Friday, December 13, 2013

Things You Find in the Field: Speed Traps

Yes, you can find them everywhere, not just in small towns and not just while wandering here and there while out in your field area, but here's a sign, warning you of a particular danger!
Speed Trap Ahead sign in Austin, NV
This hand-painted warning sign is located on the east end of the small, mountainous, central Nevada town of Austin, a place where many field geologists have hung out or passed through over the years. The sign is on the outside edge of the last major turn just past the hairpin turn coming off the west side of Austin Summit, just where you might expect to speed up a bit while rolling downhill through town. In fact, if you don't shift down or break heavily or at least steadily, you will speed up past this sign just in time to blow past the sherriff's office, not that he or his deputies will necessarily be out trying to catch you speeding (but I can't personally recommend taking the risk).

I'm not sure who put up this visible, ever present sign (I remember it as always being there, way back into the 70s), but in my experience, the time to really watch out for speed traps is when cresting the hill over Mt. Airy Summit when about to drop into Reese River Valley while approaching Austin from the west.

Oh, and anywhere near and in Eureka, NV.

2 comments:

Garry Hayes said...

We've had some of our field trip vans stopped outside of Eureka a few times over the years, though usually with a warning, not a ticket.

Silver Fox said...

Maybe they've gotten better over the years! I used to think of the whole town as being rather unfriendly, but that was based on experiences one summer back in 77, and that aspect of things changed with all the boom times and moly hopes (not to make that seem like a pun on Mount Hope).