Nevada Ghost and Mining Town Trip - 11/25-26/2011

[macmcintire]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

It's not a Prius, where people get excited about getting 42.31 MPG versus 41.97 MPG. It's a big brick with wheels underneath.

The only value I see in tracking mileage is as a potential indicator of something wrong (e.g. a sudden drop in MPG). For that, only the difference in MPGs is important, and as long as your assumptions are consistant, there shouldn't be any problem in not recalibrating your equations to account for a permanent change you made to your SMB.


Herb

You're right, Herb. People ask me what my gas mileage is when they see the rig. I guess I should say, "It's not the MPH that matters. It's the JPDS" -- joy per dollars spent using it. I assume for some SMB owners, the JPDS is not worth it because their rig is expensive and they don't use it much. But I use my rig enough to ensure a high JPDS ratio. And the calibration for that is in my heart!

[macmcintire]

Mike:

I'm still just guessing. I think I was getting about 12.5 - 13.0 MPH before the lift and 11.3 now. I guess the difference is due to the lift. It seems just the added weight of the lift, tires and bumpers would account for that. Sorry I don't have a more definitive, engineering answer. The only thing I know about automotive stuff is which pedal to push to make the thing go. That's why I have good friends like you to tell me the real answer.

Regards,

Mac

[Greggd]

I made myself crazy trying to figure out why we weren't getting the advertised 18 miles per gallon (6.0) TD . I put the Van on a Dyno with a Peterson Flow Meter , confirmed gear ratios against Tire Sizes , weighed each corner of the Van loaded and empty had the Transmission checked and realized that no matter what I did it still never equated to more than 14.7 miles per gallon while monitoring against our GPS . I quite honestly would have never cared about the milage if I hadn't read the claim at the time of our build and some of the posts here on the Forum , thinking that something may be amiss with our Van . I finally realized that none of the previous 4 wheel drive Vans we have owned came any where near the touted milage and now NO LONGER GIVE A RIP ! Like Mac stated it is about the QUALITY OF TIME spent in these vehicles .
Greggd

[larrie]

Mac

You are right about the JPDS vs MPG. I had to explain to a friend my reasoning for getting a SMB vs car camping that the mileage was not the issue. My mini van gets 22mpg, I cannot stand up in it, cannot cook in it, is uncomfortable to sleep in, and has no heat without running the engine. The SMB gets 14mpg and I can live in it much more comfortably than in the mini van. Since the 8mpg difference only happens when I drive it on a trip it is no big deal. The joy of camping in comfort is worth every penny.


Larrie
89 Ford 2WD penthouse

[cellularSTEVE]

Hey Mac,
Really enjoyed your write up. This is on my list now. Thanks.

steve

[macmcintire]

Here are pictures from another Nevada ghost and mining town trip I took to Nelson, Nevada, in Eldorado Canyon. It is about 45 miles south of Las Vegas. In its heyday, the area established a reputation for being rough and lawless. During the American Civil War, deserters from both the Union and Confederate armies would wander there, hoping that such an isolated location would be the last place military authorities would look for them. There are a lot of old shacks in the area. Nelson has a small population of people living there today.


Here is the history of the area:



These old buildings have been turned into a store and museum. They are located at the Techatticup Mine area:







This location was used in the film "3000 Miles to Graceland". Here is the plane that was blown up in the movie:



The Techatticup Mine is open for tours. It's well worth the small entrance fee. The boys in these pictures are some of my Boy Scouts:








Nelson's Landing Marina, about five miles west in Eldorado Canyon, is noted for washing into the Colorado River (Lake Mojave) in 1974 after a strong downpour in the regional mountains sent the runoff down the channels and produced a flash flood. There are five wide channels that run from the local mountains toward the river. The problem is that they all converge into a small outlet where Nelson's Landing was. The entire landing and village was destroyed and nine people died when the flood came through the wash. The wall of water and debris was reported as about 40 feet (12 meters) high as it reached the river. Friends of mine were on the scuba team that pulled the cars, boats and bodies from the river after the flood.

[macmcintire]

I just found a new website that lists all of the mining and ghost towns in Nevada, complete with pictures of the ruins in the area. I had no idea there were so many mining camps in Nevada. And here I thought I was going to complete my circuit of visiting all of the mining camps by the end of 2012. I have enough places to visit now in my Sportsmobile that I may not need to leave the state for quite some time. Check out the map of the ghost towns and mining camps here: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nv/nv.html. The website includes maps of other states too. This should be a good resources for interesting places to visit in your area.

[macmcintire]

Went out for a short drive to visit a nearby abandoned mine near Lake Mead. This is a really nice drive on a easy dirt road to a wide canyon wash that eventually turns into a beautiful slot canyon.





In the canyon can be found two horizontal mine shafts of the Anniversary Mine. Francis M. Smith (aka the "Borax King")(1846-1931) was an American business magnate and civic builder in Oakland, California. Smith Mountain in Death Valley is named after him. In 1913, Smith, like his former partner, W.T. Coleman, became "financially strapped" and had to turn over his assets to creditors who refused to extend new loans. At the time, Smith's second wife held an interest in a silver mine in Tonopah, Nevada. During his quest to find a profitable way to convert extensive lake brines into borax, Smith (the Borax King) outbid the new owners of his company for the rights for a rich borax discovery in Lovell Wash in the Muddy Mountains overlooking
Lake Mead. He called his operations there the ANNIVERSARY MINE, as the claims were acquired on the anniversary of his marriage to his second wife. His first wife (Mary) had died at age 55 in 1905. Smith went on to develop the "Searles Lake deposits" in Califonia with capital he obtained from profits of the Anniversary Mine in Nevada.

Here is the first mine shaft:





The second mine shaft used to be open. I once walked back into it for many yards until it branched off into several vertical and horizontal shafts with ladders going up and down the vertical shafts. I had never been in a borax mine before. Too bad it is now caved in and fenced off.



The mine area was built in a wash, which is not a good idea in a desert that is prone to flash floods.





With Valley of Fire State Park to the north and Lake Mead to the east and south, the Muddy Mountains region a beautiful desert area. This landscape on the north shore of Lake Mead contains four wild areas that offer stunning geology, a fragile desert ecosystem and a rewarding opportunity to navigate a shadowy slot canyon, and witness a Desert Bighorn sheep. Also, from Anniversary Narrows Peak and points beyond, you can sit on a rock and peer down into the Bowl of Fire in the Valley of Fire.

[mykdee]

I actually grew up in Tonopah, NV. Hung out in Goldfield and Silver Peak quite often! Another really neat place to see in Tonopah is Casey Hall, you can go inside but a really neat place either way, it was the founders original home! If anyone is into antiques my grandparents have owned an antique store there for over 35 yrs, stop in and check it out! Central Nevada has some really cool places to see!!