Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike 2020 – Section 5: Austin to Eureka

Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 5 Map

 

Video: Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 5

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 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 5 Journal

Day 32 – July 2nd: Loneliest Highway in America, Big Smoky Valley, Spencer Hot Spring, Linka Mine

Sarah made me some Farm Fresh eggs with sea salt and a piece of toast for breakfast. These eggs were definitely much better than store-bought eggs. I also had a sausage biscuit and muffin. I gave Sarah my bounce box to send out at the post office since I wouldn’t get there before the post office opens at 10am.

It was 9am when I left the motel and began my walk to Eureka. I walked out of town until I reached a wash, which parallels Highway 50. This avoids a big climb, but doesn’t avoid all the climbing. Always hard to leave town, both mentally and physically. This was no exception. It was rough going at first, with a heavy pack and in the heat.

After reaching Austin Summit it was a road walk along Highway 50, the Loneliest Highway in America. However, it didn’t feel that lonely. The shoulders weren’t always very large. I was surprised at how wooded and green it was here along the highway.

I stopped to take a break at a campground/rest area, and realized I had 4g service for the first time in Nevada. Ironic, along the loneliest Highway in America.

Reached the junction for Highway 376, the road South to Carvers. This road was a little lonelier. Short walk along this road before I reached the junction to Spencer Hot Springs. Even this road had a fair amount of traffic.

Near Spencer Hot Springs, the stop sign, and other signs, are decorated with stickers from various travelers who have visited the area. You generally know you are somewhere kinda cool when people bother to put stickers on things. Except when it’s in a pristine area, then it’s not cool. Spencer Hot Springs is NOT pristine, it’s heavily trafficked. 

Reached Spencer Hot Springs around 5pm. Dark clouds in the sky now over the Toiyabes. Ate some food and chatted with a woman from Estonia on a motorcycle tour across the US.

Then walked over to the Linka mine. Stayed here for about 2.5 hours cracking rocks open. Found a whole bunch of interesting rocks and minerals. Perhaps the most interesting I’ve ever found. I found many garnets, a few larger ones and many small clusters of garnets on quartz veins. I also had a nice specimen of epidote. Pyrite can be found here, as well as either galena or molybdenum. Dark clouds loomed over the mine, but they eventually turned to a nice red sunset beyond the Toiyabe Range.

Set up camp in the dark 1/14 mile from Spencer Hot Spring. There were Burros everywhere making noise. Sarah and Cassidy meet me at the hot spring after 10pm, had a soak and brought me a gallon of water. Full moon, too. Went to bed after 11:30pm, much later than my normal hiking routine.

Day 33 – July 3rd: Big Smoky Valley, Linka Mine, Toquima Range, Monitor Valley, Monitor Range

Burros made a lot of noise throughout the night, stomping near my tent and making ridiculous noises. Didn’t get a lot of sleep.

Walked to Spencer hot spring after packing up. Talked to the people here, Rick and Maria. They were from California. Chatted for a while. He asked if I needed water, and I almost never turn that down. Took a few liters, and discarded the empty gallon jug that Sarah brought night before.

Walked past the Linka Mine again this morning. There was a truck parked here, I said hello. It was a young college kid, mining engineer intern, about to head down into the open pit to do some rockhounding himself. We talked for a bit then I showed him what I found last night. His eyes got big, and he said you found that down there? He was pretty excited now.

Down the Road, past the part of the Linka Mine I was ‘hounding yesterday, there are some more elaborate ruins of the mine left. Some large concrete pads/structures and such. 

Walked past the conquest mine next. This was deeper and steeper, and completely fenced off. Went down for a look, didn’t see anything too interesting though.

After leaving the mines, the landscape becomes very barren and I felt alone again. The road was loose sand, hard to walk. This was tiring and demoralizing. Saw burros and wild horses.

Stopped for a break at the base of the Toquima range, which is a much smaller obstacle compared to the Mt Jefferson area in the south. That is, until one is at the base of it. Still, it’s small for a mountain range, as this is the extreme northern end.

The road dead ends into a wash. From here, it’s up to me to find my way up and over. Now I realized how hot it was. Even though it wasn’t very tall, it was still a several hundred foot climb, and had me breathing hard. Weaving in between the pinyon pine and mahogany trees.

At the top, nice views of big Smoky Valley, but not much view of monitor valley… Lots of trees, rolling hills. Now the descent. Pretty plain looking, just weaving in between trees through red-orange Sandy soil.

Before I hiked past the last trees and was at the mercy of the relentless sun, I stopped for a break. This is my routine now, and one that I think almost desert hiker mimics… Take a break under the last shade tree.

After passing the last trees, I entered a sea of sage brush. I dread this, but no other way forward. I need to walk through miles of sage brush before I reach a road. At first, it’s a pain. Then it snowballs into more of a nightmare. In the beginning of this hike, this was more manageable mentally. Everything is, spirits are high and even the worst of things seem easier to deal with. After a month though, that feeling fades. Waking miles of sage brush in a hot valley with no shade can test the mental toughness of just about anyone.

Monitor valley looks very barren here. Empty, remote. No signs of roads anywhere. Then, all of the sudden, I stumbled on an old dirt road, only visible from 50ft away. What a relief!

Followed this north to another road that intersects it heading east. This is what I want, now heading across the valley towards the monitor range. A well/tank can be seen in the distance, about the only thing that stands out from the sage. The road passes by, but there doesn’t appear to be any water.

I followed the dusty road for a couple hours until I reached the main road that runs north and south through the valley. I crossed the road and headed towards Wallace canyon.

My right leg had been giving me trouble today, a dull pain in the thigh. It was sore and tender to the touch. Becoming more of a concern as the day goes on. I debated what to do… Follow the road north to hwy 50? Try to cross the monitors, with 5,000ft of elevation gain? Hike a low route through the monitor range? I took a couple ibuprofen and kept going.

Just then, a truck passed by. Two hunters out scouting, Keith and Johnny. They were super impressed with what I was doing and offered to help in any way they could. They filled all my water bottles and gave me their last piece of KFC fried chicken. Who only knows where the nearest KFC is, but I can tell you its a couple of hours away. This was a real mood booster. I left Keith and Johnny feeling really good, both physically and mentally. My leg was feeling better and my mood massively improved.

Walked into Wallace canyon, saw the first trees of the Monitor Range. Stopped for a dinner break, at a little campsite that had a few scattered deer legs on the ground. I guess people/animals don’t eat those.

There was a small spring in Wallace canyon with huge willows and vegetation lining the road. The rest of tonight’s walk was rather uneventful. The canyon looked pretty thick, and I was glad to have a road. Saw a couple of deer. Some groves of aspen with a subpar campsite below the pass. Thought about camping here but pushed on.

At the top of the pass, where the high and low routes split, there were a few camp options. Of course, I Climbed a hill above the pass for the best view, and found a decent campsite here. More than decent, damn good spot considering what else was around. Sun going down, a really nice sunset. And, 4g just on this hill!

Day 34 – July 4th: Monitor Range, Summit Mountain, Trail Magic

Woke at 6, great sleep last night. Amazing sleep actually. Feeling much better this morning. No leg pain. Lots of bees buzzing around here. Lots of prickly pear cacti on this little hill.

Decided to take the “high route”. It will offer better views, despite the hugely additional elevation gain. I almost instantly regretted it. Dripping wet with sweat at 8am. Steep 4×4 roads that were poorly laid out for the hiker… Up and down constantly instead of contouring around hill sides. This was demoralizing. It’s demoralizing because the views aren’t really that great, even from the “high route”. In the northern portion of  the Monitor Range, it’s mostly a series of hills, not serious mountains like in the south. But that’s the issue with Section 5 in general. It’s just not going to be spectacular no matter which route one takes from Austin to Eureka. I think every thru-hike has some type of filler section, and on the Basin and Range Trail, this is it. 

It was a rather tough morning. I struggled through it. There was little water compared to what I thought would be here. Very small trickles of water, only occasionally. To collect from these, one would need to follow the water and definitely dig out a hole to collect from. I had a couple of liters, so I kept going.

The best views of the day were pretty weak compared to what I’m used to. For a brief moment, I enjoyed a scenic little hill with a distant view of the Monitor Range. 

Summit Mountain, aka Broken Back #2

Saw about 20 horses in the valley below as I worked my way along an upper Ridgeline. Now, summit mountain (marked on some maps as broken back #2) was clearly in sight. The plan is to go up and over. Looks steep on the map, but doable.

I took a game trail around the final hill that lies between me and the saddle below summit mountain. This worked well at first, then turned into a sage brush bushwhack.

I took a break at the saddle below summit mountain. From here it looked very steep and intimidating, although it doesn’t look bad at all on the topo maps. Not Rocky/Bouldery, but a mix of low grass and small rocks.

Just then, I heard the sound of a distant engine. It grew louder and louder, until I realized someone was coming up the canyon below. This was Allison creek, a route I was considering to avoid summit mountain. Two rzrs came up the hill into view, and I wished them a happy 4th of July. They were just as surprised to see me as I was to see them. In fact, they were probably more surprised that I was there, especially without a vehicle.

Naturally we stopped and talked for a while. Quite a long while actually. I would say a solid 45 minutes. This was the Terras family, currently living in Elko. Travis, Gaye, Cody, Tim and Jim. They offered me water, Gatorade, and beer.

This was basically their stomping ground. Monitor Valley in general. Hunting, camping, relatives in the area, you name it. Central Nevada is what they know. They were very interested in my hike, with my route going through territory that was so near and dear to them. We discussed the typical topics that I get asked; water, food, navigation, animal sightings. They all had binoculars around their necks, trying to spot wildlife. Had they been just 15 minutes later, they would have seen me scrambling up Summit Mountain, probably pretty confused that a person was out here trying to climb it.

They offered to give me a ride anywhere needed to go. One of the options I was looking at was Peddler Creek, where I could then bushwhack up to a saddle between Antelope Peak and Summit Mountain. This would take me over to Falkner Creek where I was headed. Of course, me being hard headed and stubborn, I didn’t want to take a ride. At the same time, I didn’t really want to hike over that mountain, and the other options to go around it where just as long and likely more arduous.

They were headed over the pass and in the direction of peddler Creek anyway. My map shows the trail ends at the Saddle, although it clearly went down the other side. Their goal was to see how far that road went, assuming it connected to Peddler Creek. I fought with myself for a while, debating what I want to do. They had been tempting me with beer and steak, offering to let me camp with them this evening. I figured I would at least take the ride down to Peddler Creek, that is if the road even exists. So I jumped in the rzr with them and went barely more than a hundred yards down hill before the road ends in a Grove of Aspens.

It was now after 1pm, and I had spent over an hour with the Terras family. The goal is to get into Eureka by 8pm tomorrow night. If I go back up to the top of the saddle and try to head over Summit Mountain, I know it will be a long hike. I likely would fall behind schedule.

I considered this section a filler from the beginning, far from a highlight of the Basin and Range Trail. Simply a connector between Austin and Eureka. Having already explored the Linka mine and taking a soak in Spencer Hot Springs, I had already done the things I was interested in doing throughout this section. It was a tough choice, but ultimately I accepted their offer to drink beer and eat steak with them. They have even offered to drive me into Eureka as this was on their way back to Elko, if needed.

You might ask yourself why this was such a hard decision to make. I asked myself that very same question. What do I have to prove? What do I have to prove to myself, to anyone else? I was adamant about walking continuous footsteps from Mexico to Canada on my Continental Divide Trail thru hike, but that made sense to me. You can’t say you walked from Mexico to Canada if you skipped a bunch of it. But here, on the Basin and Range Trail, I am not even hiking a complete loop, just a random route from one arbitrary place to another. Continuous footsteps is not my goal here on the BRT. Adventure and a great experience is what I’m after.

So, reluctantly, I accepted their offer and basically stopped hiking halfway through this section. It was a relief at the same time. Now, I could enjoy the 4th of July like a normal human being, spending it with other people.

As soon as I said I would join them and camp with them, they said great, now you can drink beer with us! Gladly, I said. I need to catch up!

We spent the next couple of hours cruising around on the side by sides. Finding little hills with a view, finding hidden campsites, exploring the countryside while having somewhat deep conversations at the same time. It was incredibly satisfying to be able to take a break like this in the middle of a hike. A physical and mental break. And on the 4th of July, it really meant a lot to be able to kick back and just enjoy the moment, with some super friendly folks.

We found one campsite nestled in the Aspens on a little Hill that had a granite countertop installed in between a couple of Aspen trees. That’s right, a granite countertop! This perked our interest and was an obvious place to stop for lunch. The granite countertop was a great place to lay out all the food, crackers, cheese, summer sausage etc. It felt like a real luxury for the outdoors.

I had never ridden in a side-by-side before. I was really impressed at how well they handled the terrain. Just this morning, I was wondering how it’s possible to drive a vehicle up some of these roads. Now I know. They have really low gearing for the downhill sections, and the suspension is incredible. Many times it felt like the vehicle would just tip over, but it kept going, handling it like a beast.

We got back to camp Terras late afternoon. Camp was a long a small Creek, surrounded by Aspens. Not the most level ground, but I found a nice spot pretty close to the creek. They had all the luxuries of car camping… Fold out chairs, table, cooking stove Etc. It was nice to sit in a comfy chair. One of the things I miss most when hiking.

They got started on dinner shortly after 5 PM. They utilized the fire ring to cook corn over a metal grate. Mostly, it was being smoked at first. Then burned a bit. Methods used to cook this corn became the topic of laughter. In the end, it came out just fine. Meanwhile, Travis cooked the steaks. I felt a bit useless, just standing back while everybody else did something. Course I asked to help, and was told to just sit back and relax. This is always a bit hard for me to do.

After dinner we lounged around and exchange stories. Me being the guest, I think it was my obligation to contribute in that way, with stories. Having hiked and traveled quite a bit, I enjoyed sharing my experiences, and maybe more importantly, my insight on these experiences. The older I get the more I realize how these travels and experiences have shaped me as a person. In a positive way. I look at my life in Detroit before my CDT hike, and not being much of a people person. In fact, hiking in general was a way to get away from people. And now, I see long distance hiking as a way to connect with people, from all walks of life. I’ve always been the type of person that has a hard time accepting anything from anyone. Even when expected, such as on my birthday, I feel very appreciative of a gift or anything that has been given to me. So when people take me in like this, I barely have the words to describe my gratitude.

Day 35 – July 5th: Trail Magic, Antelope Valley

I woke up at 7:30. Tim was already cooking bacon, the sound and smell was great to wake up to. I asked Travis how he was feeling this morning, and he said, I must have been pretty drunk, everyone has asked that!

They were a little low on food for breakfast, so I ate some of my own food but I still Had a small portion of bacon and eggs. Delicious! After that we packed up camp pretty promptly. They seem to be pretty efficient at that, breaking everything down pretty quick. We loaded up the side by sides and headed downhill.

On the way down, Tim stopped here and there for burls. These are the knots on a tree that form when a branch breaks off, and the tree heals itself. A big ugly looking brain, or mushroom look. He cuts these off and uses them in his woodworking projects. Maybe a vase, lamp post or whatever. He turns them on his lathe. also makes something called dragon eggs, where he mixes resin into the wood fill the gaps. The grain of the wood Mixed with the resin was really cool looking, from the pictures he showed me. These are the kind of projects that it seems very few people do, almost like blacksmithing, like a forgotten art. Pretty neat actually.

A few miles down hill, the valley opens up and we reached the spot where they parked their trucks and trailers that haul the side by sides. It was pretty hot now down in Antelope Valley. While loading up the side by sides, I got everyone together for a group picture. We got the largest burl and posed on front of it of the side by sides. This was great, I love these group pictures. They are pretty tough to come by, but perhaps some of the most meaningful pictures at the end of the day.

Soon we were all loaded up, and I jumped in the truck with Travis and Gaye. They were passing through Eureka anyway, so it wasn’t a bother for them to take me here. My goal was to reach Eureka by 8pm tonight. Had I walked from the spot they Park their trucks and trailers, I would not have reached Eureka this evening. Skipping so much of the planned route, about 40 miles, was a bit hard for me to swallow mentally, but I had already accepted the situation. Now down in Antelope Valley, I certainly wasn’t disappointed to have skipped this section, in the sense that I felt I was missing something, because it was a rather bland looking valley. The temperatures in June were rather mild, but now, in the low-90s, Crossing these valleys is a lot less appealing.

When we reached the Sundown Motel in Eureka, Travis and Gaye got out of the truck and we said our goodbyes. We had exchanged phone numbers and tentatively planned on meeting up again when I finish the Rubies. Since I’m coming out in Lamoille, it’s just a short ways from Spring Creek and Elko. They were more than happy to offer any help they can when I reach their Hometown.

Checked in to the sundown motel. My box was waiting for me in the lobby, a new pair of shoes. Checked into the room, showered, then walked across the street to the Owl Club. Funny, it has the same name as the place in Austin, even though they say they are not related. Seems like a strange coincidence to me. Ordered their biggest burger, double bacon cheeseburger and fries. It was probably one pound, and of course, put it down with ease.

Ate dinner again at the owl club. Made eye contact with a guy at the bar who is about my age. We kind of did “the nod”. I asked him how the 4th of July was, knowing they have a big Fourth of July party in town. He said he just got in today, and missed it. He asked me about mine, I told him about my story with the folks in the monitor range, part of my 1100 mile hike. He did not seem impressed, and that was the end of the conversation. He literally shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on me after hearing about my hike across Nevada. But that’s Eureka for you. This felt like one of the least welcoming towns along my hike.

Day 36 – July 6th: Zero Day in Eureka, NV

Breakfast from the gas station, a couple sausage biscuits and muffin. Spent all day doing chores; Paid Bills, called dad to have him send a box to the Spring Creek (Elko) Post Office with new gaiters, boxers and a new Patagonia capilene daily wear shirt.

Walked up to the Pony Express Deli at the end of town for lunch. Went off to the Post Office and mailed back rocks I found over this past section, and my old shoes. I still wear these when mowing the lawn or whatever, even if they are no longer trail worthy. Then walked up to the grocery store. This was a mile or more out of town. For such a big store, the selection was pretty terrible. I cobbled together what I needed for the upcoming 8 Day hike across the Diamond Range and Ruby Mountains.

I’ve been talking with Cody Terras today about meeting up in Lamoille. He wants to join for a section in the rubies, which would be awesome! So maybe the section north of Lamoille Canyon. Plans to be determined later.