Visit to Ash Meadows…

Since there’s nothing to do during the Covid 19 shutdown I decided one day to head up to the nearby national refuge and take a tour. I’d heard from John that it was going to have the trails closed and maybe even the main entrance could be closed but hey, a reason to get out of the house and explore? Sure.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is where we’ll be headed today. Weather was mild, in the low 70’s when I left the RV park. Not expected to get higher than 85 for the day. Which was nice for exploring. Here’s a map of the area: Ash Meadows…

Headed NW the 35 miles to the main entrance. The main road inside the refuge is gravel so I took it slow while there. The NPS had installed a ‘Closed’ sign but made no attempt to block the entrance. That was a signal that the buildings, if any, or other trails or sections of the refuge weren’t open. But, I could still drive around on the roads and check stuff out. Maybe find an overlook of the refuge. This first shot gives you an idea of what the country looks like here. Remember this is in the Amargosa valley just north of the Death Valley Junction and is of course very near Death Valley.

Here’s a shot as I leave the outskirts of Pahrump. Looking up into the hills to the west of town. Death Valley is over that way.

And 30 minutes later…

The “Where the desert springs to life” comment on the stone is a pun as there’s several springs here in the area. You can see a bit of the ‘Closure’ sign to the left. It could have been placed across the entrance but it wasn’t. So I felt okay driving inside the refuge. One thing you might notice is all the green. This was at the end of May and we’d had monster cold & wet storms through out the western portion of the US for much of the winter, on into the middle of May. I’d be surprised it this park is this green this late in the year in a normal year.

Very interesting topology. I wish I’d done more research before I came up here, but then again, I was prepared for the park to be mostly closed, and sure enough, it was. Couldn’t really see as much from the road as I’d hoped. And many of the spur roads had closed signs across them. So did the hiking trails. Well, darnit.There apparently are some really spectacular springs presenting blue holes here in the park, but like I said, all the trails and most of the spur roads were closed off so I just stuck to the main road. Here’s what their copy says, “The mysterious Devils Hole over 500 feet deep and the bottom has never been found.” That would be interesting to see, but I didn’t see any signs for springs where I wasn’t blocked from access either. Well, check out that link to the park above and see what they offer and you can see some pictures of some of the springs. Saw this sign somewhere along the road…

As I’m passing through the valley, noticed a section where the vegetation became much more pronounced. Underground river most likely. By the time I thought to take this picture I was already passed the majority of the healthy trees and shrubs. Probably stays green all year round but life would still be difficult for the plants and animals here.

And just beyond, all this white chalky stuff…look at those gnarly trees. Must be nasty living here in summer.

Anyway, I’m driving on the road and there’s a spur that’s not blocked off with a ‘Closed’ sign so I turned onto it and shortly after, a pickup truck, civilian truck, passed me going the other way. Oh yeah, I remembered from the map I’d checked the day before there was a spur road that headed north into another valley where the tiny town of Crystal is (check the map link above). Some 30 odd miles north of Pahrump just off of the NV-160 highway. That spur gives me the opportunity to head up to Crystal and visit there then loop back to Pahrump. More of an adventure. So I headed on up that gravel spur road, just to explore a bit to see how bad the road might be. Seeing that pickup truck was encouraging though as it might have come that way.

And shortly after, I stopped at this sign. This is where the endangered Devils Hole pupfish lives. You know, that famous Pup Fish that only exists here in this hot pool? And maybe a couple of other pools near here? I couldn’t walk over there as the trail was closed.

And here’s as close as I could get to the pool where they live, in a tiny spring inside this fenced enclosure. Closed to visitors of course. Usually you can walk over there and onto an overlook bridge. The water is kept available by the NPS from a well I think and they chemically alter it so it’s the same mineral and Ph content as the springs natural occurring water. The spring is in danger of drying up so they have to add water sometimes in order to protect the fish and prevent extinction.

I got a good look at the exit road from here and it didn’t look toooo bad and perhaps that truck had just come this way so I decided to chance it. On the way out of the refuge, stopped for a picture of this outcrop. Interesting uplift.

And the road looked good enough so I continued heading north. Didn’t take long to find a lot of tracks in the dirt and gravel so this is likely a short cut by residents wanting to go to Death Valley or Shoshone, or even Pahrump. Encouraging for me in a sedan as it seemed even though I didn’t have cell coverage here, that someone would be along if I broke down. I’d rather be driving it in a truck, but well, we’ll see how it goes in my low to the ground sedan.

After a few harrowing sections of road, and even some that I could get up to 35 MPH on, eventually I got out of the hills surrounding the refuge and dropped into the Amargosa Valley proper. The road was still gravel and compacted dirt, but it flattened out and soon I was passing this very old dried up lake bed. From back in the ice age, 14,000 years ago when there was lots of rain falling here.

Eventually, the gravel and dirt road turned into a paved road and soon I was in the tiny town of Crystal. Not much here really, I drove around town for a few minutes and it appears that it’s a bedroom community. In one of the hottest valleys on earth. Did not see many newer buildings.

And then I passed this place. HEY, a bar in the middle of nowhere. Since it was now around 3 pm of course I stopped in. And they had an ale in the bottle! Guess the name is Miss Kathy’s Short Branch Saloon, and here’s a link to several pictures: Short Branch

It’s sort of a bar, restaurant and dance hall but now there’s just bar food and no more bands except on rare occasions. Guess from reading the reviews she used to have a pretty big menu, now with the virus running around it’s a bit stunted. There’s some rooms for rent if you have too much to drink. This next shot you can see the extension where I guess they used to have a band playing on occasion, and outside there’s a patio. Well, just go check out the pictures in the link above for more interesting tidbits.

And here’s the owner and bartender Kathy. Friendly and willing to answer all my questions about the area. Turns out there’s an underground river right nearby where the homes get their water. Which is why they have people here at all. There’s not enough water for irrigation though. I found they used to have a population of 9500 back in ’07 listed for Crystal but after driving around town, I kind of doubt that’s true, probably wasn’t true back then as there’s not enough buildings for that many people I don’t think. I’d say less than half  or even just a quarter of that now.

Kathy tells me about the motor cycle clubs that use to show up and visit the brothels nearby and shows me some pictures of all the members that filled the bar and the parking lot. Looked like almost 100 one time in one old picture. They would often dry camp on the desert floor and of course the bar would be where they got their liquids and used the bathroom. Haven’t been here for 2 years now she says, and unlikely they’ll be here this year what with the virus. They used to fill the joint to overflowing. There’s a bandstand in the other room but she says it’s not used much these days. She’s owned the place 4 years I think she said?

This is my kind of bar, even has and acceptable IPA available, only issue is the giant “2020 Bunker Boy, and Xian Taliban” re-election flag on prominent display. I won’t even show the picture of it they are so disgusting.

But it’s a nice bar out in the desert wilderness, built in the mid-’60’s. Weather was perfect so there wasn’t any need for AC but I imagine they’d have to have it otherwise it would be impossible to stay open at the height of summer. And all the vents in the ceiling suggest they do. I enjoyed a couple cold beers and headed back to NV-160 and than on back to Pahrump. Goodbye, Crystal. No real reason to ever be back. This sign is visible from NV-160 and I’ve passed it many times on my way north or south. This is the first time I’ve stopped here though.

And here’s some interesting info about Crystal, from Wikipedia. Kathy told me about Heidi Fleiss and this is what I found when I looked it up:

“Crystal is an unincorporated community in Nye County, Nevada, United States. The community is located about 80 miles from Las Vegas. It is on a paved road that exits from State Route 160. As of late 2005 Crystal had two brothels, the Cherry Patch Ranch and Mabel’s Ranch, and the Brothel Art Museum.

In November 2005, former “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss said she intended to partner with the brothel owner in order to start a brothel with male prostitutes catering exclusively to female customers. In 2009 however, she announced that she had abandoned those plans.”

And that was the end of the days adventures. Headed back to Pahrump and watched TV the rest of the day and evening. Fun, huh?

Thanks for reading.