Perseid Meteor Shower Trip to the Black Rock Playa

with Friends of The Black Rock

August 14-16, 2015

The Friends of the Blackrock/High Rock (FBR) was sponsoring a camp outing to view the Perseid Meteor Shower in what they called "the deep playa" on August 14-16, 2015, and I thought I'd check it out.  I once saw this shower while soaking in a wild hot spring somewhere near the geographic center of Nevada and it was an awesome show.

The shower had its peak a few days before this trip, but with the darkness of the playa, we were still promised a active sky.

I got everything packed on Friday morning and set out at a leisurely pace for the remote campsite.  Luckily, FBR had some really good directions to this site, which is basically featureless, and I made it to the site with only one accidental "detour." 

We entered the playa at the 12 Mile Access Road and drove approx. 13 miles into the playa, so it was deep.  For a large part of the drive in, I had a tailwind, which is usually a good thing, however, this tailwind blew all of the playa dust I was kicking up ahead of me, so it was like driving in a snow storm whiteout.

We arrived around 5:30 PM and the wind was still raging, so we sat in the truck for over an hour, and luckily, the wind began to finally die down. 

I set up the Bobcat and enjoyed a beautiful desert sunset.

The last sun

The dogs seemed to really like the soft playa on their feet

After having a nice dinner and settling in a bit, it was time to go watch the sky.  There were probably only 40-50 people here on Friday and that number would more than double on Saturday.

Mother Nature gave us a beautiful show Friday night and the later it got, the more we saw.  Several miles to the south of our camp, Burning Man construction was well underway and it gave us a little light pollution, but that was okay because the meteors, for the most part, were in the northern sky.

I brought out my night vision goggles and they were a big hit.  You can see stars you didn't know were there, even in the darkest of skies.

A view through the NVGs

Some viewers brought cots to avoid the dreaded "Meteor Shower Neck Cramp Syndrome"

We watched the sky until a little after midnight and by then, most of us were calling it a night.  It was such a pleasure to camp with such a great group of people.

The next morning, FBR provided breakfast for everyone and then there were a couple of exploratory outings you could go on if you wanted.  One group was going to check out a number of the areas hot springs and the other group, the one I chose to go on, were going to drive out to a geode site that was almost three hours away.

One of the tour briefings.

This big Airstream became "Camp Central"

Rosa was getting the breakfast stuff put away, so she could lead the geode outing

So, we finally started off for the geode site after being warned about the very rough road and steep climb up to the actual site.  We had a caravan of about 6 vehicles and a couple open cab 4 seater quads, who unfortunately, had to eat an awful lot of our playa dust on our way to the site.

If only the road would have been this nice all the way

On the way, we stopped for a quick visit to Black Rock Hot Springs, which were beautiful.  I was told that you can soak in the shallow springs if you get in on the side furthest from the intake.  I dipped my hand in the water and it seemed to be a very nice soaking temperature, but not on a 100 degree day like today.

I didn't forget Porky this time--he chose not to soak today

After the short visit, we were back on the road, which got worse with every mile.

This was two hours into the trek and we still had about 45 minutes to go.  The bladders of the crew dictated this stop!

This was one of the steeper climbs and I still don't know how that little crossover SUV made it all the way

 Due to the limited parking space at the mine site, a lot of us chose to stop here, which was about a quarter of a mile short of the site.

Ahh, the open space

The geode site is mid way up, but I parked here.

Dexter said to hell with this heat and preferred the shade of the truck to a bunch of old rocks up on a hill.  He was happy to snooze here while we explored the area.

Dexter may have had the right idea all along

What a beautiful vista point

The miners at work. 

We found a lot of geodes, but unfortunately, none of them were those big fat ones full of purple crystals that you see in rock shops.  Most of the ones we found were the size of large strawberries.

Who needs shade?

Nick is cracking a few of them open on site

Rita's hunting through the tailing pile for a gem or two

I know they're hard to see, but on the rusty ridge, to the right of the rock  on top, you can see the silhouette of 3-4 big horn sheep.  They were very interested in what we were up to and they watched us for over 20 minutes.

After stocking up on rocks, we had the 2 1/2 hour drive back to camp to look forward to.

Back at camp, it was time to get the feed on.  FBR provided a lot of the food and the rest was done pot luck style.

Michael, a.k.a. H.O.T., fired up the smoker

Michael threw on a couple of large pork roasts and the extra grill space was there for anyone who brought something to cook

A little Nevada familiarization is always a good way to wait for the food

I don't know what kind of knife he was using to get a watermelon slice like that, but
I can attest that he was sober...

I had to laugh at David Book (tan hat on the right) because he looked like he was sitting at the little kids table

A double sided buffet line--always a good sign

Mmmm, need meat!

An awesome way to let dinner get settled

I honestly don't have any words to describe this photo, other than to say that
Burning Man is close by...

When it got dark, we set up around the main camp again and watched the "stars" streak across the sky once more.  There were definitely fewer meteors than the night before, but I don't think anyone cared.  We were all out in the middle of nowhere with each other and we all care deeply for this part of Nevada.  You may have to look a little harder for the beauty in this part of the world, but if you stop for just a moment and look, it's everywhere.

Sage advice

I got back home with a filthy truck (inside and out), sunburned ears and an exhausted dog.  Isn't it GREAT?

Hobart Reservoir Day Trip 08-09-15

I decided (kind of last minute) to take a day trip up to Hobart Reservoir, just west of Carson City, NV.  I've been wanting to check this place out for quite sometime because I've heard that the fishing is phenomenal.

I visited several sites on the Internet and they all warned of a rough, steep five mile stretch of road you have to take to get there--they weren't kidding.  The road was one of the steepest and narrowest roads I've been on in recent memory, but the websites said that it's what keeps the crowds out and the fishing great.

The Ash Canyon road starts just outside of west Carson City and it wastes not time getting steep and narrow.

There are a couple of fairly large turnouts/vista points, but for the most part, there's only room for one vehicle.  A couple of times on the way up, I met a truck going down and we almost touched side view mirrors as we passed each other and those were the wide parts of the road.

At this particular turnout, there's a trail head that I'll have to take another time.  I wanted to spend my time at the lake today.

Trail head on the Ash Canyon Road

Not only was the road incredibly steep, but it had tons of drainage cuts across it, so right as you could get some momentum going up, you'd have to slow down for these "speed bumps;" it was very frustrating.  I had my little Tacoma in 4WD most of the way up and had to drop down to Four Low for a part of it.

About halfway up the road, it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the turnbuckles on the Bobcat in a couple of weeks and I had visions of it sliding out and tumbling down the mountainside.  I guess it's just my nature to worry, but they held on tight and at the top, I checked them and they were as tight as my wallet in a casino...

We finally made it to the top, where there was a nice little parking area.  From here, it's a 1/4 mile hike down a steep trail/road combo to the water's edge.  There is a service road to the lake, but it's locked.

Fly rod, Tenkara Rod, camera and water--ready to go.

Parking above the reservoir.  There were no signs prohibiting camping, so next time I come this way, I'll pop up here.

The well marked trail head to the lake

The photo doesn't do the steepness any justice.  The trail was straight down without a switchback in sight.

 A lot of fishermen haul float tubes on their backs down to the water and there would be a real advantage in doing so, but pack as light as you can because you'll have to drag it all up this trail when you're done.

Last leg of the hike down.  You can see the lake poking through the trees.  

There is a small walk in campground near the water and it has a vault toilet, bear boxes and a couple of picnic tables.  You'd have to be in "backpacking mode" to enjoy those sites.

Hobart is a very beautiful little lake and the rough trek up to it makes it all the better.

Dexter found the water right away

Like he even has a chance to catch that duck...

NOPE

After Dex settled down a bit and quit scaring the fish away, I broke out my fly rod.  I got two pretty good casts in and there was a bit of breeze, which made it a little more challenging.  Casts 3-5 resulted my line getting tangled and cast 6 saw a Jeffery pine snag my killer bug in its limbs.

Frustrated, I put the fly rod away and set up my Tenkara rod, which I like better anyway.  My Tenkara rod severely limits my casting distance, but at least I can get the fly in the water, so I stayed with that the rest of the afternoon.

I can't tell you how frustrating it is to watch trout after trout follow your fly right up to the shore and then turn away at the last minute.  I only used a Utah Killer Bug and and Elk Hair Caddis, but they didn't want to bite on either.  There were a lot of bugs flying all over the water's surface, so the trout could afford to be picky I guess.

A little foot bridge that crosses the reservoir's outlet.

The stream running out of the reservoir

Hobart limits fishermen to artificial lures and single barbless hooks only, which is a good way to conserve the fishery.  A man down the shore from me caught one and when I asked him what he used, he said "PowerBait."  He then reasoned that PowerBait is artificial.  Where's a warden when you need them?

Well, I got skunked at fishing, but I didn't give it a lot of time and I had fun anyway.  Everywhere you looked in the water, you could see trout swimming around.  Next time, I'll lug a small float tube down and expand on the number of fly patterns I try.

We trudged back up to the parking area and took a little side hike up to a large jumbled array of granite boulders.  I thought there would be some nice views of the lake, but there were too many trees.  There was, however, a lot of smoke in the air from all of the fires.

I don't know the name of this little peak, but it was just east of the lake.

We started back down the hill to civilization and even in my truck's lowest gear, I still had to ride the brakes the entire way down.  At two wide places in the road, I stopped to let my brakes cool down.  I got out and felt the heat emanating from around the wheels and I could smell that burning brake odor you get when you're behind a semi going down a steep hill.  On the way down, I snapped a quick photo of Carson City below.

Carson City, NV

To wrap it up, it was a fun trip, but if I'm going to torture my truck like that again (and I will), then I'm going to make the trip worth wild and camp up there for a couple of nights.