RECONNOITERING IN THE EASTERN SIERRA NEVADA & GREAT BASIN
BY 4-WHEEL-DRIVE
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Along the way up the western slope toward Oasis Divide, John and I came across an abandoned camp. This consisted of a corrugated “cousin Jack” type affair; along with a large concrete foundation and cistern.

John and I speculated as to its purpose and occupancy – miner's shack or lineman's shack? The site was directly under the twin lines of the main powerline from Bishop Creek to central Nevada. These powerlines had their ancestry in the 1905-1907 construction by the Nevada-California Power Company of hydroelectric plants on Bishop Creek in the Sierra Nevada, and the lines run to Tonopah and Goldfield; from there powerlines were run hither and yon throughout much of central Nevada.

Continuing our journey northeastward, John and I crossed over the piñon and Joshua tree sprinkled Oasis Divide, then down into Clayton Valley.

In our travels, John and I enjoyed the abundant wildflowers and blooming cactus, which all put on their respective displays to soften the otherwise harsh landscape in this land of collision between mountain and desert.

Blooming beavertail cactus in Clayton Valley

Oasis Divide

Exiting the Silver Peak Range and into Clayton Valley

Our travels in and around Clayton Valley

Clayton Valley is roughly circular, the bottom of which is a large dry lake. Sand dunes form on its southern end, built and rearranged by the strong winds that whip the valley. It is definitely strongly influenced by the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, White Mountains and the Silver Peak Range; the latter range not receiving enough moisture to pour forth idyllic streams to water the region or put a sheen of shallow water on the lake surface. As if mocking, the three cinder-like buttes that poke from the playa's surface – Butte, Alcatraz and Goat – are called “islands” by the U.S.G.S.

At a point a few miles south of the small mining town of Silver Peak, John and I doubled back to the southwest and then took the road climbing back up into the Silver Peak Range. Our destination was the Mohawk Mine, situated up well within the piñon forests near 8,000 feet.

Climbing out of Clayton Valley, we entered a virtual moonscape of geography and geology. A pallet of colors, shapes and sizes of stony outcroppings were projected onto our windshields as we climbed ever higher into the Silver Peak. Reaching the foothills of the range, we came across an old homestead, found in a rather drab and lifeless location near the trickle of an unnamed seep; its trees long dead and a stock tank filled with pungent, algae covered water. Climbing a bit further, we came to the verdant Upper Cowcamp Spring, where another homestead offered a pleasant place to call home; lush willows, wildrose and cottonwoods offered shady respite with a nice view of Silver Peak down below. Above Upper Cowcamp Spring, the road continued north and ever climbing. One oddity along the way – a huge pyramidal and colorful butte hid an El Capitan like formation on its north side; a huge globe of a house sized boulder was perched on the very edge, seemingly ready to make the 150 foot plunge at any moment.

Lower homestead.

Homestead at Upper Cowcamp Spring.

View southward over the countryside John and I just travled over.

First cabin we encountered, near the Mohawk Mine.

Soon we entered the piñon forests and enjoyed cool, springlike temperatures. Turning off on a side road that would take us to the Mohawk Mine, we soon found a cabin to check out and explore.

After exploring the cabin, we continued a short distance eastward and found the extensive Mohawk Mine camp.

The Mohawk Mine camp.

The Mohawk Mine was first discovered in 1920 but was not developed until the early 1950s. Development on a grander scale occurred during 1954 and a mill was constructed in Silver Peak to process the recovered ore. In 1956, the United States Mines & Minerals Corporation (formerly the U.S. Mining & Milling Corporation) purchased the Mohawk operation. They refurbished the mill in Silver Peak and processed the ore from Nivloc, Mohawk, and several other regional operations, including Tonopah and the former Ohio Mines Corporation properties at nearby Gold Point. The Mohawk would be worked during summer months only, then men and periodically machinery would be moved to the lower elevation properties, such as at nearby Gold Point, to the south. Operations continued into the early 1960s.

John and I spent about three hours at the camp, exploring the buildings and the mine. John enjoyed an extensive tour of more than an hour exploring the depths and breadth of the Mohawk. I have no stomach for being inside mines, but stood by at the tunnel entrance after we agreed upon a time that John would exit the mine. Inside, John was fascinated by mine. He found many levels, shafts and tunnels. His high point (if you could call being deep inside a mine as high) was standing at the bottom of the main shaft and peering hundreds of feet above his head and seeing daylight; cables, pipes, airlines and wooden ladders ascending skyward.

In the camp, we found many buildings, all in pretty good shape. The camp featured many rows of dormitories, all terraced up the face of the hillside. On top of it all was the main shaft and headframe, with a hoist control station and garage standing next to it.

A Mohawk miner would have this view as he exited his dormitory to begin his shift in the mine.

John assumes the position of an operator of the headframe hoist.

A Mohawk Mine adit.

John McCulloch and Shadow inside the main tunnel of the Mohawk.

Me standing in a work station a couple hundred feet inside the Mohawk adit entrance. Kind of hard to see with those dark glasses! Photo taken by John McCulloch using my camera.

Change room above the Mohawk adit.

Dormitory buildings. Each small cabin had four cubicles inside – just big enough for a bed and a nightstand.

The hoist control building high atop the rest of the camp at the main headframe above the main shaft.

An old cabin just south of the Mohawk Mine camp.

John photographing the view from atop the Silver Peak Range, viewing eastward over Clayton Valley and Silver Peak.

After lunching and exploring the Mohawk, John and I set our sights on finding a nice viewpoint atop the Silver Peak Range. We could see a road heading to the shoulder of a nearby and unnamed peak and so we set out to find out what lay at the end of that road.

View over Clayton Valley.

Same scene as above, but zoomed into Silver Peak townsite. The “islands” of Clayton Valley – Goat and Angel – can be seen just behind the townsite. The road disappearing beyond leads to US95 and Goldfield.

Returning to our trucks after enjoying the view, we decided a cold drink and an ice cream bar down at Silver Peak sounded good. And to view Silver Peak for the first time sounded good to me also.

Silver Peak is a mixture of old and new, although the general appearance is somewhat rag-tag and on this day afforded a couple of scenes that amused me. It's history goes back into the earliest of Nevada's statehood, when it was very isolated far to the south of population centers of Reno, Carson City, Virginia City and Austin.

John and I visited the store, which was a mobile home. A pleasant woman visited with us as we enjoyed our cold ice cream and drinks. The woman, after finding out that I was employed in Trona, asked if I knew several individuals, which I did. These individuals were former Silver Peakians.

Where else but in Silver Peak can you find an old Honda ATC three-wheeler with a flat tire abandoned on the side of the road?

A photographic old automobile rusting at the Silver Peak dump.

Coming back down off the mountain and into Clayton Valley, John and I accidentally took a wrong road, but ended up finding this neat little abandoned little ranch.

Silver Peak.

Silver Peak store.

Leaving Silver Peak, John and I drove south to access NV266 at Lida. Just outside Silver Peak, the town's dump contained many unique and interesting items from years gone by. Continuing south through Clayton Valley, the drab desert floor erupted into medium size sand dunes. Beyond, the road began to casually climb, heading for the piñon studded summits of the Palmetto Mountains.

As the main road begins to climb the range, it splits at Lida Wash. The main road shown on maps runs east then south over Railroad Pass, junctioning with NV266 near Wiley Road which leads to Gold Point. However, we broke off onto a road that was well bladed, but not shown on our maps, that continued up Lida Wash to its head, and then crossed the summit of the Palmetto Mountains and dropped us down right into Lida. From looking at the topographic maps, our route was the most scenic, as the other skirts the Palmetto Mountains and stays out of the forest.

Sand dunes on the Clayton Valley floor.

Traveling up Lida Wash to the summit of the Palmetto Range.

Lida.

Deep Springs Valley.

John and I parted ways at Lida. He went eastward on NV266 to access US95 for his travels south for home. I turned westward for my short trip over the intervening mountains and into the Owens Valley.