A Nevada Roadtrip

My dad and I to take a road trip down US95 from Reno to Tonopah, and see what needed to be photographed along the way.

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Smokey Sunrise by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
We embarked before dawn and caught the sun rising near Wadsworth. The sun took on a strong red hue from the Rim Fire burning near Yosemite.

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Hazen, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
Our first stop was Hazen, Nevada which has a small sign that reads "It's Happening In Hazen." This was made famous as one of the roughest town in Nevada, and was made notorious for hosting one of the last lynchings to take place in the Western US. Eventually Hazen became a stop along the Lincoln Highway, prior to the advent of Interstate 80 and US50, where motorist could stop, refuel and rest along the way.

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Hazen, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
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Hazen Market by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
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Hazen Market by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
The Hazen Market has had a long and illustrious history as it has been moved several times to to align with whatever change the railroad or the highway system through at it when it rerouted track or highway pavement. The signage and building date back to the Forties in it's current form.

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Alan, Owner of the Hazen Market by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
This is Alan, he is the current owner of the Hazen Market. He purchased the place in 2001 and explains that he was honest, hard-working small business owner. He proudly tells the story that he would travel to Fallon and Fernley and shop the convenience stores in those towns to ensure that he was carrying all the right merchandise at the right prices.

He ended his conversation as I shot his photo fuming at the latest development that led to him closing his business. The Nevada DOT recently put in a center divider that cuts off access to his store to anyone traveling southbound on ALT 50/US 95. He passionately told of the decision to close his business as one of the hardest things he had to do. He explained that between the new divider and the "Californians" that would "ruin" his bathrooms and then not purchase fuel or food, he felt it was time to close the business. After his passion subsided you could tell he was deflated and frustrated, and he further explained now he rents some out buildings and works odd jobs to support his family.

More to come from this journey...

From Hazen, our next stop would be the town of Schurz which is the only town on the Walker River Paiute Indian Reservation. Immediately it became clear that this was a town that progress had passed by...

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Schurz, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
Running through the middle of town is a rail line that connects the Army Depot at Hawthorne, Nevada with the Union Pacific line that runs from Salt Lake to Reno. This rail line is frequently used to haul explosive and other ordinance to it's final storage destination at the Depot.

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Vintage Post Office by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
The post office in Schurz was a throw back to a different era, as evidenced by the vintage decals from the 1950's or 60's.

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Schurz, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
An abandoned gas station hints at better days that were had on the reservation.

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Schurz, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
This is the last photo I shot in Schurz. My dad and I had began to zero in on this place that was next door to the post office, as the textures and look of this abandoned house was awesome. As I tripped the shutter on this photo, a lady came out of the post office screaming hysterically that we were stealing the soul of the house that belonged to her parents at one point in time. She continued to rant, as we apologized and quickly made our way to the car. She screamed that she was calling the tribal police and they would deal with us...

After we hastily departed from Schurz, we drove on and reached Hawthorne, Nevada. The site of a deadly mortar accident that claimed the lives of several Marines earlier this year. The unique nature of Hawthorne and it's high desert climate has added value to the base, which was once slated for closure, as an ideal training site which mimics many of the same features as Afghanistan. The base is the central repository for small arms munition and other large ordinance. It's remote location and dry climate make it ideal for the short and long term storage in it's 3000 bunkers.

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Hawthorne, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
As we pulled up to this building along the railroad tracks, we survey the scene and saw no signage or indicators that this seemingly abandoned location was a part of the nearby Army Depot. No sooner than I had begun to put the camera up to my eye for the second exposure, a private security contractor, with SOC emblazoned on the door, pulled up in his truck. The uniformed individual motioned for us to approach his truck, at which time he told us that we were in violation of several federal laws for photographing a military installation. He explained that he would require us to delete the images we had just shot and he would allow us to leave without calling the MP's. We refused and after a rather tense few moments he relented, allowing us to leave without deleting our photos.

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Luning, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
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Luning, Nevada by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
Shortly after our harrowing escape from Hawthorne we continued on and entered the small town of Luning, population 87. This town was by far the most welcoming and recieved waves instead of the glares and suspicion that we had seen in Schurz. We saw this mill from the highway, right outside town, and decided to pull over and walk the 200 yards to it. As we approached it's metal doors and roof panels would sway and squeal in the wind making one of the most horrific noises, something akin to a horror movie.

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Luning, Nevada Mill by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
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Luning, Nevada Mill by Battle Born Photography, on Flickr
Once inside the mill, it was obvious that at one point this mill was used and had been abandoned quickly, as there were still gigantic rolls of cardboard and fastening materials in side rooms.