First timer? In this (hopefully) once-a-day blog, I have my computer select a random latitude and longitude that puts me somewhere in the continental United States (the lower 48). I call this “landing.” I keep track of the watersheds I land in, as well as the town I land near. I do some internet research to hopefully find something of interest about my landing location. To find out more about A Landing A Day (like who “Dan” is and what the various numbers and abbreviations mean), please see “About Landing,” (and “Abbreviations” and “Cryptic Numbers”) above.
Dan - Back to the doldrums with a landing in . . . NV: 71/65; 2/10; 6; 152.7. Here’s my landing map, showing that I landed out in the boonies (which is typical for NV):
If you look just east of Rt. 21, you’ll see a new river, the Reese. The Reese discharges to (what else?) the Humboldt (22nd hit) and, of course, the Humboldt discharges into the Humboldt Lake which doesn’t go anywhere. The Reese is my 1036th river.
I just realized that I failed to mention that I have passed a landmark: 1800 landings (since 4/1/99). Today’s landing is 1804, so I’m a little tardy with this announcement.
Here’s today’s GE shot. I hope you appreciate that I’ve included a scale (albeit hand-made). I note that the GE drawing tool puts a slightly curved line rather than a straight line on the photo. The earth’s curvature??? Anyway, looks like desert scrub to me, with a little east-to-west drainage south of my landing.
So, I’ll start with the Reese (it being a new river and all). From Wiki (starting with a rather pathetic map):
The Reese River is a tributary of the Humboldt River, located in central Nevada. In its upper reaches, the Reese River is a fast-flowing mountain stream surrounded by relatively lush growth including Aspen groves and cottonwood trees. Once it exits the Toiyabe Range it becomes a slow, muddy stream and in most years dwindles into a chain of shallow pools long before it reaches the Humboldt River. Its waters are used for irrigation by scattered farms along its lower reaches.
The river is named after John Reese, who explored the area in 1854 as part of the expedition of Colonel Edward Steptoe.
Here’s a picture of the afore-mentioned upper reaches of the river. What a great spot!
And this, of the lower Reese River Valley (what a difference!)
Here’s a broader view showing my landing location:
You’ll see on my landing map (quite a ways back) that I landed near Ione, and, south of Ione, the “town” of Berlin and the Berlin Icthyosaur State Park and south of Berlin, the “town” of Gransville. the State Park sounds interesting to a geologist like me. But first: speaking of interesting, you may recall that I recently landed near another Ione, in OR (see 9/11/09 post). In that post, I said nothing about the origin of the name Ione. This, from Ghosttowns.com about Ione NV:
In the novel, “The Last Days of Pompeii”, there is a heroine whose name is Ione. When it became time to give the camp a name, a scholarly miner came up with the name Ione.
From Wiki, on “The Last Days of Pompeii:”
The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of first-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt. Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favorably but not uncritically. The Witch of Vesuvius, though she has no supernatural powers, shows Bulwer-Lytton’s interest in the occult – a theme which would emerge in his later writing, particularly The Coming Race. (Note from me: and also Zanoni!!!!)
Are you kidding me!?!? This is too strange. My loyal readers will no doubt remember Zanoni, Missouri. Zanoni was named after an “occult” novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (and the name of the lead charcter in the novel). In my Zanoni post, I spent some time discussing this unusual occult novel with a cult following. (I suspect occult novels typically have cult followings . . .) Amazingly, I’ve landed in two towns named after Edward Bulwer-Lytton characters!!!!
Anyway, there are three ghost towns near my landing: Ione, Berlin and Grantsville. All three have more or less the same story: a vein of gold was discovered, the town & mine works springs up; the vein is depleted; bye-bye town. Here’s the welcome-to-Ione sign:
Before I show some shots of the ghostowns, here’s a cool shot of some not-so-ghostly buildings in Berlin:
Here are some undifferentiated shots of the three ghostowns:
And how about Berlin-Icthyosaur State Park? Here’s the road to the park:
This about Icthyosaurs:
Ichthyosaurs (ICK-thee-o-soars) were prehistoric marine reptiles ranging in size from about two to over seventy feet in length. Very fish-like in appearance and locomotion, they bore their young alive and had amazingly large eyes in relation to the rest of the body. Like all reptiles, Ichthyosaur was air breathing and in this way resembles (but is not related to) modern day whales and dolphins.
Living at about the same time as the dinosaurs, Ichthyosaur fossils are found on all continents except Antarctica. Of all the Ichthyosaurs discovered, the ichthyosaurs at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park, are among the largest specimens known reaching fifty feet in length.
The fossilized remains of these Ichthyosaurs were discovered by Dr. Siemon Muller in 1928 in a naturally eroded area of what is now the park. A total of about 40 Ichthyosaurs have been discovered in various locations throughout the park.
Here’s a picture of a fossil of an ichthyosaur spine (I guess X marks the spot!):
Here’s a life-size representation of an ichthyosaur at the park:
And another view of the same (with a better view of the big eye):
Here’s a great shot of another fossil in the state park:
I’ll close with this shot of a “trailer” in the Reese Valley. It has a chimney, and likely a wood-burning stove. Looks like perfectly fine accomodations to me . . .
That’ll do it.
KS
Greg
© 2009 A Landing A Day
