RonnieAdventure #0584 - Onion Valley Reservoir, Burning Man, Zion National Park

Several years ago we had a work assignment in northern Nevada, so the first day we drove to Winnemucca and stayed overnight. Early the next morning we topped off the gas tank and headed out into some really remote country. 

Our first stop was Onion Valley Reservoir, which was build in the 1960s as part of an irrigation project. A rancher that lived in the area was ridding with us, and he insisted that we had to look at several other parcels of land while we were in the area. Fortunately, we were driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Little did we know at the time that it would be such an extensive tour of the area. 

By mid-afternoon we thanked him for his time and headed for home. Our fuel tank was getting low, so we decided to follow desert trails and head mostly south to the small community of Gerlach in hopes of finding a gas station. After going about 50 miles, our gas gauge hit "Empty" and it was still about 40 miles to Gerlach. Along the way, we did not see any other humans; but we did see a lot of wild donkeys and horses.

While we were still about 15 miles north of Gerlach, we could see a large dust cloud on the horizon. We assumed that there must be a dust storm in the area, but as we got closer we could see that there were vehicles on the dry Black Rock playa that were creating the large dust cloud. We then remembered that this was Burning Man Festival, so we decided to stop to see what Burning Man was all about. All I can say is that it was a unique experience that is difficult to describe and needs to be experienced for one's self. 

The people and vehicles racing around the playa looked like something from the Mad Max at Thunderdoom movie. At the various camps that formed Nevada's third largest city for a week, it was possible to find the unexpected and a lot of other things. 

Unfortunately, we could not stay overnight, so we continued our journey to Gerlach. Somehow, we managed to made it on an empty gas tank. After filling our gas tank we drove into Reno for the night. 

Burning Man Festival 2023 was quite different. Protesters block the road getting to the Festival and then the Tribal Police made national headlines as they removed the protesters.

Heavy rains started on Friday and lasted until Monday. No one could leave because the playa was too wet to drive on and the only road to Gerlach was flooded. People started running out of food and water, but fortunately others shared extras that they had brought along. The Burning Man staff finally burned the effigy on Monday night and the other structures on Tuesday. Hopefully, next year will go better for Burning Man. 

Web Picture by Julie Jammot/AFP via Getty Images

Web Picture by Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS

Web Picture by Trevor Hughes/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS

Web Picture by Julie Jammot/AFP via Getty Images

Web Picture by Julie Jammot/AFP via Getty Images

A few weeks after our trip to Onion Valley Reservoir, I drove up to Zion National Park, arriving at 4 AM in order to get in line for Zion Narrows hiking permits for the next day. Since I had the rest of the day to explore Zion, I decided to hike up to Hidden Canyon. The trail was narrow and in places the Park Service had placed chains in the rock walls to keep hikers from falling off of the trail. It was really a nice hike and as a bonus there was an arch in the canyon. 

I also had the opportunity to photograph fall colors and then in the evening there was a beautiful sunset, followed by a full moon. Unfortunately, the beautiful sunset was the result of a forest fire about 50 miles to the north that destroyed a lot of trees.