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Dispatch from Rachel, NV
Text, photographs and web design by Erik Gauger
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North into the Nevada desert from Las Vegas for a hundred fifty miles or so. No trees, no towns, no
humans or a goddamned bit of greenery to speak of. You call this straight road
miserable, but you haven't yet been to Rachel, pop. 100, whose only claim to
fame is that it is the closest town to Area 51, America's famously secret experimental
military installation.
I pulled over a slim hill and saw Rachel sparkling by the light of the moon,
a dozen mobile homes and some trash sticking out of the dirt.
Yes, area 51 is top secret, but words like 'top secret' give it a false sense
of mystery - Area 51 is a dusty set of hangars at the bottom of a dry lake bed.
A place so remote from anything at all that the air force chose it to test stealth
aircraft and missile technology. Three F-117's flew over my truck just yesterday.
They are very cool, and of course, very of this world.
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Escalante Desert
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A journey across the Nevada's Great Basin and the Loneliest Road in America. We follow the struggle between off-roaders, Great Basin Indians and conservationists over the fate of a blue butterfly.
Summer Lake
Part II of a conversation about travel writing, this episode continues into the southern Oregon Desert.
Rachel, Nevada and Area 51
Area 51 is a dusty set of hangars at the bottom of a dry lake bed.
The Owyhee River
Part I of the Oregon Testament.Follow us to Leslie Gulch, where we stumble upon a yet undiscovered Native American site.
The Alvord Desert
Part II of the Oregon Testament. Fishing under the Steens Mountains, and wandering the alkali flats of Alvord Lake.
Mono Lake
They are twisted, trollish, ungodly, like a woman turned to stone
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Wandering the High Desert of Eastern Oregon
The White Mountains
By the accidents of geologic history, this land has remained relatively unchanged.
Zion Canyon
Zion Canyon as a launching point for discussion on the politics of sin.
Glen Canyon
What Creatures will Roam Glen Canyon? It's the question I had to ask, even as I rolled into America's most lurid town.
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