Black Rock Desert draws all types throughout year

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 6:34 a.m.

The sound gradually fades and serenity returns on the Black Rock, a completely flat playa north of Reno that stretches 30 miles wide and more than 150 miles long.

It's the lake bed from ancient Lake Lahontan, which once had a surface of more than 8,000 square miles and covered most of northern Nevada and Eastern California.

The lake's shoreline slowing decreased over the past 10,000 years, and only Pyramid Lake remains as a natural holding of the original ancient lake.

The desert in recent years has become the temporary home of the weeklong Burning Man festival, where, as the "Burning Man Survival guide" states, thousands of people descend upon the playa in a search for radical self-expression and self-reliance.

Also, British and American teams have been showing up from time to time, trying to break the land speed record and utilizing the flat surface to hit speeds up to 763 mph.

The rest of the time, the desert is visited by tourists who range from recreational folks, thriving on the unique natural characteristics of the playa and surrounding mountains, to individuals who find spiritual peace in their soul-searching visit.

Mixed among the day and overnight visitors are a few hundred locals who live and work in the Black Rock border towns of Gerlach and Empire or in the scattering ranches that surround the desert playa.

According to locals, before Burning Man and before the rocket-equipped cars raced across the lake bed, there was just a small but constant stream of tourists.

But one Empire resident says locals don't mind all the new visitors - for economic reasons, if nothing else.

"We make money off of them. Last year at that Burning Man thing, we collected their trash as they left, you know, and charged them for it," said Ivan, who refrained from providing a last name. "Gotta make the money off of them before they're gone."

But Ivan deplores visitors who disregard the area, camp too close to the springs and don't pick up after themselves.

"Do you know how long that takes to, you know, break down?" Ivan questioned, pointing to some shotgun shell casings left behind by recreational gun fans.

For Ivan, who has lived in the Gerlach-Empire area for over 15 years, the Black Rock desert is his family's back yard. He works at the "Gyp" plant in Empire - where United States Gypsum fabricates drywall - just 10 miles south of Black Rock.

On a cool April evening, Ivan's 10-year-old son Wesley is celebrating his birthday with his brother Ivan Jr., 12, and sister Dennae, 8, by taking a warm dip in the 90-degree Trego springs.

"Everybody that lives here likes it here," he says. "It's not like working in the Bay Area with all the people."

About three miles west of the Trego hot springs there's another spring, considerably smaller but popular because it has shade trees. The trees also shelter lush vegetation that's home for some vocal frogs.

Camped for the evening at Frog Pond is Doug Cook, a Truckee contractor who regularly flies over the desert in a MicroLight, a two-seater, motorized hang glider.

"It's such a great place to fly. It's quiet, beautiful - and hopefully warm," says Cook, who has been rising on heat thermals and dive-bombing back toward the flat playa.

Also camped at Frog Ponds is Dan Pablo, a ranch hand from Soldier Meadows, at the northern edge of the playa.

Pablo tells how Frog Pond got its name, in talking about the remains of a chimney at the hot spring:

"This guy built a hunting lodge-restaurant here on this spot," he says. "After a while, with more and more people stopping by to use the hot springs and eat at his restaurant, he up and started selling frog legs. You know the frogs here don't hibernate for the winter."

Pablo works three months on a ranch, and spends the rest of the year as a logger in Mendocino, Calif. He also likes to paint, and says he's better at that than cowboying.

Pablo, who spends his days off wandering the region and the hills surrounding the playa, uses words to paint a quick scene of local life.

"There are five bars and no grocery stores in Gerlach. The nearest store is over in Empire, but they lick their fingers at the checkout," Pablo jokes. "I bag my own groceries."

The Empire General Store is located right on the highway next to the entrance to the Gypsum plant. Wearing "Empire General Store: Conveniently located in the middle of nowhere" aprons, two employees always greet patrons as they enter the last-chance grocery store.

Inside, everything from video rentals to a delicatessen to standard grocery staples can be found on the shelves. Inventory isn't a big issue though, as items are evenly spaced apart from each other, with dust on some of the older items.

While Cook worked on his MicroLight and Pablo sorted through his paintings, a compact car pulls up to the edge of Frog Pond. The driver rolls down the window and asks Pablo, "Is this a hot spring?"

Gopal Slavonic, a 27-year-old artist and musician from Nevada City had brought his two visiting European friends to Black Rock to share what he had only heard about.

"Amazing. There is nothing, but there is a lot," Alessandra DePalma quietly exclaims as she looks out to the playa. DePalma, a resident of Amsterdam, Holland is on her first visit to America and has arrived in Black Rock after leaving Los Angeles the day before.