2006 Trip to Nevada

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  If you haven't noticed yet, I have a high interest in military aircraft and facilities, or anything related. So where do you go after you explore The Mojave Triangle? Why you go to Nevada! Not only is it home to Nellis AFB and Red Flag, its home to the most secure Air Force Flight Test Center in the US.

  About 100 miles north of Las Vegas is the famous base "Area 51", "Groom Lake", "Watertown", "The Ranch", "Dreamland", the list of names go on and on. Its home some of the most advanced military planes around, and formerly home to planes like the U-2, A-12/SR-71, and host to the F-117 and B-2.

  Now you can't actually see the base very well without optics since the land grab by the Air Force of near by Freedom Ridge and White Sides mountains. The closest view point is about 26 miles to the south east on Tikaboo Peak, which has an elevation of 8000ft ASL. Hiking up to Tikaboo Peak was out of the question for this trip, it was January, and around 11°F not including wind-chill, and I only had plans to stay in Nevada for 4 days, so I pretty well stayed in the car most of the time. I just drove up to the border, took some photos of the signs and of the camo dudes, went to the "Black Mailbox" and went on my way to Rachel like most newcomers do. I hope to make the Tikaboo hike next time I make a similar trip.

  I also visited a few other places father north, like Bear Paw dry lake, Base Camp, and Railroad Valley. The further North you go the more beautiful it gets. Note that Bear Paw and Railroad Valley have nothing to do with Area 51.

  I didn't actually play around in Vegas, been there done that sort of thing, so don't expect photos of Vegas here. The only photos I took in Vegas were of the Janet 737-200s that transport workers into the Nevada Test Site (NTS). I didn't photograph anything at Nellis AFB either, I want to save that one for another time.

I have NO interest in UFOs or Aliens! Just classified military projects.

WARNING: There are panoramas below that are up to 1.5 megabytes big.

Map of My Trip

List of Sections
Click one to jump down to that section.

Las Vegas Janet Terminal
Area 51 Border
-Black Mailbox
Rachel
Base Camp

Las Vegas Janet Terminal  Janets are Boeing 737-200s, Beech 1900Cs and 200Cs owned and operated by EG&G out of a discrete terminal on the west side McCarran Intl. Airport. The 737s fly daily routes like any other charter airline to Area 51, Tonopah Test Range, and occasionally to Palmdale and Edwards. The Beech 1900Cs and 200Cs usually fly on trips out of town, to public and military airports all over the US. They have a total of six 737s, two 1900Cs, and three 200Cs, making a total of 11 aircraft. Since there are so many photos of the Janets, I'm only going to comment on unique photos. Incase you are wondering, I was staying in the Tropicana Hotel, which is where I shot most of these photos. For more info about Janet, visit www.LazyGRanch.com & www.DreamLandResort.com.
Close up of the terminal.	The two 1900Cs.	One of the 737s.
		Usually there's one ready to takeoff when ones landing.	Here's one landing, taking off, and taxiing.
	Offloading passengers.
Shot showing the whole terminal.	Night time shot of the whole terminal with all the planes except for two of the 200Cs.	Here's a shot of all of the 737s, one with just the tail sticking out, see it?	Here's a ground shot of one of the 200Cs.
Ground shot of one of the 1900Cs.	Ground shot of one of the 1900Cs.
Panorama of the whole Janet Terminal area looking south east.   A wider view panorama looking south east.   Panorama of the Janet Terminal looking to the west. Jump Back Up
Area 51 Border  The border of Area 51 is not fenced, and is marked by signs on Groom Lake Road, off the road the border is only marked by small hard to see orange posts. It is mainly patrolled by guys known as "Camo Dudes" (called that because of the desert camouflage they ware) in trucks, and they just sit up on their hill and watch you, as long as you don't cross the border, they will leave you alone. Occasionally you will see an MH-60G Pavehawk patrolling the border as well. Groom Lake Road has road sensors that notify the Dudes to approaching cars, and some of the hill ridges have cameras which I didn't see, but can be seen at www.DreamlandResort.com or here and here. Also for more info on the border go to www.DreamlandResort.com.
Very first thing I noticed as I passed through the Pahranagat Range into Tikaboo Valley was Groom Lake Road (GLR).	GLR, the road you take to the border.	This stretch of GLR starting from hwy 375 to the border is over 14 miles!	Got to watch for those cows.
A lone bird near GLR.	Bald Mountain	One of the signs at the border.	A set of signs at the border.
A wide photo of the signs at the border.	The "Camo Dudes".	Close up on the "Dudes"	A view looking east on GLR.
There's some cows down there, do you see them?	A lot of light is emitted from Area 51 at night, and no the blue light is not a UFO, its an Aircraft.	A panorama of the GLR area taken from a small hill.
"Black Mailbox" Walk Around  The "Black Mailbox",  which was replaced with a white one, is owned and used by rancher Steve Medlin. The original Black Mailbox, as seen here, was auctioned off for $1000 to a UFO fan. The mailbox is a popular spot where people like to gather and watch the skies over Area 51 for lights at night. Below are photos of all sides of the mailbox, showing all the little notes and whatnots that have been added to it by visitors over the years. Go here for more on the "Black Mailbox" www.DreamlandResort.com.
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Rachel  Rachel is the closest town to Area 51, its a small town with only about 100 people who live mostly in mobile homes. They have a small shop and gas station called the Quick-Pik and a famous little bar and grill/motel called the Little A'le'inn and formerly home to the Area 51 Research Center. There's not much to see and do, but the people are very nice. Go here for more on Rachel www.Rachel-Nevada.com.
Rachel from hwy 375.	Sand Spring Valley Dry Lake from hwy 375	Old mining equipment?	Hwy 375 was named the ET Highway after the whole Bob Lazar thing.
Closer view of part of Rachel.	Sign near the Quick-Pik.	The Quick-Pik.	Little A'le'inn sign and UFO recovery reenactment.
Little A'le'inn	Little A'le'inn graphic close-up.	Jump Back Up
Base Camp  Base Camp is a small airstrip used as a staging area, for support, and as a recreation area for the military and contractors and has several small houses. The facility was originally used by the Atomic Energy Commission as a staging area during nuclear tests. It was abandoned by the AEC and was taken over by the USAF. They repaved the runway and made it longer, making it 7000ft and added several new buildings. Its been claimed that it is now run by the Air Force Flight Test Center Det. 3 which is based at Edwards AFB, and is the same people who run Area 51. There's really nothing interesting here. Go here for more on Base Camp www.DreamlandResort.com.
Some shops and buildings.		More buildings and a tank.
Some housing and some sort of telescope.		Close up of the housing.	A shot of the ramp area.
Shot showing the VOR from the ramp area.	A better view of the ramp.	Looking down the runway.	The VOR.
The NDB.	Close-up on the runway.	A shot showing the radome on top of Halligan Mesa, which is directly inline with the runway at Base Camp.	A sign about the old mining town of Tybo.
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Miscellaneous Photos  These are just a bunch of photos taken on the way to the other places that don't belong in the other categories.
Taken on the way to Vegas.	Alien sign.	Another alien sign.	Old volcano near Lunar Lake.
Another old volcano near Lunar Lake.
			1 of 2 AV-8s that flew into McCarran.
2 of 2 AV-8s that flew into McCarran.	They parked near some unknown hangars south of the Janet terminal.	The next morning they left.
Shot of McCarran during sunset.
A panorama of Bear Paw dry lake, taken for a friend, has nothing to do with Area 51.
A panorama of Railroad Valley, taken for a friend, has nothing to do with Area 51.
Ok-ok so I took a few photos of the strip.
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Suggested sites to visit about Area 51:
www.DreamlandResort.com
www.LazyGRanch.com
www.DesertSecrets.com
www.serve.com/mahood/bluefire.htm