A Side Trip to Rhyolite

Friday, March 9th - - Today was a lazy day. I spent much of the morning hanging around the campsite soaking up some sunshine. Then another camper told me about the “ghost town” of Rhyolite just across the state line in Nevada. It was a 60+ mile drive from the campground and the “real” town of Beatty was a few miles further. At Beatty I filled up the gas tank with regular unleaded for just $3.67 per gallon. At the two stations in Death Valley National Park it was nearly $6.00 per gallon! Maybe not worth the drive specifically to fill up but since I was already there it was definitely worth it!

I have to admit, Rhyolite didn't do much for me. I got there around noon so the harsh desert lighting was even harsher than normal. There were only three buildings of any real interest. All of the others were little more than piles of debris.

This was the tallest and biggest building still standing.

The same building as above, from a different viewpoint.

I just love the blue accent of the corners.

The village Mercantile store.

This house was built of glass bottles embedded in concrete! It is surrounded by a tall fence, presumably to protect it from vandals. It looked like it was in pretty good condition.

Glass bottles embedded in concrete.

A “side-yard” was filled with these little structures made of concrete and bits of glass.

Lovely Lavender.