Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park

Mt Rose USFS Campground, NV

    I camped at the Bob Scott USFS Campground east of Autin the night before driving to Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park; the mountain in the photo to the right is Bunker Hill (elev: 11,473'), one of the higher peaks in the Toiyabe Range.

 

 

    Looking west from Austin Summit (7484').
    The Austin Library was closed and, as best I could determine, there are no businesses with WiFi. Also, despite comments from a woman at the Battle Mountain Flying J that the Stokes Tower near Austin was "spooky," I didn't see it. [See links below.]

    The route to Berlin-Ichtyosaur SP I used was down the Reese River Valley to the Yomba Indian Reservation and then over the Shoshone Mountains to Ione, which, like Berlin, is a former mining town; it's paved for roughly half of the 53 miles. [Since some of the weather-stripping at the bottom of my camper door is missing I picked up quite a bit of dust from the well-graded gravel road.]

 

 

    The Shoshone Mtns along the western side of the Reese River Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Panning right, one can see that Big Sagebrush is the primary vegetation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    As is often the case, roads in Nevada are usually very straight.

 

 

 

    The best description of this wildflower along the road is that it's like a cross between a thistle, a Mariposa lily, and a sunflower. One thing is certain, however: cattle have learned to leave it alone. [Discovered an illustration of this wildflower on a wall-chart of Sierra Nevada wildflowers and animals; it's a Prickly Poppy.]

 

 

 

 

    Just south of a Yomba Indian School the road turns west and climbs moderately over the Shoshone Mts; this shot is back at the Reese River Valley bounded by the Toiyabe Range on the east.

 

 

    Just past Ione I stopped at a triangular junction because the sign to Berlin-Ichthyosaur SP pointed the wrong way. Had I followed it, I would have ended up at a boy scout camp. [You don't suppose the little rascals moved the sign, do you? :-)>]

 

 

 

 

    Another bush of "Don't Bite Me or You'll Be Sorry" wildflowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Moonrise at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur Campground.

    Because I was between the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. tours, I used the provided windows on each end of the building housing the Ichthyosaur skeleton. The ichthyosaur was a carniverous reptile which inhabited the inland sea which covered much of Nevada c250,000 years ago. Dinosaurs occupied other parts of our planet at the same time.

 

    Here's an illustration of the bone structure of the ichthyosaur [pronounced ICH-thee-o-sors]. Note the alligator-gar-like beak with some rather large teeth. One wonders if a tyrannosaurus Rex waded in swamps or lakes inhabited by ichthyosaurs -- and were known as "Stumpy" thereafter.

 

    On the wall outside of the Fossil Building there's a painting of an ichthyosaur. Note the large eye, which may have evolved over time. Oh, the fossils found ranged in size from 2 to 50 feet; indeed, most in the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park are 40-50 feet.

 

 

    Remains of a stamp mill at Berlin, a former mining town which now serves as the park's headquarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The building housing the stamp mill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The paved road heading west down toward the valley where Gabbs is located.
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Links:

• National Geographic article on Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Wikipedia article on Stokes Tower
• More to follow

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[For routes & CG finders see below.]