Great Basin Research Trips
Trip 2001
Northern Nevada, Southwestern Idaho
(and a Blip of Southeastern Oregon Thrown in for Good Measure)
Part 4
June 26-28, 2001
Jarbidge, Old Cars of Jarbidge, Exit Jarbidge, Remote Breakdown, Nasty Motel Characteristics, Hasty Return to Big Pine

Tuesday, June 26, 2001
I wake up late - 7:30 Pacific time (it was actually 8:30 - Mountain time). Cloudy, looks like it could rain. Very cool - Alan's thermometer reading 33º. Gil had left camp before dawn (Graham heard him leave at 5:30am) without saying good-bye (he told us night before he was leaving in morning to head for friend's in Reno, but we all figured he'd leave after everyone was up). Leisurely breakfast, reading while Alan and Graham hoof it up switchbacking mining road on mountain above camp. At noon, Graham and I take my truck up narrow, switchbacking road high up the mountain to point where road caved in. Graham tries to guide me over very narrow section, where I had to put my passenger side wheels up on side of cliff, while driver side wheels skirted edge of cave in. Have to drive over big rocks. Wheels spitting rocks up under truck, while I'm face down looking out window into abyss below. Truck tries to slide sideways over cliff, so abort forward momentum and back up to switchback curve and park truck.

We talk for a couple of hours, Alan and Don talk publishing the revision of his books by Alan. Alan buys ten copies for resale, Graham and I get Don to autograph copies for ourselves. Alan leaves for home. Graham and I return up to main part of Jarbidge. We find four antique trucks and cars on main street - an original and rusty 1929 Ford Model A pickup truck, a 1929 Dodge phaeton with a star on it, a rusty and original 1930 Ford AA 1-ton flatbed truck and a restored 1931 Ford Model A sedan with "Jarbidge Taxi" on the side. Photos. The Ford AA flatbed pulls out, I pull in my truck in between other antiques and photograph. Go back to campground. I find three men camped next to me who came in during day. Introduce myself. One older gent from Reno, other two from Portland, OR (one was Nevada native). The Nevada native stepson of older man, other man friend. They serve Graham and I wonderful "Hangover Stew," and peach cobbler he made in Dutch oven heated on charcoal in fire ring. Great stuff. The old cars of Jarbidge descend upon the campground. All drinking beer, in party mood. Four men - one in 40s and the others 70+, one woman in 40s. Lots of talking and photos of cars. 1929 Dodge with star was former Elko County Sheriff car. Siren works, driver wailing siren for all to hear and videotape. Ford AA flatbed truck just started this day after sitting for over 60 years. Ford Model A pickup just started this day after sitting since 1970. At dark, all take off back to Jarbidge, for only two cars have working headlights. Talk with campground neighbors until well after dark. Sponge bath in dark. Crawl in bed.

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

We arrive at Checkers (affiliated with Kragen). Graham finds smog pump and purchases. He decides to call AAA to bring his truck into town just in case replacement doesn't go well. We hoped that the truck would be dispatched a bit later so we could sample the well known grub of a noteworthy Basque restaurant in town, but the AAA truck arrives within a few minutes. We make arrangements to meet in the morning. Graham makes arrangements to have the driver drop off the truck at Checkers, where Graham would spend the night in his camper and attempt to replace the smog pump in the morning. Graham rides with AAA flatbed truck north to retrieve his truck. I drive into Elko and take up a room at the Super 8 motel on the east side of town. I wanted a real shower - BAD!! I take my room, throw my suitcase on the table, then go across the street to Burger King for dinner. Returning to my room, I take in a couple of beers and take a shower. Disappointment. Shower head throws water in a broad circle around one's body, not touching the body at all. Only standing with my nose crammed into the front of the shower, or with my butt crammed against the back wall results in a light sprinkle of stingy streams of water. To top it off, loud and obnoxious grinding of plastic on plastic wails each time I shift my weight from one foot to the other, or move front to back, making me wonder what the heck the neighbors must think. And then the towels were filthy. I drink my beer and watch TV until 9:30 and then hit the sack.

Thursday, June 28, 2001
I get up at 6:00. Make in room coffee. Shower and grimace at noise and poor shower characteristics. Put stuff together. Graham calls me on cell phone, says he couldn't get the pump off and wants to take truck to shop recommended by AAA driver. Shop very near my motel. I gas up across street from motel (another Texaco again - $1.59 per gallon), drive across town to pick up Graham, take him to shop, where he makes arrangements to have truck repaired. We drive back to Checkers. Put serpentine belt back on truck (Graham had found that the pump would alternate between spinning and seize up momentarily, so he could limp truck over to shop). Graham drives truck to shop. We go to nearby restaurant (also recommended by driver) around corner from shop. Very good food. We go over to Northeastern Nevada Museum and spend 2½ hours browsing. I buy two books (Shawn Hall's book on Elko County ghost towns and a book on Nevada period post cards) and a historical quarterly on Metropolis. Pretty lady makes me a copy of another out of print quarterly on Metropolis. I drive Graham over to Forest Service Ranger Station across town so he could buy map of Rubies. We go back to his truck. I say good-bye - Graham wants to have a last tea stop before I leave, but I insist on leaving. Long trip ahead and I want to get it over with. Stop at mini mart for water, hitting the road at 12:30pm. Drive I-80 west to Carlin. South on NV278 to Eureka, all the while within sight of the grade of the Eureka & Palisade Railroad. Stop in Eureka for gas and a few photos (Chevron - $1.69 per gallon). Drive west on US50 to near Austin. Turn south on NV378 through the Big Smoky Valley to US6 east of Tonopah. Gas up (Texaco - $1.79 per gallon) and eat dinner at McDonald's in Tonopah. Drive to Big Pine, arriving at 8:30pm.

Epilogue: On the last morning of the trip, as I attempted to photograph the motel in Elko, my digital camera started acting up again in the same manner that it did trying to photograph the Hinkey Summit area north of Paradise Valley. I tried in vain to take photos of the last day on this trip. In the days after returning home, I began processing the floppy disks with photos of the trip. I find that several of the disks were corrupted by my digital camera. The last photo I was able to open was that of Graham C. and myself near the top of Coon Creek Summit; I lost all photos of the return to Elko and a couple taken at the motel, even though I had reviewed them in the camera LCD screen. I tried everything I could think of to restore the camera to working order, but in vain. Later, last October of 2001, I traded the dead camera, plus an old flatbed scanner, to a buddy who likes to tinker with electronics; getting in return an old but working Toshiba T-4600 laptop computer, running Windows 95.

So that was my big trip for 2001. Hope you enjoyed the ride-along!

©2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 D.A. Wright
All Rights Reserved

Revised: 08/14/2006