Thursday, July 9, 2009

Austin, NV




The next town on our Nevada itinerary is Austin. We arrived after a ride of 71 miles. Today all of the climbing was within the last 12 miles of town as we went over Bob Scott summit, then down 500 feet and back up to Austin summit(7484 ft) in quick succession. The town of Austin(6527 ft) is located part way down the descent from Austin summit on a very twisting road. Austin is another former mining town now with a tourist based economy such as it is. Several stores are selling polished stones and minerals. The current population is around 400. It has several historical buildings dating back to the late 19th century including the court house, several churches, and old store fronts. We went for a short hike just out of town to another old artifact called Stokes Castle. It seems a mine owner wanted to build a summer home for his family so he built a three story tower out of native stone on a bluff over looking the valley in 1898. It was supposedly modeled after a tower he had seen in Italy. After all the effort his family only used it for two months in the year it was finished. The elevation the last two nights makes for very cool (40's) mornings and pleasant days. We are still amazed at how green the valleys are, as well as mountainsides, although the last valley was drier.

1 comment:

  1. Are you still planning to finish on July 15?

    We are in Banff, heading to Lake Louise tomorrow. It is very cold here and we're getting lots of rain. Hope yo're avoiding it.
    Jim and Ida

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