by Gage T. Smith, “The Picon Guy”
Lately I have been rediscovering the area around my home.
In September, a few friends and I decided that we would take the rocky, bumpy road from US 395 at the Leviathan Mine turnoff to the hot springs near River Ranch on the East Fork of the Carson River.

In the parking lot was a young guy (everbody under 40 is a young guy in my book these days) and he was hauling a side by side machine. I asked him if he was riding and he informed me that he was waiting for his friends and they had camped at the Hot Springs that night. He said that there would be at least 20 Jeeps and trucks and UTVs coming up the rocky crappy road. He said that they had a high school reunion of sorts that night.

True to his word we encountered vehicle after vehicle, each one carrying an average of three people. Just for fun, I stopped and as they each passed by and said, “Hey, if you have a hangover, raise your hand!” About 80% did it.
One guy said to me, “I don’t get hangovers.” My response was “Enjoy it while you can. Your day is coming!”

There is a long story here but it’s now an EPA Superfund clean-up site with work being done every year. There seems to be no end in sight. Unfortunately, it turned River Ranch into a place that once was but is no longer. The soils are contaminated. But it is still a pretty place on a nice day.

We used the water bottles to fill up with water and finished dousing the fire. We collected the remaining trash and I strapped the broken chair on to my rig. We finished the clean up. I’m not condemning anyone considering how many people were there and what they were doing but the fire thing was a little irresponsible considering that wind gusts to 35 were predicted for the afternoon.

I was home at an early hour so I decided to go see my favorite Picon bartender at the Heyday Inn in Wellington. Thanks Brandy, you make a mean picon.