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 Post subject: Our Ghost Town Expeditions & Adventures From Pony Express..
PostPosted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:29 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:38 am
Posts: 944
Location: Las Vegas, NV
In the winter months I often take my expeditions across the NV mountains to visit ghost towns, stations and mines. The one thing you must consider is that as my friend Christoph Chaoss says we tread where angels will dare not go. I think that a true adventurer sees the world in this light we want to go beyond where no man has gone before.

So when I head off into the great basin or high desert of NV I often think about how much history either has been lost or how remote things can get for us while journeying. You have to think anything can go wrong flat tires, break downs, insane people, wild animals, poor weather, extreme cold and even getting lost are just some of the things that can happen in the back country.

Personally myself every time I have a major expedition I get excited I cannot sleep. I sometimes spend a dark night researching the locations that I visit sometimes drawing my own maps. I work hard at what I do people think all we have is a community but the amount of research, danger and all the way to the actual investigation is allot to hold together on the table especially around the holidays this time of year.

Its when I do the bad Santa gig of course really I have to admit I keep pretty warm and can give a shit less what I look like without a costume. I just know that when I go to these barren ghost towns it can feel like the tundra and it gets cold. But not as dangerous as being up in the sierras dealing with avalanches, hungry animals or freezing to death. As I just read that a boy died in South Tahoe during a windstorm when a tree landed on him. So yes the sierras are dangerous however in Northern NV you do not have those elements in the winter but its one of the last final frontiers which is what I love about the Silver State.

Honestly in all the years of doing this my love for the wild west grows every day. I see nature and chase legends. I offroad over sand dunes and park in front of towns that once were bustling with women in long dresses and men in top hats. Times have changed sometimes we find remnants of a town sometimes over time those remnants are gone. You never know that if you put off a journey to a ghost town if it may or may not be there next year or the year after TRUTH. So in a way I try to also act as a preservationist by making people aware that these places do exist and can be honored alone for there history. The paranormal is only a perk if we encounter it but it is not the entire mission or premises of our society.

Truthfully I been in this field a long time every time it winds down to the end of the year you are just thankful that each year you made progress. One moment were climbing mountains the next were offroading to towns that once boasted 1000 residents practically in areas so remote that a UFO could pick up your truck and fly away with you.

As I explore Northern Nevada I am finding out that the state has so much to offer. I been recently to refuges, river canyons, cliffs of red rocks to lakes and hidden canyons. I have seen mills, wild horses and taken my jeep to places most people cannot get to. If it does not get to it then I will via foot either way you have to love the possibilities of what you might find or see. In the winter months you do not have to worry about extreme heat or even rattle snakes so it certainly is allot safer this time of year to go check out ghost towns.

So in the beginning of December we had the opportunity to explore or open cases up at Hawe's Station, Lake Lahontan/William's Station, Thompson Smelter, Nordyke Nevada and Ludwig Nevada. We never did find much of Hudson then again ill explain later in the report but five out of six locations is pretty awesome to achieve despite the major adversity we came across during the early hours of the morning at Lake Lahontan.

Some of this region is full of green ranch land other parts of it are beautiful high desert carved out by the elements such as an ancient sea and the winds of time. There are lakes, ponds, wagon roads and beautiful mountain ranges. Most of all this area had ancient camels that once thrived here just as later in time came the giants to the region and eventually the natives. When these towns developed stations were created that is because this is Pony Express country while other routes belonged to the Overland Mail and State Route dating back to some of the first white men who dared to go into this vast frontier.

A frontier time and time I have the luxury to enjoy and you never know what you might see. Every place I journey at is unique no landscape looks the same. Everytime I think I have seen it all I see more and that just motivates me to work that much harder at what we do but also to understand that with huge risk comes big rewards like with the Pine Nut UFO incident that took place over behind Empire in November.

Anyhow without further ado Tammy and I went to our favorite gas station mart so I had a Guatemalan Sunrise Coffee with a pop tart yeah I know breakfast of champions and off we journeyed on what is called one of the loneliest roads in America.

Hawe's Station

Just across from Lake Lahontan to the north of it is a bunch of basalt rocky hills and cliffs. It is obvious that volcanic activity at some point in time occurred here greatly. I could see the station from the highway strangely its kind of hard to get to since it sits out in front of a hill a couple hundred feet from the road.

If you go past the station there is a turn off to your left and you will cross the railroad tracks. No there is not any gates so you have to be very careful because this is a busy train route. It is also used by Amtrak and technically they reside very close to the station itself.

Once you cross the tracks the road is a bit rough but you head down hill and can park right in front of it. Not much remains just a bunch of stone ruins but no less its a piece of history that people on this highway pass by without ever blinking.

The first building was composed of two rooms while its obvious that the main building was crumbling off to the right of it I found two other stone foundations. These stations were stage stops places where the frontiersman could bunk up at. Some stations had stables even a black smith shop while others mainly dealt with postal mail and providing general goods.

I did get some EMF spikes here nothing major but something is better then nothing especially in this field will take what we can get. There could be some energy residing around this place considering its one of the oldest stone structures in the wild west to me wherever there is that much history there just might be ghost.

I see multiple back country roads that went around the basalt hillside heading North. Its obvious that this station resided in remoteness since the time it was erected and even today the town nearby is far enough away that you can understand how lonely of a location this is.

Just across from the station is ancient Lake Lahontan or at least what is left of it. But at one time you can imagine how the landscape may have changed overtime here particularly the Carson River and lake.

You could tell that the station was built out of native stone every piece fit snug. Sad to say vandals may have knocked down some of the station because the fine masonry work with this location should have lasted and its in great peril.

I did spend time here doing up some EVP and EMF tried to even find some remnants of the past. Its hard when you see a place like this crumble. One can imagine that the station had a fireplace, front desk and even a watering hole for the horses.

I left Hawe's Station with a feeling that I gained pictures and videos of all that was left of this once beautiful stone wonder. But I also felt a bit sad that maybe it was to close to the highway which once was a stage route which today may have led to this locations demise since people now go here just to party.

Back in the wild west these stone stations were like the castles of that time. You only had materials around you that you could use like the stones that cover the hillside behind the station are in the thousands. So one could see why they chose to build it here and so it is true that geography plays a role in some of the wild western structures that were built or even towns perhaps. We would then proceed to move onto Lake Lahontan in hopes of finding a similar station called William's or what was left of it.

Lake Lahontan's Williams Station

The Lake Lahontan area has about 70 miles of shoreline it is a state park so you can hike, fish, camp, hunt and if you feel daring enough find any remnants left behind of the old Williams Station. Also its near the Camel Mountain Range and not to far from the Carson River so its a really pretty area and just the beginnings of the great basin of Nevada.

I had a good reason for being here actually two one is that Lahontan use to be an ancient sea that had these creatures the size of school buses that swam its waters. I know because I have seen the fossils of them here in Nevada so I had to see the lake which seemed to have been partially reformed based on damming up the area thus the station stayed underwater for decades up until the past year or two which is why it was go to time.

We paid to enter the state lands I do not mind paying as long as my money goes towards the park and the rangers that take care of it I am cool with that. Everything around the eastern and western portion of the lake was completely almost dried up. I am not sure how the south shorelines looked because I had to drive east and park up on a beach getting as close as I could to where the station might be.

I parked under some cottonwoods about 2 miles away I wanted to hike on the dry lake beds. I probably could have went further down the road then cut straight to the station but instead I decided to hike diagonally that way I could get some scenic photos, photograph some wildlife and see what might be at the bottom of the lake.

In the Spring and even summer Lahontan is like an oasis its well shaded lots of big Cottonwoods its rather pleasant minus the fact that since almost all the water is gone this is no longer a place for boating. Walked across the lake you can see plant life even brush starting to grow piercing the cracked earth.

The real kicker is that a massacre took place at the station allot of people lost there lives here. Whether that was a Paiute raid caused by the raping of some squaws that took place here by possibly the brothers or some outlaw gamblers who killed everyone then burnt it down both are legends that surround this places.

Besides the fact that this occurrence ignited the Paiute Indian War which Fort Churchill grew in strength due to the incident which is just a few miles from here and yes we have been there. All the current research, preservation work, history, paranormal investigations etc are all linked. William's Station has a direct link to Fort Churchill what happened here defined some major wild western history in the state of Nevada which ill get into further on our website when we add this addition in the future.

Walking on the dry lake beds made me feel like I was in a giant empty bowl my journey would take me to an area out in the middle of the eastern edge of the lake. Its an area that at one time had quite a few large trees growing but were either cut for there lumber or when the dams were built to control water levels.

The thing is that even though for the most part the earth is soft you can walk on it however certain areas you might sink down to your knees. I know I lost both my shoes multiple times and I had gotten really muddy after hiking a mile in the middle of what use to be the lake.

It seemed like water collected around tree stumps so I learned to just stay away from them because being stuck in the mud is a fight for your life. You cannot move or walk forward all you can do is pull one foot out at a time then try to move away from the softer earth.

Tammy was a little behind me she is shorter so she sunk in above her knees then turned around. I told her I was going to go for it this was an important piece of history it was worth getting dirty for. Just a hundred feet later I found a large flat parcel of land on the one side is what appeared to be remnants of a stone wall but that is about all I could see.

I thought I seen a few fence post and was heading east towards many of the tree stumps which probably were trees that stood around the station. Although it was rebuilt based on my research nothing really remains however I still ran EMF and EVP's here because this is a place of tragedy on both sides not just for the men who operated this station but for the local natives. Nobody won here the fact is deaths occurred on both sides and if those men raped those native women then justice was served. Either way it took allot out of me to conduct this historic journey without ruining my equipment.

I kept heading east you see my GPS way point was a rough estimate but I believe that a hundred feet prior to it I already found the parcel where the station once stood. But at the time I had no idea if I would find more foundations or remnants so I pushed on. The only problem was that a narrow channel of water was starting to flow from west to east as it meandered along the dry lake bed. More or less it was no longer a lake here just a place where the Carson River flowed through which in some places was trickling.

I kept following the pool of water had about 50' maybe less to go south then cut to my left which is east. No big deal I was not going to cross the water though I knew I might sink up to my neck then what? Where the water is the earth is the softest even though the water is only a few inches deep trust me I know. When I looked to my right two guys appeared out of nowhere running at me.

The guy to the left was young probably later 20's the guy behind him ran at me with a rifle it was like oh boy here we go. I was dressed like Santa now keep in mind I never seen these guys but they were hiding behind stumps facing westward while I was going behind them and heading east or away from them.

The guy in his 20's was a punk ass bitch let me just be honest he would not let me pass then he started to swear at me. Told me he is not going to let me pass that I just need to go back to the beach and that its muddy therefore I should not be back here. I tried so hard to explain to this guy that I am doing a documentary on Williams Station which I honestly was. I do the gig thing for the kids and those who like a little entertainment that way I lighten the mood a little. What good is what we do if we cant ever crack a few jokes and laughs?

This guy basically told me to hike back through all that mud with my bad knee and go to the beach then go around the pool of water. I was thinking to myself well the pool or water flow ran for almost a mile so now what he is asking is for me to hike over a mile back to my truck then get to the beach walk another mile up it then another half of mile out to the station when all I had to do was go around a small pool of water behind them no less then a 50' walk so the guy obviously was a hick which was not getting my concept.

I tried to be cordial and I was even though the dude slung mud on my cam therefore I could not continue to film him telling me how I am ruining there hunt, fucking up there day pardon the french and that I am to turn back. Last I checked the state park map they were bordering a non hunting zone, carrying rifles which is just retarded when all there are swimming around in the pools of water are geese which are all over northern NV and my presence hiking in the opposite direction really should have had no effect on there hunting period. They just did not like how I looked and when I refused to conform to what they wanted that is when things took a bad turn.

Three more guys jump out behind tree stumps of course I am not going to see them they were hiding till I was passing through then jumped out at me. They had this belief in there head that I purposely hiked out to interrupt there hunting trip talk about being paranoid. I even pointed my GF out on the beach and the guy tried to say I should be smart like her. I mean keep in mind there is a guy metal detecting on the beach, hikers, campers etc not allot but there were some when I was up there that day.

By this time two other men run towards me with rifles while this short little man with a gray short box cut beard gets an inch from my face. Then threatens to put my face in the mud, drown me and ask me what I am going to do about it. I had to remain calm if I would have shown any signs of aggression I do feel I would not have gotten out of here I believe those hicks would have killed me and that is putting it nicely.

The short guy probably was these younger guys uncles or maybe father or grandfather who knows. I mean you had four guys ranging from later 20s to 30's then this 50 year old guy screaming in my face. He would not let me pass no matter how many times I explained myself and what really struck me strange is the fact that while this guy is screaming at me there are geese all around us. So my whole thing was is why the camouflage? Hiding behind stumps? For what? Geese which my son could have hit with a bow because where this guy was yelling at me back behind him was at least 100 geese just squawking away. But the hunter rather had wasted his time on me.

The hunters then started talking delusional because after awhile I just told them ill call the rangers because what am I going to do I am out manned and out gunned stuck in thick mud because these idiots wont let me pass even though I am going in the opposite direction. Then they used the muddy excuse and said I wont make it boy were they wrong. Nobody ever tells me what I cant do that part of the lake was no more muddy then any other areas really. Like I said certain areas are softer then others its just a matter of studying the plant life on the ground to know what areas have dryer ground.

Then the hicks asked me to stop hiding behind my mask I took it off that is when they called me ugly so now its a goddamn beauty contest on who is the cutest apparently. I mean if you ever seen a group of dumb hicks this would be it. The short guy however was loud, annoying and when I told him Fuck you he then claimed I was the one threatening him. This is coming from a guy who wanted to put my face in the mud block my safe passage and called me every name in the book. This is of course after he told me I am a crack head and he could tell by my eyes I was on something. Yeah extra caffeine coffee and a pop tart hell I had not even begin to toke one yet it was 10am sheesh. Nobody on drugs or anything would be able to hike out as far as I did it takes allot of lower body strength to push through the mud at times.

I told them give me two minutes and ill be gone that was the truth I was not heading SW I was heading NE totally opposite of them besides the fact that to the NE side hunting is NOT allowed. I knew that but I think these hicks were either poaching or doing something illegal. Really that is there business but when you start pointing guns, threatening my life etc all because you do not like me hiking that is suppression of freedom and its humiliation to. It takes five guys to block me crossing a muddy lake bed and all for what a few geese sheesh what morons. Why not hunt something more challenging like a deer, elk or moose but poor birds caught in the mud is lame and these hunters obviously did not realize that I have a photograph of two of them, some audio and made a statement with the park rangers.

Finally the hicks let me pass not of course after threatening me that I better be gone in five minutes. So now they were counting down how long it would take me to get around the pool of water and head east. That is when the guy yelled out to me that I was a nerd and crackhead. Then a bullet hit the ground off to my right I know it was that short ass hat because I seen him facing me with his gun while the other hunters apparently in one of my photos was leaving the area heading to one of the south banks so maybe they were poaching or doing something illegal like not having a permit. I have no idea but a bullet was fired near me and that is probably because I flipped him off once I made it to the other side of the pool of water. I had every right in doing so the hick would not shut his trap no front brain lobes and certainly no common sense no matter what words were exchanged.

Also I was wearing a red fleece its more of a jacket its very warm material the dude is like nice shirt which told me that his IQ had to be that of a tard because my bright red fleece lets hunters know I am hiking and not to shoot towards my direction so right there I knee these guys were a bunch of backwoods freaks. Personally when I am out in the mud hiking, climbing mountains, exploring ruins etc I really go for warmth not look because most of you look at our work not me lets face it.

What is really sad is that the threatening older guy who kept running his mouth had a black veterans hat on. I have respect for our vets and military believe me but this guy was fried. Nobody was ruining there hunt nor was I scaring any geese away since they were all to the SW. Its a good thing that my sons did not come on this hiking trip because obviously these guys were hostile and its just something that time to time I come across.

Its easy for someone to act tough in front of there friends holding guns but its obvious this guy had shortman's syndrome and honestly if I was not standing in mud I probably would have kicked this dudes ass because I do not have to put up with that BS. Looks are deceiving you might think I am a nerd or some gothed out punk but I am a survivor strangers could not possibly know that I free climb cliffs, summit mountains and chase the strange. My strength came from being cordial with these idiots unfortunately nobody should have to put up with that this land does not belong to them either share it or go home. Just because I look different does not mean I wont kick your ass I can play the weak card but brainless hicks are not even worth a ounce of my time and they took up nearly a half hour of mine so I was lucky that I made it that day to most of my destinations.

It is also easy to assume that I am there to cause problems even for hunters like these who might not understand the areas rich history or my bad Santa gig. People are narrow minded I mean are people that dumb that they think I hiked a couple miles through muddy dry lake beds just to taunt them I mean seriously I am filming with a cam but who attacks any Santa and for that matter when I tell these morons a part of what I do is for the kids so they can learn history in a fun manor they instead raise guns at me its just not right and if anybody has any information on these 5 hunters at Lake Lahontan let me know the US Rangers are pursuing them and I will press charges or at least make a case to have them banned from that state park because if they are a risk to Santa they certainly are a risk to anybody hiking or exploring that area.

You have to understand that the work we do producing, researching, filming etc is dangerous its not the ghosts that haunt the land its the people like these hunters who pretty much tried to tell me that they own Lake Lahontan which almost made me put my own face in the mud because the entire area is open for public use so I had every single right to hike where I was at according to the Ranger I made a statement with and that the hunters are right now being sought out. I will press charges the one thing that public area does not need is a bunch of hunters flashing there guns and threatening other hikers. I come across hunters in the sierras all the time some of them I talk to they do not threaten to kill me because I am hiking so I was done with this station between the mud and the brainless hicks. I mean come on I almost got shot out there that kind of behavior is not necessary I am just an old timer exploring the wild west I am not risk to anybody's hunt or good times. I just was at the wrong place wrong time sort of thing!

When I made it away from the hunters I found another area with many tree stumps. I also found an old boat ladder and what appeared to be fence post. I believe that some of the old post I found may have been part of the station. You have to understand that these stations in the region had multiple structures they were more like ranches, stage coach stops and even stables for live stock. Some of the stations had a post office inside while other ones may have had a small inn while I know that the Williams Station had a saloon inside. So gambling and drunk nights here were not uncommon afterall what else is there to do on a dark Nevada night?

I will youtube my encounter with the hunters might even throw in some voice clips as I had my recorder running whenever they ran there mouths just to further prove that I was dealing with numbskulls. It might sound funny at times but in reality its just a group of hicks who think that they own this land and what once was an ancient sea. Even if they are hunting geese if that is what you call it because I walked past many and never had to hide behind a stump we are hunters to. Were history hunters, monster, ghost and UFO hunters. It may not seem mainstream but it is who I am and what I do nobody should take that away from us.

I did start to make my way to the beach parts of the ground were soft I had gotten mud up past my knees. There was an area it was so soft I crawled on my hands and knees through tall grass for 200' seriously! Being on all fours makes me lighter therefore I am able to move along the dry lake beds. I am sure that picture would have made the news Santa crawling on all fours through the weeds lol.

I finally came up to the beach where the creek was about 6' wide or river flowing. I decided to take a chance and cross it. There was no way I was going back towards the hunters therefore I crossed the water and it was so soft I had water up to my thighs almost and almost was stuck in the moving water in thick soft sand/mud. I pulled with all my strength and barely crawled up onto the beach. By this time I was holding my shoes at least a mile of the last portion of the hike I did it barefoot no lie because I was sick of losing my shoes in the mud and trust me they had 2 inches of clay surrounding them entirely weighing me down so I did without them it worked for me. The same hunters who said I would never make it because all of sudden at that moment they seemed concerned for my safety NOT which I did and for me it was a feat. Even though I made it clear to the hunters I would not turn back it really in the end paid off I had gotten to stand at the area I marked on my GPS in the middle of an ancient once thriving sea pretty cool stuff!

After the incident with the hunters my hands and cam were so muddy I did not do anything other then get around them and then make my way NE back to the beach. So I did not take any videos or photos after my encounter with the hunters. I did not want to risk damaging anything I owned any further my hands had clay, my Santa beard had mud hanging off of it, my pants were wet and weighted down and my sneakers looked like two giant balls of clay seriously!

I met my GF on the beach told her what happened we tried to go to the rangers station but there was an incident therefore the ranger was not there. I just gotten as a new gift a state of the art phone it has some of the best signals you can get in the wilderness so I can twitter, FB and google pictures I can now take with my cell to update our followers on certain expeditions or summits I climb to the top of. However low and behold I had no signal at Lahontan and those hunters flew the coop because they probably seen me make it to the beach and thought uh oh.

The way I see it is the wild west was a lawless land and it still goes on today. Its up to even people like me to uphold the law if I don't who will? These hunters could have bullied anybody a female hiker or some dad and his kids who knows!!!! But I was not going to let them ruin my mission nor was I going to turn back with a bad knee after hiking that deep into Lahontan to get to Williams Station. Sadly the hunters never heard of it yet it was the station that sparked one of Nevada's only wars therefore this project really is for high school and college students who are history majors. So the work we do its important but I almost lost my life over it. I stood my ground that is all my viewers need to know but they also need to understand that I am short staffed therefore almost all you see on our site is done by me because I self produce my own work no skits and at times we just explore till we find what we are looking for.

Ill tell you what when I arrived at the truck it felt good but we had to take tree limbs to shave some of the mud off of us. I put a blanket down in the back of my jeep we both stripped down Tammy brought a change in shoes and clothes. I however only brought a change in socks other then that everything was muddy or wet.

I went to this restroom in the middle of nowhere to wash the mud off my shoes because my plans were to clean them up then go to a store buy me some sweats and maybe some sandals. However that did not go so well it looked like a shit bomb exploded in the restroom because mud had sprayed on the walls, floor, my face and even the toilet seat. I did get my sneakers clean but they were dripping wet and my legs were soaked it just was not a comfortable morning for me. Plus the sink got plugged so my GF could not clean her shoes either she was wearing her bedroom slippers.

I was kind of chuckling to myself I mean think about it we both looked like mud monsters and well there was a water pump outdoors to hose everything down but guess what? It was broken! There are just parts of NV you do NOT want to be stranded at and this is one of them. This area has a small town but they have a crack problem plus allot of trailers close to one another its just got a rep for having some of the more quirkier type of folks kind of like those hunters I encountered.

Tammy and I found a Family Dollar we spent over 30 dollars I had to get something for my feet, sweat pants with pockets for my paranormal equipment, wet wipes and a few other things. Tammy picked up a few things also meanwhile I was leaving muddy footprints all over the store sorry but this was really an emergency but I seen people giving me dirty looks like WTF is wrong with that guy. I had mud on my sun glasses, face, rings had clay hanging off of them and my sneakers were making squishy sounds lol. But I cleaned myself up with the wet wipes, put on the new sweats, extra dry socks and sandals. I felt like a new man even put the Santa beard back on and was ready to finish off the rest of my day strong despite that we were now running two hours behind due to the hunters delaying me and trekking through the mud which was also time consuming we were on our way to a place called Thompson's Smelter.

Thompson Smelter

When you begin to reach Wabuska, Mason, Yerington and Weed Heights you find out the Smith Valley is very lush but these are some small wholesome towns with very early roots. Not so much in the winter but in the Spring and Summer its all ranch lands here. The river and smaller creeks flow through this valley and there are many smaller lakes found along the highway heading south.

Its a very scenic desert with allot of trees, pretty mountains some snow capped, cattle and horses grazing. I was kind of glad to get away from Lahontan heading south. I was on a lonely country road looking for this old wagon road which takes you past the new Thompson Smelter and old sites.

The older site actually takes you up above the town site which overlooks a couple lakes and the valley below its rather picturesque. The smelter however not so much more since today this concrete jungle looks more like remnants of a fortress that fell in ancient times.

Keep in mind the smelter was enormous it could handle 1000 tons of copper per day, 350 people lives below the mill and this was a small town at one time. They had it all here such as shops, stores and saloons even. It was also the terminus for the Nevada Copper Belt Railroad. The railroad tracks were purposely built right up to the edge of the smelter so that copper could be loaded onto the train.

The same train ran basically in a loop where it would stop in Wabuska, Yerington, Nordyke, Hudson then eventually Ludwig. The Wabuska freight station can be seen in Carson City as its been relocated and I have seen it many times. Nordyke and Ludwig we would be heading to right after exploring the ruins of Thompson's Smelter. I really wished to see Hudson but to get to that part of the ghost town is really difficult unless you know your back roads well and there are plenty of them. Many dirt roads were probably were the Copper Belt Railroad ran while other ones probably were for early pioneers who came to the area looking for work.

The smelter is hard to describe there is allot to see such as a vault, concrete building with no entrance but it has windows, massive foundations with basements including one structure with a 30' double decker gutted basement and many other tall concrete walls. Some of the buildings had wire to keep you from getting to close to the edge and falling in these deep basements. id say I found over 75 walls spread throughout the hillside and a few hidden ruins to the east of the town that are easy to miss if you do not hike out to them.

While below the smelter there was two areas fenced off I guess this was new Thompson Smelter which somebody now owns. I did not see much difference between the old and new sections of the smelter. As the fenced off structures were just concrete foundations while a few of those buildings collapsed upon itself.

Everything here is made of concrete no matter if you found a foundation, building, wall etc which is just crumbling. That is because when they made and poured the concrete they threw all sorts of objects in with it like bed springs for example. So the entire complex is crumbling while foliage seems to be consuming many of the free standing concrete structures.

Tammy and I found copper laying around it has no value other then a sentimental souvenir to say we been there. There is allot of it on the grounds some of it laying on concrete walls, foundations and even around the main debris pile. Towards the west end of the smelter is a huge hill with a collapsed mine, dump pile, thousands of bricks from a collapsed structure above it all. On top of that area we found a weird bore hole leading down into the Earth but we also found a fire pit made out of some of the bricks. Further below the hill was this big round cement tube like structure also broken in half that you could crawl in from the other side.

I found a few remnants besides concrete like a metal TNT box all twisted and mangled. I came to realize that not to many places compare to this grand place. At one time this was a massive factory it had smoke stacks workers everyday came to work here while at night they lived in there cement homes just below it. Off in the distance I could see a few small lakes, ranch land and even multiple mountain ranges from the top of the Smelter.

This was just a really cool place also let just say at the heart of the smelter we did get some fairly high EMF readings so perhaps there is some energy remaining at this milling site its hard to say. For me it was just a really cool exploration that I could drive my jeep right up to then get out and explore this cement temple. When I sat high above the smelter on a hill I could see the entire complex I toked a bowl because this truly was a remarkable view besides the fact that after Lahontan I needed it bad lol.

Just a little further down the road is another intriguing place although small its a really cool little ghost town called Nordyke.

Nordyke Nevada

This is such a small ghost town in the heart of Nevada ranching country. There are allot of trees in this region and I could see livestock grazing across the road. I also seen this large peak with snow covering it in the distance so its rather scenic just to explore the town site while enjoying the views.

The first part of the town plot starts off with a historical home next to it is some other structure that has a bell on top maybe once a school house or something its hard to say. This was not a large town it had a couple hundred residents, rail station, quartz and flour mill. It also had a post office and was named after the man that built the machinery inside the flour mill Nordyke.

Today there is only about three standing structures in the town if you count the odd building with the bell and the old historic home which is currently being lived in that might take it up to five which is not very much. Since this town really did not ship out Copper they used the Copper Belt Line instead to ship out potatoes and other goods from the local ranches. So it was a quaint little place and to see how much it is in peril is kind of sad.

The first two buildings we approached were massive two story stone structures. The first one was merely a skeleton with a basement full of machinery. The machinery is found inside this building rusting away while other machinery parts are found scattered on the front side of the building as well including this motor of some kind that use to turn.

If you go around the backside of these buildings you can peer into the first buildings remnants of the past whether this was part of the quartz or flour mill I have no clue. Some of the machinery here I have never seen in any ghost town before so I have to assume this was a different kind of mill perhaps flour.

There is another building attached to this one which seems to be a storage warehouse maybe for flour hard to say but the floors were all wood planks. The front two windows and door was gone while the second doorway just drops off into the deep basement of the first building. There was also 24" cut removed from the floor boards here and when I looked down into the whole I found a hidden basement 12' down. I thought man if I climb or fall down in there I am not getting out so its very important when you tread you make good decisions not getting stuck somewhere you cant get out.

On the outside of the stone buildings were these iron loops attached to the wall. Kind of something you would see in a medieval dungeon where someone might be strung up or chained to it was just weird. Just as inside in spray paint written backwards was "Dreams Closed Do Not Call Again" a bit weird then again this entire little ghost town is just an oddity in itself.

When I went out past the stone buildings I did find a few stone foundations but much of the town site is over grown. There are scattered remnants such as clay pipes, rusty old buckets and even bean cans that mill workers ate back in the day.

But if you go a little further there is this old wooden house some of the boards are missing, door is barely hanging off its hinges, windows wide open and even an old washing machine had been dumped behind the building. If you look further behind the wood house there is a stone wall with a few wood post just another part of the town.

I explored the inside and outside of the house I have to say the house was full of rodent and bird fecal matter it was not a pretty site. But it had wild west written all over it and I could look out windows enjoying scenic views which there are a million of those in this region so it never gets old.

In front of the wood house was a wood sign with the word closed while on the front wall there was a old peace sign hanging on up. There was also the same message written on the front back words that said "Dreams Closed Do Not Call Again" there was also written on the left side "Girles, Drinks, and Cafe" so its possible this little wooden structure was a small saloon maybe it was sort of a brothel also to pick up women at I mean it is the wild west what do you expect lol? Also written by the person who wrote the dreams quote they also painted on the words "Eat" and "Post No Dream" not sure what that is all about but it was an interesting site to say the least.

Tammy and I explored the rest of the town site we did not find much else and well it was getting to a point that the sun was starting to lower over the Sandaske and Pine Nut Mountain range. We kind of had to pick up our pace a little and head out of here. There was no time to metal detect or climb up in the hills to look for more of the town site. We had 15 to 20 miles of highway followed by at least 20 miles of offroading so you do the math with only a couple hours of light remaining. Our next expedition perhaps the final one of the day was Hudson and Ludwig.

Ludwig Nevada

Our final trip of the evening was saved best for last this place is remote. You turn off to follow the Walker River its a narrow canyon full of really pretty rock formations. The river at this time was barely trickling a few years ago it was raging so bad I could not even fish here lol.

Eventually you turn off to the right down a place called Wilson Canyon which also held a small community at one time. Wilson Canyon is gorgeous lots of pretty mountains even some sand dunes it kind of looks like being in the Sahara its a rather unique desert here.

You kind of follow this river perhaps creek which is to the left while to the right are the Sandaske Mountains which kind of take you into Wilson Canyon. Technically the road was supposed to take me to a ghost town called Hudson but we went all the way down the dirt road only to come across a gate. Behind the gate was a windmill, stone structure and some old water tower which may have been part of Hudson or Wilson I have no idea.

I had to turn on back seen a few people in trailers camping along the waterway while other groups had dirt bikes and all terrain vehicles for the sand dunes found along the mountains. It sure looked like fun I was thinking maybe instead of exploring id look better on one of those dirt bikes jumping over a dune lol.

I had to retake the same road out where I made a right and found strangely a paved road that was called Hudson Way. I guess that old Hudson was consumed by this new subdivision with many new beautiful homes, side streets etc but old town appeared to be gone. I seen The Walker River Resort which is considered to be one of the newest buildings and businesses in the area but if your looking for a major ghost town very little remains and what does ill eventually find all of it.

I did still spend sometime driving down dirt roads while some led to dead ends or camping areas I was able to find some remnants proving that old Hudson existed. For example I found an old foundation not to far from the sub division or stone ruins, an old corral for cattle and even a old wagon. But I did not find the two remaining old houses I could have missed by turn off and I plan on going back to do some more searching. Once you go through the main road of the sub division you have houses on both sides but there are off chutes or dirt roads past the sub division one of them should lead me to the original town site.

At this point I could not worry about it there was a resort back here which was built after Hudson's decline. Also the road starts to bed north so that your right smack in the middle of this massive valley with the Pine Nut Mountains to the west and to the east the Sandaske range. I decided my time with light was running out I needed to get to Ludwig at least to open up a new case here for our website.

I started to veer north the pavement ended then there was multiple dirt roads which went northbound in this valley. Unfortunately for about 6 miles I took the wrong one this road was narrow, full of sand dunes and it constantly went up and down. There was one point where the road went straight up this hill Tammy was all nervous I was not going to make it but eventually that road did intersect with the main dirt road heading up into Ludwig.

When I arrived near Ludwig there was a split one went to the left up to the Artesia wildlife refuge and lake while the other way if you kept straight led to Ludwig. Ludwig was a large town it boasted nearly 1000 residents, school, office buildings, social hall, various residential homes, gypsum plant and even a 100 ton per day copper smelter. I guess it also had its own sewer system as sumps were found or maybe those clay pipes served the copper mine or gypsum plant not sure.

I seen allot of open pit mines in the area with fencing and danger signs. I did not see on the way into town some of the hot springs here. This region is very hot underground there are many hot springs in Mason and Smith Valley. The third hottest in the region is the springs not far from Atresia Lake which are not even safe to take a dip in since they contain uranium and radium. So probably not the best place to be near then again danger lurks everywhere here besides the fact its so remote that you do not want to be stuck back here 16 to 20 miles on this dirt road. .

When you visit Ludwig you have to veer right heading up into the Sandaske Mountains since most of the town was built at the base of the range and up on the mountain side. But being higher up along the range gave me some great views of snowy Mt. Siegel and Artesia Lake. Mt. Siegel is the tallest peak in the Pine Nut Range. Honestly I never been on the back side of the Pine Nut Mountains I have to say its quite impressive considering that fires have not touched the west side of this range. So the view was rather scenic between the lake and the peak.

Honestly your not supposed to visit Ludwig anymore this is because there is a new mining operation in the area. There is brand new mining equipment and a massive dump pile caused by strip mining. Although copper is very abundant here in the old mines and hills there was also gold and silver found here. It appears that the new mining operations may have destroyed some remnants of the town itself like when Rawhide continued new mining operations they even eradicated the cemetery.

One of the roads into town was gated while the other road took you downtown Ludwig or what use to be the center of town. I did not find much but then again the sun was going down so id have to return to go out into the high desert and see if I could find more foundations.

I actually found a very large concrete foundation it even had what appeared to be restrooms and offices. I parked by here where I photographed and filmed some mill ruins at the bottom of the mountains a couple hundred feet away. I would have hiked out to them but again time was not on our side if I visited the mill ruins I would not have had time to look at other sites of interest.

When I peered up onto the mountain range I seen a steep road which led up to this giant black hole high up about half way into the mountain. I knew that was a mine did not know if I could get into it or not. You have to understand that a few years ago a man fell down a mine shaft in the Ludwig Mine he died and they had to retreive him. Whenever something like this happens the state or county will find a way to make mines like that inaccessible even if they are safe for someone like me to go in other people sometimes are not safe in such mines therefore they kind of ruin it for everywhere else.

I did see something strange it was two head lights and a white vehicle parked up near the mine heading down the hill towards me. Right when it had came towards me the vehicle vanished into thin air I thought that was pretty creepy trucks do not just disappear. There are only a few roads today that head to the town site one out of the three is closed the other one leads to the mine/original town site while the other is just a power line road.

Anyhow after seeing the mine I decided to take my truck up this rocky mountain road which then followed the Sandaske Range North and South above the original town site. I would head to my right or south where the mining road would be to my left. Based on the fact the railroad ran right along the mill I believe this was the old railroad grade I was driving on. The road was narrow so its very easy to just roll right off the edge if your not paying attention or you do not know what your doing.

The old mining road I was able to get about halfway up then we made a steep climb to the mine entrance. Which btw is a solid tunnel but there is no way to get into it. Someone took a digger or machine to create a large 12' hold in front of the mine entrance so that if you try to get into the tunnel you instead fall down this hole and cant get out. Now if you had a ladder with you I can see it happening which is just something I may consider however according to other ghost town explorers I know there are other entrances into this mine.

I was kind of let down to hike on my bad knee so steep up the mountain and come up on a dead end. I really wanted to investigate the mine I seen videos and photos its huge lots to explore. So we headed back Tammy was pretty worried about me backing out in the dark down this steep mining road. If I go to fast or two far I could roll right off the cliff.

I took this road north which actually took me above the old smelter and mill site. There was a road to the right that went into a canyon I believe it was a mining road so maybe the other mine entrance is back here I have no idea it was to dark and my lights were not bright enough to hit the end of this canyon where probably another mine entrance may be.

I was a bit disappointed as I had seen on other sites foundations, various mine entrances, piles of bricks and remnants of the town however I found very little. The mine, huge concrete foundation, mill and a few rusty remnants is about all I found. I also found down the road a dumpster so its possible that the new mining operations this year have decided to just clean up the entire town that way people no longer come back here to explore.

By this time the sun had gone completely down it was behind the Pine Nuts then on the otherside of those mountains is the Carson Range of the Sierras just to give you an idea of the layout. So it gets dark in the cooler months by 5pm if not earlier here.

Tammy and I could see Hudson miles away all lit up or that sub division which contained a couple hundred homes. We actually sat on these concrete ruins to break at I had a late lunch, brew, smoked one and just enjoyed the night sky out here. It was so peaceful and quiet there is just nothing out here. At one time the Copper Belt Railroad ran along the old grade I had just driven on higher above the town site.

Other then that the skies were clear no UFOs even though we get in reports of them back here. I had to pull a sharp branch out of my sandals it nearly went through my foot on top of it. It probably would not have happened except for the fact that my shoes were water and mud logged so I spent half my day hiking around in the high desert with these funny looking slippers dressed like Santa. I guess there is satire in everything we do but at least I did not whine or give up go home that is just not my style.

Id hike barefoot if it meant completing what I needed to do and I will trespass sometimes also not because I am seeking to steal from a ghost town but because I want to make sure it gets historical recognition before all of it is gone then what? So being back here I just did not care if the owners of the new mine want me gone ill go but I was in old Ludwig not anywhere near these new mining operations.

I would like to revisit this location in January of 2015 that goes with the fact that I found two cemeteries in the area and possibly another ghost town nearby. With also the notion of finding the rest of Hudson would be great also since Hudson is Ludwig's sister town. Prior to it being even called Ludwig it was called the Morningstar I just want to make a mental note for those reading our report.

As far as I could tell all the new mining operations near the ghost town site came within February of this year. So some of the town is either being erased or its gated making this place harder to explore. That does not mean I wont return though and journey in the desert to uncover any other remnants of the town. Afterall in the desert I found a bunch of old rusty cans, buckets etc from back in the day.

Tammy and I would take the main road back to the south out however somehow we had gotten turned around we ended up grazing along the edge of the Pine Nuts. There was many homes along there most of them heavily decorated for the holidays so we went around new Hudson just checking out Xmas lights it was pretty cool then again its so rural very few probably ever get to see them like we did.

Somehow Tammy and I took a road which went through the Sandaske Mountains which took us into Yerington almost 20 miles off course. So I had to go all the way around then through the narrows of the Walker River again down that curvy road at night surrounded by rock formations and cliffs. Eventually when I reached the highway and seen Topaz Lake I knew that I was heading for home.

In conclusion we basically did a 360 degree loop trip starting off with sites along the loneliest road in America then heading south hitting up a couple town sites then circling back west again to hit more locations then northward back to where we nearly started. So it was a long eventful day we did allot of exploring, ghost hunting, research and hiking.

It took me a couple days to get my socks full of clay, sneakers, cargo pants etc cleaned. I had to let the mud dry get it off then put all my things into the washer it was a process. But by the end of the day the pictures, films, offroading productions I produced, scenic photos and all these cool locations are going to really look nice on our site especially when I share old time pictures from the 1800's or some of the rich history that comes along with these places.

Someday many of these places will not be here if they are nature is consuming most of them so you have to really get out and explore. My jeep only gets me there my legs are what helps me explore more in depth these places because you cant do it from an old wagon road you have to physically get up in there.

My goal or most major one is to find a way into the gigantic Ludwig copper mine which should be very pretty inside full of green and reddish walls. At least that is what some of the old copper mines looked like I been inside during previous expeditions to other mines in NV that had copper ore.

I would not say that our day was full of spooks or UFOs but you have to start somewhere. Even if its a few simple EMF readings or EVP's. Not all locations ill visit a second time but Ludwig and Hudson are definite goes. Also the two cemeteries I found have many interments from ghost towns like Nordyke or Thompson Smelter and even Ludwig so we must conduct investigations of those places since there is a connection.

The connection with most of the places we did was that the Copper Belt Railroad ran right through some of these ghost towns. They all had freight stations they all were considerable towns minus the stations which served mainly as a stage coach stop and mail center back in the day. Only later on when gold, silver and copper were discovered in the region that is when the area went from small stations to entire towns which barely exist today. The ones that do look like Roman temples or ruins of an ancient city forgotten by the tides of time itself.

The one thing I did not let my day get ruined from was the Lake Lahonton's terrible muddy dry lake beds nor those hicks who nearly killed me. According to the rangers they are not even suppose to be carrying rifles I guess your suppose to use pellet or bebe guns there but that was not the case. For the most part when I explore I very rarely see a human sometimes when I do they are like me just out there trying to explore wild western history while others sometimes turn out looking for trouble because they think when your in the middle of nowhere they do not have to answer for any repercussions from there actions. Sadly because of incidents like these it looks like ill be taking my guard dog out with me more and carrying my gun more often. If I am not alive I cant bring our viewers these locations that is just simply the truth.

I seen allot during the course of one day Thompson Smelter was my favorite location but the whole Ludwig area gets my vote for being the most scenic. I seen this massive red rock I mean this thing has a few hundred feet by a few hundred feet so its those sort of things I pay mind to that really make adventuring in the Nevada wilderness well worthwhile despite how rugged some roads are. Just as the road with the dunes I could not stop or id get stuck but I still hung my camera out in front of me filming the ride. That is because we want our viewers to be a part of our journeys the good and the bad.

I did not even have the right foot attire for the three ghost towns but I did not give up. I still continued on track to where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. I love my jeep it holds my gear, food and its great for getting back to places some people never get to see. Not to mention I can put down the back seats then sleep in it if I had to.

Believe me soon ill return to the region I have other ghost towns, stations and even return trips lined up for the rest of winter. Once Spring comes ill be back in the high sierras hitting the trails looking for bigfoot. Until then its mines, ghost towns, stations, historic sites and baja offroading into the Nevada wilderness back country. I cannot wait to visit more mines and mills but everything that I am currently working on is all connected in some way, shape or form.

I did not see as much wildlife out this way then again its winter so even though this is one of the greenest areas of NV this time of year its not so much so but it is very scenic allot of mountains, snow capped peaks, valleys, dunes etc so in reality our viewers will enjoy these places with my bad Santa gig or not. As I said earlier in the beginning of my report starting off with Hawe's/Haws station explorers like us venture where the angels dare not tread that is who we are. If we don't who will? One day most of these sites you will see will be completely eradicated and will be one of the very few to have research as well as media of such locations that once were very relevant in wild western history like the William's Station incident which sparked a war and led to the expansion of Fort Churchill.

If you look at our day between Hawe's Station, Lake Lahotan's Williams Station. Thompson Smelter, Nordyke, Wilson Canyon, Hudson and Ludwig we really had a successful day. We hit allot of locations throughout the great basin, Smith Valley, Pine Nut and Sandaske Mountains. That is allot of exploring and hiking its just to bad the sun has to go down so early out here behind the mountains but I will live another day to see more its far from over there is allot more to see.

Exploring these places does not get anymore wild western then this especially when you see wild horses grazing on the hillsides or your standing before stone ruins that date back to 165 years ago that truly is uncovering history that has been forgotten or maybe even neglected so our intent is to bring our viewers some of that so others can learn. Where will I go next and what will I see? Embrace the journey because we have allot more coming and this holiday ghost town trip was just a special expedition I put into place for our viewers because every year in December we plan some really fantastic places and id have to say everyone we explored was truly unique in itself.

Our next trip well it will not be so dangerous just a fun trip to Virginia City to investigate the very haunted Belcher Mine and old Ponderosa Saloon so ill be looking forward to that. We do Virginia City up in style every year in December and we always turn out some great ghostly evidence so I cannot wait.
Namaste,
Lord Rick
PGS Founder

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Love is like a ghost sometimes you cannot see it but it is There


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