CONCRETE ARROW QUEST : Search for Transcontinental Airway Beacons - Part 8
Being that it was my birthday last week, Cindy and I decided to drop what we were doing, load up our Jeep and head out to the Northern Nevada Desert to look for some concrete arrows, also known as, Transcontinental Airway Beacons. As some of you may know, we've been looking for and photographing these 50 ft. arrows and on occasion, towers as well for over two years now and on this trip, it was our hope to find a few located all the way out on the eastern edge of the state. Of course, it'd be near impossible for us to not explore some old ghost towns and do a bit of rock hounding along the way and in this thread, you'll get to see a little bit of all the things we got to see and do. I hope you enjoy
Here's a shot of us making our way out to our first destination of the day, Derby Field.
Located southwest of the town of Lovelock, Derby Field is an operational airport that planes that services the area. Of course, what makes this airway beacon so cool is that its original tower is still standing here and is still in use.
As you can see in the sky above, this airway route is one that is still in use to this very day.
Closer shot of the beacon and red lights as well as a windsock still flying from the tower.
Sometimes, broken pieces of glass from old bulbs and lenses can be found around these towers.
On our way to our next concrete arrow, Cindy and I got distracted by a nearby side route that we've been meaning to explore and so, we changed course and headed up into the Humboldt Mountains.
As we approached the old ghost town of Humboldt City, we made a stop, hiked up into the hills and went looking for the old town cemetery. Being that there was no road to it, no signs and just rocks to mark the graves, it was pretty hard to find but we eventually found it.
This nameless headstone marked one of about a dozen graves.
This rock was etched with the letters "MT" as well as a date that I believe said 1895.
The coffin in this grave must have collapsed as there was a depression here as well as a hole leading into it.
Anybody home?
Pulling into Humboldt City.
At the old ghost town of Humboldt City.
Some shots from around town.
The walls of an old Wells Fargo bank.
Inside the remaining structure.
After our fun exploring Humboldt City, we hustled out to another concrete arrow out in the Buffalo Valley that we had been meaning to check out but, thanks to winter offering up such little daylight, we just had enough time to do a little filming and snap a few shots at sunset. And, here they are.
Unlike any other airway beacon we have come across, this one featured intricately constructed concrete curbs and what looked like driveways and even a central garden with a path to a flag pole.
To the eastern edge of the site was a pathway lined with rocks that lead to a small reservoir.
Nearby was also some kind of vault or cistern in the ground.
There were also these strange metal cones that still had a bit of orange paint on them.
From what I understand, this location also served as an airfield and further past the arrow was another foundation of some sort complete with what looked like additional generator mounts.
Beyond it was the foundation to some kind of storage tank.
A parting shot before we made our way back to civilization.
Flying though a tunnel near Carlin as we made our way out to Elko.
Happy Birthday to me - CHEERS from the Machi's Saloon!
