with some marshland, salt flats, dunes, lakes and of course the Carson River.

This truly is in the heart of Nevada not many towns let alone life. When you take these roads you may never see single human so its important to always be prepared. When I say prepped I mean spare tire, water, food, blankets, wood for a fire, supplies etc etc. Most of the roads in Nevada are dirt or rocky roads there are no amenities you might hit a small town and minutes later your crossing some vast desert like its a Mad Max film! Picture me drinking an Irish Mint Cappuccino speeding through the open desert ahhhhh that is the life!

I love this region of Nevada there are forts, ghost towns, sand dunes, vast deserts, beautiful mountains mixed with forest and desert. Most of the roads around Fallon are in much better condition then other regions of Nevada. The Fallon area has some awesome hikes and ghost towns including not to far away Grimes Point where the oldest mummies in North America were found. This is an area I just keep on coming back to and I am sure in the near future ill be heading back out this way for more seriously!

Fallon is a military town its about all that you will find for miles before you veer north and head off along the Stillwater Mountains. Then from there you can decide what dirt road you want to take to whatever place you desire to see whether that is a ghost town or you feel brave and hiking into the mountains. This is very rugged country it will break most men and generally people get quite spooked turning around here. You can kind of tell that because most locals you come across out here have no idea where anything is therefore if you truly want to know you have to explore which I do every time I am up here.

I will say one thing that I am surprised to see so many wild horses and antelope here. I was also told that Bighorn Sheep roam this range although I have yet to see one. I seen some a few years ago but since then I been looking to get some good close ups and film. One of these days ill get lucky and come across some. However this trip was full of other creatures that were well worth filming and following. I happen to be a paranormal investigator who will chase nature any chance I get. Creatures like bigfoot or UFO sightings come along when you least expect to come across something like this.

Our trips last a long time I might go out for a few hours or I might just decide to go from before sunup till nightfall. The main thing is that we keep pushing on and keep seeing these great places. You never know what you might see but also if you do not get to them they may no longer exist in the future. I learned real quick that some of the ghost towns in this region have been totally decimated while other people seem to haul anything they find out of here like cobble stones to some of the foundations and miner cabins.

My journey would take me for miles across a wildlife reserve, along the range and in some very large massive canyon. It would not be an easy trek I did my fair share of offroading, climbing rocks with the jeep, dangling on cliffs and standing on mountains above a desert which gives off the illusion it has no end to it. You never realize how small you feel till you drive in one of these expanses or stand on a mountain in the Silver State. When you can see mountains 360 degrees and not a single human you come to realize that you entered a new domain one so large that you could never explore all in one lifetime.

White Cloud City
(Coppereid)

The sun was just rising in the morning and I was passing through the semi ghost town of Stillwater. Stillwater begin as a mining community but it did not thrive. It only began to thrive when many of the pioneers harnessed the Carson River and marshland to operate ranches. Such ranches eventually were used to feed the miners which worked day and night in those mines in the Stillwater Mountains.

All the little ghost towns in the region had some connection to Stillwater however today the city of Fallon has kind of consumed this ranch land as well. But before Fallon was booming Stillwater was here and its really your gateway into the mountains which backdrop the area. That is the Stillwater Range which below it is the Carson Sink.

The first few miles you drive through Stillwater its green there are many canals and wetlands. Millions of birds come here each year to mate and nest as this is also the site of the Stillwater Nature Reserve. There use to be allot of ponds, lakes and smaller creeks back here. However with each passing year its completely drying up and this land is being consumed by a giant expanse known as the Carson Sink.

The Carson Sink is an ancient sea bed when Lake Lahonton Covered the area. Today its just this massive area where nothing grows all you see for miles is sand dunes, salt and sand. When you get past all the ranch land then you will hit marshes as well as wetlands. As those taper off then you hit the harshest region of the sink which is just a vast desert where nothing hardly grows or lives in. Still though life manages to thrive and if you pay attention you will find it.

When I made my way into Stillwater I remember the good memories I had here exploring abandoned houses and remnants of the past. I stopped by the old school house once again and explored some abandoned house. I think it was a faculty cottage for the teachers as the bathrooms were labeled and it had a small kitchen along with a couple small rooms. More then likely the teachers came here to eat there lunch or have meetings. Perhaps it was the principals office or something no less it was a good way to stretch my legs.

Some guys drove by in a pickup I dove out the back window it was fun but I just did not feel like having to deal with anyone that early in the morning. My son said they drove by slowly seen Tammy sleeping and were talking about it. That reminded me that it was good I was covert in case they were up for some trouble they would never even see me coming lol. I have had enough bad experiences with some back country clowns before my last incident was up at Lake Lahonton when five of them tried to jump my ass while hiking. So I remain hidden like a shadow and I finished this abandoned house without hassle.

There is a creek near the school also as it was giving off steam from the warmer water interacting with the cooler morning air. Their was a fog ran along the creek bed for over a mile. Off in the distance you could also see that some of the peaks in the Stillwater Range were snow covered. This meant all that snow melt would eventually seep down into the expanse filling some of the wetlands, lakes and tributaries found in the area. It was morning so birds were everywhere chirping they even have pelicans and bald eagles here. I seen a few ravens and an eagle flying around it was a great morning just to enjoy the sunrise.

The road takes you within a couple miles of the mountain range then begins to veer northward following it. There is a cattle guard once you drive pass all the wetlands. You would not think a desert has wetlands or marshes but this is a special place because the Carson River comes through the area and expands into multiple tributaries. Therefore this area is greener you might see some cottonwood trees, flowers and deer running through the meadows. This is why the ancient natives lived here for thousands of years they had access to water and wild game they could hunt. Not so green in the winter but in the Spring this place is gorgeous and the natives I am sure took advantage of that.

As we journeyed north at times there was herds of cattle along the road sometimes walking across it. Like I said its a free range so cattle are roaming everywhere. Some of the largest cattle I ever seen in Nevada I found roaming along the mountain range. Their were a couple calves also running around and I generally always stop to film or at least photograph them so others can kind of see what life is like in Nevada. I also seen allot of jack rabbits which the natives hunted for food in ancient times. Rabbits are everywhere in the expanse and sometimes you have to be careful they seem to like to yet under your vehicle last minute.

Along the road you can see old corrals and windmills along the way. Ranching in this area has not changed in over 100 years and everything probably looks like it did in this range even before the white man arrived here. Sometimes id have to take it slow and wait for the cattle to cross. Other times id pull up next to a cow and be like hey waz up lol. I love every single time I go out come across a herd of cattle and as I drive by every single one of them follows me with there eyes lol. Its kind of creepy but these are intelligent creatures and this time I was able to get pretty close to them to check out the herd. Most of the time they run but this time not so much as they were to busy dining on the sea of sagebrush.

Eventually I came up to a herd of wild mustangs as well grazing near the dirt road. They were on both sides of the dirt road really but when they hear my jeep they kind of run off or they will gallop a reasonable distance then watch as I go by. I had gotten out of my jeep and then begin to film the herd as they were all running towards the Stillwater Range. I have to say my morning was made as within an hour I had spotted an eagle, wild horses, herds of cattle and some big ravens. Nobody was out here accept for us so the expanse was teaming with wildlife.

Finding this ghost town would not be easy its not on most GPS's and even if you have a map every few miles a road veers to the right heading up into various canyons. White Cloud City was built in the canyon and at the mouth. But you cant see the ghost town from the road because it resides a couple miles to the east higher up in the Stillwater Range. So for a couple hours I spent looking for the ghost town itself as the road to it is not marked neither is the canyon. This region is like a lost world I was entering a land that has boasted UFOs, Giants, Monsters, Strange Mutilations and even the Paranormal. What would I find and where would our journey take us?

I was very close to White Cloud but it took me about four different canyon roads before I would find the right one to take. The first road I went into the foothills of the Stillwater Range. The view was great and in the desert below I found a bunch of remnants such as piles of wood, aluminum siding or roofing, glass shards, bean cans etc. So this is what warranted me to kind of follow the trail up into the mountains. The road was rugged as it meandered up to the top of this bluff. As a matter in fact a part of the road was washed out so bad that I had to take it up and down both times nearly tilting the jeep on its side so I had to be very careful.

There was another road I took which took me up to the mouth of another canyon. This road was also very rugged big rocks, grooves in the ground where the road was washed out and mud everywhere. There was signs of strip mining here also of some kind of mining camp but it was all debris. I did some hiking around here there was massive rock formations everywhere and you could tell it was mined. But this was not White Cloud according to my one book I carry with me it was called Shady Run which was a mining camp that Reid owned south of White Cloud. Reid owned many claims in this area and mines including most of them in White Cloud City whom eventually the towns name was changed to Coppereid for those who are history buffs.

I was having a hard time finding the ghost town all I could find was sites of old ranches and mining camps. Generally all that is left of these places though are pieces of wood, glass, clay pots and perhaps some rusty cans. At one time they were going to bring the railroad to Shady Run which would follow the range stopping at each mining camp or town. Shady Run was rugged I drove the jeep up between a series of massive cliffs and rocks. The road went between them and if you continue to follow it you eventually can take it up into the canyon. Today all that remains are the mines in these canyons but they are rugged.

The views were great if you take any road towards the Stillwater Range it ascends quite fast so you can stand on overlooks and see the entire Carson Sink from above. I honestly was enjoying my time offroading I thought I found a mine when all it was is a naturally formed outcrop or den. But no less its good to get out do some exploring get a feel for the area and what its all about. I had gotten back onto the pioneer road and decided I would take a few more roads. I was not having an ounce of luck could not find the old post office or smelter which both are visible from google earth.

I was not getting a signal either as I had coordinates for the town but could not apply them. The one thing I learned is in Nevada its easy to miss sites. Their are so many roads that go off into so many canyons and through so many expanses. You could be at the bottom of an expanse and never seen ruins a few hundred feet away. All I could do is take each road east take a gander at the mouth of each canyon till I found the town site.

I went down this one road it was nice there was grass growing and open meadows. The landscape along this range is beautiful large cliffs, snow capped peaks, desert mixed in with the national forest which grows at the peaks or in the canyons rather. I did come across a couple chilling outside there truck they had tons of guns on the bed of the truck and I guess were going to go hunting that morning. I asked them about White Cloud and the dude told me nothing is left. It almost seemed like he either did not know or did not want me going there.

I knew when he said their was nothing left he was yanking my chain. See when folks see me with my kids and Tammy they assume I am some tourist. Little do they know that I am ready to climb mountains and brave the wilderness. So they think I am stupid when in fact yeah White Cloud City is not that extensive there are some remnants still worth seeing here so I knew he probably never had been there. He claimed that the canyon was well worth hiking in and told me if I hike it to keep an eye out for Bighorn Sheep. But he was firm on the town being gone and of course he was wrong. People do not explore like we do and even if something is of historical value the question is would they even care to pay mind to it?

He told me it was further up the road by 15 miles well it was not that far but about 11 I was within a few miles of it prior to this I just did not go far enough. This time I went far enough and kept looking for any road that veered right into the Stillwater Range. Eventually I came across the right road which is White Cloud Canyon. I have to say the road was not to bad heading up to the town site a few parts that had some ruggedness but for the most part I took it with ease. I would have probably missed this road if it were not for a small sign hanging on a cross that said White Cloud Canyon Mining claims for sale lol. Its a pretty area though allot of sand dunes, rock formations, cliffs of different colors and even a large mountain covered in forest nearby.

When we arrived at the mouth of the canyon I parked in front of the old stone smelter or at least what is left of it. It has two stories of rocks and on top of it three small rooms well ruins of them anyway's. Below the smelter was this large area about 30' x 30' of this shale like rock. It looked all burnt some of them reflected a gold like hue others the rocks had rainbow colored ripples in the suns rays. It looked like all the rock was burnt with extreme heat maybe a meteor? perhaps this came from the smelter when they were trying to melt the copper? Its hard to know for sure I have not seen a dark mineral similar to shale in Nevada before and this entire area was just burnt. There was a pile of stones nearby also maybe something else stood here?

My family was gem hunting they were picking up these dark minerals that looked like a rainbow when you held it up to the sun. Then before even I did they found the bones of a head of cattle. I do not know what the cause of death was the ribs were broken, legs scattered in the desert with hooves still on them, spine separated from the hips and it was a grim scene. We found bones scattered all around the area its obvious the coyotes probably went to town. There was teeth marks in some of the bones maybe a mountain lion also came down from the canyon to feast. More then likely a mountain lion may have brought it down but hard telling.

I have heard of incidences where cattle were abducted then mutilated only to be dropped from thousands of feet above our atmosphere. With the twisted, mangled and broken bones I seen it looks like this may be a possible scenario. I was telling my kids maybe aliens abducted the cow then dropped it out of the sky for scavengers to finish off. Of course this is just speculation the one thing that is for sure is that this is a very vast, wild and remote frontier. Its a fact that animals die all the time that includes wild horse who just might not have enough food or water to sustain themselves here.

It was a very grim scene I mean this was a big cow and something tore it to shreds. When I was on the other side of the Stillwater Range I came across more then one dead head of cattle here. It would appear in my opinion that this is a regular thing occurring near this mountain range. My guess would be that the mountain lions and coyotes live in the mountains during the day then at night they come down to the valley to hunt its prey. This cattle may have made a mistake by coming down to the mouth of the canyon to graze. We seen some mountain lion tracks in the ghost town and at the mouth before you hike up into the canyon they are very real!

Life here is harsh and it had to be very difficult for miners to live here. I learned allot on this last trip about the region just hiking and rock climbing up in the mountains. I am not even sure how the miners did it or how they were able to mine this harsh land. You kind of feel small when you park your jeep up on the side of a mountain and you look back to see a vast sandy desert for miles. Even 11k peaks in the distance look small because they are easily as far as 50 miles away.

There is a creek that cuts through the middle of town of course its odd because when it reaches the town site it goes dry. Yet further up the canyon it flows pretty steady and there are waterfalls. I am not sure if once the creek reaches town it ends up seeping into the ground or being absorbed by the desert. But one can understand why a town was built here. You had water and food at the mouth of the canyon think about it! You had water flowing from the creek and then you could go antelope hunting if you needed to eat.

Across the creek are a few foundations one of them is this big structure which is in ruins. It appeared to have a couple rooms in it this may have been the old post office. Its hard to know what each series of ruins is and everybody quotes it as being something different. The structure or building was made with native stone but it was crumbling. There was stones everywhere inside and outside it was in peril. It was also two stories tall not something you see often in a ghost town. So whoever built it did allot of stone work which must had been quite tedious considering they had to build the walls over 18' in height.

I looked afar in the creek bed where I also seen a steam boiler rusting away. It probably use to be inside the smelter or near it. Not sure how it ended up where it did but I have seen similar ones near smelter sites. You have to understand that in the early days they mined for gold and silver. When that was a bust this became a copper town therefore the smelter and its steam boiler did see allot of use I am sure.

Tammy and the boys went on without me I had gotten busy exploring. There is this one area in the ghost town where you see over a dozen rusty bed springs laying around. Their are bed springs everywhere even some old auto seats. Nothing is covered with fabric anymore just a bunch of old bed springs, cots and twisted metal come to rest among a sea of brush. I seen bed springs of all sizes all the way from singles to twins to even doubles. Some of the bed springs easily dated over a 100 years ago and probably were slept on by miners who lived in this town during its hey day.

Below the hill is another set of ruins more or less a couple small walls and nothing more. You could tell someone probably pulled up and hauled these stones away. I was told that locals go to these ghost towns steal from its foundations and walls so they can build walls or cobblestone walkways on their own properties. I do not agree with it if people keep taking the stones their will be no ruins, walls or structures left. One entire wall was missing so you damn well know somebody is robbing history and if I catch them ill be putting them under arrest.

Not to far from these ruins is a root cellar the walls are gone from the miners cabin but the cellar remains along with a small wall on the south side of it inside of it. If you walk around you will see rusty bean cans also and pieces of wood. Not much remains but to say their is nothing is plain either ignorant or your just not paying mind to history. All in all there is four sets of ruins if you want to call them that and supposedly the upper part of town is higher up in the canyon behind the town. I also found piping, bricks and pieces of aluminum siding/roofing. Miners sometimes would build stone cabins then use aluminum as a roof inside of them to keep the rain or elements from getting in.

After exploring the town site we grabbed are backpacks and began are ascension into the canyon. I was excited to hike here my real goal was to find the upper part of White Cloud which was the mining district. The mining districts in Nevada often have mines, mills, miner cabins and sometimes even a blacksmith shop. I knew that most of the upper part of town would be gone but I figured with a little luck maybe will find something left behind. I seen some lizards on my way hiking on in one was tiny another one was fat missing his tail and the third was huge but got away before I could photograph it.

It does not take to long where the canyon narrows and you start to hike along the creek. Below is this ravine so you tend to stay above it for awhile till you reach this waterfall. You have to be in good shape because its nearly a 15' straight up climb along side of the waterfall which we had no issue with. The hardest part of it was some of the rock was very eroded and smooth with very little to grab onto. So you have to make sure you have good leg strength to propel yourself up this steep wall because you cant really grab onto anything.

Once we made it past the falls and into the canyon it was so rugged. There was trees, brush and rocks everywhere. I had to push through tall grass my hands at times had gotten cut up here. I also remember seeing some brush with thorns on it. At times to get higher in the canyon we had to climb more rocks going above the creek and then back down to it. No less after we made it about a mile in the canyon probably a little less I told my sons that it might just be better to summit one of the peaks above us that way we could see the canyon internally from above.

The canyon is rather shady the sun does not peer inside of it very well therefore we came even across some patches of snow. There was this marshy area of the canyon where grass had been mowed down. When I say mowed it looked like an elephant came through this tall vegetation and laid it entirely flat on its side. What could have did that a wild horse? Its about all I can speculate to doing this but still it just was very weird. Most horses wont go into this canyon because that either means getting eaten by a mountain lion or breaking a leg either scenarios end in death! Something big was in this canyon and it leveled an entire area of foliage.

The canyon has steep walls there are high cliffs built into the sides. While there are also in between those cliffs very steep areas you can climb. You have to be careful back here if you do not like heights this hike will not work for you. The creek at some points was four feet deep and ran down the center of this canyon. Therefore you had to do allot of rock climbing to get around these pools of water holding canyon walls tight so you did not fall on in.

I did not see us making anytime in this canyon seriously the brush and having to rock climb around everything was tedious also slow. There is ravines inside the canyon to our right and left between each mountain above us. They are steep to you can climb up them to get to higher parts of the canyon. Instead of a harsh ravine though I decided to take this steep climb along these cliffs. So we would climb to our right then slowly work away across these cliffs to our left then cut right same thing. We went to the top of the canyon switching backing it the entire way. This way we were staying ahead of the cliffs but again if you do not like heights and you look back all you will see are deathly drop offs into the bottom of the canyon.

Eventually we made our way to a vista point where we decided to have a picnic lunch at. It was a very steep climb sometimes muddy and other times we had to use all fours or climb some rocks. I was not worried about going over a cliff the ground up here is real soft and there is allot of brush. Two things that can easily break a fall but no less we had to work to get up here. I have a photo I took from the bottom of the canyon to where we had our picnic at so when I put it on our website you guys will see how far we made it up to the top of the Stillwater Mountains. I mean when you see the peak from the ghost town then see photos of us up there you think man that is crazy to yourself.

I did end up leaving the boys for a bit to eat and drink. They were on this outcrop of rocks that overlooked the canyon below. The views of the Carson Sink were unbelievable and the mouth of the canyon. I still wanted to go higher so I climbed this cliff behind us then kept rock climbing till I had gotten below one of the major summits that overshadows the ghost town. I have to say it was very dangerous climbing that cliff not many rocks I could get a good solid grip on and a few times my feet were slipping.

One I had gotten on top of the cliff there was a very mild uphill climb which took me to a nice vista point. One of the views was a nice look down the canyon to the east. From up on top all I could see is this serpent like gash which traverses a few miles through the mountain range. I could not see far into the canyon as it meandered so its hard to say what else might reside in the canyon around that bend a mile away. The other view I had is of the ghost town and Carson Sink in the distance. If you really want to get technical you could see the Truckee Mountains of Pyramid Lake which had to be over 50 miles away they looked so small.

I also seen these white PVC Pipes protruding out the ground at certain parts of the canyon in rugged areas including not to far from where I stood high up near the peak on some cliffs. I am theorizing that each pipe is a mining claim and today they are for sale. The problem is that you practically have to climb up the sides of the canyon walls and along cliffs to get to these claims. Some of them are up on cliffs and in my opinion I have no interest in owning any claim that could end up being my demise. You cant get equipment up here to do the mining and if you bring it in on foot you still risk falling to your death.

I did not see any mines from on top of the vista point let alone ruins or any signs that man has been here. I know that upper Coppereid or White Cloud City exist I seen a few pictures of it. The upper portion has a mine, wooden cabin and some ore cart tracks. But just like the lower part its not extensive and I honestly am not sure how to get here. I heard you can take a road from the other side of the range I suppose its possible but again you have to get out an explore. Sometimes exploring yields results other times you just waste gas driving for miles only to end up stuck in mud or something. Id like to see the upper portion of the town but from being on the peak I did not see anything for miles so its hard to say for sure where exactly the upper portion of town remains.

I eventually climbed a different way down the cliff was to dangerous easier to go up but going down meant death. I had to find a ravine to climb down in yeah it was steep there was drop offs but it was much safer and I had some rocks I could hold onto as I climbed down back to the boys. I actually found on its side a giant cotton wood tree which now is just bleached dead wood up on a cliff. This canyon probably looked much different years ago then it does today.

I heard that the waterfall and the creek did not always exist in the canyon. I also heard there use to be a road that went through it. The road is obviously gone over the years rock slides, flash floods, foliage and vegetation have consumed this canyon. At one time maybe the miners could take a wagon back here but today you can barely even hike through the canyon. The couple I ran into earlier during the day told me White Cloud Canyon is very remote, beautiful and worth the hike he was right about that part.

I drank a beer and smoked up on the cliffs one to celebrate my feat of standing above the Carson Sink and above the town site below. We were really high up and Tammy told me we climbed to the top in less then a half hour so I knew we were doing it up. I worked so hard it was nice to lay back celebrate admiring the beautiful scenery. It was a warm day no jacket needed it had gotten to nearly 70 degrees the perfect day to hike and explore.

We eventually made our way down to the bottom of the canyon. It can be a very scary climb down there is areas that are steep, muddy, drop offs and not to far away cliffs that go straight down. So you have to take it very slow and try to meander your way around any potential hazard. I remember my son and I were hugging a rock wall when the rocks starting coming lose. The canyon is crumbling and you have to be careful which rocks you hold onto for safety. Some rocks are not going anywhere but other rocks are eroded and loose. This is an earthquake fault zone therefore the canyon is very fragile and so are its cliffs.

My younger son decided to take the steep ravine down although safe it was far to steep for my knee and more tedious in my opinion. I think it was easier just to follow the descent down back and forth along the cliffs which meet up with the ravine and then climb down where the creek bed is. I was happy to be at the bottom of the canyon our hike out was pleasant. We had to climb down over where the waterfall was but there is this slippery slab that you can go down on your back and slowly work your way down. You cant really stand on it because its very steep almost a wall but we all managed to climb or work our way down from the top of the waterfall.

Getting back to the jeep was a good feeling I had more then enough adventure. I seen where we stood at and thought holy shit we were high up. We only went about a mile into the canyon supposedly some sites say that is where the upper part of the town is but its not. I believe its deeper in the canyon and if I am to ever see it in the future ill have to find another road in since the old pioneer one through lower White Cloud is completely gone or nonexistent. I seen some old pictures of the town even though only 40 lived here the mill was impressive and downtown had a bit of everything. Its shocking to know hardly anything is left it truly is being a history buff.

As we were loading up the jeep I was getting hungry the sun was going down we had maybe an hour to an hour and half of daylight left. We had some delays earlier trying to find White Cloud City and its canyon. The thing about Nevada is that its vast it takes time to offroad in the mountains and the canyons around the region. It takes time to drive across a 40 mile desert expanse. If you throw in all the offroading with on foot hiking and exploring we were approaching evening fast and I still had another location to visit.

White Cloud City was a rugged town back in the 1800's there were tensions with the Indians. The natives were burning down stations in the region. You did have three types of stations in the sink area one being Pony Express other being the Overland. One can imagine when White Cloud City came to be and other towns in the sink area and only source of water for miles that this kind of pissed the natives off. Their was very little water in the area and any sites that had it the pioneers built towns or ranches on. The natives were kicked off there own land therefore even towns like this during those days faced hostilities. As most towns in this region and stations came around the time of the Paiute Indian Wars therefore it made it very hard to live or mine here.

Anyhow after loading our backpacks it was time to visit another ghost town and ranching settlement called Mountain Wells and La Plata. Although they are very small they reside in a scenic canyon in the southern portion of the Stillwater Range. I also planned on taking my family to a nice dinner at The Wok which is a Thai, Chinese and Cantonese restaurant in Fallon. I had time to make it there but as they always say expect the unexpected this is the wild west afterall therefore we really had to get moving with dusk getting ready to settle in. This is where I would enjoy my freedom open up the windows, moon roof, smoke a cigar and just cruise the Great Basin.

On my way to La Plata and Mountain Wells I stopped fairly often although you cant blame me. I seen multiple herds of wild mustangs. I think some herds had almost 30 wild horses grazing off in the distance. It was like a scene out of a movie horses grazing everywhere with snowcapped peaks in the distance. Some of the horses were running as their hair was blowing in the wind other ones were playing such as the young. Other times my jeep scared them and the entire herd would start running. I would just continue to drive past them keeping up with the herd it was awesome.

The sun glistened off there pretty black and brown fur it was a treat. Not sure I ever seen so many wild horses came across at least four to five large groups of them before sundown. Each time I stopped had gotten out to either film or photograph them! At times between the herds of horses I seen herds of cattle roaming the range. If you did not realize what you were seeing you might have thought you were on some farm or ranch.

Before we turned off to La Plata Canyon we seen about a mile out to our left antelope actually two groups of them which merged together. I am not sure I ever seen a herd of antelope this large almost 30 of them running below the snowcapped mountains along the range all in formation one after another. I followed them in my jeep for almost a mile took some photos and video footage. I never felt so blessed in my life a day of wild mustangs and antelope really made this trek worthwhile. I seen a ton of wildlife but nothing can compare to seeing that many wild antelope just in their natural habitat running in this beautiful land. Sometimes ill see maybe a few but almost 30? WOW soon I was on the road to La Plata!

Mountain Wells & La Plata
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

PS All reports are subject to review and editing prior to being added on our website in the future.