2015 Ghost Town Excursion – May 2nd & 3rd

Disclaimer:
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This a pay your own way event. This means even me the organizer pays my own way to attend. Organizing drives is my hobby and I enjoy putting the events on. I also pay for the website and store system out of my own pocket to make sharing information and registering easier on everyone.
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The 2015 Ghost Town Excursion – May 2nd & 3rd , 2015



Register for the trip here


The Ghost Town Excursion is a fun off roading adventure to explore some of the old ghost towns outside Carson Nevada. The focus of this trip is for owners of pre-runner and off road vehicles of all types to make new friends and get their rigs dirty. Family and friends are welcome to attends as this is meant to be a social group, not just a run for the boys. As with all off road trips these are a meant to be a community activity as we all know something can always happen on the trail and supporting each other is key.

Planned Trip Summary:
The group will meet in Carson City, and head east to start the trek south. Total mileage for the day will be around 180 miles off fun trails. Planned stops for the day are the Churchill ghost fort, three ghost mines and ending in Bodie CA, ghost town. Sunday will be some more off road trekking and a stop at Gold Gate Ghost mine and ending for lunch in Markleeville. After lunch Sunday participants can caravan home or make their own adventure.

Participation check list
Radio of some sort
Full Size Spare
Ability to have fun

The 2015 Ghost Town Excursion – May 2nd & 3rd , 2015

Pre Event Night Accommodations:

For those who would like a more relaxed start for the weekend’s activities we have arranged a group rate at the Super 8 motel in Carson City NV. This will allow those of you who are coming from a distance to have a place to rest and relax before a weekend on the trail.

Super 8 Motel
2829 S Carson St, Hwy 395 1 Mile S of Town
Carson City, NV 89701-5514

Day 1: Meeting Location
Date: 05-02-2015

Address: Dunkin' Donuts‎ - 2190 East William Street, Carson City, Nevada 8970
Time: 7:30am
Depart: 8:00am – Trip begins.
Activity: Registration and assist with decal application drivers meeting for day

The drivers’ meeting is to go over the rules of the trail as well as make sure everyone has the required gear. This is also a chance for participants to ask questions and get assistance on any part of trail setup.

There will be a mid-way stop in town with restrooms and fuel for those who don’t get stellar gas mileage. This will be a quick stop so we can make sure we make it to all the stops before night fall.

Lunch stop will be in Pine Grove
Time: ~12:30pm arrive with a 30 or so minute lunch stop

After lunch, we will head to the hill portion of the trail to see Aurora and then Bodie
Address: Bodie CA

After Bodie we will make the short haul to the 395 and then head north to Bridgeport.

Overnight Accommodations:
Address: Rubby Inn - 333 Main St, Bridgeport, CA 93517
- Includes continental breakfast

Camping Accommodations:
For those who wish to camp, you are on your own to book at the following recommended location:
Doc & Al's Camp & Cabin
85 Twin Lakes Rd Bridgeport, CA 93517, United States
(760) 932-7051

Dinner stop - Rhino's Bar & Grille, 226 Main Bridgeport, CA 93517

Day 2: Golden Gate Mine
This day is a shorter day as we make out way back towards Lake Tahoe. The stops on this trip are an abandon home stead and the Golden Gate Host mine. The group will end in Markleeville for lunch.
Leave from the hotel at 8:30am on the DOT!!!

Lunch stop will be in Markleeville
Time: ~ 12:30 – 1:30 for Lunch
Wolf Creek Restaurant
Address: 14830 California 89, Markleeville, CA 96120

After lunch participants can caravan home and or start their own adventure on more trails. The official group event ends after lunch so people those who have to make a longer trek home can stat the long journey.

Register for the trip here

Base fee covers:
Decals, PayPal, Shipping, Maps

 

Deadline to sign up for this trip if booking hotels and wanting decals mailed is April 20th

All orders after that, decals will not be mailed. Final deadline to register is April 27.

First numbers claimed:

 

A few more numbers claimed for the trip. Remember to register as numbers are first come first claim.

 

Reminder deadline is coming up to sign up. Also more numbers have been claimed so if you want a specific number register sooner than later. We have a nice mix of rigs going so don't be shy to come on out.

 

Thought we share a little teaser video from the Pre-run we did. We will make a full length clip of the Pre-run but for now here is some of the fun.

https://youtu.be/r1tB32BcLLs

 

The first Ghost Town trip is now in the books. 23 rigs from Raptor, Toyota, Dodge, Jeep, and even a Montero made the 300 miles two day trek to see the lost history of the ghost towns and mines of Eastern Nevada.

See all the images of the trip here:

The start of the day was at 7:30am in Carson City. We had all 23 rigs prepped and ready to roll. After a quick drivers meeting and passing out the cool T-shirts Rogue Racing made for us, we got the show on the road. We had a short trek on the freeway before we hit dirt, but by 8:20am we were on the trail.







First one out of the gate when we hit the trail was a Baja prepped Raptor, followed closely by the Dodge Boys and a few others. It took a few minutes to get the rest of the group going, as we had to air down our tires for the rest of the trail.



First stop for the day was the old pioneer fort at Fort Churchill. The group had time to walk the grounds and see all the old structures that remained, which are over 120 years old.




Before heading to the next settlement we had a moment of fun doing donuts in the dirt.



Next stop was the Churchill settlement, which was a working ranch, but as you can see by the photo needs a little sprucing up.



Following the settlement, we made a 2 mile short trek to the Minnesota Mine. Here participants got a chance to do a little hill climbing. There were two very fun large mounds to climb over, and once you got to the top you had a great view of the valley we were running in. It was also a great way to get photos of the people coming up to the mine.





Leaving Minnesota Mine we had a fun Baja stretch of trail to the General Store for restrooms, fuel top off and to enjoy a nice boxed lunch.

 

After lunch was another long stretch of trail to reach the Aurora Mines before heading into Bodie, which was the last stop for the day. This was one of the best sections of trail for the day, and people were flying along in the 3 digit range at times.







Stopping just short of the Aurora Mine, we gathered the group back up so we could hit the slower section of the trail as a group. This section of trail was our canyon run with tight turns, close quarters, and one of the most spectacular roads into Bodie. Here we stopped at the old mine ruins and the cemetery of a once bustling town, where a past Nevada senator had once lived.





Just before getting to Bodie, you exit the canyon to a BIG mud puddle. Some of the participants could not resist getting a little dirty.

 

We arrived in Bodie at 4:00pm to give people a few hours to explore the grounds. The town is an amazing place to visit, but no one told you about the biting gnats. These things were vicious and made exploring a little annoying.







We ended the day in Bridgeport where we grabbed some food and a few cold ones to recap the day.



Day two was a half day run. We had two stops planned and some fun trails ahead of us. The group left Bridgeport at 8:30am and made the 15 mile trek to the trail start. Here we setup a good spot to take pictures of the participants as they drove up the trail.







We had a flat tire mid-way through the first trail, which we were able to fix quickly as a group. Team effort to get the tire changed and the rig back on the road.



The first stop was the Golden Gate Mine. All that is left is the rock crusher and a few old building remains. The mine had little data, but did pull $12,000 of gold out in one day.


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The trails to the Leviathan Mine were through some great open country which had one section that really worked the suspension of all the vehicles. This was followed up by a short pavement stretch to the mine road, which took you through some great canyon running to the mine overlook.







After the Leviathan Mine, the group made their way to Markleeville for lunch and then to head home.

 

Video is up and online. Enjoy all the sights, rigs and people that made this one amazing weekend adventure.

Next outing is July 18th for Poker Run II which is a half (ish) day run to hit trails outside Fernley NV. Link for the trails run is under the event section of the forum.

https://youtu.be/z35V2BwoyMQ

 

Wow , ive drivin across from LA to LV a few time just on the free way allways craving to venture off road. But the hire vehicle has never been suitible , can some one tell me the name of the town you can see up on the mountain side about 5 cliks out of vagas