Yard Sale at the Border Inn

I received this info:


"There will be a yard sale at in front of the Border Inn on Saturday March 31st from 10 am to 4 pm Nevada time. Items will include hand and power tools, an ATV, guns, and other stuff. This is 3 men that came from New York to prospect and need money to fly home."


Oh my, I have so many questions! How did they decide to come out here? When did they come? Where did they prospect? Did they have any previous experience? What was the prospecting like? What are they going to do now?


If you have answers to any of these questions, please leave a comment!

Spring Sheep

Snake Valley has been a winter destination for sheep for about 150 years. We saw them near the highway the other day. The brown ones help the sheepherders keep count. Often there is one brown sheep for every 50 white sheep. In April, the sheepherders from New Zealand (and some other places) will be setting up their mobile shearing units, ready to get the sheep prepared for summer.

The mountains in the background look fairly snowy. The Baker Creek snow survey is scheduled for this Friday to see how much snow is up in the mountains!

Traffic report from North Snake Valley

Here's what traffic looked like in North Snake Valley recently.

By the way, if you plug in Ibapah into your GPS, you might not want to follow the directions.
The GPS wanted us to go up Granite Canyon, proceed past the wilderness study area (where the road has been blocked off for at least ten years and is no longer drivable for portions beyond), up and over the crest of the Deep Creek Mountains (which should have a few feet of snow at the top), and drop down into Ibapah on the other side (when was the last time that road was driven?).

I had to unplug the GPS for awhile because the constant updating got on my nerves. Once we got up to Callao, I plugged it back in, certain that now I would get decent directions. Nope. The GPS kept wanting me to turn off the main road onto rugged two-tracks that went north, away from Ibapah!

Now I have a better understanding of how people get lost way out in the middle of nowhere. Here's my advice: Do not use the GPS instructions if they seem wrong! Use your common sense!

Anyone else have any interesting GPS adventures in Snake Valley?
Here's one.

Spring Valley in the News

L.A. Times' reporter Ashley Powell also did an article about Spring Valley while she was out visiting rural Great Basin. She tied in the Longnow Foundation and the SNWA pipeline in an article called "Water war gets 'clock people' ticking."

Snake Valley in the LA Times

It wasn't just sheepherders at the 2012 Sheepherders' Party at the Border Inn in January. Amidst the cowboy boots, wool sweaters, and white hair was a young reporter from the Los Angeles Times. Her story, Old Sheepherders Spin Poignant Yarns, appeared in yesterday's LA Times on the front page. Accompanying it was a photo taken by Snake Valley's own Brandi Eriksmoen Roberts. Click on the link to check it out!