Sunday, October 30, 2011

Beehive ovens in Ely and on to Winnemucca!

On the road to Ely (EElee), we were inundated with monotonous roads--by this I mean narrow roads, straight as a string and maybe 10 cars in 150 miles!  My word!  We did our best to observe the surroundings, but we were happy to see a few cows as we got closer to Ely!  This road was open range, and later we saw the real-deal cowboys...those that make their living "roundin' up the doggies" and doing the rodeo circuit!


Lots of mountains to overcome--lots of uppy/downy stuff and arid surroundings.  We are always aware of the water situation in the SW---how little there is (normally), how important it is to all crops, wildlife, seasonal changes, and just folks.  We also are aware of the washes that must be extremely full and rushing during the monsoons, which we understand can come on in a moments notice.


We have encountered many hunters in the last few days---and beautiful fall colors. One of the fun things we saw along the trip was the traditional Berma Shave signs, but done by a farmer: 

we played ball
and climbed trees
but now kids can't play
without batteries!

As we got closer to Ely we saw many farmers trying to get the last harvest of their alfalfa and then passed over the last of 4 passes:  Connors Pass (the name of our grandson). 

We went to dinner at the "Jailhouse"--we actually sat in a jail cell with a door that slides shut!  This was a bit of a worry!  We had a very good steak dinner with a baked potato and salad..we took a whole baked potato home and had more leftovers.  Very fun!  

Next day we visited the beautiful area surrounding Ely and took a trip to the Ward Charcoal Ovens.   This is a state historic park that was interesting!  The beehive-shaped ovens produced charcoal from pinyon pine and juniper.  The Ovens operated from 1876 to 1979, the silver boom years of the area.  After they served their purpose as charcoal ovens, they sheltered stockmen and prospectors during bad weather and provided a hideout for stagecoach bandits.

Now they are a part of the State Monument system and are very unique!


We also took a good hike through this area, and ended up in back of the ovens!


Really a good stop.

No comments:

Post a Comment