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Blue Mass
Scenic Area
White Pine County, Nevada
Blue Mass Scenic Area is located in the Kern Mountains in White Pine County, Nevada, close to the Utah/Nevada border. I first noticed it in my Nevada Atlas a few years ago and decided to include it on this trip to satisfy my curiosity.
Blue Mass was much more than I expected. We reached Blue Mass via the Pleasant Valley road a few miles north of Gandy Utah after a quick dip in Warm Springs. The Pleasant Valley road was very well maintained due to the large trailer park polygamist community several miles up the road that busses kids to school in nearby Trout Creek. The scenery on the way was nothing spectacular and we had the feeling we'd be disappointed when we reached our destination.
We reached a fork in the road with a sign that said "Blue Mass 5 miles". When we rounded the last bend we were awe stricken at what lay before us.
I envy the people who spent their lives in the cabins at the edge of this incredible valley. Blue Mass reminds me of Goblin Valley in Southern Utah, but with white granite formations and lush vegetation.
Below the rock formations is a huge, grassy field next to an aspen lined stream bed. We couldn't have asked for a better camping spot. The original plan was to leave early the next morning and head for Mt. Moriah, but the scenery was so good that we decided to camp another night at Blue Mass.
We spent the day hiking, relaxing, and shooting the guns that Bret brought along. At about 2:00 in the afternoon when we were about to eat lunch, two giant motor homes pulling trailers with 4 wheelers came rumbling up the road. We thought nothing of it until they pulled up right next to us and started noisily setting up camp. A few of them then jumped on their 4 wheelers and proceeded to ride back and forth in front of our camp even though there were dirt roads going all over the place away from camp. We all looked at each other and unanimously decided to pack up and head for Mt. Moriah in spite of the ominous black clouds looming overhead.
Driving up the Pleasant Valley Road, we spied a snake bathing in the momentary sunlight. Ryan, our resident snake-freak, got acquainted with the creature while the rest of us indiscreetly emptied our bladders in the gravel.
We had the good fortune of having two old high school buddies, Bret and Erik Hickenlooper, along for the trip. Bret had the cool truck; Erik sang washed up "80's hits to us the whole time and kept us laughing. Justin, one of Ryan's other friends, was also along, and kept us laughing every minute. Erik is the author of the Kenny Rogers hit, "Buy me a Rose". I've never heard it. Justin plays in a hardcore band known as The Furious George Army. It was an honor to be in the midst of so much talent! With the high concentration of creativity and intelligence, we came up with a number of practical improvements for the Salad Shooter that we're going to pitch to Ron Popeil.
We recommend Blue mass to anyone looking for a change of scenery.
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