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hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 16, 2013 - 06:43pm PT
Inspired by the Little Feat thread

Did you ever hit a town or a place, and you had to stop for a moment and let it soak in?

One of the best years of my life. I had just broken up with old whatsername, and I was coming back home to start school one more time. It was 1983. I was trying to cross Nevada on U.S. 6, and I got dropped off in Tonopah by a guy driving retrieval for the hang gliders going off the Eastern Sierras- first time I ever saw cocaine- he offered me a line but I was too shy.

Tonopah-the last of the mining towns in the west, and for good measure there was the top secret air force base that was flying the, then new, stealth fighter overhead.

I got dead-headed all night trying to go east. The same 8 teenagers drove by again and again as they cruised Main, up to Fourth, down Southern, and then back to Main up to Fourth......and anyway I ended up crashing in a vacant lot on the edge of town. Those teenage sonsobitches sought me out as I was crawling into my sleeping bag and flashed their brights on me and serenaded me one more time as I settled into the gravel and the dust.
I left Tonopah around 5 A.M. Had to walk across town and got a 60 mile ride back west to a crossroads. This was a bad place to be; absolutely nothing there but a one story brick building that I was speculating was some sort of whorehouse. Middle of the Nevada desert, with those 60 miles of momentum behind them, no one was ever going to stop. And they didn't. you could hear the road hiss from the tires, for a long time after the cars passed by.
Four hours later, the guy who dropped me off there- came back to check up on me-I mean, who does that? He gave me a ride another 120 miles west to Lee Vining and I went up 395 to Reno and the Interstate.
On the entrance ramps, on the backside of the No Hitchhiking signs, people would write cryptic messages: Three days- out of cash, out of dope, out of luck. Helped to set the tone.
I got a ride to Winnemucca in the back of a pick up. Couple of young guys with a case of beer-I swear every other car in the west is driven by someone who's loaded.
Took me two days and nights to get home- I rode across half a continent in the beds of pick ups.
Staring west while heading east.

"....And I've been from Tuscon to Tucomcari....."

Any other freeze frame moments you'd like to share?
zBrown

Ice climber
chingadero de chula vista
Feb 16, 2013 - 06:55pm PT
poetic license














http://longislandbluesman.tripod.com/
kunlun_shan

Mountain climber
SF, CA
Feb 16, 2013 - 07:21pm PT
Thanks for that, hobo_dan!

I always like going through Tonopah, actually :-)

Brings up memories of the radio station recording Pate posted a few years back. Best recording of "Willin'" i've had the fortune of hearing. Lowell George and Linda Ronstadt. Good soundtrack for this thread: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/lowellgeorge1974-03-19.asx

credit to http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1232110&msg=1242888#msg1242888
Fish Finder

Social climber
THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
Feb 16, 2013 - 07:26pm PT


Tonopah, the ghost town that lives.


Once I was coming home from Vegas on the 95 over the Westgard Pass,

Made it allthe way to the border as Neveda had plowed, Ill be damned if California didnt and I had to back track and go up to Tonopah to come down on the 6.

Well the snow storm got more intense and to make it over the pass there you would need chains. Not one pair to be sold in Tonopah.

WTF
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Feb 16, 2013 - 07:30pm PT
I stopped with my then girlfriend at the northern junction of the ET highway, where the abandoned hot spring facility is.

We were swimming in the pool with the dog, naked obviously, for a good half hour, when a lone semi rolls up to the junction.

My lady stands up in the pool, shows the goods, and waves.

We got a honk from the truck, and he went on his way.

Once he finished his way up the grade, it was only us and the wind again..,

Edit; someone else here has posted photos or discussed (can't remember) of the creepy abandoned changing rooms adjacent to the pool. I didn't care to comment at the time, but, yeah, creepy.
The Larry

climber
Moab, UT
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:00pm PT
I've stayed at the clown motel.
BooYah

Social climber
Ely, Nv
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:07pm PT
Rural Nevada ain't creepy, it's just weird. I imagine you all can handle weird. I'm from Ely, so it feels normal. Cities are weird.
Come on back, breaker?
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:14pm PT
Being there with a woman kept me alert...

You see vehicles coming from miles away and it gives you time to consider your defenses.

Never had to take action, but the isolation and constant wind always kept me alert.

I'm not paranoid normally, but I felt a little paranoid out there.
BooYah

Social climber
Ely, Nv
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:17pm PT
Puss...nothing personal, you understand.
WBraun

climber
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:19pm PT
Me ... somewhere in Nevada 1968


I'm hitch hiking to the Tetons, summer 1968.

Little old lady stopped for me outside Reno.

She asked if I was a serial killer.

I said; "Yep, that's me".

She said; "Good!!! get in" .....
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:25pm PT
Puss

No offense taken.

If you were suddenly thrown from Ely to NYC, might it seem a little strange?

I've never been to NYC, but it's a suitable analogy in my opinion.
rottingjohnny

Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:25pm PT
I tried making reservations at the pet friendly Clown Motel once...When i checked in i quickly discovered why they advertised pet friendly when they handed me the key and cowboy boots to kill the cockroaches...Don't pick up hitch-hikers when you drive thru Ely....RJ
hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2013 - 08:35pm PT
Nevada never felt weird to me--just people working hard. Now Utah--that has been weird!

The ride I got going west out of Tonopah was with a surveyor who had no work unless it came from the air base--I think he told me about the stealth fighter? But too long ago.
He drops me off 60 miles west at this cross roads and this is a VERY bad place to try and get away from. Just a building, U.S. 6 and some road going north. You could hear the wheel hiss of the westbound cars for miles and miles--total doppler effect as they busted by you without even a thought of slowing down. And then more wheel hiss.........
I'm there most of the day, and about 2 in the afternoon, the same guy who dropped me off--he shows up because he said he was concerned about me getting home (connection--my Dad was a land surveyor- it was a Sunday and he said he had nothing to do)! The upshot, is this guy gives me a ride back to Lee Vining- must have been 100 miles! It was probably the only time I got a ride where there was NOT a case of beer in the back--I swear every car in the West is drunk.
I've never forgotten that and many times I've picked up hitch hikers and given them some money or clothing, bus fare, whatever. All a spin off from that un-named guy from Tonopah.
BooYah

Social climber
Ely, Nv
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:36pm PT
I respect your point, NH guy. Live Free or Die.
I respect that.
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Feb 16, 2013 - 08:51pm PT
Can we change the topic a bit? Who has picked up strange hitchhiker or been picked up by a strange driver?

Since we're talking about the lonesome west and all...

[Click to View YouTube Video]
ms55401

Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
Feb 16, 2013 - 09:23pm PT
that's a great song. seriously, what's a better road-trip song than that? Six Days on the Road? On the Road Again? City of New Orleans? Freight Train?

I dunno. I'll go with Willin'.
Brandon-

climber
The Granite State.
Feb 16, 2013 - 09:27pm PT
Just back from a long walk with three hyperactive labs and Little Feat tunes were the soundtrack in my head. Seriously, awesome.

Good thread, thanks.
coastal_climber

Trad climber
Squamish, BC
Feb 16, 2013 - 09:33pm PT
Driving somewhere on Interstate 6 at probably 2AM and had taken hits out of a pipe made out of a monster can. We were listening to the radio when it went quiet and after a bit said "Alien radio" freaked the sh#t outta us. I'm assuming it was the station name, but will never forget it. Made it to vegas safe and sound the following evening after a stop at warm springs.
hobo_dan

Social climber
Minnesota
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 16, 2013 - 09:34pm PT
DMT: cheeseburger, ketchup only
Nice narrative--I can see the snow out the windows of the diner
coastal_climber

Trad climber
Squamish, BC
Feb 16, 2013 - 09:38pm PT
I must mention how much I love your (americas) highways, they are built for travelling.
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