3-27-05

I forgot to mention that I made a trip out to Alkali Hot springs near Goldfield when I was there. Someone has installed a new old hot tub out there and the water has been adjusted so it is about perfect temperature. The old cement pool is still there but the new tub was a better temperature when I was there.

It almost looks too fancy for an old hot springer doesn’t it?

While I was about to ge in a guy came up from a big fancy trailer and announced that he was just back from three months in Mexico, like it was a big fricking deal. I let him ramble on about how great it was and when I asked him how far down he got, it turned out he never made it down past where I camped the first day!!! To say the very least he was surprised that lil Red and I had been way down and in the backcountry too. I shamed him as best I could by telling him that it is best that he stayed up near the border as it was so dangerous down south and he might get hurt down there.

I was invited to supper at John and Marsha’s place. We had a great time catching up on the news as well as talking out all the world problems. John is a Colorado boy who grew up on a farm but has been involved in the mining industry over the years. He is now retired mostly but he and Marsha have a company that they occasionally do contract work like staking claims. Marsha is the retired Postmaster in Goldfield, she spends her days mostly looking after her grandson as well as any other baby she can get her hands on.

I saw an old friend in Silver Peak when I was at Kens who said that he had a neighbor who was giving away a little Subaru like mine over in Tonopah. I got a message from Ken to give Bruce a call which I did the morning I left. When I got to Tonopah I met him and we went over to take a look at it. he didn’t know any of the details of the little car and  now I wish I had taken the camera with me so you could view it too. It is very similar to lil Red but lived in a climate that rusted the poor little thing really bad. When I opened the door I could see the ground through the floor boards. The little car was severely thrashed and I probably would have made some sort of deal to get it to goldfield and have it  there for a parts stash but I am pushing it as it is with my junk piles. My neighbors have been very understanding so far and really it aint none on their damn business what I do, but………….

I headed on out of Tonopah and went up Big Smokey valley. It is probably the clearest I have ever seen that valley. With all the rain and snow it must have washed the air clean which made the mountains stand out most spectacularly. I naturally made the turn to the hot springs at the north end of the valley and found my favorite tub just right. well, it was a smidgen hot but not so hot I couldn’t stay in for five minutes at a time. While I was soaking a  guy came up and  announced that he was just back from Mexico. Oh Christ, another one!!! This one too had barely made it down very far but had spent ten weeks wind surfing. He was so proud of the big motor home that sleeps eight and how he didn’t have to camp out in a little tent like the other surfers. Yah, I told him, I like my little motor home too. I guess the hot springs are on the route north for all the snow birds. It is too dang bad that that sonofabitch had to write that book about hot springs in the west.

After I left the hot spring I made it over the hill to Austin. I just love that little town. it sits in a canyon and still has lots of the old building standing. There are lots of tourist shops as it is on Highway 50 which is the ‘loneliest road I America’.

I stopped I at one of the shops and was visiting with the owner and happened to mention I was going to see if Hay Loader Tom was home. The guy said he had just seen Tom go by and had waved at him. it is a small town/world out there. I had no idea if Tom and  Beverly would be home as it was Easter weekend and I thought they might be gone visiting family.

So, I pointed lil Red down the canyon and turned south down the valley. His ranch is about 30 miles down the Reese River Valley and it is a spectacular drive with snow capped mountains on both sides. In case you don’t know, Nevada is a series of north south mountain ranges with mostly large flat valleys in-between. I made it about dark and we stayed up too late talking.

Easter morning was fantastic!!! There couldn’t be a better Easter sunrise setting anyplace. It was a little overcast but when the sun  did come up it lit the snow capped peaks just for about two minutes. They were dazzling brilliant white against the muted gray/tan of the desert. I think it was the best Easter sunrise I have ever seen. while I was making my second cup of tea, Tom and Beverly came out of their house. Tom gave me a quick tour of some of the farm yard and the new projects that they have been working on and then we went inside for a grand breakfast  of waffles, real chicken eggs (Beverly has a nice size flock of chickens) and bacon. What a treat to have such a breakfast. We went outside and  continued the tour when one of Tom’s customers came driving in with his flat bed truck.

I first met Tom in Fish Lake Valley where I had a small farm. Tom was one of the guys that loaded hay on the semi’s for the ranchers. When he was waiting for a truck or when he smelled cookies that Susan was making, he would show up and we spent many an hour at the table in great conversation. Tom is a cookie wolf and could smell cookies about to come out of the oven at the far end of the valley. He often would arrive just as the first batch would be coming out of the oven.

We hopped in one of Tom’s ranch trucks and went down to meet the customer at the hay stack. Tom is an artist with the loader. He has loaded thousands and maybe a million tons of hay with his loader and he moves like a dancer when he is loading hay. He makes no unnecessary moves and is so smooth and rhythmic. It doesn’t take him long to get a load stacked. I borrowed his truck and went back to the house to get my camera. By the time I got  back he was almost done.

Here is Tom launching a bale up to the man on the truck. Tom know just how much of a shove to give the bale to have it land in just the right spot.

The stacker only has to lay the bale down and nudge it up tight.

There wasn’t much left of this stack when the truck was loaded.
 
This is the hook that lifts the bale. Tom operates the winch that lifts the bale with the rope in his left hand. That rope pulls on a brake on one side of a differential that is under the truck. One side brakes and  the other side acts like a winch when the brake is applied.

It is a very slick arragement and is all run off the engine of the pickup.
The last thing is to place the spare tire on top of the load.


This was some of Toms poor quality hay but the rancher was thrilled to get it for his range cows. I asked if he was calving yet and he said he has some on the ground. He has his heifers out on range too and said he uses a brangus bull on them and has never had a problem with them calving. These ranges are so big I think  they just go out and discover what they have as there is no way to keep track of them.

This is some of Toms better quality hay. It is mostly alfalfa with some Orchard grass he has overseeded into it. He sell most of his hay for  horse hay.

He keeps all the good hay under tarps.


Tom and Bev bought this farm several years ago and are slowly improving it as they have time and resources. A common story, eh? They decided to put their energy into fixing up a rock house/cabin on the place rather than drag in a trailer to live in. it is just as cute and snug as can be. Bev has the place fixed up very nice and Tom has added modern touches for his bride. Tom has a satalite computer hook up for internet.


The wind was blowing as usual, but Tom said it was almost calm compared to a few days before.

 
Loafing as usual.

Their ranch. 

On the way back up the valley I spotted a couple of road kills that I picked up.

The Easter bunny must have known I needed a nice fifty-foot rope and two new red grease rags. I like those Easter bunnies.
When I got to Austin I took the highway to Battle Mountain. It is probably one of the best roads in the state of Nevada. I need to come back someday and explore all the side roads that take off from it.  I will have to have one of my motorcycles down here to check it  out.
I am writing this in Elko on the  street next to the Rodeway Inn where they have a nice friendly wifi signal. Across the street is a Mexican restaurant and I think I will take a walk over there and see what is on the menu. Humm, pollo asada maybe????

When you come into Elko, stop under the Rodeway Inn  sign and open you laptop and do your trick. After  you have done your email and such shut it down and cross the street to the Mexican restaurant and go in an order a Chile Verde Super Burrito. You will love it!!!!!  I did.