FosterVS Mysterious Flat Spot, June 30, 2012
by Gregos
A few weeks ago, DLR member FosterVS posted an interesting find in the forum. A mysterious flat spot he discovered on the West side of Tikaboo Peak, located at: 37° 20.115'N, 115° 23.486'W. After an in depth look at the area with Google Earth and the Cutler Reservoir USGS Topo map, I determined that if a near by dirt road was accessible then a hike up to the spot was very possible. Now I just had to sell the hike to Joerg. We met for dinner one night after work and after a few cold ones, I sprang the trek on him complete with the Topo map and my iPad loaded with Google Earth. I guess I sold the idea of having a closer look at the FosterVS site because we made plans to look at the area that weekend as we were both going to be in Rachel. Thinking FosterVS lived in Las Vegas, I invited him to meet up with us but it turns out he is our neighbor to the North and far from Rachel, NV. We set out Saturday morning around 10am. Both Rock Springs Rd and the dirt road require a high clearance 4WD vehicle. But both are also in good condition for the most part and only have a few bad spots. We parked at Waypoint 3 and hiked the rest of the way. This was a moderate 1 mile hike with an increase of elevation of 600 feet. Most of which is the last 0.3 miles.
W1 37° 23.455'N, 115° 28.823'W GLR & Rock Springs Rd
W2 37° 20.792'N, 115° 26.661'W Rock Springs Rd & Dirt Rd
W3 37° 20.644'N, 115° 24.130'W Parking Spot and Start of Hike
W4 37° 20.573'N, 115° 23.768'W Out of the Wash
W5 37° 20.445'N, 115° 23.676'W Into Wash #2
W6 37° 20.366'N, 115° 23.458'W Up the Hill
W7 37° 20.115'N, 115° 23.486'W Mysterious Flat Spot
When we reached the top, our dreams of a secret Air Force Installation were shattered by the sight of a water collection system constructed by the Safari Club ~ Desert Chapter for Bighorn Sheep! The system consists of a 30 x 60 foot rubber pool liner laid on the ground with a hose feeding three 2,000 gallon water tanks. The 3 tanks then feed water to a small trough for the wildlife to drink. Joerg opened one tank to see it was filled by rain almost all the way to the top. Simple yet genius. Although, the find was a bust it was a fun hike on a gorgeous day with an amazing view of the Tikaboo Valley. Sorry you couldn't be there FosterVS but nice catch anyway! In the end, another Area 51 mystery solved...
The Climb |
The View |
The flat Spot |
The Tanks |
The Trough |
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A few weeks ago, DLR member FosterVS posted an interesting find in the forum. A mysterious flat spot he discovered on the West side of Tikaboo Peak, located at: 37° 20.115'N, 115° 23.486'W. After an in depth look at the area with Google Earth and the Cutler Reservoir USGS Topo map, I determined that if a near by dirt road was accessible then a hike up to the spot was very possible. Now I just had to sell the hike to Joerg. We met for dinner one night after work and after a few cold ones, I sprang the trek on him complete with the Topo map and my iPad loaded with Google Earth. I guess I sold the idea of having a closer look at the FosterVS site because we made plans to look at the area that weekend as we were both going to be in Rachel. Thinking FosterVS lived in Las Vegas, I invited him to meet up with us but it turns out he is our neighbor to the North and far from Rachel, NV. We set out Saturday morning around 10am. Both Rock Springs Rd and the dirt road require a high clearance 4WD vehicle. But both are also in good condition for the most part and only have a few bad spots. We parked at Waypoint 3 and hiked the rest of the way. This was a moderate 1 mile hike with an increase of elevation of 600 feet. Most of which is the last 0.3 miles.
