Yellowstone and Geezer VII - Elko to Jackpot, NV via Jarbidge, NV

September 26

Today our final destination is Jackpot, NV, which is a short drive, but we will be taking a much more interesting route to get there. We will be going through the remote town of Jarbidge,NV, which is north of Elko and about eight miles from the Idaho border.  Jarbidge is a town with a summer population of about 40, and about 20 through the winter months.

Our route for the day highlighted in yellow.  Highlighted in red is our
starting point of Elko at the bottom, and then Jarbidge in the center near
 the top, and finally our stop for the night, Jackpot at the upper right.

The only way to get to Jarbidge is on a long dirt road that winds through the mountains and crosses a couple of 8500 foot passes.  There is slightly easier access (and the only access open in winter) from Idaho, but it is still a dirt road through some rugged countryside.  Our plan today was to head north out of Elko and get to Jarbidge in time for lunch, then continue on to Idaho until we hit US 93, which we would take south a few miles to Jackpot, NV where we would spend the night.

We wanted to get an early start so we were up at seven and left Elko just after eight, but not before we made sure we had a full tank of gas.  The first 50 miles is on NV Hwy. 225, which is a good paved road.

The morning starts heading north out of Elko on NV 225.

Soon we reached the turnoff to Jarbidge and we were off on our adventure.  The road was a gravel and dirt road which was rough, but in good shape.  Four wheel drive is not required, but having a high clearance vehicle is advised.  We were told that the road was fairly easy unless it rained and then the road became very slick with mud and would be dangerous on the steeper sections.  The scenery started out as typical high dessert, but as we started to climb in altitude it gave way to more trees and more alpine-like scenery.  The road was sparsely traveled, but it must have been hunting season as we ran into a few hunters and could see hunting camps along the way.  The scenery got better and better as we went along, with some fall color in the aspens and sweeping vistas off the high passes, as well as heavy forest as we came down into the valleys.  There were streams and ponds adding to the beautiful scenery.  Although rain threatened it turned out to be beautiful day, with blue sky filled with huge white clouds.  Below is a photo tour of our trip to Jarbidge.

The beginning of the road to Jarbidge.

 

We're getting closer.

Hunting season was underway and we saw a number of hunters' camps.

This is what's left of the town of Charleston.

Nice to know we're still on the right track.

The last high pass, and then we begin our final descent towards Jarbidge.

Around noon we started coming down from the high country towards Jarbidge, which is at 6200 feet.  The town of Jarbidge was bigger than we thought with quite a few homes, a very small store, café, saloon and even a gift shop.  We stopped and had a good lunch at the Outdoor Inn and talked to the friendly owner who told us she would open up the Community Center, which served as a small town museum, for us to go into.  Here is a photo tour of the town.

We made it, and we're entering Jarbidge.

Val walks along Main Street.

The Outdoor Inn where we had a good lunch and friendly service.

The Community Center which also serves as a town museum.

There is even a motel in town.

And a gift shop.

And of course a saloon.

This is the original town jail that is no longer used.

After finishing lunch and checking out the museum we explored the town a bit and then continued our journey.  We followed the Jarbidge River (which eventually empties into the Snake River) out of town and most of the way into Idaho.  As we continued to descend out of the mountains the trees became sparser, and as we drove further into Idaho the land became very arid.  Eventually we hit the pavement again and made our way to US 93 where we turned south and drove the 17 miles to the border town of Jackpot.

We followed the Jarbidge River Canyon out of town towards Idaho.

The arid flat lands of Idaho.

Jackpot is a typical Nevada border town with a cluster of hotels and casinos.  We had stayed at Cactus Pete’s a few years ago and found it to be a nice hotel so we planned to stay there again.  We arrived around five and after a bit of rest, we of course headed down to the casino.  This turned out to be a good night for Val and an excellent night for me.  She ended with a little more than she came with, and I ended up doing even better.  Even though this is not really a gambling trip, I have done really well which is pretty unusual for me.  Tomorrow we turn north again and head for West Yellowstone, Montana.

Yellowstone and Geezer VII - The Trip Begins

September 22 – Atascadero to Roseville, CA

 

We didn’t get on the road this morning until 10:30, but we had a short drive today so it didn’t really matter.  Traffic was pretty light today on I5 particularly the truck traffic so it turned out to be an easy drive.  Tomorrow it will only take us a couple of hours to get to Reno so we can maximize our time there.  One thing we noticed when we arrived in Roseville was how thick the smoke was from the King Fire near Lake Tahoe.

September 23 – Roseville to Reno

Traffic was pretty light, but the smoke from the fire was very thick.  You felt like you were sitting by a campfire with the smoke blowing in your face.

We arrived in Reno just after noon and saw they were already closing streets for their annual Street Vibrations Festival.  Street Vibrations is a huge motorcycle gathering in downtown Reno.  The closed streets are lined with various motorcycle related vendors, food and drink vendors, and entertainment.  Several years ago we unsuspectingly arrived at the height of it on our way back from Idaho and it was very crowded.  This year we knew it was coming, but figured it wouldn’t really get crowded until the weekend after we were already gone.

We checked in and were pleased to learn that we had gotten a suite again, that’s one of the advantages of staying in Reno.  Our room was ready so we settled in, cleaned up and then went down for some gambling.  I had a terrible time and soon had used up my afternoon gambling allotment.  We had lunch and I went back up to the room while Val, who had much better luck, went back to the casino. Our room was on the 21st floor and we had a great view so I spent the afternoon reading and watching the set-up for the Street Vibrations.  Val joined me later and after relaxing a bit we went back to the casino where I had a dramatic change in luck.  I sat down and put twenty dollars in a dollar slot machine and about half way through my money I hit a win for $800 and suddenly things looked a lot better.

After a little more time in the casino we went to dinner and had some good Chinese food.  After dinner it was back to the casino for a short time and then called it a night.

The view from our room was great.

 

September 24 – Reno

We slept in this morning and after breakfast we decided to walk around and check out what was going on with the Street Vibrations.  The vendors’ booths were all open and there were quite a few people checking things out, but nowhere near the crowds that would be out later in the week.  This would have been great fun for me back in my twenties or thirties, but my biker days are long over so there really wasn’t much that interested me.  

Street Vibrations was just getting underway.

We checked out some of the other downtown hotels and casinos and then returned to Harrah’s and had lunch.  The rest of the day was spent gambling and relaxing and generally doing nothing.  After dinner we had some free play given to us by Harrah's, which we used and then called it a night.  We had a good time in Reno as it is pretty low key compared to Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas and not nearly as crowded.  Thanks to my big win yesterday I actually ended up a little ahead gambling, which is always a welcome surprise.

September 25 – Reno to Elko, NV

Today our destination was Elko, NV, which is only a five hour drive from Reno so we took our time getting ready to go this morning.  We had another buffet pass to use so we opted for brunch so we wouldn’t have to stop for lunch.  We were on the road by 10:00 and headed east on Interstate 80 with very light traffic.

Driving I80 across Northern Nevada.

Except for a large amount of construction it was an easy drive and we were in Elko by 3:00.  We’re staying in Elko because tomorrow we are taking an off-road trip to the remote town of Jarbidge, NV, and Elko is the nearest town to the turnoff.  During dinner tonight we met a couple who had lived in Jackson, WY for many years and gave us a lot of advice of things to see and do while we are in the Tetons.  We have actually planned only one day in the Tetons and now we’re wishing we had planned for more; oh well, there’s always another trip.

Yellowstone and Geezer VII - It's That Time Again

As any of our faithful followers may know by now, it’s once again time for our annual “Gathering of Geezers”.  The “geezers” are a group of four friends who all turned sixty in 2008 and started this annual event.  The original geezers are Jack, John, Val and myself and since then we have added John’s partner Greg, who turned sixty a few years ago, and this year Jack’s wife Steph will be initiated into the group after being a geezer in training for the last six years.  We have been friends for many years and now we live far enough apart that we don’t see each other very often so these yearly gatherings are very special to all of us.  Here is a link to the original blog entry I wrote several years ago explaining the history and intertwining of our friendships.  This year we will be renting a house for five days in Arroyo Seco, Mew Mexico which is just outside of Taos.

Last year when we had our gathering in Driggs, Idaho, and Val and I had made plans to visit Yellowstone, The Tetons and Flaming Gorge after the festivities ended, but due to Val’s knee problems and the government shutdown we had to cancel those plans.  This year we plan to drive north and spend a couple of days in Reno and then make a side trip to a very remote small town called Jarbidge which is located near the Nevada, Idaho border.  From there it will be on to Yellowstone, The Tetons and Flaming Gorge before making our way to Arroyo Seco.

We are almost ready to hit the road and I probably won’t be publishing anything until we get home.