- This time on "Wild Nevada," I'm exploring dramatic and beautiful landscapes from the Black Rock to incandescent rocks.

That's all up right now on "Wild Nevada."

(lively acoustic folk music) - [Announcer] Support for PBS Reno and "Wild Nevada" comes in part from the William N. Pennington Foundation.

Bill Pennington was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and gaming pioneer who built a legacy of community service in Nevada.

(light gentle music) This program is brought to you in part by the Konner Kent Robison Giving Fund.

100 years of living in 28 years of life.

To give is life's real gift.

- [Announcer] And by Millie Hopper and Millard Reed, Kristine Perry, Thelma B.

& Thomas P. Hart Foundation, Margaret Burback.

In memory of Sue McDowell, Mark and Susan Herron, and by individual members.

(bright upbeat music) (lively upbeat music) Hi, I am Chris Orr, and I'm starting this trip in Gerlach, which is located in the northwest part of the state.

And this unique community is a great launching point for exploring the Black Rock Desert Wilderness, the playa, and the surrounding area.

And one of the best ways to explore in this remote part of the state is with those who know it well.

And that brings me to the Friends of the Black Rock and the High Rock.

And to you, Stacey.

Thank you for meeting me this morning.

- Hi, Chris, it's a pleasure.

I'm glad to have you here in Gerlach.

- So, what are we gonna do today?

- Got a hike in store for you.

- I'm always ready for a hike.

(both laughing) - Well, we're going to one of my favorite hikes to kind of the beating heart of the playa, the Black Rock Point.

- You know, I think if you're gonna get just a sample of the area, finding the heart of it is a good way to do it.

- That's right.

That's right.

And it is kind of like the nexus of a lot of things that we get to talk about.

Whether it's the Nobles Trail or the Applegate Trail, Indigenous culture, it really is a good location to start those conversations.

- Well, I'm ready to get started.

Should we go?

- Let's go!

(light electronic music) - As we head out of town on Highway 34, the playa views are already starting to open up right next to us along the way.

We entered the playa at the 12-mile access point to get a closer look.

So, I'm tempted to ask where we are, but I kind of feel like we're just in the most beautiful nowhere possible.

(laughs) - Yeah, I don't know where we are.

I was hoping you know.

(both laughing) We are on the playa.

So, 80,000 people come out here, and they think that this greater area is just this 27 by maybe 19-mile stretch of land.

But the National Conservation Area is 1.2 million acres.

But the playa is certainly one of the most spectacular.

We like to say awe, like this place is awesome, a lot around here.

So, we thought it'd be a good idea to just kind of give you a sense of this space, and it's so quiet out here today before we head out there to the Black Rock Point.

- It is amazing, it's beautiful.

You truly do feel that sense of openness and yet serenity in the same time because it just feels like it goes and goes.

This is the largest playa, ancient lake bed, in North America, formed by Ancient Lake Lahontan, and that lake covered an immense area and when it receded over many, many years, what it left was this playa.

This was just building up millions of years of sediment.

So, where we're standing, we may be standing on playa depth of over a mile.

Pretty fascinating.

- Yeah, that really is.

And truly, when you're out here and you hear the quiet and you see just the beauty of it, you understand why you wanna take care of it 'cause it's just an amazing place.

(groovy folk-rock music) As we head back across the playa, the view outside the window is surreal.

I've driven across the playa before, but every time it feels like I'm driving on another planet.

Keep in mind that it's a good idea to be careful anytime you drive out here.

Capable vehicles only, four-wheel drive, and appropriate tires are a must.

And at the right time of year and weather permitting.

And, of course, be respectful, which includes accessing the playa via designated routes.

I guess this is the end of the road for us.

- Well, we're gonna get the true immigrant experience.

We're walking in.

(Chris laughs) When you have standing water, you're very likely to get stuck.

And the natural inclination for a lot of folks is to do what they've done out here, which is go around.

But these are sensitive dunes; these are habitats.

When you have vegetation like this, with a rabbitbrush and the grasses and the proximity of water, so it attracts a whole different retinue of creatures, including probably the one we love the most is the kit fox.

And so, kit fox habitats, they tend to build dens within dunes.

And so, it's so important that this does not become a choose-your-own-adventure OHV habitat.

- So, even though now we've moved off of the playa, this landscape is absolutely as fragile and as special as what we've already seen.

And I have a feeling is gonna continue to be that way.

- It's just going gonna get better.

- Well, you know, I'm always up for a hike and a little extra walking as part of that hike doesn't bother me at all.

- Lead on, scout!

(both laughing) - I think I'll follow you.

Since you know where we're going!

Being respectful of the wildlife habitat, we venture out on foot.

What better way to get to see and get to know this beautiful area?

I can't get over just how quiet it is today.

It's just so nice to be surrounded with not just nature but just the silence of open space.

It's amazing.

- 100%.

- It is kind of a landscape of extremes, and I think it can be kind of daunting if you don't know how to go about exploring it or experiencing it.

And I think the fact that you guys act as a gateway, I think that's incredibly important and comforting to know that there is an entity that you can interact with that can help with that.

- More and more people are coming out here.

So how do we get people to recreate responsibly?

And our holy trinity is education, recreation, and conservation.

So, if you join us for anything, I guarantee we're gonna have you pick up trash 'cause it just happens.

(both laughing) - Leave it better than you found it, right?

- That is right.

But we're also going to teach you about the area because if you don't understand it, it's very challenging to love it.

And so many people, when I ask, you know, "Do you know what a National Conservation Area?"

Or more likely they ask me, "What's a National Conservation Area?"

a lot of people don't know.

They're familiar with maybe a monument or a state park, but a National Conservation Area is slightly different.

For this area, some of its reasons for being have to do with 130 miles of mostly undisturbed immigrant trails.

I could stand on this vista or this bluff, you know, and think, "Gosh, maybe I'm the first person to stand here in 800 years," you know?

Or ever.

And here you can go and literally see wagon ruts, and you can tell stories that are truly embedded in the landscape because you can look around or do what we're doing now, walk what, you know, was an immigrant trail, and kind of feel that experience.

Walking in the Black Rock is a really cool thing to do.

The other reason that it was made a National Conservation Area is to maintain that sublime quietude.

That feeling of awe that comes with a landscape.

Being able to share that and to bring story to that experience is really our jam.

(both laughing) (bright uplifting music) Welcome to Black Rock Point Hot Springs.

- Oh, here we go.

(Stacey laughs) - [Stacey] So, Chris, what do you know about hot springs?

- [Chris] Well, I know that you need to be cautious when you go to explore them because you don't have a clue how hot it actually means when it says hot springs.

- We always say choose whatever dangly bit you want burnt.

(both laughing) You take a chance if you're not careful or cautious about it.

I've had the joy of soaking in the spring before, and there is a sweet spot for coming and visiting springs.

Don't let anybody tell you any time is a good time.

Spring and fall tends to be a really good time because the ambient temperature just lends itself to being in hot water.

- Enjoyable.

Yeah.

- Yeah, yeah.

- We are not the first to have enjoyed the hot springs in this area is my guess.

- No, by no means.

To always be aware that we are talking the Shoshone, the Goshutes, the Utes, the Paiutes have considered this great basin their ancestral homeland for millennia.

But what I always imagine when I think of Burning Man here, the people have been gathering together for the purpose of a rendezvous to share not just resources, but stories, jokes, dance, narrative storytelling.

- You know, it's fascinating how, you know, we do have our patterns as humans, don't we?

(laughs) - [Stacey] Yes.

Some are pretty good.

- [Chris] (laughs) Should we continue on?

- [Stacey] Let's do it.

- [Chris] Onward and upward.

As we head for our destination of higher ground and a better view, the playa just keeps opening up with more beauty with every step.

(bright pop-rock music) ♪ Whoa ♪ Whoa - You know, that hike was so worth this view.

This is absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks for bringing me up here.

What are we looking out at here?

- Well, many folks who come out to the Black Rock think that the playa is just this one section, which is about 27 miles long and about, hm, 19 miles wide at its widest point.

But that is really just the tip of it.

But where we are on this saddle on the Black Rock is at sort of the Y where the western arm and the eastern arm kind of come together.

So the western arm is open to everybody to do land speed records and to launch rockets and camp and- - [Chris] And hang out on the hot springs.

- Hang out on the hot springs.

Have that little adventure of Burning Man.

But the eastern arm over here is fascinating part of the playa too.

But that is a wilderness area.

So, it enjoys a special layer of protection.

For one, no motorized vehicles.

There's these little cherry stem roads you can absolutely drive to where they tell you designated route and route ends, and then you're on your own to explore on foot.

Why these areas are protected is, there's a couple features over there.

There's Pinto Hot Springs and Elephant Cave.

That's where the largest woolly mammoth, Columbia mammoth, actually, was found in that desert.

And they've had a number of significant archeological finds.

But I think it goes to the heart of what we're trying to do as an organization is really instill the respectful use of land, and what we can protect and preserve is the reason this is an NCA: to develop or protect the area for perpetuity so your children and their children can still enjoy this space.

- Every part of this journey has been beautiful and memorable.

Thank you for bringing me up here.

- I've had a great time.

Thank you.

(laughs) - What a day.

It's time to say goodbye to the playa and return to Gerlach in the morning.

(lively acoustic folk music) In the morning, I head out from Gerlach, around Pyramid Lake, and onto Pyramid Highway, and take a right toward today's destination, the scenic area known as Incandescent Rocks, where I meet geologist Jim Faulds.

Well, good morning, Jim.

- Good morning, Chris.

- So why did you bring me out here today?

- Well, this is just an amazing, really exciting location.

It's called Incandescent Rocks or Incandescent Canyon.

And it's just got a beautiful sequence of colorful, layered rocks that record a really neat part of the volcanic history of the region, and were erupted from huge volcanoes in central Nevada, and it's just a fantastic hike.

- And I just thought you were bringing me to a pretty location.

- Well, it's that, too.

(both laughing) (light upbeat music) - We have barely started our journey, and I can already see that this is going to be a magical location.

The more we enter the heart of the canyon, the more colorful it gets.

So, is this Incandescent Rocks that we're looking at right here?

- Yep, it sure is.

This is the Incandescent Rocks, and it consists of a series of what we call ash-flow tufts.

And these were erupted from volcanoes actually in central Nevada out by Austin, Nevada.

And so, what happened here is that each kind of colored rock is a different volcanic eruption from these calderas in central Nevada.

And so, an eruption and an ash flow tough flows out and into the Paleo valley.

These Paleo valleys went from highlands in central Nevada, maybe as high as places like the Andes are today.

Okay?

And then flowed down valleys that went all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

This was a Paleo valley that was probably seven, eight miles wide.

Okay?

And then it filled up with at least 600 meters, or about 2,000 feet, of these volcanic deposits.

- So, that had to be a massive volcano to get all the way down here.

- That's right.

These were supervolcanoes, similar to Yellowstone today.

And the Sierras weren't there at that time, at least not as we know them.

- I'm curious; take a little bit of a closer look- - Yes.

Yes.

- What's going on.

- So, we'll hike up the canyon and we'll get a close look at a number of these rock units, and then I'll be able to show you kind of some of the details of these individual units.

(light upbeat music continues) - The further up we go, the more I wonder how different and how active was this area of Nevada in the past.

Well, I'm guessing this is a good place for us to leave the vehicle and take our other form of transportation, right?

- That's right.

The road's getting a little rough, and we can probably walk about as fast as we can drive.

(Chris laughs) (hammer tapping) (rock clatters) - Ooh!

So, what are we looking at here?

- Okay, so we're looking at one of these ash flow tufts up close where we can see all of the individual crystals as well as some of these white pumice fragments in the rock.

- [Chris] It is sure sparkly.

- It's very sparkling.

And that's thanks to a couple of different kinds of crystals.

One is called sanidine, which is a type of feldspar, and then there's some quartz in here.

And the quartz actually is some of the darker-colored crystals in here.

We call it smoky quartz.

And these crystals are actually really important because the feldspar, and you can see it maybe sort of reflecting blue, can you see?

- Oh, yeah!

There's a little blue guy right there.

- Mm.

We can basically then measure the relative proportions, so the potassium in the argon in the rock, and basically figure out how old the rock is.

So, we have dated this rock, and we know that it's about 24.9 million years old.

- This is very similar to the pumice that you would find in a person's bathroom for your pumice stone, right?

- It sure is, yep.

It sure is.

(bright folk music) - This is very pretty here.

So, the colors are really vibrant, and they just change so quickly back and forth and back and forth.

- Yeah, they do.

And, of course, they weather out in these really odd shapes that you can imagine all kinds of animal heads and figures and whatnot in them.

(Chris laughs) The more densely welded rocks that have really been compressed will be more stronger rocks, more resistant, harder rocks than the hearts of the units that cooled very quickly.

(footsteps shuffling) - [Chris] It's beautiful.

'cause everywhere you look, it's pretty cool.

- [Jim] You do, and sometimes you have to stop and look back at what you just walked through 'cause you'll see it from a different angle and perspective and spot some things that you just didn't see going in one direction.

♪ Oh-whoa (light dance music) - [Chris] It is such a cool landscape to see.

- [Jim] Yeah.

♪ Oh-whoa - [Chris] That rock looks like it's balanced up there.

♪ Oh-whoa - So, what are we looking at here, Jim?

- So, we're actually looking and are pretty much standing on, a fault, and the fault is down, dropped everything to our south or to our left.

And the unit on our left is the unit that we had looked at earlier with all the kind of nice shiny crystals in it.

And that's about 24.9 million years old.

And the unit on our right is a unit that we haven't seen yet.

And that's that Nine Hill Tuff and that's about 25.1 million years old.

And the fault kind of juxtaposes these two units against one another.

And we're actually gonna walk right up above here and right through the fault zone.

- That's kind of cool 'cause you can actually see it really defining the areas.

- [Jim] Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it is.

- Just the colors but really the landscape.

(bright acoustic folk music) This is just a beautiful pattern.

I'm guessing it tells you something.

- It sure does.

So, these are flattened pumice fragments.

So, these ash clouds come out of these volcanoes, get propelled upwards, and then collapse onto themselves thanks to gravity.

And then all the pumice in these ash clouds starts to sort of get flattened out and squished, if you will, as the rock starts to form a rock.

'Cause these originally probably relatively rounded pumice fragments get all squished and flattened out, so compacted if you will, through the rock.

- [Chris] How long would it have taken for compression to happen?

Does this happen while it's cooling, or does this happen over eons?

- Oh, it pretty much happens while it's cooling.

Immediately after the eruption as this rock flowed down that Paleo valley and then came to rest.

- [Chris] And we're seeing a really cool kind of color pattern in the rock.

Is that part of the difference in the minerals or what's the color?

- It looks like what's happened here is some fluids that were probably rich in minerals, like iron, flowed along some of the cracks in the rocks and then altered the rock in the immediate vicinity of those cracks.

And so the original rock would look more like this, and then here it's been altered slightly thanks to the fluids flowing through it.

- So, almost like a hard water deposit.

- [Jim] In a way.

Yep, Mm-hmm.

- [Chris] Well, you guess in 20 million years or so, you're liable to pick up a stain or two?

(both laughing) - [Jim] Yes.

Very good.

Very good.

Yeah.

(bright gentle folk music) (birds squawking) - Oh, wow!

Look at that.

Really changes your view from just a little ways up.

You know, from up here, we have a really different perspective of where things break and change.

- Yeah, we do.

So, you can see the fault, but then it projects up that slope kind of through those junipers.

You can see the white unit on the right, and that's kind of ending abruptly about where those juniper trees are.

Reddish brown on one side, a brown on the other side up above, white on one side, more of a brown on the other side.

And that kind of color change, you can sort of trace that fault all the way up to the top of the ridge there.

And that fault then projects up.

This same unit here is on the cliff above us.

So, we've had that much offset.

Couple hundred feet, few hundred feet of offset.

- That's pretty crazy to think that this was once connected to that.

- [Jim] Yep.

- You know, it's funny 'cause it's so quiet and so peaceful.

It's just us today, and you think about how much activity geologically it has seen.

- You know, that's Nevada; it's had a very dynamic geologic history.

There's been multiple sort of mountain-building events over the past couple of 100 million years or so.

When we look this way, we see something a little bit different.

So, all of these dark sort of reddish brown, orangy units, white units are some of those tufts that came out of the supervolcanoes.

But do you see the dark gray unit up on the cliffs there?

That is actually an old sequence of debris flows or mudflows, volcanic debris flows, mudflows, that probably came down this Paleo valley.

- [Chris] Just gorgeous colorations though.

- [Jim] Yeah, fantastic.

Yeah.

- [Chris] This kind of landscape lends itself to just so much fun exploring.

I feel like we could just hike all day.

- Absolutely.

And, you know, it's that rich geologic history that makes us amazing scenic wonders, if you will, that we have in the area.

- It really is one of those landscapes that it almost feels fantastical because, you know, it changes so much over such a short couple of yards of trail, or a couple, you know, mile of trail has so many different views.

- [Jim] Yeah.

Yeah, it sure does.

(upbeat pop-rock music) - [Chris] As hard as it is to say goodbye to a place as beautiful as Incandescent Rocks, we head backed down Pyramid Highway and turn east onto Ironwood Road to wind our way through Palomino Valley.

A beautiful community full of wildlife and wild views.

♪ Oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh-oh-oh - [Chris] Once we reach Microwave Road, we know that we're on track to reach our destination, Virginia Peak.

♪ Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh - [Chris] Looking back across the valley toward Incandescent Rocks, you really get a great perspective on how connected the area is.

It also makes me feel really lucky to get to call this place home.

♪ Oh-oh ♪ Oh-oh-oh - So, we started our day at the Virginia Mountains, and we're ending it on Virginia Peak.

- Yes.

Virginia Peak and the Pah Rah Mountains.

- So what are we looking at?

- So you can just see a corner Pyramid Lake and there's a big valley that comes out of Pyramid Lake, heads down Wadsworth and Fernley.

There's a big fault zone in that valley, and it's called the Pyramid Lake Fault and kind of then disappears underneath Pyramid Lake.

And we know that that fault has about, oh, 10 kilometers, or about six miles, of offset in the last, oh, three to five million years.

And that the top of the range here, and one reason it probably stands up, there are some resistant basalts, some fairly thick basalts that were erupted around 16 to 13 million years ago.

- So totally different than the units we were at down in Incandescent Rocks.

- That's right.

Much younger and different composition.

The basalts are similar to the rocks that you have in Hawaii.

There was several large volcanoes in this area about 16 to 13 million years ago that deposited these thick layers of basalts on top of those older rocks that we saw in Incandescent Canyon.

- [Chris] Well, thank you, Jim, for bringing me up here.

It is not only a fascinating place to visit, but it's beautiful.

I've learned so much about this landscape; it's fascinating.

- [Jim] Yep, it is.

(light country-rock music) - That's all I have time for in this episode, but I have learned so much about the natural history in the spectacular part of Northern Nevada.

It's fascinating how each location has so many layers of human and geologic history to share.

If you wanna learn more about this episode or any in the "Wild Nevada" series, visit our website at PBSReno.org or stream us with the PBS app.

And until my next "Wild Nevada" adventure, I hope you get to have some Nevada adventures of your own.

(lively acoustic folk music) I love the idea that there's little foxes, though, watching us, like, (Stacey laughing) in there and in there.

- [Announcer] Support for PBS Reno and "Wild Nevada" comes in part from the William N. Pennington Foundation.

Bill Pennington was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and gaming pioneer who built a legacy of community service in Nevada.

(light gentle music) This program is brought to you in part by the Konner Kent Robison Giving Fund.

100 years of living in 28 years of life.

To give is life's real gift.

- [Announcer] And by Millie Hopper and Millard Reed, Kristine Perry, Thelma B.

& Thomas P. Hart Foundation, Margaret Burback.

In memory of Sue McDowell, Mark and Susan Herron, and by individual members.

(bright upbeat music)