Day 1
My adventure started on the 30th of June 00. Me and my
best friend Jake (my Siberian husky) left Ridgecrest at 5:30am and
headed out for Elko, Nevada. As I had been planning on this trip since
January, I was anxious to arrive at Jarbidge a few days early so I could
spend sometime meeting others and checking out the road closure. After
driving through Tonapah, Eureka and the back roads of Nevada, I finally
arrived in Elko by 4pm. After checking into my hotel and visiting the
large shovel on the courthouse yard of Elko, we settled down for the
night in anticipation of arriving at Jarbide early the following day.
Day 2
A lick in the face from Jake promptly awoke me early in
the morning of the 1st of July. After waking up and packing, me and Jake
headed east to Wells, Nevada then turned north and headed to Rogerson,
Idaho. As I pulled into Rogerson I noticed a large motorhome with
a"Jarbidge Shovel Brigade" sign on the side. I stopped and
talked to the couple (they were from Arizona) and gathered the
information they had about the next few days activities. I then left
Rogerson and headed west for the 3 creeks staging area where the
"shovel brigade" would be coordinating the opening of
"South Canyon Road".
As I was equipped with a ham radio, I check in with Lou
Purdy who was the communication manager, and I volunteered to go to
Jarbidge and help out with communications. He stated that he thought
there were still campgrounds open and that my support would be helpful.
Cool, I was off and running and finally heading for Jarbidge. After
about 20 miles of pavement the road promptly turned to dirt and led down
the canyon for another 18 miles.
I finally arrived at this small town that I had read so
much about for the past 7 months, I had arrived in Jarbidge, population
30. As I entered the town the first thing I noticed were the shovels
lining fences with the names of states spelled out on the shovels, red
white and blue also lined the streets of Jarbidge. I stopped at one of
the two bars and adjoining resturaunts and started talking to the
people. After a bit I learned that they were having a large pit bar-b-que
later that day. $5 for all you could eat and everyone was welcome.
Fantastic, so much for cooking that day.
Jake and me again left and went searching for a
campground out of town. Amazingly, ½ mile out of town I found a
campground 20 feet from the creek and with plenty of shade and lots of
room for others. After setting up camp and relaxing for a bit, Jake and
me headed back to Jarbidge for the bar-b-que.
Pulling into town the aroma of the bar-b-que was
overwhelming. The people of this small town had pit bar-b-queued a pig
and had salad, rolls and all kinds of great food! All for $5. Me and
Jake made ourselves at home and had a great lunch while at the same time
meeting a lot of people who live in Jarbide and those who came early to
enjoy the area. What a great bunch of people.
After eating and having a few beers, it was off back to
our campground for some rest and relaxation and enjoying the beauty of
this area. What a great day and what a great bunch of people! I was
going to enjoy this trip.
Day 3
Slept in till 9am this morning, as the sun doesn't reach
the bottom of the canyon until this time. What a beautiful day. After a
quick breakfast, Jake and me were off and running to check out the
surrounding area. We took a couple of out of the way roads that led to
some spectacular views of the canyon and surrounding area. After a
little exploring we headed back down into the canyon and to the closure
at the "South Canyon Road". There sat three large boulders
blocking the path to the rest of the road, all compliments of the Forest
Service who used heavy equipment to block access last December. It
looked like a lot of manpower was going to be needed to open this road.
After inspecting the area for a bit, Jake and me headed back into
Jarbidge.
Just as we pulled in, a parade started through the
center of town. What an inspiring group of individuals. Trucks with
banners, the American flag proudly displayed on all the vehicles along
with shovels and people, all protesting the Forest Services action done
to the "south canyon road". There were even 6 covered wagons
that participated in the parade. After the parade, Jake and me spent the
rest of the day talking to people and meeting others that had come to
Jarbidge to "open south canyon road". As everyone had come
early I got to meet with reporters from the Los Angeles Times and two
gentleman from the Elko Daily Press, Gary and Ross . We all sat around
having some cool refreshments and just shooting the breeze, enjoying
each other's company and opinions and the fantastic weather. After a few
more refreshments, it was back to the campground for me and jake. After
cooking dinner and relaxing it was dark and time for some shuteye. What
another great day! This was fun!
Day 4
After dragging my body out of the sack, I immediately
decided to head for Jarbidge for coffee and breakfast. As I was sitting
in the Outdoor Inn chowing down, I heard a voice behind me. Turning
around there stood Bill Maddox a friend from Ridgecrest and another
friend Ohl Olson whom I had met on the Internet. After talking and
laughing for a bit we headed down to the "South Canyon Road"
to see what we had waiting for us. To our surprise, work was already
starting on the road reconstruction. We quickly grabbed our shovels and
started to do what we came to do "open south canyon road".
After about a few hours of digging and moving rocks one of the bus's
from the staging area arrived bringing more people to work on the road.
Work was progressing so fast that eventually we were told to slow down
and let others dig so we would have work to do tomorrow, the 4th of
July.
We promptly gathered our shovels and proceeded to head
to Jarbidge. More people were slowly gathering and we had a great time
meeting and talking to numerous people. Reporters were everywhere, news
vans with satellite uplinks lined the streets and "road
rebels" were everywhere. After much socializing, it was time to
head back to camp for another nights sleep. Ohl headed back up to the
staging area and bill joined me at my camp for evening of enjoying this
beautiful area. The sun disappeared and we made a campfire and enjoyed
each others company. Another great day of fun and meeting great people.
Day 5
The 4th of July has arrived. Today is the day we've been
waiting for. We are going to open "South Canyon Road". After
some coffee and breaking camp, we headed up to the closure at
"South Canyon Road". We arrived a little early and started
right in on finishing the road building. More and more people kept
showing up and helping. By 10 am the road was ready. The only thing
stopping us now was one 10,000lb boulder, named the "liberty
rock". After 4 bus's showed up and all the people had gathered
(approx. 500) the time had come to move the "liberty rock". A
hole was dug under the rock and chains were wrapped around the rock then
ropes attached to the chains. After the pledge of allegiance, singing
the star spangled banner and a prayer the time had come to move the
"liberty rock".
People quickly got in line and grabbed the ropes. After
a song was sung a one, two, three, pull, was initiated. After pull was
called, everyone pulling on the ropes yelled "freedom" and
pulled. The word freedom rang throughout the canyon and slowly but
surely the "liberty rock" was being moved. It was an awesome
and inspiring moment for me. After about 10 pulls, the rock was out of
the way. The crowd then started chanting freedom, freedom, freedom and
started waving their hats and the moment we had been waiting for finally
came. We were going to drive the "South Canyon Road". Helen
Wilson, who has lived in Jarbidge since 1910, was the first person that
drove through the newly reopened road. She was helped into a truck and
driven past were the liberty rock had sat and had the honor of being the
first person to use "South Canyon Road" since it was closed by
the Forest Service.
It was a proud moment for this lady and all of us for
that matter. It was a time that none of us would ever forget and would
be proud of for years to come. Soon after the opening of the road, it
was time for me, and Jake, to make our way back towards Ridgecrest.
Sadly we said goodbye to all the friends we had made and slowly left
Jarbidge. I have to say that this was one of the most inspiring 4th of
July's I have had the honor of participating in. We came, we did what
needed to be done, and we opened a road, something I've never seen
before. This was truly a 4th of July to celebrate as our freedoms which
this great county is based on were expressed, loud and clear. Long live
the "Jarbidge Shovel Brigade" and may we all meet again in the
name of "Freedom".
Derek Cooper
"I believe that we are again
engaged in a great civil war,
a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think
and say what lives in your heart"
Charlton Heston
Feb 16, 1999
