White Rhino Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 that was some funny shizzle I have to say!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ltr450rider Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Hey where's your helmets! I'm telling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 That was cool, nice story... Not a bad story at all. They asked me where the North Pole was and after trying to explain it, I just lead them over there. Glad it worked out that way. Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 For the first time in 8 years we went to the mines out past the North Pole. That was an awesome trip. Where past the North Pole? Straight south down the roadbed there are mines at Riggs but it's a long ways. Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YamaKiller Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Where past the North Pole? Straight south down the roadbed there are mines at Riggs but it's a long ways. Eli When your headed to the North pole from camp, going through the flats, just keep going about another couple hundred yards past the north pole. You will come across a road that goes right off into the distance. You can's miss the road as it runs right beside the no offraod signs. follow that raod for @17 miles and you will be at the mines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuneJNKY Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 The "FlatBiller" on the back looks familiar :gayboy: ........... Oh wait thats me!!!!! No Wonder my back hurt this week Like the pic Mary!! I was waiting for thta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Warning very long post with a little Dumont history. It's been years since I've been to Dumont. I figured I have different interests and just wanted to do my own thing while I was there. I was wrong but more on that later I got there after dark on Thursday and worried about getting stuck I'm glad I didn't find that soft spot. Got up early the next morning and went up to Sperry. Sperry always upsets me because of promises the BLM broke and the fence further up which forces you up Western Talac Road. The Amargosa trestle location and the Palisades are really impressive but they are inside the ACEC and you have to hike to get there. Now you have to hike just to get to the ACEC and that puts them beyond my range. There was nobody up that way that early in the morning which was kind of nice. When I returned a couple leo's were kicking with a group of four wheelers who had sinned by being on the "old" route before the BLM cut the new one and re-directed it through the arch . I decided to visit the vendors and left with a smaller wallet. I then decided to head south to the Dumont Wye. The sand fills the smaller cuts which must have been a lot of fun to shovel out by hand back in the days of the railroad. I always bypassed a larger one when I had visited before and I did so again. I couldn't find the south end of the wye although I was right next to it. The sun can play tricks on you the desert. I used to find a lot of soldered tin cans around the wye but the days of metal detectors at Dumont are long past. I continued south to what the maps call Dumont but I've never found any evidence anything was ever there. Noticed a large er sorry Mr leo a small gathering of to the west and went to take a look. I had found the North Pole. I was back to the trailer before I realized I hadn't bypassed that cut. That felt good. Found the mouth and comp and relaxed watching the runs. I returned to the trailer to cook dinner before dark. Grilling a $20 steak around camp racers isn't much fun but the dust didn't appear to affect the taste any. After dark I returned to comp and relaxed some more. RZR lights suck and I hope Santa brings me some HID's for Christmas. Next morning I decided to find the south side of the wye and figured the open area the maps call Dumont might be the place to see what I could do. RZR speedos suck GPS said 54 mph and the RZR isn't broken in yet. That was fun. Decided the Drag Strip would be fun and it was...figured I saw comp, it was. Decided to find the South Pole and did. Figured I would have lunch at the North Pole and packed a lunch. Returned via the dunes this time and that was very fun. I checked out a stock Liberty going places I won't thought possible. I think the wife's might be visiting Dumont soon. I later returned to Sperry. A wise historian from Barstow now gone once told me I had a great grasp on things but history is about people. So I reflected on what it would have been like to live and work there without air conditioning and limited water. They brought water by tank car from Tecopa and filled a cistern that still can be found there. It would have had to last until the next car load. I know the son of the last bridge and building forman. He grew up in a box car parked on the closest siding to where ever his father was working. They too had a water tank car, he remembers being bathed by hose from that tank car in the winter....he didn't think it was too much fun as I recall. I wondered what his Thanksgiving as a kid was like compared to ours. I wondered if his parents gave him a bath before dinner. I got to revisit places that are of interest to me. I found that going fast on the dunes is a heck of a lot of fun. I didn't think about work. This weekend more of the same railroad and more dunes this time Amargosa. Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 When your headed to the North pole from camp, going through the flats, just keep going about another couple hundred yards past the north pole. You will come across a road that goes right off into the distance. You can's miss the road as it runs right beside the no offraod signs. follow that raod for @17 miles and you will be at the mines. That's Riggs. Named after one of the owners of the mines if I remember correctly. The road you are talking about is the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad grade. It was built by Borax Smith in the early 1900's to get his borax out Death Valley. Valjean is about 10 miles south of Dumont before you got there. If you followed the grade a little ways south of the sort of valley containing the mines you came to the Riggs section house. Although it like the Sperry version was adobe the shorter walls of the Riggs version were cement so there is more left of it. Riggs like Sperry stored water in a cistern and it remains as well. These two lowly railroad section houses were carefully studied by those that built the Death Valley Inn before they decided to use the same type of construction. The greenies were trying to push the Valjean Wilderness from the east side of the railroad grade all the way out to 127 I guess they didn't get it done. I wish I'd have know you were going, though I considered it, it's a bit long for a single vehicle trip. Eli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicoleinVegas Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I liked your trip report Eli...makes me want to explore a lot now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Exploring is a wonderful thing but PLEASE do not cross into the out of bounds areas. This is being used against us and we need all the help we can get to keep these people from gathering enough incursion evidence to get some kind of legal action moving. I also remember the days when you could actually find railroad ties and other things from the pass but unfortunatly those days are pretty much gone. Please keep on marked OPEN trails it is very important! Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennisthemenace Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Feels like I missed out, good reports and great Pics I'll try not to miss out next year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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