Just south of our airpark in Dayton, Nevada, we have a small north-south range of mountains known as the Pine Nuts. Topping out in the neighborhood of 9,000′ msl, they rise about four to five thousand feet above the surrounding terrain. Filled with old mining roads and the debris of lost gold mines, they have been known to white men for well over a century and a half – and used as a refuge and source of food for Native Americans long before that.
I routinely fly over the Pine Nuts on the way to a nearby airpark where we currently have a Dream Tundra project we’re finishing up. Crossing the spine of the mountains, I have noticed a strange unnatural line along the ridge – closer examination shows it to be a rock wall, a mile or two long, interrupted in spots by breaks and rough terrain. Talking to a few old-timers, the only response I have gotten as to why it is there or who built it is “those sheepherders had a lot of time on their hands!” I guess that might be the best explanation, because it certainly wouldn’t keep the Mongol hordes from invading the Carson Valley. Still – that’s an awful lot of work to build something that even a sheep could walk around.
Amazing some of the things you see from the air – and that most humans have no idea are there.
Love this photo Paul. You have been getting a lot of mention in a local small hiking group and herding group. Thank you.
This post was from a while ago – we since learned that the wall was actually built by the CCC as a way to separate grazing lands. My thought is still that the CCC had a big gang of guys and no specific project, so they just told them to start piling rocks on the ridge….
Would love to see a link to the hiking and herding group comments!
Paul