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Delamar Nevada - 09/23/2016 Trip Notes

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This page last updated on 04/13/2017

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Directions: At a major junction beyond the town of Alamo, stay to the right on U.S. 93 (the Great Basin Highway) heading toward Caliente. About 42 miles from Alamo, watch for a  blue State of Nevada Historical Marker #90 and the marked turn onto Delamar Road on the right side of the highway (Fig. 01). Head south on this good graded dirt road along a power line for about 10 miles, until it branches off east toward the Delamar Range and the ghost town (Fig. 02). Follow this for another 4 miles to the base of the sage-covered hills and you will come to the Delamar graveyard on the right side of the road. Continue the road to the right, up and around the mountain for another 2 miles to the mining ghost town of Delamar. For more info on the history of Delamar, visit the page on my first trip ... Delamar Ghost Town - Summary Page
                          
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09/23/2016 Trip Notes:  The last time Harvey and I visited Delamar, back in June of 2012, we only had his pickup truck. On today's visit, accompanied by our friend Bob Croke, we decided to take Harvey's 4WD Ranger. Shortly after the turnoff at the highway, we spotted several wild horses (Figs. 04 & 05). Harvey was even able to get within just a few feet of them to take a few pictures. About nine miles out we took a wrong turn (see Fig. 02). When we got to the end of this dead-end we did find a series of large wooden cattle corrals (Figs. 06 & 07). Next, there were several cows taking refuge near a man-made watering hole that we had past on our previous visit (Fig. 08). Our final stop before reaching Delamar was at the site of the Delamar cemetery (see Fig. 02), where we unloaded the Ranger and left the truck. While Harvey unloaded the Ranger, Bob and I toured the forlorn cemetery. Its boundaries marked by a sometimes broken down wire fence, inside there were a variety of headstones, monuments and ornate metal fences delineating some of the graves and family plots. Sadly, it appears that vandals and the natural elements have inflicted considerable damage over the years (Fig. 09). We then headed up and over the adjacent hill toward the town. (Notes con't below)
                                 
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Trip Notes Continued: After rounding the next hill the small opera house that was located on the outskirts of town came into view at the bottom of a short downgrade (Fig. 10). Around the next corner the remains of the old ore processing mill site (Fig. 11) came into view. Around the corner from here there are the foundation remains of more than two dozen homes (Fig. 12) built on the side of the hill that looked up to the site of the town's primary mining operation near the top of the hill to a huge digging known as the "Glory Hole" (Fig. 13). Also see (Fig. 02). Some of these remains were connected side by side like an apartment complex. After hiking around and exploring the foundations of these homes, we found a steep road (see Fig. 03) that switched back and forth up the hill to the mine at the top of the mountain (Fig. 14). Following this road to the very top we discovered a stone building that was still in pretty good shape. The only thing missing was the roof, doors and windows. We thought that it may have belonged to the mining company instead of a private resident. From the very top we were also able to look down into yet another large excavation that had evidence of a "vein" on either end that may have been what the miners may have been chasing (Fig. 16). On the way back down I captured a view looking down onto the town (Fig. 17). (Notes con't below)
                                       
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Trips Notes Continued: After retreating down the mountain to the town's main road, we turned left and headed to the northeast (Fig. 03). This led us to yet another large two story stone building (Figs. 18 & 19), and a grouping of foundations and a tailing pile that appeared that it may have been the original mill operation site (Figs. 20 & 21). From here we turned around and headed southwest back down the town's "main drag". We examined the remains of one of the town's banks, and a couple of old safes (Figs. 22 & 23). Giving us a view looking back at the whole town, the last couple of structures at the end of this road is where we stopped and had lunch (Fig. 24). After lunch we hiked the remainder of the road to the top of a hill that provided a beautiful view west out over the Dealmar Valley (Fig. 25). For the day we spent more than 4.5 hours traveling or hiking a total 20.8 miles one way. I couldn't believe how much more we saw on this trip that Harvey and I had not explored on our previous visit. Our sincere thanks for Harvey Smith meeting us and taking us on this wonderful trip. Also my thanks to Bob Croke for providing the maps shown above.
                                                   
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