Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike 2020 – Section 1: Ely to Preston

Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 1 Map

Quick Facts About My Basin And Range Trail Thru-Hike

Miles: ~950
Dates: June 1st, 2020 – August 6th, 2020
Days: 67
Zero Days: 17
Highest Point: Wheeler Peak 13,064’
Lowest Point: Railroad Valley 4,851’
Starting Terminus: Ely, NV
Ending Terminus: Baker, NV
Resupply Stops: 9

Video: Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 1

In addition to this trail journal, I also filmed my Basin and Range Trail thru hike. I’ve produced a detailed documentary series (11+ hours runtime) documenting this thru hike adventure, the product over over 1,000 hours of video editing. I highly recommending watching the Basin and Range Trail vlog series for an in-depth look at thru-hiking the Great Basin and central Nevada. 

Basin And Range Trail Thru-Hike Journal

This is my journal documenting my 2020 Basin and Range Trail thru hike. This is not meant to be a guide to hiking this route, rather, it tells the story of how the events unfolded along the journey. For a guide to thru-hiking the Basin and Range Trail, visit https://basinandrangetrail.com/. Additionally, join the Basin and Range Trail facebook group to connect with past, present and future Basin and Range Trail thru hikers. 

Day 0 – May 31st: Getting to the Starting Terminus

I flew into Salt Lake City, and had a friend drive me to Ely, Nevada. This is where I will start my Basin and Range Trail thru-hike across the great basin region of central of Nevada, along a new long distance hiking route I have mapped out over the winter. After being dropped off at my motel, I did some grocery shopping and spent the evening getting my gear together and going over my maps.

Day 1 – June 1st: Ward Mountain, Egan Range

I left my motel in Ely, Nevada a little after what I thought was 7:30am. That’s what my phone was telling me, as it automatically updates to the time zone. However, when I reached the post office that was supposed to be open at 7:30, it was still closed. Confused, I asked the lady inside when it will open. She said at 7:30. I looked at my phone, and it was after 7:30. That’s when I realized my phone had not properly updated to the Pacific time zone. A little embarrassed, but I waited outside for a while until it actually opened so I could send out a box with extra gear back home.

After the post office debacle, I hit the road. It was a couple mile road walk out of town from here along Highway 6. I got a lot of funny looks from the traffic driving by with my backpack on. Apparently, Nevada doesn’t see many long distance hikers. 

Shortly after leaving Ely, there was a sign along the road that said “next gas 167 miles”. Wow! This is a record for me. That next gas is in Tonopah, where it also says “next gas 167 miles” when heading east to Ely. The majority of the state is extremely vast and empty, beyond comprehension for anyone who has not visited. I laugh when I think of my home state of Michigan, and hear people describe anywhere in the state as remote. You can hardly get to a spot that is farther than 1 mile from any road in Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Other than the occasional narrow shoulder, the road walk was actually not that bad. The road passes through a short segment of mountains, and then emerges into a more open landscape. I continued to walk until I saw signs for Ward Mountain. This is my entry into the Egan mountains.

I utilized one of the picnic tables in the campground and took a quick break to eat a snack. There was a water spigot here for water. I think there was one vehicle here. Leaving the campground, I followed an old Aqueduct line towards the upper Terrace. This route was not efficient at all in terms of elevation gain, as it just went up and down over every hill in a straight line. However, it was a straight line to where I needed to go. I was surprised to see a flowing Creek, until I saw a break and the aqueduct line on the hillside above. Mystery solved.

There was another trough overflowing with water, and a couple of other small water sources along the way. So right away, I am thinking, great, water is not going to be as big of an issue here as I thought.

Eventually I left the aqueduct behind for a 4×4 Road. This climbed steeply up to the upper Terrace. Pretty good views of the white river valley below. I was surprised to see how wooded it was. Looking out into the vast valley looked more like a sea of green than a desert. Eventually the road popped up above the trees, but not the tree line itself. It just cleared out. In fact, I saw a few patches of snow here, and nowhere else.

Above 8000ft I saw my first wildflowers. I was getting pretty tired now, having a hard time with the climb uphill. I had spent two nights in Ely at over 6300ft, and I was really hoping this would be enough for someone coming from sea level. Today I will reach elevations nearing 10,000ft, and over that tomorrow. On top of that, I had been working almost non-stop for months before I left for this hike, and had practically no time to dedicate to training for this hike. I was definitely starting this hike at a disadvantage in that regard, but I am just glad to finally be out here.

A lot of the 4×4 roads climbed steeply, which quickly took its toll on me. They didn’t look that steep on the map, but they sure felt like it. Once up on the Upper Terrace, I began to see aspen trees. There were some rather striking uplifted limestone mountains that form the upper and lower terraces of the Egan Range, and wow were they beautiful. I had seen a couple of photos online of the lower terrace, but couldn’t find any of the upper terrace. Much of the Basin and Range Trail is like that, no photos were available of the areas I plan to hike through. The topography on the map sure looks promising in many areas, but until you get there and lay eyes on it, you never know what you’re going to get. So here, I am pleasantly surprised. I will get used to this feeling along the BRT over the next 2 months.

Somewhere on the upper terrace, I got my first huge sweeping view of White River Valley to the west, and the White Pine Range on the other side. Here was my first real view of Basin and Range topography: a series of parallel running, tall and narrow faulted mountains separated by vast arid basins, or valleys. It’s a stunning landscape really, providing massive wide-open views with tons of prominence above the valley below. Yes, this is going to be a beautiful hike!

My GPS said I hiked 30 miles today, but that’s absurd. It’s more like 15 (18 actually, upon returning home and looking at the GPS track). There were no deep canyons or anything, it’s all been very wide open. So clearly, my new top-of-the-line Garmin 66i can’t be trusted for accurate mileage estimates in the field. What a shame.

I’ve reached an elevation of 9300ft today, and I am feeling it. I dropped down to the protection of some pine trees, to get out of the 35+ mph winds, and found camp for the night. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of sheer exhaustion felt on the first day of a hike like this… not only did I not get in very much pre-hike conditioning, but going up in elevation rapidly is also exhausting. This combination tends to kill my appetite, making it a triple whammy. After getting up tent up, I was so tired and lethargic, pretty much skipped dinner and just went to bed at 7:45. Make no mistake, the first few days are a difficult adjustment period. But once your body gets used to it, the impossible becomes possible.

 

Day 2 – June 2nd: Crest of the Egan Range, Willow Peak, Water Canyon

I got plenty of sleep, if you can call it that, last night. My body is feeling tired and sore today, as expected. The views were great leaving camp as I continued along the main 4×4 road running south. I could have taken an alternate route up to Ward Mountain yesterday, the high point of the Egan range, but with the way I am feeling, there is just no way. However, that would have been an excellent route, and had I started this hike with better conditioning and more acclimated to the elevation (perhaps coming off another thru hike somewhere else), that would have been my route. The upper terrace is still pretty nice too.

I passed several springs this morning right alongside the road. Eventually the road dipped down into a valley, so I continued off-trail to avoid dropping in elevation. I filtered water from a very small spring that I had to dig out to collect from, as this was the last water before heading up to the ridgeline, over 10k feet.

Once at the top of the crest, the 4×4 road faded and I began my cross-country trek across the ridge south. First, I bagged Willow Peak, 10,302ft. I could see Wheeler Peak in Great Basin National Park to the east, which is essentially the end point of the Basin and Range Trail. It’s a strange feeling to have your end point in sight, but know that it is still 2 months away.

Here on Willow Peak, I found some Rugose Coral fossils, evidence that the ground beneath my feet was once underwater, part of an ancient sea bed. I love geology, it’s fascinating!

At first, the route begins with some thick and often frustrating bushwhacking (although I would later come to see this kind of bushwhacking as “easy” by the end of the BRT). I encountered some pronghorn from a distance, which scampered off before I could get too close. First real wild life encountered along the trail.

I contoured around some hills and worked my way up to the crest, forcing my way through thick stands of curl leaf mountain mahogany. Eventually I would learn to hate this stuff, as it, along with new growth aspens, make up the worst bushwhacks along the BRT. For now, everything was new and exciting to me, and the overwhelming feeling of excitement, adventure and discovery over rides all the negatives.

This next section was the highlight of Section 1 for me. Had I taken the Warn Mountain Alternate, I think that could have been the highlight, or perhaps, even a section farther south that I ultimately ended up walking around. Regardless, the walk here to Water Canyon was awesome. The route follows the rocky crest south, with excellent sweeping views, little vegetation, and was a fairly easy walk. It also runs slightly downhill from here, and for a moment, I forgot how tired and exhausted I was.

I mentioned that I filmed the hike, and unfortunately, the footage from this afternoon to tomorrow morning was lost. I was really bummed about this. I was using a mixture of 32GB and 128GB cards, and fortunately this was only a 32GB card. What I think happened, was I accidentally cleared it at the motel when I was dumping my media after section 4, thinking I had already backed it up. Or maybe, I just lost the card. I don’t know, but it’s gone.

Once I approached Water Canyon, my next water source (duh!), I had to bushwhack my way down into it. Steep and loose terrain with thick brush guarded the path, but once down in canyon, it began to clear out a bit as I headed downstream, Soon, it became green and lush, and all of the sudden, there was a small but strongly flowing creek flowing. The spring is so strong that a creek just begins at this spot. I stopped here at this amazing spot and took my first meaningful break of the trip. I filtered water, chugged a few liters to hydrate (much needed), and washed off the blood and sweat from the last two days. Amazing break, indeed.

I followed the creek a short ways before continuing off-trail around a hillside, which showed a 4×4 road ahead. Sure enough, I found the faded old path and followed it to something larger. This area was surprisingly beautiful. Very lush, with craggy rock formations protruding from green mountainsides. 4×4 roads provide the easiest path forward here. The crest of the Egan Range is difficult to walk overall, except in a few areas. This is one of those areas where it’s just best to take a lower route. But hey, this is pretty nice too.

Made it to camp around 5:30 today. I was just absolutely whooped, now feeling worn down from the lack of calories I’ve put into my body. People say you just need to force yourself to eat when feeling appetite suppression from the altitude, but for me, I physically gag on foods I normally like. I hate this feeling. I was really lucky I didn’t feel like this starting the CDT, but the CDT also starts out around 4300ft which certainly made it easier for me. Anyhow, I know this will all pass. It’s an adjustment period, and you have to stick with it until your body gets used to the abrupt change in eating habits, sleep schedule, elevation and of course, the extreme physical exertion.

 

Day 3 – June 3rd: Cave Valley

Slept a solid 10 hours. I was ridiculously sore and tired last night. Did not eat dinner. Got in the tent and laid down for a minute. It hurt to move, and I just let out a pathetic whimpering sound every time I tried. I quickly passed out face first, and slept a solid 5 hours without moving.

Filtered water from Millard spring this morning. I had to dig out a shallow pool to collect from at the source. Good water. The ants are getting very annoying. For the last 2 days, everywhere I stand I get swarmed with ants after 20 seconds. The ground looks clear and then they come out of the ground or something and just start growing up my leg. This was extremely bothersome while trying to filter water or breakdown camp. There is literally nowhere you can stand where ants won’t suddenly appear and start crawling up your leg.

I decided to take a low route and avoid the higher route which would have hit Egan Benchmark. With my lack of appetite and lack of proper training before the hike, it just seems foolish trying to continue along the Route I planned, I simply don’t have the energy. So instead I dropped down into Steptoe Valley to the east. Nice views coming out of the mountains, but surely, not as nice as they would have been from Egan Benchmark. I also bypassed a bunch of bushwhacking up there though, and it looked thick. Not too upset about missing that part. I passed a couple of water sources on my way out of the mountains, but was already full.

I continued along a 4×4 Road that parallel the main road running through Steptoe Valley…. Here I found an unopened Gatorade bottle, a great find! Unfortunately, it had been baking in the sun and would need to cool off before I want to drink it. The label looked really faded, so I don’t think it was recently dropped. My guess is, it had been there over the winter. Still, little things like this are a big deal to a long distance hiker. Imagine walking through the middle of nowhere, and finding a free non-water drink. Yeah, this might make your day.

Pretty uneventful hike today. Lots of Sagebrush now in the low valleys. There is no sign of anything here. There is supposed to be a road running through this valley, but I don’t see it. And I certainly don’t see any vehicles driving through the valley. It’s pretty empty out here.

Took a break under a juniper tree, which thankfully was ant-free. Here I took a short siesta, more for the rest than getting out of the heat. It’s not all that hot, very manageable right now.

Shortly after mu break, I joined up with the main road running through Steptoe Valley. It’s a dirt road but well graded. I walked by the Mount Grafton Wilderness area, farther to the east. This was one range I had considered walking during my planning for the BRT, but ultimately, chose the Egans. From here, boy, Mt Grafton doesn’t look like much. But that’s how a lot of Nevada is. It doesn’t look like much from the road, you have to get into it to see how beautiful and diverse is can be.

My legs are getting a lot of sun now at this point. Lots of cuts and scrapes from the off-trail hiking over the previous two days. I have hotspots and blisters forming on the balls of both feet now as well. I certainly didn’t need this on top of the way I am already feeling.

Saw a little horned toad along the road. Then saw a coyote or fox run across the road leaving the robbers Roost windmill. There were a couple of other places along the main road that had water as well, but I stopped here. The pipe feeding the trough, like all of the other ones I’ve seen so far, was positioned too far away from the edge of the trough to be able to collect from it. Fortunately, the water in the trough was very clear, despite looking extremely green… The green was on the bottom. Unfortunately, there was no shade and a lot of bugs, lots of cow shit. Filtered 2 liters and was on my way.

Walked another hour and started walking up a 4×4 road that intercepted the main road, just before a several mile stretch of private property. Found camp a couple hundred yards of the road before reaching the private land.

Still very little appetite, and just snacked on a couple things for dinner. Went to bed at 845, another exhausting day.

 

Day 4 – June 4th: Cave Valley, Shingle Pass

I thought my campsite selection was pretty flat, but my air mattress was sliding towards the end of the tent in the middle of the night. I switched directions and that seemed to improve the sliding. However, I was confused when the sun was on my face in the morning, since it was also on my face when I went to bed. It took me a moment to remember I switched directions.

I had camped very close to some private Ranch Land, and some cows could be heard nearby. Even through the middle of the night, they continued to make ridiculous sounds. One of them was flipping out, out of nowhere. Almost as if the cow had a nightmare. Visions of the slaughterhouse, maybe. And that was before the coyotes moved in.

It was a warm morning. I was moving by 7 a.m., hoping to cover some miles before it started to get too hot. I walked through the private Ranch Land on a public Road. There was a BLM sign for Cave Valley, but a shotgun had taken out the word cave. The sign just read Valley. Those lovable locals.

I had wanted to leave the main road at a place called Parker station, but that ended up being private land too. I had another spot in mind to leave the road, but it would have required a crossing of Haggerty wash. Here, there was shallow flowing Creek over some very thick mud, as evident by the cow tracks in it. I’m glad this wasn’t the only way, because it would have been probably ankle to Mid Shin Deep with mud. The kind you worried about losing your shoe in. Additionally, I had some blisters forming on my feet, with no way to wash off the mud it surely would have worsened my blisters. Plus, half the mud was probably sow shit anyways. So, I turned around and went back to the main road. That is, after taking a break under a juniper tree. Never pass up shade in the desert.

Back on the main road now, the only vehicle I saw the whole time drove by, a ranch hand’s truck. He asked if I was broken down. I said no, just hiking. He said, we don’t see many hikers here. I proceeded to tell him about my hike. I asked him if he had an extra liter of water, but he said no. He gave the location of Haggerty wash further up the road, which was where I was going anyway. So that’s where I headed.

The ranch I past was the only Homestead I saw this whole section, in Steptoe Valley and Cave Valley. The Schell Creek range proved the backdrop for the ranch to the east, which was now looking more impressive. Even though my route to traverses the shell Creek range North of Ely, it’s very long and continues all the way down to the southern end of this section, and beyond. It’s the second longest mountain range in Nevada, with the Toiyabes being the longest. And I’ll walk that one in section 4.

Then I came to an intersection with a sign indicating Highway 318 was 16 miles away, over shingle pass. I wasn’t expecting a main road going over shingle pass (I hadn’t even researched the route I am on now before my hike), but it was a well graded dirt road. Not a single car drove by while I walked through it all day.

When I reached Haggerty wash, I was pleased to see that it was a flowing Creek with less cow activity than the last spot. It was also well shaded. I wasn’t in dire need of water or overly hot or anything, but it was a really nice break. I thought about how hiking makes you appreciate little things in life like this.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Walked the road up shingle pass. Along the way, I hunted for rocks along the road. Didn’t find anything to interesting, but had to look since the road was cut into the hillside 6ft deep.

My feet were hurting now. I took a break at the top of Shingle Pass. Took off my shoes and my Luko tape had slipped off a bit. Had a blister the size of a quarter under the ball of my right foot. Nothing to do but keep moving.

Next, I encountered Shingle Spring, which was really nasty looking. A really large round trough with a tree growing right along the outside edge, over hanging half of the trough. The water was thick with green algae. Huge warms of bugs were attracted to this water. Not too appetizing, but I was really hot, and so is my water. I was eager for a cold drink, so I filtered a quick liter.

The views of the far south Egan Wilderness and shingle Peak to the South were very impressive the farther I progressed downhill. Vertical spires and Rocky outcroppings were everywhere along the upper reaches of the canyons, below the Ridgeline. It looked extremely rugged, and made me think, who was the last person to climb that? Does anyone climb it?

I’m only a few miles from Highway 318 now, where I will hitch into Preston, a small community population 16) just north of Lund. Feeling tired, sore, thirsty, sunburnt and even a little hungry now, I began to feel a second wind. This is the “high” I sometimes get when the end is in sight. Even though the last few days have been extremely rough, I haven’t felt alive like this since I walked the Continental Divide Trail in 2018. It’s a feeling I NEVER feel in my “normal” life, only out here. It’s funny how that works. But this is the feeling I chase when I do these long distance hikes. And it feels good to be “home” again, where life is exciting and fulfilling, even if your accomplishments are meaningless on the grand scale of things.  

Much of the traffic I saw on the highway was Truckers, so I knew this was going to be a difficult hitch. Sure enough, it was. Truckers never stop for hikers, Ever. Have the time they don’t even move over either, they just drive by as close as they can, almost as if you don’t exist, or if they just don’t like you for being on the side of the road. The regular passenger car traffic wasn’t any better. I had a piece of cardboard that I wrote Lund on, and had my thumb out. I tried waving my arms in an overhead cross motion, signaling for help. I also tried waving a $20 bill along with my thumb. No luck. After an hour and a half, I was about to give up.

Next I had the idea to write on the bottom of my Tyvek tent footprint with marker… “Hiker needs ride to town please help”. When the next car drove by, I tried to display the sign but it was too windy, it kept folding over and became illegible. Before the car had fully driven by, I tucked the sign under my arm and just threw out my thumb as a last resort. The vehicle drove by and I kind of threw up my arms in frustration, as if saying, what the hell man? Next thing you know, the car turned around and picked me up. It only took an hour and a half.

My ride was a single woman in her late 40s. She was on her way to Idaho, from Arizona. We got to talking and it turns out that we went to the same high school in Michigan! Just 12 years apart. What are the odds, in the middle of nowhere Nevada!

She dropped me off at the Lanes Ranch motel in Preston. I checked in and asked if my food box was there. It had not arrived. No problem, I’ll check back tomorrow. First thing I did was run over to the convenience store to see what kind of food they had. I was extremely disappointed when I learned that the cafe had just closed, and is closed all weekend. I was even more disappointed with the food selection in the convenience store, just a handful of microwavable sandwiches. I took a Big AZ chicken sandwich, which tasted pretty horrible.

Whew, section 1 of the Basin and Range Trail done, time to rest up a bit!

 

Day 5 – June 5th (zero day)

I ultimately ended up taking 3 full zero days, and they kind of blurred together. I checked the tracking number for my food box I sent to the hotel, and it updated this morning, saying my box had just been returned to Michigan, processing through the Detroit Center. Uh oh, I’m in trouble. The convenience store doesn’t have enough food for a 7-day hike (or really, a one day hike), so one way or another I’m going to need to figure out how to get to Ely to hit up Ridley’s grocery store.

Next I got started on chores, like laundry and recharging batteries. I stopped back in the motel office and talked to the lady up front, let her know that my food box was not going to arrive. There was another guy standing in the lobby talking to her, and overheard when I asked if she knew if anyone was going to Ely in the next couple Days. She did not, but the guy in the lobby was also works for the hotel, who will be relieving her later. He offered to let me take his car tomorrow and make a run to Ely. I was taken by surprise, as always when someone offers something so kind and generous. His name is Henry, and I will be seeing him all weekend.

At this point I know I’m going to stay at least all day today, Friday, and all day tomorrow, Saturday. Sunday is up in the air, we’ll see how my blisters heal up and how the weather plays out.

Not much else worth mentioning today. It was nice to relax in the motel room, really the first time I’ve been able to just sit there and relax in weeks, as I was working like a dog right up until the moment I left to come out here.

 

Day 6 – June 6th: Zero Day in Preston, NV

I stopped in the office this morning and talk to Henry, and grabbed his car to make a run to Ely. It was late morning now. It was cold and wet today, and perfect timing for a zero day. The skies were dark, and it began to rain, with snow likely at high elevations.

Got what I needed from Ridley’s. Then headed over to the post office to mail back some rocks and extra gear. Next, I placed an order at Hometown Pizza for an extra large 6 meat. This pizza will sustain me for the rest of the weekend. However, I wanted something right now as well. While I waited for them to cook the pizza, I headed over to Carl’s Junior and got a chicken strip combo meal. Holy shit, those chicken strips were insanely delicious! Maybe it was my Hunger, which was pretty much out of control now. I did not get to really pig out on anything yesterday, just a hoagie sandwich from the convenience store and some snacks. This really hit the spot.

Picked up the pizza, topped off the gas in the car, and headed back to the hotel. Dropped the car off, talked to Henry for a while. Pretty cool dude, we got along pretty well, talking about the outdoors and just life in general. He’s in his late seventies, but still moves around decently and gets out to explore. He offered to let me take his side by side open to the mountains tomorrow if I wanted to get out of the motel. Damn, so generous!

Spent the rest of the day in the motel room going over Maps for the next section, and debating overall Logistics moving forward. I decided to stay all day Sunday (tomorrow) too, since there were single digit wind chill temperatures up at Troy Peak for the next couple days, along with some potential snow from the storm.

 

Day 7 – June 7th: Zero Day in Preston, NV

Went into the front office and chatted with Henry for a while. Instead of taking the side-by-side, I took his advice to walk across the street and hunt for arrowheads. He gave me permission to look on the motel owners land, which he says has produced over 5000 arrowheads over the years. Sure, why not!

It felt a bit awkward to be on private property, but nevertheless I wandered the fields for a while. I found many chips and fragments from the Arrowhead making process, and a couple of full arrowheads. I did find one cutting tool, perhaps, so I took that with me too. It was much cooler today and looking like rain, so I only stayed out about an hour.

Back at the motel room, I re packaged my food, and continued to pine over map decisions. Went to bed around 10, a bit nervous about the next section. But you know, if you aren’t nervous about what’s coming up, maybe what you have planned is too easy? That’s how I think, anyways. I tried to clear my head so I could get some sleep.