{"id":44,"date":"2014-10-09T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T19:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lennysride.com\/recent\/?p=44"},"modified":"2021-11-29T04:42:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T12:42:09","slug":"pahrump-nevada-october-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lennysride.com\/recent\/?p=44","title":{"rendered":"Pahrump, Nevada – October 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0I was on the road a couple hours before the sun came up this morning headed for a three day golf outing in Pahrump Nevada.\u00a0 I made this ride this last year but the road was closed (washed out) north of Trona, California.\u00a0 Instead of turning around and going back through Ridgecrest to 395 and up to Olancha, I opted for the detour.\u00a0 That detour was, according to the gas station attendant, “a very good dirt road – no problem.”\u00a0 Most of you have heard this story so I’ll just say that the detour road would have been “no problem” if I’d been driving a 4×4 Jeep – on a big full dress motorcycle it was a BAD JOKE; It took everything I had, some incredible luck, and a considerable amount of fancy language to navigate those 27 miles of hell. I won’t be doing that again…<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This would turn most people around – I should have been one of those….<\/p><\/div>\n

This time I checked the status of the Trona Wildrose Road and it looked like everything was good so I thought I’d try it again.\u00a0 Leaving so early gave me enough time to make a couple photo stops along the way and still make my tee time in Pahrump.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>

This will probably be more than you ever wanted to know about Trona, California.<\/p><\/div>\n

Trona was officially established in 1913, as a self-contained company town, wholly operated by its resident mining company to house employees.\u00a0 The mine started as a borax facility but now processes sodium carbonate (soda ash) from the mineral “trona” in the nearby dry lake bed at Searles Lake.\u00a0 Soda ash is most widely used in water softeners and in the production of glass.<\/p>\n

Trona is known for its isolation and desolation. Because the searing heat and highly saline soil kills the grass, the Trona Tornados (from the 162 student high school) play football on the only dirt field in the USA (other than Alaska) . At one point Trona boasted an 18 hole golf course that was all sand except for the “greens”, which were a softer grade of brown colored dirt.\u00a0 Wonder what a membership there cost??<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise<\/a>

Sunrise at the Trona Pinnacles. October 10, 2014.<\/p><\/div>\n

Consisting of over 500 spires, some as high as 140 feet, the Trona Pinnacles are the most outstanding examples of tufa (porous rock formed as a deposit from springs of streams) in NorthAmerica.\u00a0 The Pinnacles are about 10 miles south of town; 6 miles of which is dirt road.\u00a0 Not bad, glad I went – but I won’t be signing up for that again any time soon.<\/p>\n