Our last ride in the Great Basin area went up into the hills and Black Horse Canyon towards Mount Moriah. It was purely exploratory because we knew nothing about the roads. It was mostly a success.
The gravel/dirt was pretty good for the most part as we headed up into the canyon. As the story goes, in March 1906, prospector Tommy Watkins of Osceola found shelter under an overhanging ledge during a storm. While there, he chipped at some rock and accidentally discovered gold. Word quickly spread, and 100 (including Watkins) staked claims within a week. By April, 400 people lived in the camp of Black Horse, and businesses quickly sprang up including three stores and saloons, two boarding houses, a blacksmith shop, and a barbershop (though most of these were housed in tents and not permanent buildings). A school was built, and by the end of summer a post office was opened. Today there isn’t much left.
After climbing up through juniper and pine on a twisty dirt road we descended into a canyon and then turned onto a pretty narrow double track that snaked into a rocky canyon. The road kept getting worse and we eventually turned around after taking a break. Instead of back tracking we tried taking a different series of roads but ran into private property. So, back we went.
It is nice there are still so many places not heavily developed or even explored.
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