Groom Lake Road in Rough Shape!

Rain Damaged Groom Lake Road, Trip Report 9-05-09

We decided to take a little trip to Eastern Nevada to get out of the heat. Our first stop was Alamo to check out what was parked at the Sheriff's Annex. It was the usual suspects, the white bus and one worker's truck. Everything in Alamo seemed the same as usual. The next stop would be Groom Lake Road. I figured we would head down to the warning signs and see what was "cooking". A few miles down GLR, it was real obvious the recent rain had caused quite a bit of damage to the road. The area was under severe flood warnings for two days and by the shape of the road it looked like they got quite a bit of rain. Much of the sides of the road have been washed out. I would say there is more damage to the right side of the road. In a few spots the water washed across the road causing some damage. Overall, I don't think the damage is more than what a tractor could fix in a few hours. I would watch out if the bus is traveling that road and it hasn't been fixed. Some parts are down to about a lane width! There was absolutely nobody down at the warning signs. I thought since it is a three day holiday, there would be some visitors. We got out and stretched for a few minutes and then headed to Rachel for an Alien Burger. The burger tasted great. There were only a few people in the Inn at the time we were there, but all the rooms were sold out and there were a few people camping in the back. There was one noticable absent resident since the recent Rachel Drug bust!

After leaving the Little A Le Inn, we headed to the back gate. Absolutely nothing going on there. The cheap motion detector was still attached to the fence and the security camera didn't even follow me when I go out to look around the area. Since there was nothing going on there we left after a few minutes.

The next stop was Pinoche. It was nice to get out of the heat of the Las Vegas Valley and spend some time in Eastern Nevada. Pinoche is a very old mining town and is the Lincoln County Government seat. It is where the Lincoln County Court House is located. This is the place you get to go if you really screw up at Area 51. They have a wonderful Labor Day Celebration. The kids enjoyed the games, rides and the cool night time parade down mainstreet.