Rachel, NV. Part II.
The sky here is unreal. You can see things. You might see other things. Whatever you see, its different here. A bizarro version of the Icelandic Northern Lights.
We did all of our shopping after breakfast. Among the magnets, stickers, mugs, and shot glasses we bought, we also picked up a few copies of a guide to the base. It’s just a single page print out. But its information makes it valuable and it’s a hell of a souvenir. All of the food is delicious by the way.
The ‘back gate’ is about a 20 minute drive from the town, down an unmarked dirt road. After 10-15 minutes, you start doubting if you took the right way. There’s nothing out here and there seems to be even less up ahead. But a few miles more and the dirt road turns into pavement, your indication that this is the right path. Eventually, you see a few hangars and a security checkpoint in the distance. This is one of the many entrances to the facility and where your road ends.
Technically photos are not allowed here. There’s signs all over warning you against it. But the area gets a steady flow of visitors and I’m sure the guards are used to it to some degree. Nevertheless, it is very much an active military site so use common sense.
To be completely honest, we didn’t spend much time at the site. Just enough to admire the snow capped mountains that surrounded us. Enough to speculate about what lies beyond the gate and underneath the dry-lake bed. Long enough to appreciate how lonely it is out here. How quickly you and your friends could vanish without a trace. It’s the desert, after all.
Speaking of which, we really, really should’ve brought back Casino.
