On June 8th 2020 our Copper Hills members met up at Middle Gate, Nevada to have lunch and start our trip to visit and explore Austin, Nevada. The lunch was great and the hamburgers were delicious as always. However, this time most members opted for the smaller hamburger instead of their signature monster burger.
After lunch we headed out toward Austin electing to follow State Route 722 over the Carrol Summit located in the Desatoya Mountain Range. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and set up our rigs in a small RV park run by the Austin Baptist Church. A total of 9 rigs participated. The rest of the day was just spent relaxing and visiting.
On day two, we traveled 12 miles north of Austin to Big Creek. The Big Creek Valley was beautiful. We drove up the valley until we found a beautiful meadow with trees, grass and the creek running through the meadow. For the rest of the day some member fished for trout, some members relaxed and read books and some members played games. Jack was the only one that was successful at fishing while the rest of those who fished just succeeded in getting lots of exercise walking along the creek. By late afternoon our day was coming to an end and we headed back to Austin to fix dinner and visit.
Day three was another beautiful day with everyone headed to the west end of town and toured the famous Stokes Castle. After the Stokes Castle, we headed east on highway 50 with a first stop at the Bob Scott Forest Service Campground at the top of the passes above Austin. The reason for stopping was to research the possibility of camping at Bob Scott in the future. We found the camp ground area neat, clean, with sites large enough to accommodate RVs and there were several places with water spigots with potable water available. After visiting the Bob Scott Campground we drove another 20 miles east on highway 50 to the Hickison Petroglyphs Campground turn off. At the turn off, we drove approximately 1 ½ miles north to the camp ground. At the campground we followed the interpretive trail on foot to look at the ancient petroglyphs. The petroglyphs were well preserved, the trail was well marked, it was easy to walk and the surround scenery was easy on the eyes. Rounding out our visit we stopped to enjoy our picnic lunch and relax. After lunch we headed back west for ten miles on highway 50 to the intersection with State Highway 376. From the intersection we drove south for 15 miles to the small town of Kingston Canyon, Nevada. We wanted to drive up Kingston Canyon to see the valley, the creek and look to see if there was a possibility of camping there in the future. The valley was very pretty and the road we were on would eventually connect with the Big Creek road on the western side of the Toiyabe Mountain Range. (We never drove far enough to connect with the Big Creek road but the mountains were beautiful.) We also stopped at the Miles End Bed and Breakfast to determine if they were still in business. To our delight, the B&B was still in business and still owned by the same people that owned it when Janet & Dean and Brad & Judi stayed there several years before. At the end of the day everyone migrated back to Austin for dinner and conversation.
Day 4 was filled with a tour of Austin itself. Randy had arranged for Kathy to be our tour guide. She is the town’s museum director and was featured on one of Wild Nevada’s segments when they visited Austin, Nevada. She took use on a walking tour of the Austin Court House, the St George’s Episcopal Church and the Austin museum. At the court house she shared lots of stories about the court house and gave us a political history of how Austin was the original Lander County Seat and how Battle Mountain succeeded in moving the count seat from Austin to Battle Mountain. At the Episcopal Church we were introduced to beautiful stain glass windows, an intimate area for worshiping, a working bell to call people to worship (several people were invited to ring the bell) and a magnificent pipe organ. (The original pipe organ was powered by hand but it is now retrofitted with an electric blower which makes it a lot easier to play.) At the museum we followed our own self-directed tour. There was a lot of history at the small museum and everyone enjoyed what the museum had to offer.
As the day ended, everyone gathered at the old International Hotel. We quenched our thirst, played pool and soaked up the ambience the hotel offered. It was quite a historical building and had an even more interesting owner. The final stop of the day was at the Owl Club Bar and restaurant . Randy had talked to the Owl Club owners the day before and they offered to smoke a tri tip roast as an option along with their normal menu. When we arrived half of us had the prearranged smoked tri tip roast and half had handmade pizza’s. The end of the day found everyone tired, well fed and ready for bed.
Day 5 was taken up with packing up and heading home. Needless to say it was a great trip.
Thank You Randy and Shirley for organizing such a fun time.
