Hot Springs, Molten Salt Energy, Fishing & Things Gone Wrong

Tonopah, Nevada
Boondocking - BLM

It was another uneventful 2 1/2 hour drive from our campground just south of Ely, Nevada over to Tonopah, Nevada.  We drove over some small mountain passes and through flat valleys of sage to our boondocking spot in Tonopah.  We stopped along the way to see the ghost town of Warm Springs.  

What's left of Warms Springs sits at the intersection of Rt. 6 and Rt. 375.  It was a stopover for stagecoaches back in 1866 and was never more than a tiny settlement.  All that is left now are the closed Cafe and a few small buildings that cover some natural hot springs as well as the old pool.

And cows.  It's open range for grazing.  I did not see any of the cows partaking of the hot springs though!

It's marked as private property but it does have this welcoming sign.  While we pulled up there was a couple that was just getting out of the pool and leaving.  It seems to be a popular/secret spot.

There is a part of the fence that has been cut open.  Like the cows, we did not partake of the springs.

Further down the road was our overnight boondocking spot in a huge gravel lot just before entering Tonopah.  Just us.  We planned our arrival as the sun was setting so it was not so hot.  It cools down very quickly in the desert.  Sleeping was peaceful except for some early tractor trailers going by.

  

I'm always scanning maps looking for interesting geography, towns or strange things that catch my attention.  I found this circle that seemed interesting.  On closer examination I found out it was the former Crescent Dune Solar Energy Project.  If you pay attention, you'll see it in the distance as you drive by west of Tonopah.  You can see it just left of center in the first picture.  The size of it is just amazing!  Pay attention to those tiny black dots and you'll see just how big this place is!

  

  

I was so fascinated I looked up some info on it.  It was a solar thermal power project with an installed capacity of 110 megawatts.  It was the first commercial concentrated solar power plant with a receiver tower in the center and advanced molten salt energy storage technology.  Construction began in 2011 and finished in 2014.  It went online in 2015 but shut down in 2016 due to a catastrophic leak in the molten salt tank which caused ground contamination. It went back online in 2017 but shut down permanently two years later after suffering several design, construction and technical problems. Its sole customer terminated their contract and it closed. It also was causing any birds that flew through the area to burst into flames and vaporize. Yikes!

Here's how it was designed to work:

The project includes 10,347 heliostats that collect and focus the sun's thermal energy to heat molten salt flowing through an approximately 656 foot tall solar power tower in the center. Each heliostat is made up of 35 6×6 foot mirror facets. The molten salt circulates from the tower to a storage tank, where it is then used to produce steam and generate electricity.

Excess thermal energy is stored in the molten salt and could be used to generate power for up to ten hours, including during the evening hours and when direct sunlight is not available. The storage technology eliminated the need for any backup fossil fuels, such as natural gas. It melts about 70,000,000 pounds of salt taking two months. Once melted, the salt stays melted for the life of the plant and is cycled through the receiver for reheating.

Continuing on we pass through Hawthorne.  Home of the US Army Munitions Storage Depot.  This is huge and covers 147,000 acres which opened in 1930 and became a staging area for WWII.

There are over 3000 bunkers around here.  In the town of Hawthorne sits the Hawthorne Ordinance Museum.  We've been before and it is a small, but very interesting place to see.

Just a short drive past town, along Walker Lake is where we will spend the night on our last stop before camping along the Walker River for a few days.

Hawthorne, NV

Sportsman Beach - BLM

Sportsman Beach BLM Campground   is a great spot to stay for an overnighter or two.  We've been here before and love it.  Any size rig can fit here, even down by the lake.  With our Senior Pass it was only $3 to stay.  $6 standard rate.  There are some very long pull throughs. No utilities but there is garbage.  The lake, like others, has really gone down in the last couple of years.

All have covered picnic tables and firepits.  There is gas, propane and (expensive) groceries in town.

Always beautiful sunsets over the lake.

Taking SR167 west out of Hawthorne instead of driving north, is a beautiful, easy drive.  Seems very few people come this way with a trailer.  It's well paved, smooth and dead straight in the middle.  Not much climb.  Some pull outs.  You end up driving past Mono Lake and turning north onto 395.

Walker, CA

Bootleg NF Campground

  

Bootleg Campground is run by the National Forest at 38.41666 -119.45042 right across from the Walker River on 395.

No utilities but there are several scattered, threaded water spigots, garbage and bathrooms.  $24 or $12 with our Senior Pass!  #39.  It's our second time here this year.  At 6400', it's much cooler up here.

Our son Shane drove up to camp/fish with us for the weekend.  He was the lucky one!

We always have a money bet.  Whoever gets the first, biggest and most caught.  $25 cents for each.  We're big spenders!  Shane got the Trifecta, the whole $75 cents.

Sometimes you see some water snakes or Garter snakes around certain parts of the river.  I didn't even notice this guy right at my feet at first.

We all caught some decent ones as well as a couple of 2 pounders. Rainbows and Browns.

I fished one direction and the boys the other.  I missed out on some very cool rock stacking someone did upstream.  Steve took several pictures, but I loved the Heart Rock!

The month of July is the West Walker River Fishing Derby.  Shane pulled in a nice one to enter.

3.1 pound Rainbow Trout.  Congrats Shane!  We checked back and the winner was 6 lb 8oz.  That night we had a great dinner of fresh grilled trout to go with our bbq'd steaks.

It was a great weekend and we stopped at Walker Burger for our usual lunch on the way out.

I've already posted about the total devastation the Caldor Fire did in our favorite forest around Placerville.  Here's a few recent photos from the Emigrant Gap side (Old Hwy 50) now that it has been reopened.  They have cleared several areas but have so much more to do.

Here's a couple of pictures of what it used to look like.  Cedar, Pines & Firs.

And here's what it looks like now.  Just burnt "poles".  Heartbreaking.

Here's a view where most of the clearing has happened on the other ridge.

Ponderosa Resort

Coloma, CA

We were lucky to find a totally shaded site for the next 2 weeks which will help while it's in the 100s.

While Steve is gone for a long weekend with his buddies on a houseboat, I have 3 secret projects to tackle.  Why are they secret you ask?  When I tell Steve my easy ideas, he usually shakes his head knowing that they'll be more involved.  So they get put off.  Over and over.  So, when he's out of town, I put my plans into action.

I've always HATED the narrow pantry pull-out basket they put in.  Sure, it's sturdy but it is not functional at all.  I cannot add any more baskets and they only hold the smallest cans. I have other pantry areas but I'm not able to put what I want in this one and get to it easily.  I'd sure love to have one of those large pantries, but I really love my huge counter space too.

See how much wasted space below and between baskets? They'll be narrow shelves, but much better!

Since it was 105 outside, I had all weekend to play Tim Allen. Well, even though I had all the shelving material cut and sanded (thanks Home Depot) it did not go well.  I didn't remember there were 1/2"x 1/2" pieces that went top to bottom.  No problem, I'll notch them myself.  HA!  I won't go into the long process which involved a tree branch saw, drill and other useless tools I tried.  After forcefully finishing my cuts with side cutters I gave up when I ran into other obstacles.  Guess I'll let Steve take over this mess I've made.  Why didn't I use the proper tools you ask?  I didn't know we had some of them or where they were.  Plus the Margaritas were kicking in and I really didn't care at this point.  The other projects were replacing a window screen in the bedroom that came out.  There is no frame left so I bought some screen material and just taped it into place for now. Steve will have to build me a new frame.  Lastly was painting the valances above the windows so they would be a solid mocha color to cover up the gold and the swirly pattern.  Once I saw how difficult it would be to take down the valances, I thought I could tape them off and paint them in place.  Ya, nope.  Scrapped that too and poured another Margarita and called my friend, Debbie, to commiserate.  She was having a Spice Rack melt down.  We laughed and all was good.  For now.  Steve's not going to be happy when he gets back.

When he got back he wasn't too mad.  Actually he was surprised I did as well as I did. He finished the shelves for me and I'll post a picture next time.  We also had a slide topper go bad and before we could take it down it overtightened and I had to climb up there and cut it off.  Steve screwed the plate back in and the topper now sits in my parents garage.  Affinity will either ship us the material over for free or replace it if we come back.  Problem is they are in Indiana.  We'd rather they do it as we think we'll need the roller replaced as well and there are a couple other things that we could have them do.  I made an appointment for April, but we'll see if we can be gone for that long.  We have been taking care of family things this year and I don't see it changing soon.

It was also time to replace the awning material. We will install that ourselves when our friends arrive so they can help out.

Steve had a great time with his friends but he was tired and sunburnt when he came home Sunday.  Monday we helped our daughter move and he wasn't feeling too well after.  Our daughter works in the Trauma Unit of a nearby hospital.  She gave him a couple of Covid Tests and well, the rest of our time here was spent in "trailer jail".  Not only did 1/2 the guys get Covid, so did their spouses.  And sadly, our daughter.  My wonderful Mom dropped off a big care package.  We consumed a lot of Top Ramen and watermelon that week.