The machine shop at the Berlin Ichthyosaur state park in Nevada

The Berlin – Ichthyosaur state park is a true Nevada original. Located smack dab in the center of the state, about 35 miles on a good dirt road south of Austin, NV, or 20 miles East of Gabbs on a mostly paved road, this park is part well-preserved ghost town, part ancient fossil repository. First, the ghost town part. Berlin was a mining town that went from boom to bust in a very short span at the turn of the century from 1896 to 1908. Berlin was dead by 1911, but served as an outpost for forest rangers, a fact that lead to its well-preserved state when most other old mining towns were stripped bare by nearby settlers. Many of the buildings contain a wealth of history preserved inside, from turn of the century chemical bottles at the Assey’s office, to antique trunks and alligator luggage. Park rangers are often willing to open doors to allow visitors a peak inside at a lifestyle frozen in time. Many of these photographs will hopefully do the same.

In addition to the ghost town of Berlin, there is one of the largest deposits of Ichthyosaur fossils around. Ichthyosaurs were pre-historic ocean dwelling reptiles that covered the state 225 million years ago. Until recently, one of the largest fossils of these in the world at 56 feet long, was located at this site. Many fossils of the 40 originally found, have been left uncovered on the ground where they were first discovered. A building and interpretive center was built around them and offers tours on a regular schedule.

Berlin – Ichthyosaur state park is open year round, though it may have snow in the depth of winter, and has 14 nicely spaced campsites with water and restrooms available on site for a fee. Visitors might also consider purchasing an annual Nevada State Parks pass. At $90, it is a steal for anyone traveling around the state, as it not only grants entrance to any of the parks, but also to the related facilities such as campgrounds. Enjoy!

An old dodge in front of the machine shop at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet.

A look back in history inside the preserved ghost town at the Berlin Ichthyosaur state park in Nevada

A look over the historic Berlin Ichthyosaur ghost town in central nevada

Detail inside the machine shop in the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet.

A house re-occupied by Ray Teifel in the 1970's who attempted to revive the mine and extract more gold, which didn't work out so well for him at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with

Details in an abandoned home at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet.

An old dodge seen through the window of the machine shop at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada.

Bottles used in the assay of ore at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet. Recently an Ichthyosaur was discovered in Canada over 70 feet long, but where do you get ghost town and dinosaur all in one visit?

A table setting left at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada.

Detail shots of the Ichthyosaur backbone at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in Central Nevada, part of what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet. Recently an Ichthyosaur was discovered in Canada over 70 feet long, but where do you get ghost town and dinosaur all in one visit?

A scale representation of the size of the fossils at the Berlin-Ichthyosaur state park in central Nevada. This unique Nevada state park just south of Austin combines the well-preserved ghost town of Berlin with what used to be the largest Ichthyosaur fossils in the world at 56 feet. Recently an Ichthyosaur was discovered in Canada over 70 feet long, but where do you get ghost town and dinosaur all in one visit?

A heat induced lightning storm kicked up around 12,000 ft over the White Mountains.

Let me first start by saying that I have a lot of stories in the pipeline at the moment. Most of which are shot and just waiting to get posted, so take a second to click the orange radio button at the top right to subscribe to my feed if you are interested in stories and photography about the environment and our natural resources. A few of the things coming soon: GLORIA week, global climate change survey in high alpine environments. This is the first re-survey of North America since the initial alpine climate surveys took place in 2004. Come with to see how an international protocol is helping us get a handle on how climate change is affecting our fragile alpine environments. Also, join me on a kayaking trip to the moon. Well, actually it just looks like the moon, but like the moon, you probably won’t see a soul. Also coming soon in regular installations, a year-long road trip through Nevada, looking at her history and story through her (often obscure) state parks. Plus much more.

Now, on to matters at hand. I haven’t had so much fun working at a computer since, well, never. When I pulled up the raw image files on my computer after coming back from the White Mountains, it was like diving into an amazing book. I couldn’t stop. I had to tone all night long until I had at least a good portion of the images processed and backed up.  I have always loved the White Mountains. They remind me of other beautiful and stark locations like Mono Lake or Zion, only without the people yet. By the way, the White Mountains, and especially the ancient bristlecone pine tree groves in it, was recently declared a wilderness area. Existing roads were grandfathered in, but the slow destruction of the environment by the spread of off-road vehicle trails should now stop.  Bristlecone pines like high altitude. They start popping up around 8000 feet and continue through 11,000 feet or so. These trees are amazing; there are living specimens several thousands of years old. Even their pine needles can be up to 40 years old. Imagine, 40 year-old leaves. Imagine the stories these trees could tell, watching the world change over the last 3000 years. It is just those stories that one of my friends, Adelia Barber, is trying to tell by studying small core samples taken from selections of these trees. She also organized last weeks Global Observation and Research  Initiative in Alpine environments (GLORIA) survey of White Mountain and surrounding peaks. Their story in the next Blog installation.

Photographing among these trees is not easy and not easy on the ego. In nearby Bishop at the Galen Rowell gallery, you can see his vision of these groves and ego bruising that entails when you even think about comparing some of your best work to what hangs on the wall there. At the White Mountain Research Station, a UC run facility at 10,000 feet, you can see Ansel Adams prints hanging on the wall and you may realize that you just photographed the same tree that Ansel Adams did 40 years ago. Hell, his picture of a simple science experiment is cooler than my best tree picture. But who cares, I had the time of my life with some wonderfully uncooperative weather.

Thunder and lightning chased us off the peaks just as the light was getting good. Skies turned dark and sinister. Then the skies got better with crazy clouds, colors and rainbows and the occasional bolt of lightning. We even drove through a random hail storm at 12,000 feet in the middle of the night.  The photography was so fast and furious with the constantly changing light, that I wasn’t even sure we got anything worthy. I’ll let you be the judge though. We used Nikon d3′s and d700 digital cameras for this trip. Much of what we shot was with a tripod because of how dark and cloudy things got and the blowing wind. A sing ray split grade neutral density filter was used on many shots to hold back the sky details. Obviously all files were shot RAW and only exposure and color compensation were needed in post so far.

Despite using Nikon’s long exposure noise reduction function, built into the cameras, I think I would still prefer film for the night exposures. Even with the noise reduction activated, it mostly turned the blue and red noise specks into slightly masked, darker specks. Next time I take a film camera.  A good starting point for nighttime star trail exposures with no moon is ISO 200 at f4 for however long you want. 20-50 minutes works well. One surprise with the digital cameras was that I was able to do exposures less than 30 seconds at high ISO, say 1000, and freeze the Milky Way while still allowing time to do some light painting with my mag lights.

Bristlecone pine tree snag and north star at night.

Microwave telescope observitory and milky way galaxy at the Barcroft research station.

Storm light and clouds over the White Mountains

A dead bristlecone stump catches the last ray of light as rainbow and storm clouds form in the distance

The roots of a dead bristlecone stump catches the last ray of light as rainbow and storm clouds form in the distance

A brief hail storm caught us as we were driving the dirt roads chasing lightning around sunset. It kept us pinned down for a bit.

A brief double rainbow over a small grove of ancient bristlecone pine trees

A split grade neutral density filter was used to hold back the sky on these storm clouds over a downed bristlecone pine tree

Bristlecone pine tree with flowers and rainbow during a storm in the White Mountains

My first test shot for star trail photography in the bristlecone pine tree grove. This exposure ended about an hour before dawn, so I was able to catch a bit of blue in the sky. The bristlecone pine tree was lit with a flashlight.

Juvenile marmonts are a curious bunch.