7-30-2020 Mina, NV

We five.
George, Kevin, Kathy, Lindy and Rob

A quick drive to Mina (125 mi.) was nice, for a change.  Because we haven’t seen them for so long (a month) and because they love us so much, our Pahrump neighbors, George and Kathy, decided to meet us for the 4-day stay.  Son Kevin from Reno also joined us.  In all our years of camping, I can’t remember anybody joining us at a campground before.  How fun is this?!

This is the size of the animal whose
bones are found in the pit.

George and Kathy have explored this area in the past and knew the interesting things to see.  Our first tour took us on a road east and up to 7,000 ft. above current sea level.  The word “current” is important because millions of years ago, this area was submerged in an arm of the Pacific Ocean, a whole different measure of “sea level.”  Ichthyosaur State Park was once underwater and the monsters that lived in this area, called, “fish lizards,” were massive mammals that lived in the sea but breathed air.  As the tides went out and the oceans dried up and receded during a warming age (this happened before the automobile), these ichthyosaurs became stranded, beached in the mudflats. 

Rob and Old Icky

Three dinosaurs altogether... 

Hundreds of them died and their skeletons became petrified and fossilized.  They were later uncovered by scientists who have determined that these whale-sized creatures were alive about 200 million years ago and lived on Earth for about 135 million years.  They had a long, pointy head and paddles (flippers) rather than feet and they gave live birth as some fossils have been found actually in the process of birthing a baby (named Little Icky, no doubt).

Sketch of the skeleton of an Ichthyosaur

Lindy in the machine shop - Berlin mines

Berlin mines mill

Near this park are the mines at Berlin, NV.  It is a ghost town now and the mines, of course, are abandoned, but it is always fun to imagine what life would have been like a hundred years ago out here in this desolate place where Lindy would have been found in petticoats, bloomers, a long skirt and a bonnet.  At its peak, the population of the town was about 250, miners, foresters and charcoal makers, a doctor, a nurse, a teacher, blacksmith and other machinists and, of course, a prostitute.  The silver haul from Berlin in 1900 totaled a significant $849,000 ($26,055,810 today).

Seems the humans of the 1800s and 1900s spent a lot of time “digging.”  Nevada is dotted with hundreds of small old abandoned mines.  Some were successful for a while, hauling away salt, basalt and gypsum and when the diggers got lucky, precious metals.  We drove many miles on the gravel back roads finding remnants of earthen huts and caves and old mine entrances, abandoned and sealed off.  “Nope, nothin’ here.  Let’s go dig over there.”  Belleville was a fairly large township that was elaborately terraced.  It functioned as a mill for ore that was brought there from the nearby Candelaria mine.  The sign describing the ghost town of Belleville says that it was “famous for murders, drunken brawls and ‘sporting.’”  In a town of 500 people with 7 saloons, the art of “sporting” can be left to our imaginations but maybe we can assume that it involved chicks.  As technology advanced, business slowed in towns such as this and Belleville was abandoned in 1892. 

Thirty-six stars on Old Glory,
one added to welcome Nevada
into the union

Time out for a picnic in Ione, N

Ione is described as "the town
that refused to die."  This residence
raises a few doubts in my mind.

Ione, NV was once the seat of Nye County and was founded in 1863, a year before Nevada became a member of the USA as its 36^th state.  Finding a shady spot for lunch was a challenge in the three days we spent driving around the Nevada desert in search of ghost towns.  Ione is still populated by maybe 6 hearty souls and a small park in the little town with a picnic table under the shade trees provided the perfect spot for a picnic.  The good folks of the old town of Marietta had the decency to build a wall a hundred years ago so that, today, we could huddle into a shady spot for a beer and a sandwich. 

These are the surviving walls of
Smith's General Store in Marietta

Finally, dusty, hot and tired, we five have exhausted our curiosity of antiquity (for now) and last evening we settled in for a steak dinner accompanied by fine red wine.  Today, we packed up and hugged each other “good bye.”  Our next stop:  1640 Red Rock Drive.  It has been a fascinating month for Rob and Lindy.  Noobee did a fine job and we are home safe and sound.  That’s all the stories I have left in my fingers.  Till next time, love to you all.