Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike 2020 – Section 7: Lamoille to Wells

Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 7 Map

Video: Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 7

In addition to this trail journal, I also filmed my Basin and Range Trail thru hike. I’ve produced a detailed series (11+ hours runtime) documenting this thru hike adventure, the product of 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 Section 7 Journal

Day 44 – July 14th: Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains

Cody picked me up around 830. I called the Sharon Hotel in Wells on the way to the trailhead, to update my ETA. I figure I will be there the 18th and 19th, instead of the 19th and 20th. Unfortunately they are booked the days I will be there. They suggested a different hotel. They also have my bounce box which is good news.

There weren’t a whole lot of good options for me to continue my northbound track coming out of Lamoille Canyon. High in Lamoille canyon, I would have had to climb over a very, very steep ridge to drop down into another basin. And I would have had to do this several times to continue on my Northern trajectory. This would have been the most scenic route, but also very difficult, with no guarantees of safety or success. So, in order to maintain a good pace And schedule, I figured a lower route would be in order. Also, the fact that Cody was joining me for this section made the low route the obvious choice. Cody will join me for an overnight hike from the Powerhouse Trailhead to Soldier Creek, roughly 20 miles.

Left the powerhouse trailhead in lower Lamoille Canyon around 9:45am. This was an old burn area. Lots of switch backs going straight up the hill. Good trail though.

 

Eventually we realized the trail we were on was not following the path marked on the map. Our Trail was climbing much higher. This had us a bit worried. Where’s the trail taking us to, the High Country? Because the rest of our route was not going this way. I theorized that the trail had been rerouted above the old burn area, around the new growth. This proved to be right, after we climbed a ways, the trail paralleled the lower version of the route marked on the map. Good deal.

We won’t be going up into the high country today, but at least we get a glimpse of it. Typical views up the many drainages we will cross on today’s hike along the base of the Rubies.

Cody was super excited to be out there, and I was really glad to have someone here with me. I know he was a bit worried about slowing me down, but he had a good pace and that was not an issue. He had everything he needed for the hike, Although our gear setups couldn’t be more different. He had a small backpack, but was able to fit everything he needed for an overnight hike. He had a white cotton t-shirt, cotton shorts and heavy steel toe boots. Off his backpack hung a small stainless steel cup that clanked against something else on his backpack, perhaps the metal zipper. Kind of like a bear Bell.

Cody had lived in Idaho in Colorado for the last couple of years, and had just returned home to this area. He knew a good deal about the area from his childhood years here. He fed me bits of info here and there about the land and its history. However, he had no knowledge of the trail we were walking or really much about the land north of Lamoille Canyon in general. With good reason, this area was largely On the Border of private land and offered no real access to the High Country. At least, not legal access.

Hiking today was a lot of fun with Cody here. Even the bushwhacks were tolerable, with someone to do them with. Having someone to talk to really takes your mind off things. Sometimes being left alone with your thoughts for too long is not a good thing. It’s fine when times are good, but I think it’s much more challenging to weather the bad stuff as a solo hiker. 

Now the trail contours around the hillside, weaving in and out of small Canyons. The trail was getting more overgrown. We began to pass a couple of small Creeks, but good water sources. I had plenty of water and didn’t need any. Cody on the other hand stopped at every water source and drank directly from the streams with his cup. There didn’t appear to be much cow activity in the area and so he wasn’t worried. 

As the day went on, the difficulty of the route increased. By the time we reached Talbot Creek, the trail had pretty much disappeared. We were navigating by wooden posts that were about 1 foot high, marked with the word Trail. These were barely visible among the sagebrush, and spaced far apart. The route I had planned took us a mile or two into Talbot Canyon, crosses the creek and then goes right back out another mile or two to where we Came from, but on the other side. It was about 400 feet down into a drainage, and Cody thought This would be better than walking up the canyon. I figured the canyon would be pretty scenic, judging by the relief on the topographical maps, but since the trail basically faded out, this probably would add quite a bit of time and difficulty. So Cody’s plan to drop down the Talbot drainage here and take a direct route across seems reasonable. Let’s do it.

Much of today’s route weaves in and out of private property, and this was one of the first sections I really had to deal with that. There was a fence line running down the canyon, And we had to jump it in order to continue. We jumped many fences today. At the same time, there were some ranches and homes perched up on the hillsides that could see us. So everything we did, we try to do With a stealthy approach.

More Sagebrush, cows, fences to jump over and private land to weave in and out of. next we followed a bit of a dirt road, until we had to leave the dirt road To follow our Planned route. Dropped down into Another drainage To cross a creek, now on the opposite side of one of the ranches that was perched on a hillside. This was extremely thick vegetation, thickest of the day. Cody was wading through it, breaking branches, but not exactly clearing me a path. Many times, our feet didn’t even touch the ground, since there were so many branches to keep us elevated above the dirt. That’s how thick it was.

Made it down to a small Creek where we took a break. Cody could really appreciate the bushwhacking aspect of what I’ve gone through so far on the Basin and Range Trail. I’m glad he got the full experience.

We’ve pretty much given up on following anything that said Trail on the map, and now just went for dirt roads. We finally hit one sign that said private property, looked like it was leading to the ranch up on the hillside. So we followed the fence line on the legal side. Many times though, we were never really sure which side was the legal side. It was never posted. Cody, being a local, also said that many of these land owners likely wouldn’t care that we were out here hiking, especially not along the wrong side of the fence line.

Our last real challenge of the day was one really large drainage. This one was deep and steep. At the bottom was a decent-sized creek. There are actually some decent Camp spots here, but we still wanted to cover some more miles, and make it to Cold Creek. The creek was too large to hop rocks across, but there was a pile of logs here alongside the river, presumably leftovers from making the fence line that went up the hill. So we threw a few logs in the water to step on, making our own Crossing Point. In the end, my foot slipped off one and got wet anyway.

We walked another two miles or so before reaching South Fork gold Creek. This was barely a blip on the map, but was actually a good running creek that feeds the main Cold Creek. We found a clearing a few yards from the creek, and it was actually a good campsite. So this is where we set up. The water was only 4 feet wide but maybe a foot deep. Rarely along the trip has I camped this close to water, in fact it was probably the closest. So it was a real luxury to be able to have water at Camp, be able to soak my feet and clean my legs.

After the sun set, the night sky populated itself with a million stars. We stood outside our tents looking up at the stars, talking about all of this stuff that humans wonder about Under the Stars… The infinitude of space, science, technology, the problems of our world and how to solve them.

Day 45 – July 15th: Ruby Mountains, Soldier Creek, Ruby Valley, Pole Canyon, East Humboldt Range

Woke at 6:30. Hiking by about 7:45. Cody did not sleep that well. It took him a few hours to get to sleep.

After leaving camp we followed the road we camped along until we reached the point where it crosses Cold Creek. Here, there was some sort of ranch, although it looked abandoned. There were horses and animals there though, hard to tell if someone was living there or not. We climbed the fence and walked alongside it until we found an old dirt road that leads down to the river. Another decent size Creek. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet by hopping rocks.

We climbed out of the Ravine holding Cold Creek and reached another fence line. We followed this one to the end and found a dirt road that paralleled it. Basically, the rest of the morning consisted of walking poorly maintained dirt roads, walking and jumping fence lines.

We reached warm spring Creek, which was not warm at all, but cool. And it was crystal clear, with a strong blue tint. Looks like a great swimming hole, despite coming out of a culvert. If it were hotter out, and Cody wasn’t on a time schedule, we would have swim here. But he told his dad to pick him up at 9:30, when we estimated to arrive at Soldier Creek.

When we reached the road for Soldier Creek, we looked back and saw a no trespassing sign on the property we were on. However, we didn’t see any where we entered the property. His dad was stuck in construction and so we Dropped our packs and waited a little while.

Cody and I had hiked about 20 miles in the last 24 hours. Most of which was yesterday. Cody did a great job and he got the full experience by doing some pretty gnarly bushwhacking. I just wish we had a little bit better scenery. Still, we both enjoyed the experience.

After Travis arrived, we all chatted for about 15 minutes, and had Travis take a picture of Cody and I. We said our goodbyes, and I was on my own once again.

Next I began to hike up the road along Soldier Creek. Nice walk with somewhat steep Canyon walls, but not crazy. There was a pit toilet at the Soldier Creek trailhead, but really nothing else here.

There was a gravestone right along Soldier Creek, right next to the trailhead. Someone had created a bit of a soaking pool by digging out rocks underwater and shaping them into a mini tub.

Hiking Soldier Creek

I was thinking the hike up Soldier Creek would be better than what it was. There is no water access as the banks were too steep and thick with vegetation. The trail itself often looked like a jungle, very cool looking at times.

After walking through the jungle awhile, the canyon opens up and I was able to access the water in Soldier Creek. I stopped here for a break, looking up at soldier peak. What a nice spot. 

Next the trail climbs up to the ridge, the crest of the rubies once again. At first there was no Trail. My map shows one, but I couldn’t find it. So I began to bushwhack uphill. This was pretty awful. I say things like this was awful, but its hard to convey just how shitty these bushwhacks can be. Eventually, I came across the trail. It was definitely not visible from the lower trail that goes over to Soldier Lake and Hidden Lakes, but man was I glad to have found it.

I was getting a headache, so I stopped and took one extra strength Excedrin and one ibuprofen. A little combo action. The trail now starts to weave through a couple of trees. From here it’s not that far to the top. Excellent views as I gain elevation. 

The view from the top of the pass was really good. I don’t know what the pass is called, it’s not named on the map, so I called it Soldier Pass. 

I stopped many times to take pictures, the landscape constantly changing and evolving as I see it from different angles. Soldier Peak looked more impressive the further I got from the pass. It was really nice to walk the crest, with the trail, good weather, and great views.

Eventually I reached a saddle where a trail goes downhill. However, my plan was to continue walking the ridge North the ways, and then meet up with another trail. So, I kept going.

When I reached the area where I expected a trail to be, I was very disappointed to see nothing. Lots of thick brush to walk through now. One of them got my leg pretty good and it started bleeding.

I could have continued north from here, to Secret Peak and Secret Pass, which would be the only way to avoid private property coming down from this part of the Rubies, now the extreme northern end. However, that route then means a longer road walk into the East Humboldt Range, my next destination after I cross the valley. A more direct route involves a short section of private property crossing, which I opted for instead.

Eventually I the area where the trail stops skirting the Mountainside and begins to descend down to the valley below. That’s what the trail is supposed to do, but I don’t see a trail now. Then I reached a ridiculous wall of new growth aspens, among the worst I seen yet on Trail. Started through it for a few feet, before backing out and realizing this was not going to work. I backtracked and found a faint trail that was extremely overgrown. It went right into the brush. Amazingly, it seemed to be cleared out a little bit, but it was more like a canopy underneath the brush. It was manageable, but still really thick. Surely this was the trail, just overgrown from many decades of vegetation growth.

More insane bushwhacking. Eventually I reached a saddle where a trail was supposed to follow a ravine, but of course it did not exist. I decided to go the opposite direction, as it was more direct, and still a bushwhack. After a few moments of skirting a hillside, I noticed a road on the other side. A faint 4×4 road. So I dropped down into a valley, and this Hillside to meet the road. I walked right over at the first time, it was so faint. But, I eventually found it and followed it. It was waist high grass.

The next couple of miles were more of the same, grass knee to waist high. Crossed a couple of creeks. Saw a couple of deer. You could tell this area gets little to no use. Eventually reached a gate.

Now I am on a private ranch. Cows everywhere. I checked my satellite and saw a route that I could take that would not pass right by the ranch when I reach the main road. So I went for that, walking fast as I could.

Reached the main road and hopped the fence. Now I was following a paved Road, before quickly turning off onto another dirt road. Sun was setting and it was actually pleasant to be on a main road. Followed this for an hour before having to jump another fence that said private property, but also on the same sign said National Forest land 1 mile. Huh. So, its legal then??

Now I am following Franklin River and pole Canyon, entering the East Humboldt Range. There are cows everywhere, and these ones are very vocal. The kind that make ridiculous noises, as if they were zombies. I found a small hill to Camp upon, in between piles of cow crap and salt licks.

Day 46 – July 16th: Pole Canyon, East Humboldt Range, East Humboldt highline Trail

Woke up at 6:30. The cows were moaning like zombies. I heard an owl pretty close to camp throughout the night. I could hear a four-wheeler somewhere down low in the valley.

Lots of cows this morning, looking forward to getting up Hill and above them. There was lots of water, but I would not want to filter my water here due to all the cow activity.

After a short while I reached a locked gate with a no trespassing sign. This is where the National Forest land ends. There is public land up the road again, but a section of private land blocking access to the public land. Since I have walked all the way up here, and don’t really have any other options, I climbed gate and moved on.

I walked maybe one mile and heard a four-wheeler approaching. I thought about hiding in the bushes, but just decided to let the situation play out. As the man on the four wheeler approached, I stepped aside on the trail and waved. He stopped and asked what I was doing. Almost immediately I recognized that he was in Nevada Department of Wildlife officer, not the land owner. I said I was walking across Nevada, I’m 46 days into this hike. He said you know you’re on private land right? But also acknowledged this wasn’t his land. I said yes, I’m not going to lie to you, I saw the fence with the sign that said no trespassing and I went over it anyway. I had walked all the way up here and didn’t want to turn around and look for another way, just to avoid a couple miles of private land blocking access to the rest of this public land. I told him I’m trying to get to Wells, via the East Humboldt Highline Trail. We chatted for a solid 20 minutes about my route and things. He was pretty chill, had no interest in Making trouble for me. He also said the land owner probably wouldn’t mind that I was here anyway. I believe they were mostly concerned about illegal hunting, not some hiker just passing through. He was on his way up Mountain to pick up a goat carcass or head or something. After while he moved on. This is one of those situations where honesty prevails.

Next the trail got pretty steep. Found a creek near the spring source to filter my water from. I am above most of the cow activity now, at least, a good chunk of it. This water should be cleaner than downstream, where I avoided drawing water from. 

Kept hiking uphill until I reached a fork in the valley. Pole Canyon and Franklin River to the right and the route up to 1st Boulder Creek on the left. The USFS maps show the East Humboldt Highline Trail starting around here, but I don’t see it. It looked like it would be all off-trail hiking going up first Boulder, and quite daunting. But at the same time, I could tell it was going to be a very beautiful hike. Very impressive rock walls with Rocky crags.

After a short while I picked up on a faint trail. There were even cairns occasionally. Although it was tough going, I really enjoyed hiking up this Canyon. Very beautiful, among some of the best scenery of this whole hike.

I wondered how often this area is hiked, with the lack of proper public access. From a handful of cairns, it’s clear it gets “some” traffic, but how many… 5 hikers a year? It would be impossible to guess. 

The views from the pass over First Boulder Creek were good, but not excellent. I think enjoyed the hike up more than the view from the top. 

Next I dropped down from the pass and began the short descent to First Boulder Lake. The “lake” is more like a pond, shallow and muddy. Lots of bugs and lots of flies. The map shows a trail marked East Humboldt Highline Trail that practically traverses this whole range, and at the moment there was indeed a fairly good trail on the ground. However, with little public access to the East Humboldt Range, few people hike here. That means this place gets no trail maintenance, either. Supposedly the East Humboldt Highline Trail gets really thick and overgrown, and the trail eventually disappears. The NDOW officer I spoke with earlier today confirmed this. I told him my plans to hike the East Humboldt Highline Trail, and he said, good luck.

It was a short pass going over to 2nd Boulder Creek. From the top of this pass, it was quite a drop down to the bottom. I could tell the rest of the day was going to be difficult, looking at this hike down and how the map looked for the rest of the boulder creeks. There are four parallel drainages here in the East Humboldt Range, named first, second, third and fourth Boulder Creek. As I dropped down in elevation, the Cirque became more impressive. These upper basins were just massive, sheer rock faces. Quite Majestic actually. Intermittent Trail now, though.

I reached the bottom and stopped at the second boulder creek. Right where the trail crosses, there was a bag with a bar of soap and a small bottle of liquid soap. Apparently, somebody was here at one point and bathed a little bit. I was really surprised to see this, but it gave me hope that there would be good Trail the rest of the day. Ha, I should have known better.

Going up the pass from second to third Boulder Creek was a pain. The trail pretty much disappeared and I was left to follow a couple of cairns. The Rock piles led me the wrong way, through Thick Aspen stands and vegetation. Eventually I Bushwhacked my way back to the trail. I use the word “trail” lightly. The diamond range had better game trails than this “hiking trail”. The East Humboldt Highline Trail is intermittent, at best. And when it’s not there, the going is slow; thick bushwhacking, steep inclines and an all-around pain in the ass.

Eventually I made my way to the top of the pass. The view from the pass between Second and Third Boulder Creeks was my favorite along the East Humboldt Highline Trail. The hike had been easy at times today, when there was good section of trail, but lately it has been more of a challenge. 

I dropped down to 3rd Boulder Creek, which had a couple of small lakes. From the pass, the Basin doesn’t look too impressive. Just like the previous basins. However, upon dropping down an elevation, the Cirque shows itself, and once again blew me away. So impressive! The East Humboldt Range was definitely on par with the Ruby Mountains.

I stopped at third Boulder Creek for a break, filtered water, ate food, washed my socks and soaked my feet. There was a small Beaver pond just Upstream. The creek really wasn’t that cold, probably due to the lake and Beaver Pond Upstream. After my break, I followed a couple of cairns across the valley until I came across a wooden sign. Each Basin seemed to have one. East Humboldt Highline Trail one way, whatever number Boulder Creek the other way, pointing downhill. Funny thing is, there were no trails at all here at this sign!

Heading up the pass between third and fourth boulder creek, I followed cairns a ways uphill until they once again let me astray. The cairns Definitely indicated the trail went one way, but it led me through thick brush, Only to have to turn around and eventually hike back through that brush again. It was also wet and soggy along the hillside. I slipped and fell a few times. It was a real pain in the ass. My feet were getting wet sloshing around in the soggy ground, which I couldn’t really see with the thick brush obscuring it.

Eventually I found some rock piles again. I knew I was on the right path, although it disappeared again very quickly. I gave up on following the trail and just walked straight up the hill to the pass. This was a pain, but at least I could choose my own path and not be led astray by poorly placed piles of rocks. Whatever was left of the East Humboldt highline Trail is so overgrown that its not always worth trying to follow it.

Reached the pass above fourth Boulder creek. I’m noticing that the trails going down these passes, on the north side, has been better. The north sides feature more rock and less thick, green vegetation which can easily over take the trail. Once again this Basin was the same as the others, very impressive, and much more so as one drops in elevation.

When I reached the general area where the junction would be for the Fourth Boulder Creek Trail going downhill and the East Humboldt Highline Trail, I had to make a decision. The East Humboldt Highline Trail follows the Mountainside about halfway up, and takes a very long route to get up to the pass. So Far, none of these trails have been very good. This route would be very committing, and take a long time to get to the pass. There were some pretty steep sections along the way. I have zero faith that this trail will exist. In the distance, I could see Thunder clouds building. It just didn’t make sense to commit to a really long, nonexistent Trail along a steep Hillside. If I’m going be bushwhacking, I might as well take a shorter bushwhack route. 

Instead, I just decided to follow the fourth Boulder Creek Trail downhill. This would leave me to a spot just below the pass near Tent Mountain, where I could contemplate going straight up the Mountainside from there. Of course it looked very thick with vegetation and very steep, but my other option would be to just follow fourth Boulder Creek Trail downhill all the way to a road and walk around the East Humboldts. 

Following the fourth Boulder Creek Trail was not easy either. It was also pretty much non-existent. A couple of cairns here and there, off-Trail hiking through Sagebrush. Worked my way down some Rocky Ledges, then a thick Stand of aspens. Then had to cross fourth Boulder Creek, and some wetlands.

Now I am at the base of my climb up to the saddle/pass east of Tent Mountain, should I choose to do it. It’s a 1,000ft climb through a solid wall of really thick vegetation, on some steep slopes. From below, it barely looked possible. I’ve never done anything like this. I kept walking closer to get a better look, slowly walking uphill. Next thing you know, I was 200ft up. I guess I’m doing this.

The climb was exhausting. One must step on the bush while grabbing another branch Above you, to help pull yourself up. I felt like I was swimming uphill. Completely tangled in branches, I fell a few times. The first 400 feet were the hardest. The vegetation was thickest here. An absolute nightmare to say the least.

About halfway up, the vegetation thinned out a bit. Steep grassy slopes, much easier to work with. Eventually though, I passed through some old growth Aspen. Much easier than that new growth shit. I was getting closer to the point on my map where it showed a trail. Of course, I never saw it. I just kept hiking towards the pass, making my own path as I saw fit.

When I reached the top, I was pretty ecstatic. It’s hard to describe the feeling. Actually, I kind of felt like I did when I got done skydiving. Like a big rush of adrenaline. My face was tingling and I was having a hard time holding back tears of joy. I had hiked up what I thought was an impossible slope, in only 50 minutes. To think I had considered walking down hill, bailing. In your face, fourth boulder creek!! The view here was outstanding.

However, I still have to worry about a trail on the other side. Took a break shortly after coming down from the pass. I really needed it, that was a very intense workout.

Good Trail coming down hill. I was feeling good about this. Passed a few campsites, some really nice ones. I’m thinking things will be better now, hopeful the East Humboldt Highline Trail will be solid from here. When I get down hill father, I passed a couple of springs, and a few small creeks. I stopped at one to filter water and clean up my legs a little bit. Downhill from here, it was really muddy and swampy. Dead looking Aspen trees line the swamp. This is the worst possible area to be when looking for camp. It was 8pm now, so I tried to rush out of here.

Made it past the swamp area to dry ground. Went downhill a short ways and realized that I needed to go back up Hill because the East Humboldt Highline Trail branches off near the swamp. Got back up to the swamp area and started bushwhacking through the horrible Aspen tree Forest. I was right on the trail according to the map, and the trail was extremely faint. Looking ahead, all I could see was more Aspen trees, and I only had 20 minutes of daylight left. This is not good.

I decided it was a horrible idea to continue on through the aspens with night approaching, so I began to look for a place to Cowboy camp in the short segment of open ground in between the stands of Aspen trees. Nothing good at all, but I made a spot work. No room to set up a tent, so Ill be cowboy camping tonight.

Looking at my map, CalTopo US Forest Service layer shows the East Humboldt Highline Trail in a different location than the USGS maps. I’m thinking that if I had continued on the trail that I was on, there would be a better East Humboldt Highline Trail to follow further Downstream from where I am now, which would have avoided the aspens. So, I will have to backtrack tomorrow morning to the trail that I was originally following downhill before I turned around. If there is a decent Junction there for the East Humboldt Highline Trail, I might go ahead and follow it. However, I am very tempted to just follow the trail downhill to a road and walk the rest of the way around the east Humboldts. I’m just fed up with trails that don’t exist, with horrible Bushwhacking in between. I would like to get to Wells tomorrow night, and that’s kind of a gamble if I stay on the Highline Trail. A rough estimate of 16 miles to Angel Lake, on the Highline Trail. So it would probably be closer to 25 + if I was to hike all the way to Wells on the Highline Trail. I’m thinking that if I stay on the Highline Trail, I can probably get a ride from Angel Lake down to Wells if I get to the lake early enough. It’s a Friday night so there should be some traffic. I’ll just have to see how things play out tomorrow morning.

Day 47 – July 17th: East Humboldt Range, East Humboldt Highline Trail, Starr Valley

Woke up around 6:30 the sound of a Zombie Cow. The groaning sounded just like a zombie. Cows don’t always make a moo sound. It was a cold night. I had my base layer top and bottom on, and my wind jacket. I had my watch inside my backpack, which said 42 when I pulled it out. So more than likely, mid-thirties.

I walked through the Aspens back to the main trail. Just off the trail were a couple of cows, and they started running through the forest knocking down trees when they saw me. Those goons.

Walked down the trail a ways and kept looking for a Junction with the east Humboldt highline trail. When I checked my map, the trail I was on was taking me somewhere that wasn’t even marked on My map as a trail. In other words, I was way off any trail now according to the map. What the hell. Trails that are on the map don’t exist on the ground. Trails on the ground don’t match up with any trails that are on the map. I’m so tired of the trails in the east Humboldt range.

So now my decision was easy… Walk down hill, I’m done with the Humboldts. Of course this always feels like defeat to me, not completing what I set out to do. I made it half way through the east Humboldts. Hiking the rest would mean I’m a full day behind, and I only have food for the rest of the day. And that would be some horrible bushwhacking. It’s a shame that such a beautiful place has such horrible trail systems. But what can i expect? Most of the land around the mountains is private so why would the national forest maintain trails that nobody can access? Another public land issue.

So now I’m following a trail that goes who knows where. I had a feeling it follows the ridge down hill instead of taking a route through the thick forest, mostly stupid aspens. Really starting to hate these trees, even though most people love them. That’s because they only think of old growth aspens, not thick new growth stuff. Anyways, I was right, the trail goes high up to a Ridgeline which is open and free of trees. For now.

From the ridge I could see down into Starr Valley to the west. There was a lot of agriculture and private ranches, farms. Lots of green. All the land below the ridge was private on my map. How to get to the main road now without blatantly walking through someone’s property, by their home? I plotted a route and began the descent. Off-trail hiking, easy at first, then looked like thick aspens below.

Fortunately, I came up on a road pretty quick. I followed this downhill, through the thick Aspen stands. without this road, wow it would have been a nightmare bushwhack! Followed a series of Roads through various clearings and fences, Gates.

Eventually made it to a fence where I saw a sign that said National Forest boundary. I didn’t see any no trespassing signs or private property signs, but I did see a private property sign laying on the ground along the corner of the fence line. I knew it was private property because my map indicated it was, but if it’s not clearly marked, I will plead ignorance. I have nowhere to go otherwise, there is no National Forest land that I can walk all the way to the main road. It’s all private land blocking the public land.

Went through the gate and continued on the dirt road. Before long, I reached another gated and fenced area. No signs on this one. This was lost creek/alles creek. Stopped here to filter water, maybe my last chance before waking the main road 20+ miles into Wells. Lots of cow activity upstream, better filter this water.

Continue down the road through the fenced area. Not much to see here, just a big open field. Down the road, the land really clears out and it’s a pretty barren area. I debated which road to take down to the main Highway. The one along lost Creek has no houses along it except for right on the other side of the main road, once I reach it. That’s probably my best bet, as I didn’t want to walk right along a house on private property. However, while I was walking this road, it veered off to a different location than my map indicated. Instead of backtracking, I continue to follow this road, as it seemed to be well defined and basically the main road for the area. I looked at my map and this dumps me out further north, which is a good thing. However, it looks like it goes right through a bunch of properties. Still, it’s a main road, so I will take my chances.

The road took me to a winding Hillside overlooking Some Farms. There were tons of cows in the valley. I reached a gate, and once on the other side I saw that it was for a private Ranch. Still, there were no signs that said no trespassing. Farther down hill, I passed through a couple more Farms, with open Gates. I didn’t see any people out working, and no one bothered me. All good.

Finally I reached the main road, Nevada 230. It was a paved Road through a very farmy area. Green Pastures with bales of hay rolled up in the fields, with the East Humboldt range as a backdrop. Very pretty actually.

I walked the country road for several miles before getting a hitch to avoid the hike along I80. My rides name was Ray, who had just bought a place here and retired from a career in well drilling. Ray dropped me off at the Sharon Motel, where my bounce box I was waiting for me. I had intended to stay here, but my estimated arrival dates were the 19th and 20th. Today was the 17th. I had called a few days earlier to see if they had any availability for the 17th 18th and 19th instead, but they were sold out. So I made reservations at the Rest Inn instead. I always feel bad when these kind of things happen, a hotel accepts my bounce box but I don’t end up staying there. I offered to pay a fee for accepting the box but they said that wasn’t necessary. Hey, I tried.

It was less than a mile walk to the Rest Inn from the Sharon Motel. Walking through this area of Wells was a bit weird. There really wasn’t much here, kind of an in between segment of Town. When I got to the Rest Inn, the woman at the front desk gave me a suite, and at the reduced CDL trucker rate. That was awfully nice of her! There really wasn’t much special about the suite, I guess except for the fact that there was a small table and couch, and a phone right next to the toilet! I was hoping for a Jacuzzi hot tub but no such luck. Ill have to settle for a corded phone next to the shitter.

The hotel is located right across the street from a couple of popular truck stops, so there really wasn’t any great restaurants or anything nearby. Just some overpriced places, the iron skillet and the Bella restaurant which closes in the afternoon. So, I ate at Burger King for lunch. Iron skillet take out for dinner, got two chicken strip meals. Backed up my SD cards.

Day 48 – July 18th: Zero Day in Wells, NV

Terminator 1 & 2 were on TV this morning, nice. Watched that while I got started on Town chores, laundry, sorting my media on my SD cards, beard trim, etc. 

Got a gas station pizza to go for lunch. Filling. Spent the majority of the afternoon and evening working on changes to the rest of my route. I’m going to finish at Great Basin National Park, and so I had to modify my route a bit to make that my end point. Also, instead of going from West Wendover to Shelbourne pass in the middle of the Schell Creek range and then hitching down to McGill to resupply, I’m just going to go from West Wendover all the way to Cave Lake State Park and hitch to Ely from there, doing the Schell Creek range in one segment. From there I will hike to the snake range, Great Basin National Park and end at Baker. So I figure I have another 360 miles or so to go.

Day 49 – July 19th: Zero Day in Wells, NV

Another day doing town chores. The grocery store was a bit of a walk to the other side of town. The selection is decent, not as good as a Safeway or anything, but enough to work just fine. Wells isn’t an exciting town. The truck stop side of town is a little more depressing than the rest of it, though, in all fairness. There are some nicer homes in the center of town, a nice green park with modern facilities, etc. But there just doesn’t seem to be any real draw to this town, other than being located along interstate 80.