Awake: 5:30am Temp 34 sleep 5+29 sunny overnight @ Pahrump, NV.
Kathy calls Melissa @ 5:40am Pacific time, besides talking with her; we talk briefly with both Andrew & Matthew.
Driving the Suzuki, we leave the campground @ 8:15am & top off the Suzuki’s fuel tank @ Smith’s; then follow state road 160 to US route 95 to Beatty, NV; then state road 374 to the Ghost Town of Rhyolite, about (5 miles) west of Beatty.
Gold was discovered in Rhyolite in 1904; the townsite platted in 1905; the population in 1907 estimated @ 8,000. The town boasted (3) water systems, a telephone service, electricity, (3) train lines & more than (50) mines. In 1910, Rhyolite’s population was estimated @ 675.
In 1907, several large corporations & stock brokerages went bankrupt, stock prices fell & traders withdrew their money from banks to cover their losses. The failing of the banks, coupled with the difficulty of extracting gold from the quartz, causing the mines to close, completed the demise of Rhyolite. On March 14, 1911, the directors voted to close down the Montgomery Shoshone mine & mill. In 1916, light & power was finally turned off in the town.
A park ranger gave us a fact sheet, pointed out a few skeletons of buildings & then we drove the streets taking more pictures of ruins of the (3) story bank, the school, the Las Vegas & Tonopah Depot (which actually was in fairly good condition but fenced off) etc. We could have spent the day walking around these ghostly ruins but had to watch our time closely because of further interests.
From Rhyolite, we continue southwest on state road 374, entering Death Valley Nat’l Park in California on state road 190 & then state road 267 northwest to Scotty’s Castle.
Our visit to Scotty’s Castle gave us a chance to view a large, opulent, & ingeniously designed home (didn’t get any ideas for our own house plans, however) built in a very remote site and to hear tales of Mr.Johnson’s unlikely friendship with Death Valley Scotty and about Scotty’s outlandish escapades and legendary spending sprees.
Scotty’s Castle did not belong to Scotty; the name & the stories about the Castle in Death Valley Nat’l Park are long, adventurous & unbelievable tales. Albert Johnson, a very wealthy insurance executive, originally from Ohio & relocated to Chicago, began camping in the Grapevine Canyon in the early 1900’s with Walter “Scotty” Scott. The perennial springs in the Canyon in the desert made it a green oasis in a rocky landscape. Scotty was a very successful con man who claimed to have more than one gold mine none of which could be found because they didn’t exist. But he did manage to con Johnson and others who gave him thousands of dollars; even when Mr. Johnson knew he was being taken, he continued his friendship with Scotty who brought adventure and excitement into his life. Johnson fell in love with Death Valley and began acquiring land in Grapevine where he built his Death Valley Ranch during the 1920’s & 30’s. Due to Scotty’s bragging that he was building the estate with earnings from his gold mine, it became renowned as “Scotty’s Castle.” The house, annex, outbuildings & grounds grew into what some consider the second most lavish private estate of the era in the West after Hearst’s San Simeon.
We toured just about every building we were allowed. I was especially intrigued with the early 1920’s water powered electrical system & huge bank of rechargeable batteries. Mr. Johnson had an engineering degree from Cornell & used that knowledge on many ingenious ideas to bring creature comforts into the desert Castle. As a last hurrah, we climbed the hill where Scotty, the super con man, was buried overlooking the Castle that Johnson, his talents & millions constructed.
About (5) miles south of the castle, on state road 267, a wolf slowed us to a crawl as he sauntered down the middle of the hwy. Slowly, darkness robbed us of our return viewing of the Death Valley National Park, Furnace Creek & whatever else we missed in our motoring back to Pahrump & our home on wheels.
Dinner: Leftover taco chicken and leftover Himalaya Curry.
Evening DRV movie with popcorn: “Spielberg on Spielberg.” Himself, telling of how he got started in the movie industry & expounding on the various movies he has made & directed with many behind the scenes features.
This was a casual, wonderful & adventurous day for us. We might consider doing more touring in our spare time.
Lights out: 11:52pm
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