In late August 2017 I took a road trip to see the Great American Eclipse up in Idaho on Monday Aug 21, 2017. I left a few days early, partly so that I could go visit Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada, where I had never been before. (I will post about that beautiful and least-visited National Park another time.) Northwest of Great Basin, isolated on a road between Ely NV and the park entrance, stood this monument to ungulates. Horns-A-Plenty is the antler artwork subsidiary of the D Bar X Ranch, dedicated to the processing of both domesticated and wild game animals. Obviously they have some customers, because there are more than a few small herds of deer and elk represented here.
Nevada is more than Las Vegas and gambling, ya hear? State tourism brochures show an image of a deck of playing cards, one turned over, with mountains and canyons on the card, with the caption, “Experience the Wild Side of Nevada”. Effective slogan.
I also think that Horns-A-Plenty is a good business name despite the fact that deer and elk have antlers, not horns. (The difference being that antlers are shed annually, as they are with deer, elk, reindeer, and moose; while horns are never shed and are maintained permanently, as in antelopes, goats, sheep, and bison.)
The facilities at the D Bar X Ranch northwest of Great Basin National Park and east of Ely, NV. Cervid-themed entrances are cool.
Central and Northern Nevada is home to a significant community of Basque sheep herders who came over from Spain to work for the huge rural ranches found here. As such, Basque chorizo sausages are now a regional thing. I didn’t have time to go in, despite the open gate and invitation to enter. Next time maybe?
Although deer and elk both shed their antlers every year, and grow new ones, my guess is that most of this antler archway comes from hunted animals, not naturally-shed antlers that were found in the wilderness.
So this is where those antler chandeliers come from! I feel like I found the North Pole, source of all Christmas toys.
Continuing southeast from the D Bar X Ranch, you cross over Sacramento Pass, which separates the North Snake Range from the South Snake Range. It was beautiful on this late summer day, but I imagine that winters are harsh and frigid here.
Lastly, a view to the south of Wheeler Peak (right) and Great Basin National Park, where I was headed next to see the ancient bristlecone pines. I will make a post on those magnificent, gnarled, and extremely long-lived trees separately, since they are definitely worth special attention.