Cold Springs, Nevada

Our next trip was to Cold Springs Pony Express Station, once again along Highway 50.   Although it was a bright, sunny day with only the odd cloud lurking about there was a cool wind, so we both needed our jackets to keep the wind out.   There were no actual trail markings, just a narrow path leading off into the sage.

We followed the trail as it went slowly uphill and although we looked through the binoculars we couldn’t see anything apart from sage, sage and more sage. After about 45 minutes we still hadn’t found the Pony Express Station and were beginning to wonder if we’d somehow wandered off onto a cow path, we hadn’t.

10 or 15 minutes later we came to a dirt road and the Pony Express Station was right in front of us.   The dirt road was actually the Pony Express Trail.

Crossing the trail we went through a fence and over a small stream, which we assume was once the water source for the station.

The views from the site are amazing; in one direction the Desatoya Mountains create a stunning backdrop soaring above the station; in the other, the view across the valley towards the Clan Alpine Mountains is equally stunning.   As we looked across the valley it appeared to be totally empty, we couldn’t even see Highway 50 until we saw a car driving along.

Built in about 1860 the station was quite large, 116ft. x 51ft. the walls were about 6ft. high and 3ft. thick.   It had four distinct rooms, barn, storage area, corral and living quarters.

The corral was next to the living quarters primarily so that the horses could be guarded but also so their body heat could help heat the building, as the Station Masters only had one small fireplace to keep the place warm through Nevada’s frigid winters.

The station is remarkably well preserved, we could still see the remains of the fireplace in the living quarters and the small gun ports in the walls.   In 1976 a team of archaeologists from the University of Nevada excavated and removed all artifacts from the site.

There were no other visitors to the site while we were there, and when we signed the trail register we discovered that we were the first visitors to the station since some Canadians 4 days earlier.

By now the wind had dropped and it was really warm, so we found a couple of convenient rocks, and sat for a while simply enjoying the sunshine, the views and the peace and quiet.

Once back at the jeep we drove over to the old Overland Stage Station and the Transcontinental Telegraph Station.   Sadly both are now behind fences to protect them from vandals and souvenir hunters.  

The remains of the Transcontinental Telegraph Station. 

Despite how it looks in all the best cowboy films, travelling by stage was no fun as it was either hot and dusty or absolutely freezing cold and passengers, whatever the weather, were expected to get out and help push the stage coach steep slopes, blistering heat, arctic winds deep snow or mud, it didn’t make any difference.

The remains of the Overland Stage Station.

As we drove back to Fallon even though the sun was out, the sky started to cloud over and it became decidedly chilly, but I was able to get some good photographs of the salt flats.

People write their names in rock along the edge of the salt, in some places it looked very gloopy, I’m not sure I’d want all that salt stuck on my boots.

Have fun, we are!