Gold Point Revisited

In October 14 rigs circled up for 5 days of dry camping in Gold Point, Nevada. This was a return visit for some and for several their first time experiencing the hospitality of Herbie Robbins, aka Sherriff Stone, the erstwhile owner of Gold Point.

While food is not the primary thrust of an RVF Rally with Herbie it isn’t far away as we kicked off the get together with his famous Tri-Tip BBQ (including all the trimmings) and he sent us on our way with a breakfast, ably assisted by Bobbie & John Greenwood and Hedy and Bob Downey – they peeled all the potatoes and cut up all the onions - that would have been fit for a lumberjack. In between we all shared the traditional RVF Pot Luck and Heavy Hors D’Oeuvres routine. We even enjoyed a live animal act as Bob “The Animal Trainer” had his dog “Fritz” perform his routine on a large ball. Nobody went home hungry.

Herbie’s knowledge of the local area is phenomenal and he is always eager to share it with others. To start our four wheel adventures we returned to the Hard Luck Mine Castle to check on its’ progress. This castle to be sits on 40 acres of Nevada wilderness and is the project of, what many would call, the “ultimate Renaissance man.” The plans are not on paper but exist in the mind of the owner, and builder, who is doing all the construction himself and the help of one other person. The castle is round except for the entrance – meeting all ADA requirements – and when complete will house an indoor waterfall and two pipe organs, one a full theater organ. It also includes a viewing theater for 20 plus under the entrance way. An unbelievable project!

Our off road, four wheel runs took us to a desert waterfall; through a mud pit (I am still finding mud spots in the garage; a number of old mines – one where we were able to find some of the old crucibles used to separate the ore from the rock; an area covered with petroglyphs; an ancient volcanic bed where everyone collected small pieces of obsidian (often referred to as “Apache Tears);” the remains of a small town; and, a hot springs spot where the various ponds were cooled to different temperatures by diverting water from a nearby stream. As we made our journey through the desert and mountains we had a chance to view a small herd of wild burros and a herd of about 20 wild horses. We all were amazed at the diversity of the area and the fact that we were glad that Herbie was leading the way as none of us could have found our way back to our circle of rigs.

Wagonmaster Dave Stomp had arranged for all of us to tour the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste site. Fortunately there were no “illegals” in our group as we all passed security muster. I have seen big “man made” holes in the ground but nothing to compare with this. The testing they have done, and continue to do, to assure the mountain is safe for storage is unbelievable. With luck it should be ready to receive nuclear waste in 2018.

Thank you Dave and Bev for another great Rally!