8 replies to this topic

[DaleS]

Turn off the A/C and roll down the windows in your high clearance pickup for this one. 4x4 not needed if you know how to drive offroad.
This 8 mile section is not marked at either end, there are markers at two places when the 1913 Lincoln Hwy
turns off the Pony Express Trail.

Lets start this adventure 2.3 miles west of Tippett, NV where the Pony Express Trail crosses the modern Lincoln Hwy
at 39 50.253 114 21.665. Go north a half mile and you will see this sign; 39 50.081 114 22.242



The road looks like this:



The road to the right goes about .4 of a mile and that road disappears where a creek was damned up long ago and is a bog now. The only way
I found it was the gps on my bike showed the old road. Nothing but a dirt bike could take .6 of a mile back to the modern road.

The road we want is straight ahead. At 1.6 miles there is a fork and another sign, 1913 Lincoln Hwy takes the left fork and the Pony Express goes
right and crosses the mountains Rock Spring Pass the highest point on the Pony Express Trail at 7,890'. 39 49.589 114 23.769



A picture along the road:




There is a fence crossing at 39 48.608 114 24.510

About .4 of a mile after the fence crossing there is a road forking to the left, go straight.

Another picture along the road, the dust straight ahead is a truck on the modern Lincoln hwy:



The road ends 39 44.860 114 27.013 This is why it is hidden:



I put some rocks to mark it,



Now you are back on the dull road, thanks for riding along with me.

Dale

Edited by DaleS, 17 July 2011 - 05:55 PM.

[DennyG]

Absolutely wonderful! I, of course, drove right by that section last month and as soon as I began to understand approximately where you were I wanted to blame it on Garmin. But this miss was clearly and completely my doing. The section you have described so well is marked as 1913 LH on the LHA Driving CD but the path I plotted bypassed it. It might have just been my lack of tweaking in that area but I think it more likely that the dashed line on the map scared me off. And even if it hadn't, the sight of that tall-grass two-track might have. Thanks so much for sharing another segment that I missed last month and which awaits my next visit. The great pictures and well done description are much appreciated.

A couple of minor typos are easily dealt with but to save others a bit of head scratching I'll point out that both times a longitude of 144 is mentioned, 114 is actually correct.

[wanderlustjake]

Fantastic photos and documentation. How are you finding these segments and how difficult has it been to locate them? What would your rate of travel be if you had to reason a guess? Curious if you are able to go much faster than the cars of the day were able to. Please keep the pictures coming, this has been very interesting to follow.

Jason

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Dale,

Good stuff! I too have been past that stretch, but I don't think I knew it even existed.

Dave

Keep the Show on the Road!

[mga707]

I'm impressed and pleased by the BLM signage. The original LH is old enough now (98yrs) to be sign-worthy!

[DaleS]

Denny, I missed it driving east also. On my way back, I went up the Pony Express road saw I was on the LH and saw a couple
roads going left waited then when I saw the second LH sign. Yes, Denny 144 would put you in the Pacific Ocean.

Wanderlustjake, I don't thing you can go much faster today then back then on some parts. Not the kind of road I go fast on.

Dave, my Benchmark Atlas showed it as a small red line labeled "old Lincoln Hwy". I knew it was there. As you see in the photos
it doesn't show from the southern end. The Pony Express Trail west of Tippett is the way to find without the gps numbers.

Mga707, Blm didn't put a sign at the end. the last 1/2 mile is confusing. The is an easy way out there. I was lucky, someone had
driven over it not very long ago and had made tracks in the weeds.

[bbutko]

Hi all! First, thanks to Denny for reminding me of this forum. The tab had somehow disappeared from my browser, and over the course of a busy two years, I'd forgotten to check it. A new tab is now there!

So many great pictures and stories! Just two questions for now.

Is there a site that easily translates GPS coordinates into map locations? I tried some of the above with Google Maps but it put me in China - although it did look like an interesting road and village!

And Dale, I think I can follow your 8-mile route on maps but I expected the last photo to have the modern road on the left as you headed south and rejoined it. Is that the case or is there indeed no trace at that juncture? Is your last view looking north?

Brian

[DaleS]

Hi all! First, thanks to Denny for reminding me of this forum. The tab had somehow disappeared from my browser, and over the course of a busy two years, I'd forgotten to check it. A new tab is now there!

So many great pictures and stories! Just two questions for now.

Is there a site that easily translates GPS coordinates into map locations? I tried some of the above with Google Maps but it put me in China - although it did look like an interesting road and village!

And Dale, I think I can follow your 8-mile route on maps but I expected the last photo to have the modern road on the left as you headed south and rejoined it. Is that the case or is there indeed no trace at that juncture? Is your last view looking north?

Brian

Hi Brian,

In the last picture, the road is east and north.

Put this in Google Earth or Google Maps " 39 44.860 n 114 27.013 w " and it will show that end of the 8 miles section and will highlight the road.

The last photo was taken after I got on the main road and was looking northeast. Hope the clears it up for you.

Dale

[DennyG]

Is there a site that easily translates GPS coordinates into map locations? I tried some of the above with Google Maps but it put me in China - although it did look like an interesting road and village!

Many of the coordinates are given as absolute values without a sign or hemisphere designation. In the most recent post, Dale includes the 'N' and 'W'. A positive or unsigned latitude number indicates the northern hemisphere so that works out just fine but you need the 'W' or a minus sign to get out of China and into the U.S. of A. or you could just go ahead and begin work on Greetings from the Karakoram Highway.