Home Means (all of) Nevada

Sixteen students, four faculty and staff members, three different vehicles, and 1,800 miles to go up, down, and all around the great state of Nevada. 

The Honors College put together a field trip like no other: a hands-on tour of everything our state has to offer. For some, it was their first time outside of Las Vegas or their first taste of rural life. It was definitely their first experience with cars planted in the desert like summer corn, tail lights pointed at the unforgiving sun.

And all it took was three tries to get it going. 

The idea for the field trip came from Andrew Hanson, dean of the Honors College. As a geologist, he’s led many students out to observe the land, but this was something quite different. By exposing Nevada’s future leaders to the breadth of all the state had to offer, he hoped to engender a visceral understanding of the many factors that butt up against one another in our vast state. 

A grant from Nevada Gold Mines made it possible, and the ducks were lined up for the group to hit the road in summer 2020. The pandemic had other plans. As vaccines started to roll out, the trip was back on the calendar for the first summer session in 2021, but organizers moved it to the third summer session to give students more time to get their shots. 

The first half was taught in the classroom before students started filling their luggage, but right when it came time to hit the highway, Hanson came down with COVID-19 himself; the trip was scrapped yet again. 

But it was worth the wait for these students — the majority of whom had never even been to Lake Tahoe — to see parts of the state and learn about ways of life they’d never considered before. And consider it they did, with some of them planning emphatically to apply for internships with Nevada Gold Mines, maybe even to relocate to Elko. 

They became friends on the trip, they fell in love with the state, they expanded their perspectives and got a hint at the scope of what’s possible. And they learned what it means to be Nevadans.

Hanson recalled: “One student (Yurii Bibek) was riding in my van the first day and at some point, as we were driving north and the scenery started to change and it was cooling down and there were evergreen trees, he said, ‘Dr. Hanson, this doesn’t look like Nevada.’”

“I said, ‘No, Yurii, this is what Nevada looks like.’ At first he didn’t get it, that Las Vegas is the anomaly. It became this running joke. By the time we came back on the west side of the state, south of Tonopah where it starts turning back to desert, he said, ‘Dr. Hanson, this doesn’t look like Nevada.’ And I said, ‘No, this is Nevada, too.’”

 

 

Day 1: Las Vegas to Ely

• Distance: 317 miles
• Stops: 7
• Alien civilizations contacted: 0, despite best efforts

8 a.m sharp, on a sleepy Sunday May morning in Las Vegas, and our 16 intrepid explorers gathered in sight of the Strip and all that it signifies about our fair city. But not today. Today began the first steps into a vast state. Of mountains and Native structures. Of massive mines and desert art. Of … alien jerky. 

The group heads north on Interstate 15, slipping past Nellis Air Force Base and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the last markers of the city’s civilization as most of us know it. I-15 gives way to U.S. 93, as the group heads toward Ash Springs and Alamo before getting their first taste of high-desert weirdness: the Extraterrestrial Highway and the neon green Alien Research Center.

Through to Caliente and the slot canyons of Cathedral Gorge, the vans ate up blacktop until they arrived at the massive, cone-shaped brick structures that give Ward Charcoal Ovens State Park its name. The ovens were used from 1876-79 to help process silver ore found in the area. Later they became shelter for travelers or, some say, a hideout for stagecoach bandits.

“There were so many old buildings and contraptions throughout the locations we visited, and it amazes me that they are in relatively good condition,” Alyssa Hawkins wrote. “These buildings show a story of people who lived hundreds of years ago, and their lives were a lot different than ours. Their actions influenced the environment we see today.”

Day 2: Great Basin to Garnet Hill

• Distance: 167 miles
• Stops: 2
• Garnets mined: dozens

Nevada is vast, but Day 2 wasn’t the day to drive across huge swaths of the state. The group would cover this leg of the journey mostly on foot. 

A quick jaunt down Route 50 brought them to the base of Wheeler Peak, where they spent the morning hiking in the shadow of the mountain, looping around Stella Lake before heading back up the road.

After a drive through Ely, the group stopped at Garnet Hill, “the only designated rockhounding area in the Ely District,” according to the Bureau of Land Management. Honors College Dean Andrew Hanson, a geologist by training, showed the group what to look for in rocks that would yield the red gemstones. A little taste of one of Nevada’s biggest economic drivers; no heavy equipment needed.

“We got to hike up to Stella Lake,” senior biochemistry student Dana Surwill said. “I absolutely loved the view and the mountains with the trees and snow. It reminded me how much that the Earth is here and that we’re just living on it. It’s not everything revolving around us. Regrounding myself in that way has opened up my eyes again. I used to feel that way, and then I got caught up in life and busyness and kind of forgot about it.”

Nevada Nuggets

• Wheeler Peak stands 13,065 feet and is the tallest independent mountain in Nevada, Boundary Peak is the state’s highest point by a mere 82 feet. Not a true mountain, Boundary is a ridge on the way to Montgomery Peak in California.
• The mountain was named Jeff Davis Peak in 1855 for Secretary of War Jefferson Davis and slated to be changed in 1859 to Union Peak, but the outbreak of the Civil War delayed the proposal. In 1869, the Army sent another mapping expedition to the mountain, led by Lt. George Montague Wheeler. When Wheeler’s map and report were published in 1875, the mountain was named for him.

Day 3: Ely to Elko

• Distance: 228 miles
• Stops: 4
• Drones down: 1

Back up Route 93, the adventure vans rolled north to start Day 3, kicking off another 24 hours of Battle Born adventure at a former stop along the Pony Express. When they took the job as a rider for the Pony Express, mailcarriers had to sign a statement swearing that they wouldn’t drink or swear while on duty. 

What a change 160 years makes. Twenty-two miles up the road, the crew stopped near Silver Lion Farms, a CBD-producing operation that let students take a look at agrarian Nevada before continuing on to the Hastings Cutoff — a slight divergence from the California Trail. Instead of proceeding north from Wyoming through Idaho then back south through Nevada to California, 19th-century travelers went south of the Ruby Mountains through Utah before rejoining the trail near Elko. Travelers like the Donner Party. By taking the Hastings route, the party slowed through the Wasatch Mountains and Great Salt Lake Desert. By the time they rejoined the California Trail, they were a month behind. By the time they made the Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevadas, it was winter. A hungry winter.

Our Honors College party had clear skies for their drive to the glacier-carved Lamoille Canyon in the heart of the Ruby Mountains. But there, too, tragedy struck. Well, robotic tragedy, anyway. A drone used to capture video on the trip was caught in a sudden wind gust. The flora was thick. The hour was late. The search was spirited, but Hanson called it off before the dark and cold set in.

Still, the natural world left its impression on students, whether it swallowed up the tech or not.

“It made me want to move there because I have never seen such a serene place,” Jackie Martin wrote.

“The Ruby Mountains were stunning,” noted Yoan Bakalov, a biological sciences senior. “I was not expecting that at all. I knew we’d see something awesome when I saw the tall, snow-covered peaks and how impassable they looked, but before that, I had no idea there was something that fascinating in this part of the state. It would’ve been perfect if only we hadn’t lost that drone.”

Nevada Nuggets

• The Pony Express lasted only from April 1860 to October 1861.
• The route took riders through 197 stops 5-20 miles apart from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, in 10 days.
• Nevada was home to 47 stops covering 417 miles — the third-longest section of the route behind Nebraska and Wyoming.
• The route entered Nevada from Utah on what is now White Pine County Route 2, about 60 miles south of West Wendover. It exited to California on the southern shore of Lake Tahoe.

Day 4: Nevada Gold Mines

• Distance: 154 miles
• Stops: 1
• Weight of gold bars made at the mine: 50-80 pounds

Nevada may be the Silver State, but the real action is in gold. 

Statewide, Nevada mined 4.47 million ounces of gold in 2021 compared to 6.22 million ounces of silver and a whopping 163.7 million pounds of copper. At current market rates, that much gold would theoretically be worth about $8 billion, the silver around $4 billion, and the copper a more modest $600 million. 

Mining in the state produced $9.2 billion in gross proceeds in Nevada in 2021. For comparison, Strip casinos reported $7.07 billion in gaming revenue for the same year.

The field trip wouldn’t have been possible without a donation from Nevada Gold Mines, and being able to get up close and personal with a mining operation was central to the trip. Nevada’s future leaders are trained at UNLV, and the trip and scholarship help ensure that if and when these students do take up mantles of leadership in the state, they know about all of the state.

Students turned off I-80 about halfway between Elko and Winnemuca, drove south past Crescent Valley and entered the Cortez Mine. They were allowed to climb into the cab of the mine’s $7 million, two-story haul trucks capable of carrying 300 tons of material. Each tire is 13 feet high and costs $46,000. Makes $200 a pop at Tire Works seem relatively reasonable, doesn’t it?

“I’m pretty sure it was the same size as my house,” Alyssa Hawkins wrote in her journal. “The cab was a lot smaller than I thought it would be for such a big truck. The mine is giant, and it’s unbelievable that it will only get bigger.”

Day 5:  Elko to Reno

• Distance: 300 miles
• Stops: 4
• Cows befriended: 1 

Everyone needs to let out their inner cowpoke sometimes. Today was the day for the UNLV adventurers. Before setting in for the long haul 300-mile trip from Elko to Reno, the class stopped at the Maggie Creek Ranch where they got to learn from the president of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, meet a horse named Moose, and collect a horseshoe for good luck on the rest of the trip. 

The Searle family has owned the ranch on the Humboldt River for more than 40 years, and Jon Griggs manages operations. He took students through the ups and downs of ranching life — the dangers posed by fire or water issues and the whims of the meat industry — before teaching them the skill no cowboy’s life is complete without: how to throw a proper lasso.

It was one of the moments that left its mark on most of the students in the group.

“His stories were fascinating and made me want to get a ranch myself,” Jackie Martin, senior theater student, said. “At the end of our tour when we said goodbye to him and he started to tear up, I broke apart. I never realized how real all the issues we learned from class were until I saw it in person. Seeing the animals and Rancher Jon made me realize that there is a life beyond Vegas, a life that is pure and simple.”

After leaving the ranch, there was a quick stop at the California Trail Interpretive Center to learn about Nevada’s most infamous gourmands, the Donner Party, before crossing the state on I-80 to reach the Thunder Mountain Monument.

There, students saw first-hand Frank Van Zant’s outsider art empire and one-time hippie beacon Thunder Mountain. The five-acre sculpture garden with more than 200 works commenting on the plight of Native Americans elicited strong criticisms from the group.

“The place gave me the creeps,” wrote Shaina McCann. “It was full of historical inaccuracies … I really hate to yuck someone’s yum, and as much as I disagree with the way Frank Van Zant represents Native American culture, it is apparent how passionate he was about this project.”

And from there, it was off to the Biggest Little City.

Day 6: Lake Tahoe, Genoa and Carson City

It was a day for nature and Nevada history. The nature, always pretty. The history, not necessarily.

For many students, it was their first time experiencing Lake Tahoe, scrabbling across the rocks and shores of Sand Harbor. Just don’t let the folks in Reno know that there’s something up there that appeals to UNLV students, too.

“I thought it was crazy seeing people in the water, but the longer I stayed the more I wanted to jump in,” Ivannia Cabrera wrote. “The air was just so soothing. I’m jealous that those in Reno can easily escape to such a pretty place, where in Vegas we’re forever stuck in extreme heat for months.”

From there they rolled south along the lake’s shores and cut back east to Genoa, the Nevada territories’ first white settlement, for lunch and a discussion about nearby Minden’s history as a “sundown” town. In the 1920s, a 6 p.m. bell rang nightly; its original intent was to warn any Native Americans that they had 30 minutes to leave or enter their homes, or be arrested. The town still sounds the siren today.

Heading back north toward Reno, the group saw the Governor’s Mansion, state capitol, and state legislature buildings in Carson City; and also visited the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum. Opened in 1890 and in operation for 90 years, it was one of 350 Native American Boarding Schools in the country. Native American children were taken from their families and educated in the boarding schools in an exercise in forced assimilation.

Day 7: Virginia City to Tonopah

Slide down the road to Virginia City and step back into a candy-coated version of the Old West, where our gang got to mingle with the locals doing their Comstock cosplay. The real attraction was a ride on a 100-year-old steam engine of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad past once-bustling mines.

“The train was an excellent way to just relax after the week of heavy hitters. I loved to see the class bonding and, while I can be introverted, I honestly will miss seeing these people,” wrote Jaylen Whitfield, senior anthropology student. “In my entire college experience, this was the first time I felt natural, maybe even real, when engaging with my peers.”

With a few stops along the journey, the vans finally pulled into Tonopah, home of the Clown Motel. The motel filled to the brim with clowns. And possibly ghosts. Ghosts clowns? Either way, it’s nightmare fuel. They bill themselves as “America’s Scariest Motel.” It may not be working.

“Our last stop was the Clown Motel,” Jackie Martin wrote. “Which did not seem as scary as I thought it would be.”

They must not have watched It on this trip. 

Nevada Nuggets

• In June of 1859, a lode of silver ore was found in Mount Davidson in the Virginia Range. The discovery touched off a silver rush, and soon the mining camps grew into Virginia City.
• The bonanza period of the rush ended in 1880, and widescale mining eventually dried up in 1918.
• Henry Comstock, namesake of the lode, was nicknamed “Old Pancake.”
• George Hearst, father of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, operated the Ophir mine of the lode.
• Onetime miner William Stewart became a Virginia City mining attorney, and later helped draft the state’s constitution, becoming one of Nevada’s first senators.
• Silver mining in the Comstock, to the tune of about $400 million, helped finance the Union during the Civil War.
• One functioning stamp mill dating to 1864 remains in Virginia City.

Day 8: Tonopah, Beatty, Goldfield and Rhyolite — then home

• Distance: 231 miles
• Stops: 6
• Cars: around 40
• Functional cars: not a one

The last day of the trip and the slow crawl back to regular old life. 

Yuril Bibek, a senior in computer science, was wistful: “Today is the last day. To say that I am sad is to say nothing. I don’t want to get back to reality.”

Maybe it’s appropriate that the theme of the last day was “ghosts.” Nevada has no shortage of ghost towns. Dozens, from Aurora to Wonder. Students got a glimpse at the ghostly and the nearly spectral. They first stopped in Goldfield, a mining town that called Virgil Earp sheriff. Once 30,000 strong, it is now reduced to 200.

Rhyolite, on the edge of Death Valley was another stop. It sprung to life in 1905, even garnering the attention of Charles Schwab. By 1920, it was abandoned. 

But in between, another taste of high-desert weirdness.

The crew stopped at the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield. The vision of artists Chad Sorg and Mark Rippie features towering henges of cars buried in the desert sands and painted every color under the searing sun.

“We went to the International Car Forest, which was really fascinating,” Jackie Martin wrote. “It was super windy, and I couldn’t believe how stable the cars were. The art was strange to me. I didn’t like most of the art on the cars since I thought it could have been a bit more interesting.”

After Rhyolite it was all downhill. Past Indian Springs and Mount Charleston. Rolling down the 95 to Paiute Golf Resort and into the edge of the city at Centennial Hills. Ann Road, Cheyenne, Craig, and eventually, Maryland Parkway. 

Back to home, with a little more sagebrush in their shoes.