Menu
Home
Shop
Wishlist
My account
Sidebar

Legends of Lost Nevada

Nevada’s a mysterious place. With history and mystery as far and wide as the Great Basin, there’s plenty out there to let your imagination run wild in the Sagebrush Sea. I still can’t figure some of these stories (and locations) out. I’ll never stop trying.

The Kestrel Caller

I hereby swear on Nevada backroads to never overload your inboxes, ever.

The Kestrel Caller enewsletter will soar into your inboxes about once a month with info about new Song Dog Silver online store updates and upcoming in-person events, the latest story from my blog series Legends of Lost Nevada (where you can read or listen), and sometimes a rare combo of the two.

Ride Shotgun

@sydneymmartinez
Writer. Photographer. Bird Nerd. Silversmith. Amateur Historian and Geologist. Nevadan.
Forever chasing backroads, hot water, and that Great Basin State of mind, follow me to the darkest corners of
one of the most misunderstood states in America one wild raptor, great dirt roads drive, and ghost town at a time.

We used our tailgate as a tripod to shoot this photo that night. The only noise crackling from our campfire, our own heartbeats, and a pair of Coopers Hawks tucking in their chicks for the night, it was unbelievably silent here which gave us a lot of time to think about the thousands of people that surely built a fire in the same exact spot throughout the years.

That was after we spent four days hiking around, bumping over gravel roads, and basically being completely entranced by thousands of signs of ancient human histories left throughout the missing strata from the Grand Canyon and one of the most dangerous and beautiful national monuments in Nevada borders. It’s a stunning place in every respect, and even though we got to be here without the distraction of anyone else, it belongs to everyone and lies squarely on public lands.

Like most Nevada recreationalists, I strongly feel public lands are not just important, but at the center of the Nevada experience. With a higher percentage of public lands acreage than any other state, your ability to wonder what’s over there down that valley then actually go find out is possible here, and not the case in most other places. The privatization of public lands is the biggest thing we have to lose, and while I really try to stay away from anything political on here, I simply cannot fathom the Nevada so many of us know without freely accessing its most special and surprising places—like this one.

Despite which box you checked on your ballot, I do know Nevada Public Lands is what unites so many of us. I enthusiastically encourage anyone else who loves this state as much as I do to call, write, and do whatever else to voice that admiration of Nevada’s most lasting and special quality. Don’t forget to use your voice—it’s a powerful thing. ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 #insagebrushwetrust #publiclands

138 5

The art of survival never really ends—not in the Big Empty it doesn’t. The more I think about it, it’s usually somewhere out there where they find each other 🌚 #insagebrushwetrust

88 0

What an unending force this place is. Longer days and even longer dirt roads soon, please 🔥🔥 #insagebrushwetrust

137 2

This dog has given me more than just about everyone else. We took this picture I the day I signed my publishing contract last year. He knew. And now he gets to be immortalized, being along for all those truck rides, well, forever.

Thank you for being the most loyal, loving bear to me, Elks. I can’t imagine life, or being in the wilds of Nevada without you. Happy 8th birthday!! ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 #ElkoBear

231 12

Introducing Finding Nevada Wild: The Terrain, Culture, and People of the Most Mysterious State in the West. 🌚

Can you believe it??? After a LOT of meltdowns, more rewrites than I can wrap my mind around, and a wily ass publishing world, we’re so freakin’ excited to announce this project. It’s about our lives exploring Nevada’s ultra rurals—Jonny, Elko, and I—and filled with hundreds of color photos, it’s equally at home on your coffee table as it is on the dashboard as you bump down Nevada’s backcountry roads. Shipping summer 2025, preorder your own copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million starting now.

…and be sure to stick with me on more updates to come. This is going to be an exciting lap around the sun ❤️‍🔥 #insagebrushwetrust

347 91

Elks and the main character energy he was born with. In Teddy Bear Cholla we trust??? ✨ #ElkoBear

112 2

The exact sort of thing that happens in a dream, isn’t it? ✨

Just Nevada’s upper right hand corner, though. The only thing dreamier is knowing I’ll be back there this week.❤️‍🔥 #insagebrushwetrust

142 2

History and mystery are alive in the most misunderstood state in the West. And it just got a facelift ✨

I write stories about Nevadans, the Great Basin, and where they meet somewhere in a place you’ve probably never heard of. They’re published over on my site. But if you don’t want to read the blogs, they’re available in podcast form on Spotify and now Apple Podcasts, too. Now you can feast your eyes AND ears out any ol’ time you want. ❤️‍🔥 #insagebrushwetrust

169 10

Dialing into a new frequency with a higher antenna. And of course the best boy(s) in the West ❤️‍🔥 #insagebrushwetrust

196 5

Not so calm, definitely bright ✨

…now that Torani Amer is back in Nevada and where it belongs and hitting the floor (again) as the hopeful official state drink of the Silver State, who do we have to talk to about a real Picon emoji anyway??🍷🐏💚 #saypiconplease

248 6

When in doubt, don’t 🌚 #insagebrushwetrust

200 6

Thought about it 🙃🧻 #insagebrushwetrust

169 11

Something amazing happens when forgotten and misunderstood places change the fabric of who you are. Something wonderful happens when they define who you’ve become 🌚 #insagebrushwetrust

164 1

Drop us off anywhere, so long as it’s out there ❤️‍🔥

With the Big Empty at our fingertips—any time, any day—it’s a type of dependency we are endlessly grateful for 🌚#insagebrushwetrust

168 1

Upspiraling 🌪️

This last lap around the sun felt a lot like one big confusing time puzzle, with way too many projects and never enough hours in the day to actually accomplish them all. But I think I got at least one major piece of it figured out, and all imagined up from an ultra-rural hot spring. It IS where I do some of my best work.

It’s giving lifelong dreams becoming real 🤌🏻 It’s giving Summer 2025 🤌🏻🤌🏻 More details on this beautiful mystery later, but for now I know with certainty more hope bubbles up around year 38 than ever before. LFG ❤️‍🔥 #InSagebrushWeTrust

427 55

Just call me the wild burro whisperer 🌚 #teamalkali

341 24

No service, no problems ❤️‍🔥 #getoutside

132 7

Mojave prowlin’ 🔥 #findingnevadawild

175 4
Back to Top
Kestrel Caller

The Kestrel Caller Has Landed

I hereby swear on Nevada backroads to never overload your inboxes, ever. Instead, rely upon Song Dog Silver updates, fresh Legends of Lost Nevada, and sometimes a rare combo of the two.

Do you Know of a Legend of Lost Nevada?

With history and mystery as far and wide as the Sagebrush Sea, there are plenty of Lost Legends out there. Got a story idea you think I should write about?

Share It
Preorder Your Copy of Finding Nevada Wild Today

Shopping cart

Close