Exploring a whole lot more of Nevada – 2013

Mark's had a great summer. His pictures would sync with the rest of the long rider post. I'll post up to Belmont tonight. Tough to knock a rider for having a great life. Mark should be posting next - standby.

In the morning we continued down the old primitive road. A wet trickle of water started to show up in a rut and got more pronounced as we moved on. It led to this capped well head 30' up the bank on the side of the road. Good clean water was bubbling out.



Water was likely fine but Mike set up the filter setup and we all refilled our containers and had some cold sips.



a few miles more of cool road and numerous little creek crossings in lush vegetation we came into to conehead land



I'm think they were coke furnaces or kilns but could easily be wrong? Cool anyway and reason to stop and walk around for a look see.


inside looking up


here's one that collapsed with an amazing cliff backdrop


This was the last water we'd see for many miles. Last chance to cool off. Mike wets his neck thingy.


Spotted this on the back side of a ranch we road thru, not sure if the other guys saw it so I took the pic. This was probably many child's 1st bull ride, LOL
We ridden through the ranchers front yard, he informed us the county road was "over there". Unintentional as driveways to home get more use than county roads so look like the main route sometimes. All was cool though.


we then procede through an amazing valley gated , private property, but signed welcome. High cliff walls abound.




several gates to keep the cows honest, we sort of leap frog through taking turns managing the gates


one of the private but OK signs


this route was more scenic than I expected


Maybe the last gate out of the valley. a mile or so of sandstone formations coming up. I could see where dirt bike had made some tracks up and around some, looked like fun

After the valley we road several miles of loose rutted "good" road at rat race pace. With a wheel in eech rut , cross rutted sometime a little speed is your friend, LOL.
Then we turned of on another "is this a road" road. Typical of dotted lines on a detailed map. What a hoot railing the half pipe washout road avoiding boulders.



the rocky climb continued to a recent burnt out forest, we pick our way though wondering where the road is a few times


After clearing another pass we cross another desert in one swift non stop (it was hot) scramble on a tough old silty dusty grade. no pics, Climbing out of the desert floor there was remants of the old belmont mill. waiting for the others had time to take some pics




into the old town of Belmont.


assembled at the saloon, but it wasn't open


Nice folk from the saloon up the street saw us and told us they'd open if we wanted something eat or drink. So we moved up there and had a cool drink and some lunch. Lunches are $10 , dinners $20 and they have some rooms to rent if reserved. Nice people! this was mid day for us with more routes to conquer so we didn't stay the night.


in cast iron "don't steal, the govt hate competition"


"two theorys argin with womin, neither one works"


the old courthouse, Charlie Manson supposedly rented a room here till an old lady with a shotgun escorted him out of town. Some of the doors or walls were supposed defaced by some of his weirdness. We didn't go in.

wanted to take this truck home so bad, it's was super straight with no bad rust holes, just sitting there.


continuing the route we find more old structures, many along this stretch


we detour a few miles to see a working open pit mine. Thing was huge with giant trucks crwling out it's bellly that looked the size of ants.


rented a room for the night for a shower and bed and laundry in the bath tub, LOL. Miners rent these portable buildings so it wasn't the Hilton. Think someone said, out of 5 stars it was like a negative 1 star or something to the effect.


Packing our gear down the hall..


end of day.... Tommorow the Ophir pass climb to 10k'

Bill or MIke or Mark- Was this the stretch with 3 vertical steps, 15-20 ft in height?

This looks great!

This was more or less an ATV trail that took us over Eagle Pass. It was basically a wash. I don't remember vertical steps that tall but it did have some difficult parts where you had to ride up on the wall around stuff. I almost turned around and went back down to take another route but then I realized I could see the top ahead of me so I continued on.



Bill got ahead of me so I am going to post another day. Let's all stop at the end of day 6 when we were staying in Carvers to wait for everyone else to catch up on their posting.
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Day 6
June 20, 2013




We packed up camp and headed down the wash. I was looking for water to filter and soon came across a great spring setup. We all filled up our water containers and headed on. This was one of my favorite sections of the ride. The air was crisp and cool. The road was curvy and smooth with just the right mixture of rocks and sand and gravel and moisture to make traction perfect. The morning was flowing. And then, what was that up ahead? Cones? Sweet!




I had to turn my bike around to pose it in front of those majestic structures!




More cone shots.






And then more of the sweet road until this. Broken cones. Bummer.




We continued over Sixmile Summit. And then down South Sixmile Road. All fantastic stuff. I accidentally passed the intersection where we were supposed to turn right over by the corral but it was ok because this spot was a way nicer place to wait for the others with the shady spot to lean my bike and the water to soak my neck cooler in. I thought it was interesting how the water flowed out of the lush canyon out into the huge expanse of open desert in the background.




Oops. What happened?




We went thru Hot Creek Ranch. If you go this way, please take the county roads around the ranch. The ranchers were not so happy with us but let us continue thru.




We headed up Hot Creek Valley which included opening and closing about 10 gates. I have several pictures of the gates while I waited for someone to come along and open them for me.

Here is Don with a ruin behind him.




Hot Creek Valley was cool. The whole section from the Luther Waddles Wash sign almost to Belmont reminded me of Northern Utah.












We took a turn on a road that was more or less an ATV trail over Eagle Pass. It was pretty hectic up near the top. I was feeling for Bill on his KLR. Here is Don after cresting the final hill.




Mark making his way up the last bit.




And Bill clears the grade.




Here is a better view of where we had come from.




We had a break at the summit.




Then down a long soft sandy ATV trail. Then it got rocky. Then an intersection. Sweet a sign to use to hold up the bike!




Here come the guys!




Mark






We headed up thru a section that had been recently burned.




And then another pass. This one was Barley Creek Summit.




Don looking at the next range we would be crossing.




There was a long straight section of 2 track across the valley to Belmont. Here comes Mark.




Belmont, NV








Unfortunately, Dirty Dick’s Saloon was not open. We were all interested in having a drink with ice cubes floating in it in a shady spot after so many days in the open.










Belmont had been a goal for me to include in the trip since Mark had told me about it a few years ago. He told me about the courthouse that is still standing there. Check that one off. Here it is.




Belmont was the furthest south we would get on our trip and was roughly halfway.

Don walked over to the Belmont Inn and asked if they had any cool drinks available. They did so we all went in and enjoyed the ice, a tasty lunch, and a tour of the Inn. It is so cool to learn about the history of a place. The new owner told us he plans to have a General Store with fuel available next year. Check out their website at http://www.belmontnevada.com/ . They have lodging available too including a bunkhouse out back for us cheap bike riders.

From Belmont, we rode some fun 2 track up to Jefferson Canyon Road. This road was pretty rough and rocky on the eastern side. Not so bad on the western side.

There were some ruins up in Jefferson.






Here is Mark.








We headed over to the edge to look down into the mine from Round Mountain. It is HUGE! Look how small those MASSIVE diggers and dump trucks look down there.










An old abandoned service station in Round Mountain.




We stopped for gas in Carvers. We were all whipped and decided to spend the night in a motel. We stayed in Jack’s Inn. It was a shithole. My bed’s box spring was broken and would fold the bed in half like the old taco bed if it felt like it. No tossing and turning in this bed. But, our room had AC and a shower. That part was great. At the end of our sixth day in the dust and heat and wind, the shower and shelter were fantastic. To be truthful, it was just exactly what you should expect in a town where the only people who stay in the motel are miners on a long term work stay. There is no way you should ever consider taking your wife to Jumping Jack Motel or Jack’s Inn.

83 miles today.
Today’s Route.

Don, think there were some big steps in there. Must have cleaned them all or I would have remembered to mention them.

Mike comments about not taking wives there may partly be because some working girls (legal in this county) were leaving as we were arriving

So...its been hard to keep up with this thread between more cycle trips and...tons of work. I'm back for a few weeks though and will get caught up soon. Here are my pictures from Day 3. It takes a little while to post them as I shoot in RAW and have to do a fair amount of post processing. So...back on Day 3 we camped along the river in Jarbidge (no pictures of camp this year). After breaking camp, we met up with the "light weight" contingent who stayed in the motel overnight. Before leaving, we took a tour of the old town hall/community center:










Hey, lets make the roof from cyanide containers!






After leaving Jarbidge, if was off to the south using the same route as last year:





And the same hill climb as last year:







And the most beautiful valley on the planet...again for another year. Yawn.


















And then back down to the desert. At this point, the "short timer" crew split off, and Mike, Don, Bill and I continued on south. This is a good point to stop for a few minutes.




More in a few.

Mark.

Ok. The second half of Day 3. As we headed south, we crossed a couple of low ranges and ended up on at Mary's River Bridge.

But first some stupid cows. These seem more stupid than usual, as they wouldnt move and in fact moved closer as you moved through them.



Mary's River:



The 610 on the bridge:



The first of a couple of episode of electrical diagnosis on Don's bike. Never serious, but never really figured out the problem either.



While we were working on Don's bike, we heard Mike talking to someone. At first we thought it was his normal self-talk, but low and behold there were real people. This was the first of three times we would encounter this group. The chances of that are astronomical.



And off again south towards Wells.





Hey, what is Bill pointing at?



Oh. That is marginally scary!



Not sure what it was supposed to scare away. Not many folks out here!



And then...the mighty...town of...METROPOLIS:





Bill does the "Dano":













And onto Wells and finally our camp spot south of town (cant remember the name of the lake...I am sure Mike has already posted it):



A nice camp site with a real fire ring and a real fire!




A couple of artsy cloud shots to conclude my Day 3 posts!





Ok. Sorry it took so long. I will get caught up with the rest of the team tomorrow night!

Mark.

Thanks Bill, I'll post my pics which brings three of us to Carvers. These were charcoal kilns used to heat wood into charcoal for use in smelting metal. As in the 10 Wildrose kilns of Death Valley they are in good shape. Theory goes, cheaper fuels were found to substitute wood to charcoal.

Picture of Mike and Bill at the stream

Any other State wouldn't let us ride here-Thank you Nevada.

Hard to believe the pocket cam took these

Bill and Mike

The ADV road was a trail. With 70 lbs extra, it paid to make the climb in one attempt. Might be time to throw more chum in the water for Mark. He sneaked in just a second ago. Very cool- the best pictures are ahead, from Mark

Great report gents and lots of fun riding in the wide open spaces. The large vista pics are things I don't get over here in the jungles, thanks for sharing.

Question - If the kilns are for turning wood into charcoal for smelting.....in the deserts where do they get the wood sourced from since the land is primarily scrub brush, sage etc.?

Mike how exactly did your sidestand on the 500 break? Were you standing on the bike kickstarting it, lubing chain, etc.? Just curious if there was a rational explanation for the failure. Thanks.

It is awesome down there. Since we are covering so much ground, it looks from the pictures like two places are close together when they may be 50 miles apart. Nevada has a lot of very tall mountain ranges that go north south with wide flat desolate valleys between them. There really is a lot of vegetation there. The area where the kilns were was fairly mountainous. I am not sure what they burned but there is some juniper around. I knew the kilns were coming from researching for the ride but I am sure the other guys were surprised to see them. I am looking forward to exploring that area some more in the future! ​

Here is how the sidestand got broke.

I pulled over on the gravel shoulder on the side of the paved road. Since the bike is so tall , I got hung up trying to get off and almost fell over on my face while trying to get my right foot over the seat. Apparently the gravel was a bit soft and the sidestand sunk into the gravel a bit during all this and the bike tipped over on the sidestand side folding it up under the bike. I did not realize anything was wrong at first but while I was riding along, I figured out the sidestand had not lifted all the way up to where it is supposed to go and instead was lifted up until it had hit the swingarm. It tore the sidestand right near the point where it pivots on the bolt. I could not just get it straightened and welded somewhere as the hole where the bolt goes would need to be machined out afterward so I just took all the loose parts off and stashed them in my bag. I did call down to the KTM dealership in Elko to try to get one since we would be close to there on the trip but they had nothing. They were very nice and tried hard to be helpful including exploring the possibility of taking a sidestand off a new bike in their showroom but they did not have any bikes with sidestands left in inventory.






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I'm thinking the 500 pirouetting around on its spindly kickstand whilst fully loaded with luggage is a rational reason why it failed. A pain in the arse to happen so early in the ride I'm sure. Thanks for the explanation.

My Day 4 pictures.

We woke up to a beautiful morning at our campsite at Angel Lake outside of Wells, NV. The camp ground is next to a cool cirque lake with a waterfall feeding it from the headwall.



The early morning sun turning everything bright yellow and green:



Then is was onto riding. We rode down Star Valley road for quite a ways on our way to Lamoille Canyon.








Then it was up Lamoille Canyon, a paved road that goes far up into the Ruby Mountain range. The top of the road is 8,800 feet, with the surround peaks exceeding 11,000.










We then continued south on our way to Ruby Valley. We stopped briefly in Jiggs to try to reach the local fire and rescue after we encountered an overturned truck on the side of the road (apparently happened the night before with no one inside). Note Mike's bike leaning on the rail:



Some other cool abandoned buildings in Jiggs:






I can't remember the name of the pass we went over to get into the Ruby Valley, but we climbed a couple of peaks on the way:













And finally, the descent into the Ruby Valley:



Ruby Valley looks like one big lake on the map, but in reality it is a marsh land with many small ponds and a few channels between. These are some shots from across the road from our BLM camp for the night:






OK. I think I am slowly getting caught up with the rest of the crew. Onto day 5 soon!

Mark.

I was completely wound out at 90 mph in that picture. I am the tiny dot you can barely see toward the middle of the picture. That was fun! I love my bike!

My son and I drove the same road in the Eurovan on our recent SW road trip going the opposite direction after we had visited Lamoille Canyon. Of course we were going much slower... He totally dug Lamoille.
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You are correct in that it should not be expected to withstand folding under like that. It was a total bummer. At least until I realized I didn't have to open any more gates!


That said, the PMB unit is way better than stock. It has a much bigger foot on the end and is way way way more solid of a design. When the bike was leaned on the stock stand, it always seemed a little like it was balanced awkwardly and would fall over if the wind blew it or if someone sneezed. When it is on the Pro Moto Billet unit, it is solid.
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Hey! Lets take another look at Day 5!

We woke up in the BLM camp in the Ruby Valley, packed up and rode south:







Then it was over the Harrison Pass road, which is part of an old Pony Express route. We would continue on the Express Route for several hours (after an aborted attempt over another pass).



As we rode over the pass, we encountered the first big piles of wild horse droppings in several days. No horse sightings in this area.



Mike's kickstand of the hour:



As we started to go back up into the mountains, we encountered a huge herd of sheep and sheep dogs. We tried to lure this guy closer, but in the end his bark was...well...an indicator of his potential bite. We stopped bothering him!





Finally, the herd was passed and we turned to go up the canyon, once again surrounded by flowers:




As we reached the ridge, we got a glimpse of the valley beyond:







After some navigation challenges across the top, we found the proposed router over the final ridge and down the other side. Given the high wind, step and off-camber nature of the final leg, we aborted and went back down to look for another route over the top:



Out of time for tonight. Jeez this is taking a long time to get caught up!

Mark.

We just got back from our trip covering some of the same routes. We were on big bikes, KTM 950 and BMW 1200, so we missed a lot of the smaller roads. Thanks for the report, we used lots of stuff from it to make our trip. It is interesting the difference in bike size, capabilities, and the change in season. It was really cool to see the places in person that we have only read about and seen pictures of. You said you were wound out at 90 on that road. Both my husband and I said "F#*k THAT!" Then we read that you had just travelled the road before your trip. Oh, now that makes sense. I took a nice high side through a silt bed on Jungo road at about 40mph, and that cooled our jets for the trip. So many roads begged for speed, but the fear of the unknown is a very real thing out in Nevada. Can't wait for the rest of the report. Nevada is the most beautiful secret in the U.S.