Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.

MUSIC >>Dave Santina: Hi, welcome to Wild - and Wet - Nevada.

I'm Dave Santina.

>>Chris Orr: And, I'm Chris Orr.

We're beginning this trip in Tonopah and we're actually havin' a bit of a rain storm, but hopefully it's gonna clear up and just leave some cool temperatures 'cause we're goin' hiking with our good friend, Alvin McLean, who is a great Nevada adventurer.

>>Dave: Where we goin' today, Alvin?

>>Alvin McLean: Well, uh, we'll drive about 45 miles south of here and, uh, the idea is to hike through some beautiful, uh, canyons, and, that are overhanging, and I think there'll be some repelling and a little bit of climbing.

>>Dave: If we don't get ... >>Chris: Sounds great!

>>Dave: ...washed out, maybe, today.

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Alvin: Yeah.

We may have to stay on the canyon walls or something that, uh, if it rains real hard.

>>Dave: Yeah.

So, what after that?

>>Alvin: And, then, uh, and then, tomorrow we'll go into a beautiful badlands area where there's narrow, twisty canyons and beautiful white colored spires sticking up.

So, I think, uh, this will be a great adventure for... >>Chris: Should be a lot of fun.

>>Alvin: ...Wild Nevada >>Dave: Sounds great.

>>Chris: And, top it off with a historic tour of Silverpeak, as well, the ghost town of Silverpeak.

>>Dave: Yeah, look forward to that, too.

Let's get out of this rain and head toward the canyon.

>>Alvin: Okay.

>>Dave: From Tonopah, we drive south on Interstate 95 for about 6 miles, then follow the dirt road to Alkali.

From there, we turn right on Silverpeak Road, and after 8 miles on pavement and another 11 on dirt, we reach Silverpeak.

Then, it's south for 13 more muddy miles across Clayton Valley to the base of Clayton Ridge.

The rain lets up as we arrive so, here's hoping it stays away.

>>Chris: Alvin, I know from what you said earlier, we're in the Yellow Hills.

But, where are we hiking to?

>>Alvin: Well, we're gonna go up these drainages.

The hills here are about 8 miles long.

And, what it's like is kinda like the top part of an@ egg, half of an egg sticking up, 8 miles long.

>>Chris: Mm, hmm.

>>Alvin: And, uh, orientated north.

And, there's a lot of fractures, runs north and south, the transverse ones.

And, we'll be hiking in these fractures what are just deep, spectacular canyons.

And, in some places they're overhanging like deep caves.

Then there'll be a little bit of rope work before we get out.

So, it'll be about a six, be about a six-mile hike.

So, with the cool temperature, oughta be... >>Chris: Nice.

>>Alvin: ...a nice hike today.

>>Dave: I know we came through Silverpeak on the way through, we splashed through that town.

>>Chris: (Chuckles) >>Dave: Uh, so that was a, a little while ago.

How far from here do you think Silverpeak is?

>>Alvin: Oh, we're, we're only about 20 - 25 miles to the southeast of, uh, Silverpeak.

And, uh, we're hiking through this area of volcanic, uh, rocks, tuff, and they're at least, according to the geologic maps, they're at least 4,000,000 years old.

So, we're walking through some pretty ancient landscape, too.

>>Dave: So, this orangy rock here, is this tuffs?

>>Alvin: Yeah, everything you see in here.

>>Dave: This is all tuff.

>>Alvin: I think that everything we see on our, our trip, trip is gonna be this volcanic ash fall, tuff.

>>Dave: Ash fall, so... >>Alvin: Yeah, what it was it was spewed out in the air and in then the air, and then came back down.

>>Dave: And, it just packed on itself?

>>Alvin: Yeah.

Right.

>>Dave: So, this is like a big, giant ashtray.

>>Alvin: Um, more or less.

>>Dave: So, think of it as... >>Alvin: More from a gigantic volcano.

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Alvin: A huge "ceegar."

>>Dave: This big finger tappin' it and it all comes down here.

>>Alvin: Yep.

>>Dave: Okay.

>>Alvin: Ah, we're comin' up on different ways to go.

It's been about 10 years since I've been in here, so I better, better check the map.

Yeah, the map shows the canyon here coming down and here's the way I went 10 years ago, I've got it marked.

So, that's that route right up through there.

>>Chris: That's where we're gonna go.

>>Alvin: Yeah, where we're going and it shows another one come in and so we're still on track.

>>Chris: Okay.

>>Alvin: That means that we're good.

MUSIC >>Chris: After this morning, there's a little water left in the wash, but nothing for us to really worry about.

If anything, the rain gave us even prettier scenery as the showers seem to have intensified the colors of the desert all around us.

>>Alvin: Oh, Petroglyph found the water.

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Dave: He always does.

>>Alvin: How'd you find that water?

>>Dave: (Laughs) Oh, he got me!

>>Alvin: We've made it to the high, high point of our trip.

This has got... >>Dave: This is the high point?

>>Alvin: Yeah, like I mentioned earlier, uh, it was, gained about 500 vertical feet and it's quite interesting here.

Uh, this drainage here comes down and most of the water flow in to... >>Dave: Yeah.

>>Alvin: ...the way hiked up.

>>Dave: Right.

>>Alvin: But, also we're right on the divide and when the water flow is heavy you can see where it also flows downhill the way we're gonna hike.

>>Chris: So, this is just like kinda of a divide for this particular... >>Alvin: Um... >>Chris: ...ridge?

>>Alvin: Um, yeah, divide for this ridge.

The water eventually ends up in the same place, but it's kinda interesting how it, uh, divides right, right here.

>>Dave: And, all of, this is the same way that all, all those that we saw from that viewpoint before were made, right?

>>Alvin: Yeah.

Yeah.

>>Dave: The first thing that strikes us is just how remote this place is.

We're quite a few miles from any other people and it really underscores how important it is to not hike alone.

>>Chris: This barren ridge is not exactly where Alvin wanted us to be at this point.

We're actually off by just a few feet, but from here that's a few feet down.

Alvin thinks that the best way to get back on track is just to head straight down.

>>Dave: These rocks are sharp, so I'm glad I brought gloves.

Even though I have a better grip with them, my feet still don't have great traction, so it's a delicate process getting down.

>>Dave: What an odd place.

>>Chris: Down here, there's a lot more growth, which is one of the ways we know we're on the right path.

Juniper trees and the trickle of water mark our pathway as we start up this new wash's slight incline.

>>Dave: It's another challenging descent with a few inviting, but unstable rocks, so we have to be very careful about where we place our weight.

>>Chris: Slot canyon roller coaster, whooo!

>>Dave: We pick our way down and, eventually, we find ourselves on the ground and in a slot canyon.

>>Chris: As we start down the slot canyon we're immediately aware of the vary strong scents of the vegetation that we're walking through.

Sage is clearly present as well as an unmistakable minty smell.

It's an intense sensory experience because of the concentration of the many types of plants all confined in the small area of the slot canyon floor.

>>Dave: We are awash in a sea of sagebrush, rabbit brush, bitter brush, mint, and Indian rice grass, not to mention the occasional juniper tree and still more firecracker penstemons.

It seems to go on forever, scratching at our shins as we step on, over, and around plant after plant.

After a while, we feel a little bit like we're in another world.

It's moments like this that remind us how many times we've driven down Highway 95 with no clue about the hidden adventures tucked away here.

>>Alvin: Ah, here's, here we meet the main channel coming from the east and then, of course, we hiked in from the south, and we'll go on out to the west here and about 3/4 of a mile these big slot canyons and overhangs.

>>Chris: Oh, how cool.

That'll be fun.

>>Alvin: And, in a short distance after that is where we'll do the repel.

>>Chris: Mm, hmm.

>>Alvin: Down the dry waterfall, hopefully.

>>Chris: (Chuckles) >>Chris: If it's not wet.

>>Alvin: Hopefully so.

>>Dave: (Laughs) >>Alvin: And, then a short distance beyond that is where we come out of the mountains and that'll more or less be the end of the trip, except for the hike back to the vehicles.

>>Dave: We're in pretty good shape.

>>Chris: Yeah.

>>Chris: Now that the ground is visible beneath our feet again, we're able to enjoy the canyon walls which display a variety of shapes, angles and colors.

The sheer size of some of the fallen boulders is a bit humbling, but we feel privileged to be here enjoying nature.

We've come to a new obstacle - a drop of about 12 feet.

At first, Alvin thinks that this might require us to repel.

But, he soon remembers how to climb down through a hole in the rock.

>>Dave: After climbing through the hole, we head down another slot.

The walls narrow and we can sense that we're approaching our final challenge.

Suddenly, the slot takes a dramatic drop of 30 feet, which doesn't seem like a lot until you look over the edge.

You quickly develop a healthy respect for the potential danger.

>>Chris: I know I can do it, I just wanna do it well.

>>Chris: While doing any climbing or repelling, the point is to go safely with good technique.

And, keeping Alvin's hints and coaching in mind, I begin my repel.

Soon, I realize that my descent will be safe, though my technique could definitely use some improvement.

>>Dave: Once I'm in the harness I just try to remember to trust the rope to hold my weight.

Once I'm past that mental barrier it's a matter of finding the rights spots to place my feet.

From above, it looked easier than it really is.

I'm not gonna be mistaken for a SWAT team member any time soon, but I'm glad to be down safely.

>>Chris: Alvin makes us all look like amateurs by climbing down by himself.

It looks easy when he does it, but there's no way we should've tried it.

It's a testament to years of practice.

>>Alvin: Alright!

We're all down!

>>Chris: Woo hoo!

>>Dave: Once safely down, we're all pumped with excitement.

Our last leg of the hike is just a brief quarter-mile long and takes us through one last slot.

>>Dave: Look at those clouds!

I think we timed it just about right.

>>Chris: I was gonna say, I think thunderstorm is finally... >>Alvin: Catchin' up.

>>Chris: ...catchin' up with us.

Circling back.

>>Dave: We've had good luck today.

>>Alvin: Oh, my goodness!

Here's the end.

>>Dave: Hey!

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Dave: Yay, look at that!

>>Chris: Look at that.

End of the canyon lands.

>>Dave: What a great time.

>>Chris: I'll say.

We did some bouldering and some scrambling.

We even got to do some climbing and repelling.

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Alvin: See, this is the canyon we came out and... >>Chris: Yep.

>>Alvin: ...it opens up and there's, you know, just hundreds of these.

If you look on a topographic map, but in this case, somethin' like this you wanna do the trips with experienced, uh, desert hikers or canyoneers, people that know something about climbing and rope work.

>>Chris: If we hadn't had you, there would've been a couple of places where we would've just totally dead-ended.

We wouldn't have known what to do.

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Alvin: Had to turn 'round, hike back.

The hard way.

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Chris: Today's hike has been a series of challenges and small triumphs, with beauty, a little danger and something to stimulate nearly all of the senses.

But, it's time to head back to Tonopah and get ready for tomorrow's adventure.

>>Dave: Good morning!

It's day 2, we're back in Tonopah, got a nice rest and we're all just a little stiff from yesterday.

We're lookin' forward to today's visit to the historic town of Silverpeak.

>>Chris: But, first we're gonna do a little more hiking.

We have some great country to see today.

>>Alvin: Well, what we're gonna do today is, uh, drive about 45 minutes west of town and a short distance off the highway there's a very pretty, uh, badland area, twisty canyons, uh, colorful rocks, white spires stickin' up.

So, I think it'll be a very nice hike.

>>Dave: Sounds great.

>>Chris: Sounds great, let's go.

>>Alvin: Alright.

MUSIC >>Dave: From Tonopah, we drive west on Highway 95 for 32 miles to the Blair Junction turnoff.

>>Dave: Opposite the turnoff on the north side of the road, we take a dirt road north for about 4 miles to the Esmeralda Badlands, the foothills of the Monte Cristo Range.

MUSIC >>Alvin: We'll be goin' up this wash here for about 3/4 of a mile, we'll go up on top of a slope, on top of a ridge, hike down that and I see, and I think you'll be very pleased with what we see today.

As a matter of fact, look at that view right there in front of us already.

>>Chris: Oh, wow.

>>Dave: We just got here.

>>Alvin: Yeah.

>>Dave: And, it's just spectacular already.

>>Chris: Now, why is this called 'badlands'?

Why would you name a place that?

>>Alvin: Well, the badlands is an area where you've got, you just look at this and, uh, very little vegetation, but a very colorful rock area.

MUSIC >>Chris: The ground is a bit moist.

There may have been more rain last night, but the skies don't look threatening now.

We shouldn't have any concerns about flash floods today.

The badlands is a good description of this area.

Not much grows here, but right away we notice some incredible rock shapes.

There's spires jutting up and slabs of multicolors in every direction.

>>Dave: Do you have any idea how they got to be here in this way.

>>Alvin: Well, what happened here, uh, down in here, here in Esmeralda County you had a series of, uh, basins, apparently, and you had the sediment fill into these basements.

You get the shales and the clays and some of the sandstones.

And, later erosion, uh, by water erosion, has exposed these beautiful areas that wouldn't be near as pretty, of course, if they were covered up with water.

>>Dave and Chris: (Chuckle) >>Chris: So, you get the variation of color because of the different materials that are on the sediment?

>>Alvin: Right.

Different minerals in the rock.

>>Dave: Here, we're able to view different types of rock layered on top of each other which illustrates the geology of this area and makes me wonder how many more layers are under our feet.

It's fascinating to observe how different the erosion is from one type of rock to another.

>>Alvin: It's really hard to tell how much, uh, the landscape really changes because of the small amount of water that Nevada really gets.

Like if we're at some places like Kentucky or Georgia where it rains a lot, well, I think you'd see the landscape changing, changing very fast.

But, here you can see why we get, get these some, some pillars stand up and, and other areas eroded away.

I think what happened is, you know, you've got harder, harder rock.

>>Chris: Mm, hmm.

>>Alvin: And, that doesn't erode as fast.

Then you've got softer rock like this, this is clay right in here, and it, uh, erodes away much faster.

So, this is why it creates all these different, fantastic forms we're seeing.

>>Chris: Oh.

>>Alvin: I think he found the right way to go except... >>Chris: Oh.

>>Alvin: ...except, except you're goin' under instead of over.

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Chris: He says, "It's easier for me to go under."

>>Dave: The doggy way.

>>Chris: Canyon obstacle course.

>>Alvin: Alright.

>>Dave: Some horizontal climbing.

MUSIC >>Alvin: Boy, just everywhere you look, how great it is!

>>Chris: Just gorgeous!

>>Alvin: Bird-like rock up there.

>>Chris: Yeah.

>>Dave: Oh, I see that one.

>>Dave: Yeah.

Up in that direction.

>>Alvin: And, here we've got... >>Chris: Look at these.

>>Alvin: ...columns, prickly rock up above.

I'm not sure, uh, what's going on here, but you can see it looks like there's two, two different periods of, uh, of, uh, deposition of the rocks being layered down.

>>Chris: Uh, huh.

>>Alvin: You see the upper part, how crinkly it is?

>>Dave: Yeah.

>>Alvin: And, then the lower part looks like a slightly different rock.

>>Chris: Uh, huh.

>>Alvin: And, that weathered into columns and pillars like a gothic... >>Chris: Sorta gothic-looking, yeah.

It's so cool.

>>Chris: After another scramble, the terrain changes noticeably.

Everything seems to have smoothed out a bit.

>>Alvin: I'm following this trail that I did probably 8, 8-9 years ago.

But, you can actually see the, you really can't see the outline of the footprints... >>Dave: Yeah.

>>Alvin: ...but you can see the indentations where I walked up before.

So, we'll get up on top of the ridge here.

And, maybe I can find these flakes where the Indians made tools and then we'll go down the ridge and circle around back down to our vehicle.

>>Dave: Great.

You know, it's, this is a real good example of how long it takes for nature to sort of replenish after people have... >>Alvin: Yep.

>>Dave: ...been places, isn't it?

>>Alvin: For this landscape to heal, and this is just only from hiking.

>>Chris: Now, Alvin, how did you find this place the first time you came?

>>Alvin: Oh, I've got practically all the large-scale or small-scale maps of Nevada and I'm always lookin' for places to hiking.

And, where the contour lines are close, closer together, where they overlap and shows the drainage is very twisty, and I say, well, that's gotta be my country to go to and go exploring.

>>Chris: (Laughs) >>Chris: We find ourselves in yet another place that feels otherworldly in its unusual and austere beauty.

Climbing on the clay adds to that impression, for only after a few steps the wet clay cakes our shoes and we feel like we've gained more than a few pounds in mud.

We can see that in our footprints just below the wet surface the hill is dry and hard.

It would be a much easier climb without last night's rain.

>>Dave: Once we reach the top, we discover another wash to the east which promises new adventures for a future hike.

As we look around, Alvin recalls finding artifacts from ancient people who quarried this area for its chert.

>>Alvin: It's a little rocky up here on this spot.

>>Dave: Drier up top.

>>Alvin: Yep.

Gravely.

More gravel, too.

Oh, look at this spot right here.

See all these yellow shiny rocks?

>>Dave: These are all... >>Alvin: These are artifacts.

I think the Indians were up here, uh, finding, finding this silicified rock.

>>Chris: Now, how can you tell the difference between this and just a regular stone?

What... >>Alvin: Well, you can see that it's generally always much, uh, finer grained and they were actually flaking, uh, flakes off this to make, to make tools, uh, like knives and their points they made.

And, uh, they probably found this rock in, in situ up here and they came up here to make their points out of this rock.

MUSIC >>Chris: From the top of the badlands, we get a new perspective.

After a brief stop to enjoy the view, we trek out along the slope which is a bit challenging.

The loose gravel and steep drop-off force us to keep alert and step carefully.

MUSIC >>Dave: Along our path there are small patches where the rocks have been cleared away.

These are clearings where goats settle down to sleep.

With a view like this and food nearby, it's easy to understand why.

MUSIC >>Chris: After one last look around, we start back down.

It's hard to leave a place like this, but we've got one more stop to make in Silverpeak.

MUSIC >>Dave: From the badlands, we return to the highway and continue south on Highway 265 for 21 miles to Silverpeak.

>>Dave: I see a familiar face.

>>Dave: When we arrive, we're greeted by our ghost town expert, Shawn Hall, who will act as our guide to Silverpeak.

>>Shawn Hall: Welcome back to Central Nevada!

>>Dave: (Laughs) Thanks.

>>Chris: Hi, there!

>>Shawn: It's nice to see you again.

>>Dave: We're loving your sign, here.

>>Chris: Yeah.

>>Shawn: Oh, yeah.

Well, this is the, the directional sign for downtown Silverpeak, here.

>>Dave: (Chuckles) >>Shawn: A little confusing, but, uh, it tells you all the different ways you get to Tonopah and points in between.

>>Dave: (Laughs) >>Chris: Tell us a little bit about Silverpeak.

It's obvious that there's still some modern mining going on.

>>Shawn: Yeah.

>>Chris: It's not really a ghost town, is it?

>>Shawn: No, it's not really a ghost town.

Uh, the lithium mine is about the only business left in town.

Uh, most of old Silverpeak has slowly disappeared, but there are some of the older buildings that are still scattered throughout the town.

>>Dave: What's this one right here?

>>Shawn: Uh, this is the old Chattovich Store.

Uh, the Chattovich name is very, very prominent here, uh, and not only in Silverpeak, but in this area of Nevada.

>>Chris: Now, was Chattovich one of the original founders of Silverpeak?

>>Shawn: Uh, yes.

Yes, he was.

Uh, the town was established, uh, actually early in, uh, the 1860's, uh, not, not so much at first for, uh, it's silver and gold, but for salt.

Salt was discovered here by, uh, some Smokey Valley prospectors from Austin.

>>Dave: Hmm.

>>Shawn: And, they needed salt in the process, uh, for milling the ore up there.

>>Dave: Chattovich was the first in the state to use cyanide for mining, is that right?

>>Shawn: Uh, yeah, the problem is is that, uh, mercury was the primary, uh, source of using in mills for, for the treatment.

>>Shawn: Mm, hmm.

>>Shawn: And, uh, it just was not safe.

And, so they came up with cyanide which... >>Dave: It doesn't sound that safe.

>>Chris: I was gonna say.

>>Shawn: It doesn't sound that safe, but... >>Chris: Cyanide doesn't sound much safer.

>>Shawn: ...it was a lot easier to work with, with than mercury.

>>Chris: Silverpeak thrived for a while with the help of investors from the east coast.

But, it wasn't all mining.

There was family life here, too.

Silverpeak once boasted of a beauty shop, a dairy, a café, a baseball field, and a swimming hole at the salt flats.

>>Dave: I remember seeing one, uh, one of the stories in that, in that store in the book we were lookin' at had a, it talked about these immense wagons that they would, they would pile the, the rock into to take to the, to the mill and it was somethin' like 24 tons of rock at a time and that 12 burros would take it and I just think, that's just mind boggling the amount of upturned earth that they go through.

>>Shawn: Yeah, well, and especially think of those poor mules out here in this sun... >>Dave: Oh, yeah.

>>Shawn: ...like we have today.

Uh, well, yeah, these wagons were huge.

Uh, the wheels would be up to 8 feet tall.

And, they also would be very wide, not only because of the weight they had to carry, but also so they'd have a little stronger base going through on the sand so they wouldn't sink into the sand.

>>Dave: That's incredible.

>>Chris: Now, this looks like an old house here.

Is this one of the original structures?

>>Shawn: Yes, it definitely is.

Uh, like I said before, there's, there's not a lot of the original buildings still left here in town, but as you look around off, off on the side streets you will see some, some very nice structures.

Uh, this, this one is a rather substantial one.

>>Dave: Is that a roof styling that indicates snow?

That kind of, uh, that slant, is that, or is that just maybe the style of the day?

>>Shawn: That, that is pretty much a typical style, uh, you know, in Silverpeak, Tonopah, uh, you see that a lot, uh, they, they didn't have a lot of materials and, uh, this, this appears to be like a wood slat roof.

>>Dave: Hmm.

>>Chris: As our trip comes to an end, we thank Shawn for sharing the story of Silverpeak with us.

His descriptions really sparked our imaginations about life in this mining town.

>>Chris: We've had a lot of fun, but we are out of time for this trip.

>>Dave: Which is too bad.

We had a great time in Silver Peak and what unbelievable scenery we got to see on both of our hikes thanks to you, Alvin.

I swear, you always know the best places to go.

>>Shawn: Well, it's really incredible what you can find in Nevada when you get off the highway.

>>Chris: If you want more information about this or any of our trips, you can visit our website at knpb.org.

While you're there, send us an e-mail and tell us about some of your explorations.

>>Dave: And, until our next Wild Nevada adventure, you get off the highway and enjoy this beautiful state for yourself.

MUSIC Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.