THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED - Part 1 : Taking the Stage Route Home

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
After spending a day exploring the shores of Walker Lake and seeing the Walker River flowing into it again for the first time in over 6 years, Cindy and I decided to head south and stay the night in Tonopah and at one of our most favorite hotels in the state of Nevada - the Mizpah! While we were in need of getting home, we had all day to get there and so we decided to lose ourselves in the desert and find an unconventional way to get back - on series of old stage and overland routes that still exist today.

Moby sitting in front of the historic Mizpah Hotel, all packed up and ready to hit the trails.
20170428171142-d5a32f84.jpg


Using Moby to do a little grocery gettin before heading out.
20170428171144-f79dc49d.jpg


Gas exists where people exist and knowing that neither is ahead for miles to come is always a good sign to us.
20170428171149-d256d208.jpg


Off pavement with only the horizon ahead of us - this is where the fun really begins!
20170501181019-355d2e1c.jpg


20170501181024-8f8dc793.jpg


Unfortunately, a quick look behind us showed that we'd be spending the day trying to outrun a storm.
20170428171204-7439fb9f.jpg


Up on the stage route, the trail turned into a fading 2-track and one that hadn't been used in a very long time.
20170501181036-5f816285.jpg


20170428171220-3efbc097.jpg


20170428171225-9bf758ad.jpg


You know you're on an old trail when you can stop pretty much anywhere along the length of it and find historic trash. As you can see on the base of this broken bottle, it has the connected letters "AB" stamped on the bottom of it indicating that it was made by the Adolphus Busch Glass Manufacturing Company and/or the company it merged with in 1905, the American Bottle Company. While Adolphus Busch has been around since 1886, it's more likely than not that this bottle was thrown to the side of the trail around 1905-1909 when this mark was more widely used. A reminder that many of these old stage routes were used by early automobile as well.
20170428171230-4918b409.jpg


Further up the route, we came across this intact amber bottle which was made by the Owen Illinois Glass Company.
20170428171235-737406e9.jpg


As you can see on the base, it has a number 7 on the left of the logo indicating it was made in Alton, IL and while I'm not 100% sure what the 8 on the right stands for, it clearly signifies that it was made in the 1930's as a two digit date system was employed in this location from the 1940's on.
20170428171232-5ef2599c.jpg


Unfortunately, the storm we were trying to outrun was moving a lot faster than us and we would be running into it sooner than later.
20170428171245-1d1c5971.jpg


Pulling up to Spanish Springs.
20170428171251-a499be19.jpg


A few shots of the modest accommodations.
20170428171306-386f88e9.jpg


20170428171301-38b99aa0.jpg


20170428171329-82387d73.jpg


20170428171338-5636e0e0.jpg


Saying hello to the caretaker of this fine facility.
20170428171335-200017a1.jpg


Being that water was an essential component to overland travel, springs like this can be found all along the length of any given route. Surprisingly, this was was capped and still had accessible water.
20170428171258-b7bfabd0.jpg


20170428171253-3256b4eb.jpg


On the move again, we came across a vehicle pulled over to the side of the road. Unfortunately, it was far beyond repair and abandoned by its occupants quite some time ago.
20170428171352-69e3c543.jpg


As was the case with many of the overland routes in the area, this one was acquired by Nevada Mobile Transit Company around 1905. With a fleet of 20 automobiles just like this, they provided transportation service to prominent auto connections in the area.
20170428171400-3ec81777.jpg


20170428171408-fceee593.jpg


"I HAVE SEEN THE ELEPHANT" was popular phrase uttered by emigrant making their way west and to express the enormity of their experience. Of course, those who would have come along this stage route would have been able to say it and mean it as they came across Elephant Rock.
20170428171503-ecacbdb0.jpg


20170428171420-834c54b0.jpg


20170428171426-2131eb00.jpg


20170428171428-9f4c1b96.jpg


Tessa and I going for a ride before heading out.
20170428171442-f34e95c4.jpg


Further up the route, we came across an old hand painted message that we couldn't quite read or learn much about or at least, as of yet. To the best of my ability, I believe it says "HYGRADE AUTOPOLIS", can't make out what's next but ends with "GOLDFIELD".
20170428171506-6c2d91f5.jpg


Climbing into the mountains, the trail got narrow, rocky and brushy.
20170428171515-bee3a272.jpg


Not exactly New York but this is the town of Manhattan.
20170428171517-7e67539f.jpg


Being that quite a few people still live here, Manhattan isn't exactly a ghost town but it does have quite a few old buildings that cool to look at. This is the Nye & Ormsby County Bank which was built in 1906 and is the oldest and only stone building that was built in town. It's also the ONLY building that you can check out without trespassing on someone's property.
20170428171521-de08cc95.jpg


20170428171524-06bcadd0.jpg


Sadly, the bank was forced to close a year after it opened due to the depression of 1907.
20170428171526-c4cc067f.jpg


Built to keep money safe and built to do it for a long time, the vault inside the bank stands relatively intact.
20170428171528-c15cae02.jpg


20170428171531-79d0682b.jpg


A door on the side of the vault is open.
20170428171553-cd0d5a85.jpg


As if the vault weren't safe enough, there's a safe inside of it as well. Of course, if you look at how big the safe is, the only way it could have gotten inside is if the vault were built around it.
20170428171534-715716f6.jpg


20170428171538-fc90c2a2.jpg


Back on pavement, we headed north up the Big Smokey Valley and then turned west into the Toiyabe Range where we hoped to cross it along a route connecting the mining towns of Kingston and Austin.
20170501181047-86b88452.jpg


20170501181041-66635db5.jpg


Making a stop to check out the ruins of the old Daniel Ranch.
20170428175906-bf1c256a.jpg


20170428175858-0b0467aa.jpg


20170428175855-58d10049.jpg


Climbing our way up to 8,680 ft. Kingston Pass.
20170428175911-14314484.jpg


Made it to the summit!
20170428174400-98f85018.jpg


Unfortunately, this would be the end of the line for us as the shelf road ahead was still covered with snow drift. Being that we were running solo, we decided it was better to be safe than sorry.
20170428174408-d5b008c7.jpg


As luck would have it, turning around was the smart thing to do as it began to hail heavily on us.
20170428174420-18a7bcc2.jpg


Having to double back the way we came set us back on time but we able to make some of it back once we we got on the highway and could drive a lot faster. After tanking up in Austin, we jumped back on to dirt only this time, it would be traveling along the Pony Express Trail.
20170428181712-d9922081.jpg


While there weren't any ponies along the trail, there sure were a lot of these guys.
20170428183055-2c5b6429.jpg


Pulling up into the hills, the trail turned into a fading 2-track.
20170428181725-2d004579.jpg


20170501181127-5ba26519.jpg


On top of Smith Creek Summit.
20170428183145-128012dc.jpg


20170501181143-cb917053.jpg


Surprisingly, we found a T-marker, a reminder that in addition to horseback riders delivering mail at a breakneck pace, emigrants pulling wagons and walking on foot used this overland route as well.
20170428181741-3c96363c.jpg


Continuing our way west, we encountered multiple large washouts that needed to be crossed.
20170428181749-73b71d9d.jpg


Confidence to explore.
20170428181759-d62c9410.jpg


20170428181805-b09fea6c.jpg


20170428181808-2ea9bcff.jpg


Out of the canyon and look out toward the Smith Creek Valley.
20170428181810-b650ebf3.jpg


With the sun starting to set and our tummies starting to growl, we decided to get back on pavement and head for home.
20170428181819-29726393.jpg


But first, it was time for a whiskey and dinner at one of our favorite historic saloons - Middlegate Station!
20170501181149-5cdec89a.jpg


20170428183157-37a3593d.jpg


20170428183220-7c125a96.jpg


A fitting end to an epic day crossing historic overland stage routes - CHEERS!
20170428181837-71bfd3d7.jpg


Cindy and I hope you enjoyed following our adventures making our way home across the desolate Nevada desert and on fading trails of the past. :cool:
 
Great Road

I definitely would love to explore old roads like this. Awesome scenery and very inspiring. I definitely need to get a book with old trails, any recommendations?
 
Awesome trip guys, thanks for sharing. So you didn't try any of that well water, it looked tasty? ;-)
 
One of my favorite areas to explore. Looks like you both found some new and really cool places to explore. 👍
 
Family route

When I first saw this post via email I thought you were emailing me personally! My first name is Sanderson, and í was named for a great great great uncle who was part owner of Barlow and Sanderson Overland Stage Co. I have done a ton of genealogy research and know a lot about him. Seeing these photos really brings it alive for me. Thanks for posting this. If anyone else has pics of the routes or old stations please post as well!
 
Top Bottom