Annual road trip

The annual road trip is coming up. Departing from northern California.
Not flying this time, so I'm bringing all my cameras, 1400mm lens, drone, and a 436hp scanner.
The spots we've selected are, at this point:
1)Ridgecrest/NAS China lake
2)Nellis
3)Tonopah(wish we could make brainwash Butte, but not with a lowered sports car)
4)North Edwards AUX
5)Rachel
Did I miss anything to visit in the area?
We've already extensively covered Edwards and Palmdale, as well as Rachel.
I haven't been back to Tonopah in a long time. Anywhere new and cool to dine/lodge?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!

My recommendation is to leave the drone behind.


Other than that, have a fantastic time.

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Don't know if your itinerary already includes the nuke craters, Nevada Test Site. Wear a dosimeter bring the drone.

googled

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Don't know if your itinerary already includes the nuke craters, Nevada Test Site. Wear a dosimeter bring the drone.

googled

You can visit the nuke craters? Being from the UK I don't really have the privilege to be able to drive to such places. I was looking on google earth the other day at the craters and thinking how cool it would be to visit them. Didn't known if they were restricted areas or if they were contaminated. I do plan to visit the US at one point in my life and one thing I was be visiting it's the vast areas of deserts around Cali Nevada and New Mexico

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

There are a couple that you can visit. Sam and I visited one the first trip we took. It was a below ground blast, and has a huge area that dropped in afterwards. You can get pretty much right to ground zero on that one. It was pretty cool.

Once a year they open up Trinity to the public. I'm planning on visiting that one after we stop going over the road.

a reply to: Zaphod58
That's sounds pretty cool. What a sight those underground tests must of been if you could of had a close up of watching when they detonated them. I think I've always been interested in the nuke craters ever since I saw the film Broken Arrow when I was younger

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker

The one we went to was the Faultless Test Site. It was a 1 MT blast 3200 feet below ground.

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

The only real question I have....is how much can one SEE if most is not able to be seen due to a variety of security measures?

I know you and others have caught sight of stuff...anyone who goes trying to...will see some awesome unexplained...but I just wonder what all we are "allowed" to see/film...all the while they know we arent seeing the really good stuff...

*PS As member Hazardous1408 suggested? Leave the drone-home.

My father and I visited to that test site about ten years ago. Amazing to see the ground level drop like that in such a perfect circle.

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
a reply to: HomeyKXTA

*PS As member Hazardous1408 suggested? Leave the drone-home.

No, the drone is coming with. It's just About when you unleash it.
I'd love to drone the old Tonopah air Base. After clearing it with the FAA, of course.

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Yeah, that was the really amazing part. It was cool as hell being at a nuclear test site, but that perfect circle dropped as much as it was really brought it home.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

You'd be surprised. We've caught a few things that we couldn't document well because if conditions when we saw them. After a couple hours past sunrise the heat haze starts up and it's really hard to get clear photos anymore.

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Don't know if your itinerary already includes the nuke craters, Nevada Test Site. Wear a dosimeter bring the drone.

googled

You can visit the nuke craters? Being from the UK I don't really have the privilege to be able to drive to such places. I was looking on google earth the other day at the craters and thinking how cool it would be to visit them. Didn't known if they were restricted areas or if they were contaminated. I do plan to visit the US at one point in my life and one thing I was be visiting it's the vast areas of deserts around Cali Nevada and New Mexico

Our deserts are vast, trackless and spooky. One day my dad and I were driving along a lone stretch of hi way in South East Californian desert when we became the subject of two f18 fighter jets dong practice target runs on moving vehicles They appeared hi up and one turned inbound , doing a target run on our vehicle coming straight at the windshield .

After we 'died' we pulled over and watched them repeat the maneuver on other passing motorists. This was pre desert storm.

Project Faultless
I linked to a drone photo of Project Faultless. It should be a fine spot to fly.

Note the NTS tour requires registration. You would have needed to die months ago.

Base Camp
Lunar Crater

Base Camp, Project Faultless, and Lunar Crater can be lumped into one trip. You can also drive to the gate of the TTR.

Tonopah now has a brew pub. The old Mizpah is now open. The bar at the Mizpah is basically a fancier version of the brew pub. That is they are owned by the same people.

If you are doing the route 95 drive, you could drive up the Cold Creek road towards the prison, then photograph drones over Creech.

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

This is awesome, I cannot wait to hear the trip report and see the pictures. I have always been very curious about Edwards Aux Base too. Is that the same as 'North Base'?

Safe travels!

a reply to: Cavrecon22

North Base is part of Edwards. They split it into North and South. North is where the B-2 and some other less than public programs have lived.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Cavrecon22

North Base is part of Edwards. They split it into North and South. North is where the B-2 and some other less than public programs have lived.

South is the B-2 base. North run Groom Lake.

Really there are three bases. North, South, then I guess just "the base" or "main base."

a reply to: Zaphod58

In 1942, Muroc Army Airfield was established near the south end of Rogers Dry Lake for the purpose of training fighter and bomber crews. A second airfield called Muroc Flight test Base was established at the north end of the lakebed and used for a variety of secret projects involving unmanned aerial vehicles, various exotic aircraft configurations (semi-tailless, flying wings, etc.), and the first jet-powered fighters. Following World War II, the two airfields were merged into a single flight test facility. The old Muroc AAF became South Base. Muroc FTB became North Base. In 1948, the base was re-named Edwards Air Force Base, and the new Main Base complex was under construction by 1950. Additional, unpaved, runways are also marked on the lakebed surface.

a reply to: Shadowhawk

I remember that they called it Muroc, but wasn't aware of that history. Thanks!

a reply to: Shadowhawk

So officially it is north, south, and main.