Eight Days and 1400 Miles in N Nevada

So...before leaving Seattle, I made a bunch of calls regarding Ophir pass. It is high (10109') and rough (on the east side). My first call was to the forest service. I cheerfully asked if they knew the condition of the pass and whether or not it was snow free. Was I got back was a canned answer. "We do not recommend using Ophir pass road". Yes, but we are experienced riders on capable dual sport motorcycles. "We do not recommend using Ophir pass". Ok, we accept the risk. Is there snow up there still? "We do not recommend using Ophir pass". Ok. Thanks NFS. Does that now stand for No F_cking Service?

Next I called the store at Carvers. Hey, anyone been up Ophir? Oh, yeah, the kids just went up there this weekend on Razors and got all the way to the top. Kick Ass. Its clear? We'll the kids say it is….

Well...the kids were mistaken:



It didn’t look so bad at first...until we walked down and climbed out on the one big remaining drift. There was a 20 foot drop on the down hill side and the snow was so soft we sank in up to our knees in several spots. No way over it, and the terrain above and below was too steep to ride. Crap.



So...we took a group shot and we braced for plan b (more on that in a minute).



Let me momentarily resume my NFS rant. Here is the markings on the "no turn around" sign at the top. Wording consistent with what I heard on the phone. "We don’t recommend Ophir pass"….

OK. I feel better now. On with the story of Day two.

Fortunately, we had planned for the possibility of Ophir being impassable, given that the significant consequence -- given gas limitations and no other way over the range, our only option now was to go 80 miles to the south and circumnavigate the Arc Dome wilderness. So back down the west side of Ophir and south through the Reece valley.







At this point, there is a huge gap in our pictures, as we were running 50 mph plus (actually hit 75 on the 610 through one very open gravel section) all the way down the valley and back up the east side of the range to Carvers. It was almost 1pm by the time we hit the pumps. The plan was to be there around 11. Oh well. Adventure...



I thought I had more pictures of Carvers, but I guess not. Trust me, you aren't missing much. We stayed overnight here last year. THAT was clearly the worst place I have ever stayed.

So...from Carvers, we headed over Jefferson Pass to the Belmont ghost town. More adventure. We came over Jefferson last year east to west. I vaguely recalled it being nice and smooth on the east, and a little chewed up on the west. I was wrong. The west side is INSANELY chewed up. Coming down it isnt as memorable as going up. The road ran straight up the stream bed, then turned up a long series of rocky steps that we tricking to climb on fully loaded bikes freshly loaded with 5+ gallons of gas! On the 610, I just motored up. But Greg's wr250 was panting a bit, and Danny's KLR was...well...being a KLR -- motoring up, but with poor suspension and a lot of weight. Bottom line...Jefferson is hard west to east!

A few pictures of Jefferson (I didn’t stop to take many):











Sitting around at the top of the pass waiting for everyone at the top, I took this selfie…




After our traumatic climb it was down the east side and an easy cruise into Belmont.




We found that the inn was open and the owner was there, his Husky Terra parked out front. We grabbed a couple of drinks and chatted with him a while, noting his restoration progress since last year.



We showed him our route and discussed our alternatives, given that it was now about 4pm and we still had three passes to summit on our planned route. We scrapped our plans and decided to blast straight up the gravel mainline between Belmont and Hwy 50 (Monitor valley, picking our original route up again after about 30 miles.

Some pictures of Belmont







The next stop on our planned route was Diana's punchbowl, a geothermal cone and crater full of scalding hot water. This being Nevada -- where there are no laws -- there are no warning signs or safefy rails. You can ride right up the cone and on into the abyss if you arent careful!

I am sure others can provide better shorts of the punch bowl, as my telephoto lens would not open for a very wide shot.









After teetering on the edge of death for a little while, we rode about 1 mile to our next destination and possible camp for the night: Potts Hot Springs. The innkeeper in Belmont had warned us that the new owner of the hot springs property didn’t like campers at the springs, but had given us directions to his ranch house to ask permission. After getting to the springs however, we determined that a) it was pretty exposed and b) the area was infested with cows (and cow deposits). We DID, however, fill the tub and go for an AWESOME soak. Greg has pics...I was too busy relaxing.

Note the cows in the background:



After reluctantly putting all of our dirty and hot gear back on, we headed to the west side of the range and looked for a place to camp. We quickly came across a sign for Ikes Canyon, and rode up about a mile for an awesome campsite for the night.

A few more wild horses along the way:



Here is our campsite and a quick inventory of camping styles by individual:



My setup:


Greg, the consummate professional camper:


Minimalist Don:


Dano:


KLR-style Danny:


Greg photo bombing the picture of the water sterilizer.


And...the sun slowly sets on Day 2. It didn’t go as planned, but was plenty scenic and action packed!

Some additional commentary on day 2.

Beautiful ride to Ophir. Excellent weather and perfect temps. Getting stopped by the snow was definitely a disappointment. Mark had regaled us with tales of Herculean efforts from the previous year of climbing the route we would've descended.

Mark thought he might be able to salvage the adventure and find a potential route around the snow. He comes prepared and whips out his iPad mini with an app (he'll have to tell which) that has highly detailed topo and satellite imagery cached on the device.


We decided to take the bypass route option Mark laid out just in case. The 2.5 hour, 83 mile ride definitely turned into a drone after a while and by the time we arrived at Carvers it seemed like we'd been riding much longer than that.

Carvers: food, drink, fuel, recuperate a bit. Head out to Jefferson canyon.

As Mark mentioned, Jefferson Canyon was quite challenging. The road definitely seemed to have suffered some serious water damage. Numerous baby heads and Fester heads, exposed roots, and ruts galore. I was glad to be on the little 250 and wasn't envying Danny on the massive and loaded KLR.

The final climb up the pass was fun and challenging, but there was one 5' washout/drop off around a turn that would gladly eat a bike. The little WR wasn't panting so much as screaming. Just like every WR250R owner before me has said - you have to ride them like two strokes. Sometimes this means winding them out on a hill climb which makes them a little more squirrelly.

Once at the top of Jefferson Pass we waited for Danny. And Waited. Uh oh. Waited some more. He wasn't that far behind. So Don and I, being on the lightest bikes, went back down to investigate. We didn't have to get far before finding Danny walking his KLR up a particular steep section.

This is a picture of Don, almost skating down the rock, to help Danny - which you can barely see to Don's left.


Here's a poor panorama shot where Danny's getting geared up to ride the final, easier, section. Oh yeah - Mark came down too after 15 or so minutes to make sure all was well. We'd (or at least I'd) forgotten we all had radios. Doh.


The rest of the ride into Belmont was fun and fast. No picture as I think we were focused on making up time.

Improvising a new route based on intel from the Saloon owner in Belmont we rode strait to Diana's Punchbowl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana's_Punchbowl.

Mark and Dano





A highlight of the day was this little gem of a hot spring. It was the first hot spring I'd ever been it.


Simply plug the hole with an old sock (provided in the tub) redirect the hot flowing water from the nearby stream into the tub using some tubing:


Add a few sweaty and grimy dirt bikers and voila - spirits raised:


Onward to finding a very cool campsite….

When you're riding a KLR, you can bring some serious kitchen kit and supplies:




Got a little fire going to keep away the mosquitos:




Basic stats:
Miles: 186
Riding time: 10.5 hours.

I was afraid that Jefferson Pass had been under-estimated. I distinctly remember thinking (as we were headed the opposite way last year) "This would be a bitch going the other way!!" In my memory, all the other mountain ranges we had crossed in Nevada were more difficult on the eastern facing slopes but that one was different.

I am glad to see that all of you conquered it! Good stuff! Keep it coming!!

Bummer about the snow drift on Ophir. Have a look at this satellite shot that was lingering in my mind last June as we dealt with the gnarly grade approaching the summit from the east side. Did you notice the date of the image?? See that big snow drift that Mark found? The high point of the pass is very close to where the 2nd waypoint from the left side of the picture is.

Great stuff guys---thanks !!!

With this photo--you guys could have lied about going over Ophir----but no---you guys are upstanding riders----------me---I might have lied
I so want to get to Northern Nevada---I've did the TAT across it---but there is so much more.
Not to be ridden alone I would think.

By Day 2, I was worried about running out of rocks, not snow.

Mark motoring the bottom before the Ophir climb


Dano stretching on the joy ride



Danny on the fun side of Ophir


Doesn't look like much.


Disappointed- Had we gone done the east side, we would have hung two notches lower, one for ride down, two if we spent the night at the Jumping Jack.


Marc heading back down


Dano


Greg punishing the Montana for snow


Mark enjoying weather and Nevada


Quick note on Belmont Inn. The owner won't meet State codes (fire code to start with) in order to get a hotel business license. Any food, drink, lodging, or fuel is a personal transaction only. Last year he was a go- this year, no.


I'll skip Diana's punchbowl, a giant hot water toilet with no seat.

Pott's hot springs is a POI. We found it empty and diverted the pipes/ unplugged the tub as we found it to reduce algae growth.
A perfect temperature, you can put piped water over your dusty head. Dry in about 30 seconds, no need for the towel.


We moved piped water back to the creek, pulled the plug and dressed.


Just arrived at the mouth of Ike's Canyon after Pott's. It was getting late and we set up camp. Dano pic


A bowl at the entrance of Ike's makes the perfect campsite. Fire rings and some tent scraped spots make it a good choice. We filtered water from the stream nearby.



Up early enough to get some sun on the rim


Another nice day. Seems like we had a small window of seasons between snow on the pass, and the scorching heat of summer.

Love it!

Ophir is on my list, maybe later this year. I imagine it is HOT getting to and from the summit now.
thanks again for the pics and report!

Cool! That punch bowl POI is crazy and Ophir is now on the list!

A couple of comments on Ophir Pass.

Last year we went through Ophir from east to west. The east approach is very different from the west. While the west is a casual climb to the top, the east approach starts at 5000' (valley floor) and climbs relentlessly up a loose gravel and baby head rock strewn road all the way to the peak at 10,000'. So…that is a non-stop 5,000' climb with full camping gear and full gas. And, for those of us who normally live at sea level, the air at 10,000' feet is thin -- meaning that you are very tired AND out of breath at the top of the eastern climb. And if you fall on the way up…you have the opportunity to pick up your heavily laden bike and then get restarted on a steep loose hill. Sounds great, eh? Remember the NFS non-recommendation?

Honestly, when compared to Jefferson pass, it really isn't that hard. Its just that it is soooo damn long and unrelenting.

Timing. Last year, we came through two weeks later than this year and missed any blocking snow drifts (apparently by a couple of days). Given that the snow pack in Northern Nevada was low this year AND my assurances from the locals, we figured we would be able to blow through this year. Sigh.

Realistically, I think Ophir is best done in late June at the earliest and…if possible west to east. Its really not that hard a hill except for the length, so coming down isn't really much of a challenge (of course, I thought Jefferson was easy to come down, so consider the source!)

Bikes. You could probably take a street bike to the top of Ophir from the west (and then turn around and go back down). From the east, I would hesitate to take anything bigger than a KLR. Last year, we had one rider on a KLR who motored up, but he was a really experienced rider. Certainly, a bike bigger than a single would be a bad idea -- going up or down.

Some pictures from last year's east side climb (go here for the ride report):

The paved turn off coming north from Carvers


The nice cruise for about the first 1/4 mile of the east side:


Going up


My only picture of the actual climb. I stopped and leaned my bike against the rock wall to go down and help one of our guys pick up his bike after a fall. The picture doesn’t do the incline justice, but you get a sense of the rocks and length of the climb.


This is where the snow drift was this year:


And the top last year:

Awesome RR.I did a loop of northern Nevada last year.I rode down the east slope of Mt.Ophir.With the loose rock it seemed like there were sections that I couldnt get my bike slowed down because it was hopping on the loose rocks.Kind of scary while riding alone.I missed the hot springs after checking out Diana's Punch Bowl.

You were the 650 Honda rider posting in last year's ride? (Stay tuned for more)

Damn it. Work always gets in the way of a timely ride report. Where were we? Oh, yeah. DAY THREE. A day of MUCH ADVENTURE!!!!

Here is a snapshot of our intended route -- a mix of new stuff and some "best of" sections from other rides. We would not adhere to this plan for long:



During our evening around the fire, we discovered that Ikes Canyon was actually the beginning of one of my alternate routes through the mountains, so we decided to continue on up the canyon on our way north towards Austin. In the Benchmark guide, this road is called the "Old Freight Route". Not sure I would be taking any freight this direction!

All packed up.


The route up the canyon is spectacular, in fact this is now on my list of all time favorites. Awesome scenery, some challenging climbs, and a long run a long the ridge line with views down into the valleys on either side.

As the elevation climbed, we were soon in stands of Aspen.




We then started climbing a series of switchbacks, offering a view into the valley we had just come up:


We started to get concerned about the altitude, as we were now at about 9600', and we had encountered snow drifts on Ophir the day before just below 10,000'. And...sure enough...another blocking snow drift!

While there was no way around this one up or down, it was small and we decided to carve a way through. Don begins to dig:


Greg and Dano really got into it:


While they all dug, I walked around and took pictures of stuff :) :


After about 30 minutes, we had carved a nice trench in the snow and were ready to walk the bikes across. Don first:




I could tell by the look in Danny's eye that he was not going to be content with simply paddling his bike through while we all helped push. He attempted a full power run:


It didn’t work:




We resumed a more conservative approach and got all of us up and over.


Last bike:


Freedom from snow and the summit now in sight. From there we dropped down into an area called Stoneberger basin:


I seem to be somewhat immune to downhills, or am just have a bad memory (I didn’t recall Jefferson pass as being bad). Most of the crew thought this was a real scare -- steep, silty, with a huge rut in the middle. We were concerned we would not be able to climb back out if turned around by snow again. Keep that thought it mind. It will come into play later that morning!

Don on the last part of the hill. This is with a 400mm telephoto. It’s a steep sucker.


Being in the lead means sitting around a lot. So I took pictures of some of the vegetation in the basin. Cool stuff:


After a series of steep accents, we crested and started to ride along the ridgeline north. I stopped and waited again, taking just a few pictures of the scenes from the top:




Don was behind me and we sat for quite a while taking in the view waiting for the others to catch up. Nothing. Wait some more. Nothing. Finally, we turned on our radios and Don headed back south while I waited some more.


Finally I got the call from Don. Change in plans….

We're down to the last 5000 critter pics. Is this a long thread?

Don's radio call back to me was two words: "BROKEN WRIST". NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

I back tracked about a mile or so along the ride and met up with the rest of the group. Strangely, no one was on the ground, writhing in pain. Everyone was calmly walking around and talking. Were they screwing with me?

Nope. Dano's wrist was clearly broken (doesn't take much of a rocket scientist to see when things are THAT badly out of whack. But he was already splinted up and the consensus was we needed to get Dano out of the mountains quickly. So...off we went with Dano riding his 610 with his right wrist severely broken.

Given the crazy up, down and snow we had come through, we decided to plow ahead into uncharted territory. The route would follow the ridge, then drop down a bit, climb back up, run the ridge and so on. Fortunately, the ups and downs were not as difficult as the first part and Dano was able to continue to ride on his own (although he did confide in me that he felt like vomiting most of the time).

Dano broke his wrist about 10 mile into the Freight loop, at about 9600'. It took us about an hour to go the next 12 miles to the gravel road that leads to Austin. Twisting the throttle gingerly with a broke wrist and using only a rear brake, he was able to make it out. Although at that point we still had 30 miles of gravel and hwy 50 to get into Austin...which is still no where.

So...when we made it to Hwy 50, we stopped and regrouped. We had one rider (Marc) who had dropped out of the group the day before due to some suspension problems with his bike. So as the group started toward Austin on Hwy 50, I stayed behind and called Marc.

As it turns out, he had a hotel room in Austin and was just about ready to check out. Perfect place to park Dano until we figured out a next step. I told Marc to hold the room, jumped on my 610 and burned down Hwy 50 to catch up to the group, now several miles ahead of me.

With no speed limit signs, I wound out the 610 trying to catch up. Hwy 50 is America's Loneliest Highway, right? And this is Nevada, the home of no laws, right? Apparently not. As I rounded the first turn close to Austin (you have to go up and over a range of hills to hit Austin), I saw two things: a) our group of riders stopped way ahead in the distance, and b) a Nevada state trooper in the foreground, already flipping on his lights to come after me. Great.

So for some reason, rather than continuing on to where the group had pulled over, I stopped short and started talking to the trooper. He got out of his cruiser, came up to me and immediately let me know that he clocked me at 70 in a 55 zone (I was surprised it wasn’t a lot more). I politely stopped him, and pleaded my case -- I'm with the group ahead, was trying to catch up as I had information on where to take our injured rider. He switched gears immediately, dropped the speeding infraction dialog, and the two of us pulled forward a few hundred yards to going the group on the side of the road.

Getting the full low down on Dano's arm, he got back in his car and started making calls. Coming back to us, he had bad news and good news. Bad news -- no paramedic or emergency services in Austin, NV. The clinic had closed after both the paramedics quit. The good news was that the nearest full service hospital was in Battle Mountain, 100 miles to the north. Good news was that we had staged out of Battle Mountain and had our vehicles parked there.

So...after helping us figure out a next step, he graciously posed for the below picture. Great guy and great service...and no ticket!



After departing from our discussion with the trooper, we continued on to the room Marc had kept at the Austin motel (if you could call it that -- it was a subdivided single wide):


Then came the slog. With Dano resting comfortably in the hotel room, we had to figure out how to get everyone back to Battle Mountain. We decided to take the most street worthy bikes north, leaving the KTM 350 and 450 with Marc and Dano. So...leg one -- 100 miles of pavement on dual sport bikes from Austin to Battle Mountain.

Then, leg two -- Greg and I jumped in his truck/trailer and drove the 100 miles back to Austin.

Then, leg three -- Greg, Marc, Dano and I drove ourselves and the bikes back to Battle Mountain. Ug.

We finally arrived at the hospital in Battle Mountain about 8pm, IIRC. They x-rayed Dano's arm and...yep...it was broken (duh). But...they couldn’t set it. So...they splinted him up, gave him the x-ray and some pain pills and sent him on his way.

The final resolution for Dano and the group was for Marc to drop out of the trip, drive Dano to Reno, where he would catch a flight home, then Marc continued on back to his home in Medford. More on the outcome of Dano's injury a little later.

So...as day three came to a close, we were trying to determine how to resume the trip with two less riders and a re-starting point back where we had started.

As a riding buddy says, "The adventure begins when things don’t go as planned"!

Starting the day at the mouth of Ike's Canyon


Snow digging


Mark at the top of the pass after the snow trail.


It was great trail.


Not much you can do with a break and no splints. Did have a 4" roll of the sticky gauze to help stabilize the joint. Only wrapped it for rider comfort. By that time you get the after effect of released adrenaline causing nausea. Add in swelling from tissue damage at the break. Don't know how he rode the 610 down a jeep side hill. Danny had excellent trailside manner.


Our side of the Cascades- Mark would have been in chains.



Austin hotel let us stay in the room most the day getting set for Battle Mountain shuttle.

We were lucky. Dano self-rescued to Austin. Marc did us a favor by getting him to Reno for a flight home. Four of us continued on the northern loop.

Yes that was a long day! They got me to BM "hospital" about 8:00P.M. Broke my wrist around 9:00 A.M. However there was no X ray tech or physician on duty at that time of night. So the guys leave, and I was to call for a pickup ride after I was through.

So they called in the X ray tech and she arrives pretty quick, takes a few photos and says, I'm not the doctor but that looks pretty bad.:eek1

I had made a deal with the wife that after my last get off, as long as my bike related injuries don't require any surgeries, then I can keep riding. I've had my share since we've been married. Broken ankle, two collar bones, broken scapula, ribs finger etc. She said it's hard on her... I have to admit that rehabbing injuries is getting a bit old.

Anyway back to BM hospital. They have to call in a doctor from home. Small place, I can hear the conversations at the front desk from my exam room. Doctor says she'll be in asap.

Twenty minutes later she calls to say that she can't get the kids to sleep, please call someone else.
40 minutes later appears another doctor, but he can't see me until he logs into the system. His password has expired and he hasn't been in in so long that the email with a new one has also expired too. Two calls to their tech support and( I'm trying to laugh) and finally he comes in to see me.

Looks at the xray and says, no big deal, simple old lady fracture, set it, splint it and Bobs your uncle. Oh, but we don't set bones here. Says I should go to Reno. Got some pills said thank you and I was out the door.

While waiting for Danny to come fetch me, the nurse walks out and says again, I don't know that doctor, but I bet you will need surgery. So now I'm confused. I had given the guys strict radio silence instructions as I didn't want any info going to the wife until I knew what was going on. So back to the hotel, up and down all night waiting for breakfast so we could discuss what to do with me.

As Mark mentioned the next morning we decided I'd fly home from Reno, they would continue the ride minus Marc and me.
On the way to Reno I finally called the wife to ask for a ride home from the Seattle airport. Told her I was OK just a bunged up wrist.

Got home about 8:00 P.M. Called my ortho guy next morning, (sad when you have one) he can't see me until the next day. So Monday to Thursday I waited. Thursday the bad news, I had broken both bones and would require surgery to keep them in place... **&&^** He wondered what the guy in BM was smoking...

I had enough experience to know if their might be a chance to get in for surgery I shouldn't eat. Wednesday night no food for me. Sure enough they wanted to do surgery Friday, but since I hadn't eaten they were able to do the surgery that afternoon.

Open reduction, internal fixaction, more metal and another 7 screws to my collection.
Cast for two weeks, splint for two and now I'm working on flexibility exercises and trying to convince my wife that it wasn't the Husky 610's fault

Hope I win, and I can keep her, wife and bike. ha ha. stay tuned..

Glad to hear you are healing up, Dan-ohhhhh....

The whole story illuminates the remoteness of northern Nevada. 13 hours to a hospital, only to get a bogus diagnosis and a pat on the butt. Preparedness and solid action post injury helps.

I have to give a tip of the hat to our riding group on that last point. Dano for pure huevos to ride out. Don for his medical training (you can hear it in his description above....retired firefighter), Danny and Greg for being so damn calm and logical, Marc for sacrificing his ride in order to get to Reno.

Hey guys, glad to see that Dan is OK. Love the reports of my home state. I love rhat alot of adventures are here exploring this awesome state. Its really the best state for riding without restrictions of land ownership and congestion of fowns andd cities. But thats what makes it dangerous as well. This is a great example of why you should always plan for things like this. When my group rides we always know where the closest clinic, hospital, emergency room or hospital is. ALWAYS. We also call ahead of time to see if it's still in operation and what their hours are. Nevada is wide open and there always seems to be a glitch when it comes to outback medical care. Eureka or Fallon would have been a better choice than Battle Mountain. Kind of surprised the trooper didn't know enough to inform you of that. Fallon has a full hospital and is only 20 minutes further than Battle Mountain.
When ever possible we also con a non riding buddy to chase us around in a truck for support. Most of the time its two people so they have someone to talk to. We usually have a seperate course laid out for him where he meets us at intersecting points for fuel or what ever and he is always prepered for the hiccup. Sat phones are how we keep in touch with him.
Can't wait to read the rest of the reports. Enjoy the state.

By the way. Diannas Punch Bowl. I have seen carcasses of bones floating in there a few years back while on a deer hunt out there. It looked to be coyotes and a small rodent. I can't seem to get to close to the edge anymore.

Good points NVKatoom

I chose BM, being the one who screwed up I was trying to minimize the impact on the rest of the guys trip.

Figured if we got back to BM that day I would only screw the group ( beside Marc) out of 1 day riding. I was pretty sure my wrist wouldn't get all it needed that day anyway. Considering all factors it seemed best to get my bike back to the trailer and trucks where it could sit until they finished the loop.

The Trooper did mention Fallon and Elko.

SAT phone would be nice!