On the drive back to Gerlach we briefly stopped for a dip at the Frog Pond. This thermal oasis, set between leafy cottonwoods on the edge of the treeless Playa, is just a couple of miles west of the Trego Ditch.

The Frog Pond was many years ago the dream of a desert entrepreneur who believed that red-meat Nevadans were ready to become frog-leg epicures. Although his breeding ponds have fallen into ruin, a visitor to the site may still be welcomed by a bullfrog jumping for cover. The pond is now leased by the Burning Man folks, who use its outflow to wet down the dusty roads of the Black Rock City playa during the festival.