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 Post subject: Our Expedition Of Smith & Mason Valley Nevada On 1/29/15....
PostPosted: Wed Feb 11, 2015 1:06 pm 
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
Our Expedition Of Smith & Mason Valley Nevada On 1/29/15.....

I actually could not wait to return here back in 2014 we only touched base with a couple of the locations due to it getting dark or not being able to find anything. Sometimes when we investigate certain locations it might take a couple times to see and venture through it all. Returning here really topped off the month of January because I was able to get here in the morning instead of when the sun went down and we just simply ran out of time to find what we needed too.  

This would be a trying expedition as the evening before I had a knee procedure. So I had no idea what it was going to feel like driving a couple hundred miles, hiking, climbing etc. I know that when we made it to Ludwig I was jumping off walls so it had to help but not without a price.
 
We would take on Hudson a second expedition into Ludwig then finish off the evening over at Valley Grove and HIllcrest Cemetery both which are connected. I love coming out this way Smith and Mason Valley are quite green especially in the Spring. Besides the Pine Nut mountain range and its biggest peak named Mt. Siegel are just amazing in itself. That includes traversing on foot the Singatse mountain range really have some special gems if your willing to seek them out.
 
This is really an area I have not worked with much but its an important region the ghost towns here were very large and they supplied allot of the countries copper. Not to say there were not other things mined here but the Copper was one of the largest strikes in the area therefore many mills, mines and even the Copper Belt Railroad came to be.
 
We would head on off first thing in the morning these trips that we take require us to leave before sun up that is if we wish to gain any ground. When your dealing with miles off traveling to get here then you have over 50 miles of dirt roads you really cannot waste time diddling around.
 
I never really explored the Pine Nut mountain range so to be on the backside of it was really awesome. We get a ton of UFO reports about strange lights surrounding this range. Hiking on the western side of them is a world in itself especially when you see peaks like Galena and Mount Siegel it truly is vast and you can grow to understand what it is the Washoe seen for thousands of years centralizing the tribe around this range.
 
Our day we would be filled with adventures up in Hudson, Ludwig, Valley Grove and Hillcrest Cemetery all within Smith and Mason Valley's which offer great views and allot of back country which is often forgotten only for the wilderness to reclaim itself.
 
The one place that I really was looking for was the Witches Circle which is a bunch of hieroglyphics and Egyptian artwork which is found at the Ludwig Mill. That really was the meat of the investigating or the highlight of it so as long as I found that the rest was all gravy.
 
There is a sense of excitement packing the jeep full of gear, supplies and food to make the journey to the land less traveled. Maybe not for everyone but being a history buff, paranormal investigator and explorer the thought of taking whatever road into the wilderness I wanted drew in some personal excitement for me and so our journey begins now.
 
Hudson Nevada
 
Finding this place is a little difficult the road through Wilson Canyon to get here is blocked therefore you can only hit the ghost town one way and even that is easy to miss with the dozens of dirt roads which seem to just go completely around this place.
 
Near by is the resort which boast Springs but there is also a shooting range where today the ghost town or downtown resides on. So to some degree yes you would have to be careful but with one blink its easy to miss the town because it sits back behind fencing out in the desert.
 
Tammy and I passed this cattle farm I am not sure I seen so many cows in my life. There had to be a thousands of them neck to neck fenced in various areas. I figured it was either a slaughter house or just a very active dairy farm no less does it tell a story about how fruitful the land is in this valley enough to sustain cattle grazing.
 
The town site is near the Walker River Resort but a bit behind it all however the resort itself does feature some old wild western artifacts of old Hudson on the property if you wish to see old town you really have to get out and study the plots where it once existed. Its actually hard to believe that the town stayed alive all up into the 1970's before it became a ghosts of its past.
 
I parked up at the shooting range yes part of the town site is on a target practice range. The range appears to be closed but if you wander it your going to see allot of broken glass, wood beams, rusty remnants of the past and allot of broken concrete. It appears that the shooters of the range may have been targeting any remands left behind of Hudson which in opinion was a bit sickening to see but that is just me I hate seeing anything from our past left to be targeted at.
 
I had to climb two sets of barbed wire I have no issue saying that sometimes to get into mines or ghost towns you have to cross that line. If you do not then you will be one of the people who takes photos from the road and we just cant do that. We have to be able to show our viewers these locations so they can see what is left and why it is a ghost town if that makes sense.
 
When I arrived at the main town site there was allot of debris such as broken wood boards, bean bans, pipes, rusty buckets, nails, pieces of mangled metal, broken glass shards and alas two wooden old structure which were collapsing.
 
The wooden cabins were falling apart but no less I did get some mild EMF Gauss readings near them which shows me some energy may still be present here. When I stood in the town I looked off for nearly 15 miles and could see Singatse Peak far off in the distance the area below is where Ludwig is located. We had a long ways to reach from one ghost town to the next.
 
The town of Hudson was scattered picture 20 acres of just scattered debris nothing was left unless you count the new sub division nearby which is considered today New Hudson. But any signs of the old Hudson are merely just gone. Its a bit of a grim scene simply because you would think more would be remaining. Its a bit odd to visit a ghost town knowing it was so large even had a post office yet today nothing really remains.
 
I did not spend allot of time in Hudson really Ludwig is where its at but I did spend sometime photographing the last remnants of town as someday they may not be here. Over the years new mining claims, terrible weather and even vandals have just about caused the disappearance of quite a few ghost towns in Nevada.
 
The one thing that stood out here is that there were allot of Eagles and Hawks just scouring the desert floor for its next meal. It was early morning so its expected to see all sorts of birds out feeding. I really enjoyed the scenery and the giant birds diving to the desert floor swooping in for a meal that was pretty cool.
 
I was not happy with the condition of the town site its just been forgotten and half of it is on a shooting range which means anything standing is eventually going to become a victim of gun fire. Its a sad site because you can literally see with your eyes where the town once stood now all gone.
 
We would then head on off to Ludwig Tammy was a bit apprehensive to cross the shooting range but at that time of morning nobody was up here besides the fact that it looked as if it had not been used in years being it was all overgrown. I was just happy to find the original town site something I failed at my first expedition.
 
When you fail you just get up and try again that is one of the reasons I returned here is because the first time one of the roads was out. But this time around I pulled right up onto old Hudson therefore my trip was met with success. I just wish more remained of the town but I feel what I photographed and filmed was all that is left of this historic ghost town. Maybe twenty years ago times were different but the place today is picked clean and so I would move on to Ludwig Nevada.
 
Ludwig Nevada
Expedition 2
 
Its a good time I decided to return when I did new mining operations are integrating new fences, gates and other means to keep explorers out. Not to mention the fact that someone died in the mine here so now all the mines are impossible to get into to explore.
 
The journey to Ludwig is not by any means short its a long dirt road to get out here. Granted its full of views if you decide to take the wrong turn you could be in a bind as some roads out here are good while others are very poor. However from afar one can see the mine dump piles and the huge mill that exist high up in the range so if you head towards that its a pretty easy find.
 
My family and I wanted to return here as in December I ran out of time so I only explored a small portion of town. Well the town is really gone but the foundry, mills and industrial areas all remain in tact which are some of the last remaining remnants of what once was.
 
When we arrived here our last visit was in December only this time more fencing and gates were up. I understand they do not want to be held responsible for injury but that is not me. I journey where I want and I hold my actions as my own responsibility. However if it were not for me to visit here when I did most of Ludwig today will be gone if not inaccessible. If I would have went a year ago out here id gotten to do the miles of mines but even those are now blocked so we were very lucky to have gotten to see what we did.
 
We parked then we hiked up into the mountain range where we came down onto the dump piles. Some of them are fairly new as pit and strip mining are taking place. I know because I seen the advertisement of the mining company that owns the place and I have to say its great mining is revitalized here but leave the ghost town alone. It seems new mining here has torn up allot of the buildings hell I could not even find the copper smelter. I guess where the smelter use to be is a massive 120' pit you can climb to the bottom of but as far as I know its gone.   
 
Due to all the massive machines brought into move the mountain sides around allot is being destroyed such as artifacts and even foundations. I may have gotten lucky and caught the tail end of things because I am sure come by next year nothing will remain.
 
Tammy, Jarrod and I hiked up in the mountains above the mine we found copper, gold and even an old bottle from the 1800's. It might not have financial value but it does hold sentiment as finding an entire glass blown bottle is very rare no matter what ghost town you visit. The entire valley below the mill is littered with overgrown foundations, remnants of the past and even artifacts if you look hard enough. Its hard to say how many artifacts so far been destroyed in the new mining operation here as I seen allot of mountain sides dug up with broken glass and artifacts which means that the site is NOT being protected whatsoever.
 
We did visit an old Foundry at least what was remaining of it there were these cyanide concrete tanks all busted in half crumbling. Definitely found allot of foundations and piles of just remnants of the past like bean cans, TNT boxes and even a laundry pan. Its very scattered but there are all sorts of sites along the foot hills of the mountains that you can see if you spend time searching.
 
There is allot of mine tailings or collapsed entrances into the Ludwig Mines. Sadly I spent two journeys trying to get in those tunnels and both ended up with failure. Its obvious that the company working here or the state has sealed any entrances into the mines. On many of the hills are shafts some collapsed others are pits to death.
 
I was pretty let down about not being able to go in mines but I understand that new mining has also destroyed many of the tunnels that once resided in the mountain itself. There was this one area I went where we had mine shafts all around us and right in the middle was a tunnel you could go in. However when I went into that it split off into two rooms and the central room had an old wood bench covered in rat droppings.
 
We also found a series nearby of foundations that had water pipes which means that Ludwig did have running water. Keep in mind that this at one time was a HUGE ghost town were talking up to a thousand people living here and working in its mines. Today most of the mines are either deadly shafts which once lowered the miners down or just collapsed tunnels.
 
There is this one area where a giant crevice is present its at least 6' across and a 100' in length you fall down there its over. I crossed a narrow land bridge across the crevice was not sure it would hold me but by crossing it that would save me time to get up to some higher hills to take a look at the town site below. It is a dangerous area so I can see the reasoning behind gates and fencing here to keep others safe. I have new shoes for hiking so they do provide me additive safety even with balance and some level of gripping rocks.
 
Jarrod and I found some steps including what was once remnants of old office buildings. They probably served the mine and the mill back in the day as some kind of station for the miners.It may have been the office where the miners checked in and out for there shifts hard to really say.
 
We also noticed extensive amounts of brick foundations around one of them seemed to be that of a well or collapsed elevator shaft. There was also many giant walls and structures which may have been part of the mill. I know they had more then one mill here including the gypsum factory.
 
When you hike if you really pay attention there is allot of green copper around while there was also allot of talc found which just collapsed in your hand when you hold it. I am not sure today they are mining for talcum but I know that based on my study I found at least five to six different minerals found at the site.
 
There is allot to see starting at the mines working your way south all on the hillside. We found this one structure that looked like a concrete turret my son climbed in and out the little window below. You see allot of walls remnants and foundations here.
 
Our main goal was to visit an area called the "Witches Circle" which is this massive foundation with these stone pillars. On the pillars are ancient Egyptian depictions and hieroglyphics. The views of Mount Siegel are quite amazing and the valley below. You can also Artesia Wildlife Refuge below which was completely dry as compared to its water levels were much higher in December.
 
You can tell that rituals had been done some of the Egyptian artwork was defaced by other peoples graffiti or shotgun fire. Its ashamed that others deface art work that was done so beautifully but that is humans for you. I would never deface someone's art work let alone damage these sites.
 
We had lunch up at the Witches Circle strangely my gauss meter went off at one of the pillars which boasted allot of ancient writing and a depiction of a pharaoh. You could also see between all the pillars signs of candle wax and even a pentagram which had been wiped clean. Its obvious kids came up here to perform the occult. The EMF readings were just a confirmation that perhaps there are hidden energies that reside around this one particular spot which was my educated guess even before we went to this area.
 
Beyond the witches circle is an entire hillside of wood beams and pylons which protrude out of the ground. This may have been the gypsum factory but not 100 percent sure. Above the Witches Circle was also an ore chute and below it was a series of foundations, walls and brick structures. This must had been the mill the processed most of the ore that came out of the Ludwig Mines which had multiple shafts, tunnels, levels and entrances. I tried to get in them all and it ended up in failure while tunnels were blocked the shafts leading to the pit of death were not this is why its such a dangerous site to explore. Luckily my family has been doing this long enough to know where you venture and not.
 
At the witches circle there was a cartoon someone spray painted while below it we found the same one. Someone apparently new how to replicate there work. Just as another foundation had a bunch of walls each one with a ruin on it. So whoever came up here was into ancient writings and they depicted them onto the walls and structures of Ludwig.
 
Whether these were ancient spells I would love to know I just cannot decipher was is being said but we have pictures and video if we need to find someone to decode it. No less its not something you see all the time someone put allot of work into this site. I am afraid it wont last much longer massive earth movers have literally toppled or broke apart much of the ruins to pieces therefore I am sure prior to that there was allot more of the town remaining.
 
Our hike back would be different I hiked up a few canyons only to find more shafts but no structures. I figured some of the mines may have had cabins in the canyons that run behind the mill sites but I guess not. I climbed a few small summits the view was real pretty especially of Shamrock Hill and the lake bed with the Pine Nuts as a backdrop of this location.
 
When we left the area I decided to take some back roads to Artesia Lake to my surprise it was dry with allot of cattle roaming around it. There was a couple old ranches but because they purchased most of the land surrounded the lake getting to it is off limits although I know one road out there but its pretty rough. In the middle of the lake their was a little water perhaps from the Springs that bubble up in the area but other then that it was bone dry.
 
We would leave Ludwig behind sadly its just another ghost town lost to time, vandals and new mining operations. I can only imagine in a few years not one trace of this boom town will exist. Its really sad I did not make it here a few years ago but were a busy paranormal group so if we visit a few ghost towns there might be other towns that are on the brink of extinction. We just cannot predict which ones will remain and which ones will be lost forever.
 
We would move on after about 20 miles of dirt roads we would make our way to Valley Grove Pioneer Cemetery.
 
Valley Grove Pioneer Cemetery
 
We spent sometime offroading to find this place its very easy to pass by there is a gate with a sign but if you blink you will miss it. The cemetery resides on enriched ranch land so its rather fertile here which is one of the reason half of the graveyard was relocated to Hillcrest Cemetery a couple miles up the road.
 
Smith Valley is such a beautiful place when you explore here it does not feel as if your in Nevada. We seen allot of wildlife just taking dirt roads including some deer grazing near the cemetery. We also seen an old historic school house which was a museum just a mile or two up the road from the cemetery.
 
When we passed by it I did not see it and Tammy did not know what it is we were looking for so I did have to double back. The night was young by the time I entered the gate the moon was already bright in the sky.
 
The cemetery was completely overgrown with sage brush and foliage many of the graves were consumed with it therefore allot of the graves were really hard to find at times.
 
There was a road that went all the way around the entire cemetery despite it was overgrown you could see it vaguely. There were old barns and ranches some appeared to be abandoned in the area which might make good investigations in the future. While other ranches cattle and horses roamed as the sun began to set while snow capped peaks overshadowed everything.
 
The cemetery appeared to have different sections for example many of the fancy family plots to the left within the cemetery were Masonic interments with beautiful wrought iron work. While towards the back many of the graves were so overgrown I could barely read them.
 
While in the center of the graveyard was an entire section of wooden grave markers some appeared to have been fixed so that they could stand up but many of them were so weathered you could not read the epitaphs.
 
At the entrance of the cemetery is a rock with an engraving with flowers that serves as a memorial to the cemetery. While anything to the right within the cemetery when you enter there are no stones as they were all removed when this place flooded years ago.
 
Although there is not allot to see this is a true wild western cemetery it has scenery, horses, cattle roaming on the range, snow capped peaks and a real pretty sunset. I just know our viewers are going to enjoy this pioneer burial ground its full of some of the first people to have been buried in Smith Valley and may contain some of the first residents of Hudson and Ludwig Nevada so you can see why we chose to add it into our casework.
 
Despite the cemetery being overgrown one thing did stand out to me. Many of the graves appeared to have real or fake flowers which were not at all that old. Which means that even though this place has been neglected it is not forgotten. I can see why some of the graves were moved in the oldest section the ground was a bit soft and wet where my new memory foam hiking shoes sunk on in the mud. 
 
I am sure with all the thick brush we missed some graves the one you cannot miss which can be seen anywhere within is the massive tree trunk stone. There also appeared to be allot of children buried here some siblings who died very close together which just shows everyone how hard life was in the west. You either made it or you didn't that is just the way it went down when pioneering this region.
 
Our final stop of the evening would be Hillcrest Cemetery which is just up the road from Valley Grove. Will have to see what the photos and EVP reveal did not really get to much EMF readings here. At first we did but then I realized once I made my way away from the utility pole outside the cemetery my readings dropped from the red zone to none at all. The sun was going down quick moon was getting brighter and it was time to do our grand finale of the night.
 
Hillcrest Cemetery
 
If you investigate Valley Grove then you definitely need to check out Hillcrest which was erected to replace the old pioneer cemetery. As a matter in fact at least half if not more of Valley Grove Cemetery were moved to Hillcrest.
 
When you drive down the cemetery road there is a big wrought iron entrance. Tammy had gotten out and was working on BW photograph. Jarrod and I raced to the entrance to snap some pictures. Besides I wanted to check out my knee strength since the night before I had a procedure which is meant to ease my right knee pain at this point it worked because I kept up with him pretty good and that is not bad for my ripe age lol.
 
By the time we made it all the way towards the back of the cemetery it was nearly dark out. The one thing that stood out within the cemetery is that there were thousands of birds roosting in the trees. Some of them were spooked flying in huge flocks around us it was like a scene from the movie the birds.
 
The one thing I noticed with this cemetery is that you have at least 4 to 5 roads that run parallel with one another. Only a couple of the back roads have graves along them many of them granite, marble or fairly new. Nothing elaborate with wrought iron or fancy carvings as with the Valley Grove Cemetery.
 
Honestly I am not sure which graves were moved from Valley Grove since almost all the stones found at Hillcrest look newer therefore I have to assume that the pioneers of Smith Valley remain there while the newer residents or interments were buried here at Hillcrest. One of the graves I walked past was very fresh so the cemetery is very much in use as in with comparison with Valley Grove it is as is or forgotten sadly.
 
A few things stuck out with this cemetery such as the angel statues which you find throughout and the fact that some gravesites had lit candles. At least 70 percent of the cemetery is open land so burial can continue here for decades to come perhaps.
 
I did not experience anything paranormal but I really wish I knew which gravesites were moved from Valley Grove. The thing is all them old wood grave markers and fancy Masonic stones today are now just marble stones with a mere engraving. The old pioneer look does not exist at Hillcrest which is a much more modernized cemetery formed because this ground was not flooded like the old cemetery.
 
The Hillcrest Cemetery was much different then Valley Grove lots of fresh flowers, wood ranch fences, trees and soft sand of the valley were just a few of the things I found here. There was also benches where you could sit down and allot more family plots that were quite extensive.
 
I also found these flat crypts which look sort of like coffins they are quite common in Florida graveyards not so much out west. But based on the weathering id say some of them probably came from the old cemetery since this section had some of the oldest graves towards the main road and back of here.
 
Many of the stones had knickknacks, trinkets, wind mills, flags etc you could see that Hillcrest was much more taken care of then Valley Grove which really ashamed since the two are connected. I understand that the cemetery was moved due to ranchers flooding there land what I do not understand is how one graveyard can be so neglected and the other can be so nice yet they really are sister cemeteries.
 
So you sort of have to visit them both if your going to do a full research project but you will see a huge difference between them both. Not to say that the interments here are not in direct correlation of towns like Hudson, Ludwig and other ghost towns in the region which ran into the 1900's.
 
Overall it was a good expedition we can now close off our case with Ludwig and we found Hudson. We visited the Valley Grove Pioneer Cemetery and the newer Hillcrest Cemetery. I seen snow capped peaks, nature and beautiful desertscapes. There were eagles and hawks along with a real pretty sunset to match a nice moon.
 
I enjoyed my adventure out here I had gotten to go into a mine, ghost towns and seen quite a couple really great graveyards. Overall the day was worth well spending and the next day id have a nice Superbowl Party with all you can eat chicken wings to make up for all the energy I expended on this amazing adventure. After over 50 miles of offroading, miles of hiking around ruins and a beautiful trip under a starry sky home it was a really great journey. I toked allot at Ludwig and I even found some other areas that were going to try to hit in the near future including some places we found up in Mason Valley so I definitely look forward to returning out this way.
 
It was good to have my cam back between our Reno Investigations and these places it put us at six great locations for the month of January which is great because it was in the shop. But we finished the month with great success and of a place that soon is no longer going to exist such as the ghost town of Ludwig and all that beautiful Egyptian art. I also found out in the desert a gold nugget possibly pyrite have not tested it but its always fun to find new minerals for your own collection and cabinet to share with friends so Id consider this venture a pretty fun and lucky trip. You should be quite stoked to see these eventually hit our site granted it might take awhile but some things are worth waiting for trust me and this is just one of these regions your really going to enjoy seeing on The Paranormal & Ghost Society website. 
Lord Rick
PGS Founder
 
PS All reports are subject to change or be edited this is just a draft before it gets put onto our site months later along with media, photos, history, paranormal finds etc etc.

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