A Little Rock Climbing

 We happen to live less than an hour away from a world-class climbing destination, Ibex. On Sunday, we decided to make a trip out there. I dusted off my climbing gear. Back when I was in grad school, I climbed three days a week in the climbing gym and occasionally outside, but due to a long hiatus, I was feeling rusty. Very rusty. We had the book Utah's West Desert, which is an awesome guide to rock climbing, and which had inspired me. I found a route that was for kids. It was also a sport route, which I needed, as I don't have trad gear.

For those not familiar with rock climbing, sport climbing means you clip into bolts already placed into the rock, and you need less gear: rope, quickdraws (carabiners connected to a short piece of webbing), harness, and ATC. Trad (traditional) climbing has no anchors, so you have to have an assortment of nuts, camalots, and other gear that gets pricey fast, but lets you climb about anywhere.

We weren't entirely sure we had reached the climbing place we were searching for, because instead of two bolts we found a whole array of bolts. It was obvious this area is developing and people are putting up new routes. I decided we would play it extra safe and top rope. I scrambled up to the anchors at the top of the climb, threaded the rope through, and sent it down below. With top roping, as long as your belayer is awake, you won't fall more than a couple inches. Perfect for us novices. I climbed first and decided we definitely weren't on the easy rock the book described. I struggled a little, but eventually made it to the top.

Then it was time for Desert Boy to climb. He did a good job climbing, but said he felt a little scared.

When he got down, Desert Girl couldn't wait to give it a try. She did quite well, but wasn't too comfortable coming back down.

Even though it was a cool spring day, it felt hot on the rocks. I climbed again, then we packed up. I wandered down the cliffs to see what some other climbers were doing.

The rock looked beautiful!

I was happy to see some colorful milkvetch (Astragalus) blooming.

A rock wren hopped along the cliff, following me and serenading me.

This yellow member of the Carrot Family (Apiaceae) also lent some color to the desert floor.

It was a busy day at Ibex, with about ten other people there.

We were hungry and hot, so we went to the shade of the Red Monster (seriously, that's the name of the huge boulder!) and set up for a picnic lunch.

While the soup was warming, the kids and I some time to do a little bouldering. We all loved that.

Desert Girl conquers the boulder!

After lunch we felt reenergized and headed off for some more desert adventures, although not quite as fast as the pronghorn who ran in front of us on the hardpan.

I loved the feeling of climbing again, and we will be back to Ibex soon. Hopefully we will have better luck finding some really easy routes for the kids to help them build their confidence and skills.

A Little Hair Adjustment

 Desert Girl got creative with the scissors the other day. From the front, it wasn't instantly obvious (although note the varying length of ponytails on the right).

 But from the back, it was obvious she had gone a little overboard.

To make things worse, she cut even more the next morning!

Fortunately my friend Chandra was able to come over and do some emergency repairs.

Desert Girl didn't look too certain at the beginning of the haircut.


Chandra had her work cut out for her.

 Desert Girl has been well-trained by her babysitter to sit still to have her hair done, so she was really good for Chandra. By the end of the haircut and a few praises later, she was cheering up.

 All done! And very cute!

 Oh, my little girl is full of spirit. Her new haircut matches her attitude.

Time will tell if she's learned her lesson of not cutting her own hair!

Desert Destination: Rhyolite Ghost Town

After a night in pleasant Beatty, Nevada (which has trees and a very different feel from Tonopah--plus the public pool in the town park is great), we headed to the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. It was occupied from 1905-1920. After that, enough buildings remained that it became a popular backdrop for filming movies. It's one of the most scenic ghost towns I've seen.

I had been here before, and what I remembered most was the awesome bottle house built by Tom Kelly with. Most of the house is made from 50,000 green glass bottles, which provide insulation and a unique house. Nowadays a fence surrounds the entire house, so we couldn't get close to it. I was happy to see that it's still in good shape. It had been partially rebuilt in 1925 by Paramount Pictures for a movie. Nearby are a couple shaded campsites for volunteers.

So does that mean it's not quite a ghost town anymore if people live there?

We decided to tour the town by bicycle, which delighted the kids. It was early in the morning so we didn't see many other tourists, and the light was gorgeous.

The old bank--can you imagine constructing a three-story building in a mining town? They were high on hope that the ore would last!

Another view of the bank. Another three-story building in town is the school. Reports say that 250 kids attended school. When I think of early-day mining, I think of lone prospectors climbing through desolate desert canyons, but the reality of those early mining towns was quite a bit different. Lots of families made the trek to remote locations to make enough to eat and thrive.

Railroads made it possible for people to get around, and two railroads came into Rhyolite. The old railroad depot had a fence around it, as it's private property. Most of Rhyolite is managed by the BLM.


We checked out the old brothel. It was quite small, so there must have been others for a town that big.

All that was inhabiting the old brothel was a spider web.

The town may have had as many 5,000 residents during its heydey, and their trash is still around nearly a century later.

We enjoyed Rhyolite. It's easy to get to and is quite scenic. Here's more about its history.

What's your favorite ghost town?

Desert Destination: Tonopah Historic Mining Park

Ever been to Tonopah, Nevada? It's located out in west-central Nevada at over 6,000 feet. It looks a little desolate because it doesn't get much precipitation. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and it feels raw, like you're in a wild place that just doesn't follow the rules of the normal world.

One of our big destinations of our recent trip happened to be in Tonopah: the Tonopah Historic Mining Park, which is dedicated to the reason of Tonopah's existence.

We stopped at the visitor center, paid the fee to go on the walking tour, and were on our way. We weren't quite prepared for what we were going to see.

Like open shafts descending 500 feet into the ground. Wow! I was trying to imagine the mine workers removing all that rock day in and day out (and probably many nights). The trails wove around 100 acres and many mines and mining materials. We soon found ourself in the park's main attraction:

We went into the Burro Tunnel, their reconstruction of a mining tunnel. It was really cool, seeing those big, heavy timbers, walking in the dim light. I would not have liked to have been a miner, a little spooky!


At the end of the tunnel we walked out on a platform and stood over the shaft that descended many hundreds of feet into the ground. Eesh! I like heights, but it felt a little strange to be over such a deep hole in the ground. I have to admit I was puzzled over the gate in the bottom of the platform--if it was moved over just a couple feet, it would have made for a much cleaner rappel. (Sorry, sometimes I get geeky like that!)



Then we continued walking around the grounds, taking in the Mizpah mine shaft and associated structures (the big red barn and headframe in the center of the photo). We looked down the grate there at a hole that goes one-quarter mile into the ground. I would not have liked to have gone down in the primitive elevator, hoping it would still be working at the end of my shift!

One sign said that the town of Tonopah still has some subsidences due to mining tunnels under it collapsing. I find that a wee bit worrisome!

We got a nice view of town as we climbed higher on the hills. It really is such a barren looking town!

Tonopah Historic Mining Park was well worth the stop. After walking around we went back to the visitor center and watched the video and checked out some of their exhibits. One of the things I found most interesting was that a woman, Belle Butler, was a huge reason that the mines had taken off in Tonopah.

So if you ever find yourself in Tonopah, treat yourself to a visit to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park!

Desert Destination: Lunar Crater

Ready to get away from it all? Really away? Take US Highway 6 out to the middle of Nevada and you will find the Black Rock Lava Flow and Lunar Crater. The nearest hotel or restaurant is well over an hour away, but feels even farther. I had visited the Black Rock Lava Flow in 2009, and wrote this very nice post.

The lava flowed out of vents and covered over 1900 acres. That's a lot of land!

The kids were eager to get out of the truck and stretch their legs. They scrambled easily up onto the lava.  I got the kids to pose for a photo. They think it's fun to make silly poses. (Note Desert Girl's shoes--I will explain them soon.)

I enjoyed seeing the lava flow with the backdrop of the cinder cones. This Lunar Crater area covers about 100 square miles and includes more than 20 extinct volcanoes and 35 lava flows. You can read more about the geology on this USGS page.

I saw this cave and wanted to go there, but it was a little too far and the kids had declared no hiking for them. Instead they were making a pile of lava rocks and calling it a shelter. They were happy, I was happy, and I did get to wander around a bit. Then it was time to go see the main attraction.

But, first, a brief interlude as we watch a dust devil. Perhaps that's why so much soil is interspersed with the lava.

I had passed this sign a few times over the last ten years and always told myself, Someday I really am going to go see that lunar crater. And today was that day! I was very excited.

The scenery was otherworldly, with cinder cones and lava lumps all over. The road turned out to be only 7 miles long and it was in much better shape than the one-mile long road to the lava flow.

Not to my surprise, we were the only ones at the parking area. Adjacent was a sign and the crater itself. The crater is a maar, a shallow crater formed by the heating of underground water until it boils up and explodes. Two of them exist in this volcanic area.

This crater is called Lunar Crater because in the 1960s NASA brought astronauts out to train in this area.

Desert Boy took off down into the crater before I could say anything. Desert Girl and I trailed after. Desert Girl had been reading a book from the library that we had picked up just a couple hours previous that featured a little girl in a dress and fancy shoes. Desert Girl had her fancy Mary Jane's on, and she quickly learned they were not a good choice.

So we were a little slow, but that let me take photos of the 430 ft deep crater that's about 4,000 ft across. Impressive!


She did smile for a photo.

Eventually I managed to yell at Desert Boy to stop, but he was already half-way down in the crater. I would have loved to have gone all the way down, but I was concerned that it might take us a long time to get back up, and I didn't want to carry Desert Girl. So we will have to return another day to go to the very bottom and explore some of the other nearby craters. Here's the BLM website for the area.

Isn't this curved basalt awesome?

Lunar Crater became a National Natural Landmark in 1973. I'm glad it has some extra recognition, it deserves it!