Ridgeline views hiking the Goshute Range
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.
Woke 730. Walked to post office, which opened at 830. That was an hour round-trip. Started walking 9:45. While waking out of Wells I passed a younger guy, he said hey man come here a second. He thought I was homeless and was trying to give me his extra salad from a restaurant. But then saw my gear and realized I was a bit more well off. I told him what I was doing and he said “mondo respect”. His car was broken down and said he was stuck in Wells for a month. He asked if I wanted to come play video games with him in his motel. Kinda weird and random, but honestly, I would have if I weren’t walking out of town! You do weird and random stuff on a long hike like this, and find yourself in all sorts of situations. If you say yes, they typically work out pretty well.
I expect today to be the single most boring day of hiking on the Basin and Range Trail. Its going to be a hike of roughly 20 miles along Interstate 80 in order to connect the East Humboldt Range with the Pequop Range. Today, Ill walk across Clover Valley, Wood Hills, and Independence Valley, but on a track that’s only about 100 yards from the interstate. That’s because this area is all checkerboard land, an alternating pattern of public and private land. The long story short is that there is no legal way to cross this land, so its best to stay on a public road. I chose to follow the I80 service drive road that parallels the freeway to make the quickest time across this area, which was not going to be a highlight of the hike anyways. Every long hike seems to have one or two sections of filler to connect all of the great places it traverses. I am willing to sacrifice ONE day to connect the East Humboldt Range to the Pequop and Goshute Ranges.
Some cows along the route today. Passed through a gravel pit which also had cows. One cattle Trough about 5 miles west of Wells with water. Didn’t need it, so I moved on. Stopped for break as I hiked through the northern portion of the Wood Hills range. This area consisted of low hills and small trees, as the name Wood Hills might imply.
East of the Wood Hills Range, I entered Independence Valley. It was wide open and huge. Took another break at the independence valley exit along I80, in shadow of some abandoned metal crate thing for utilities.
By mid afternoon, I was starting to feel a bit off. I was really hot, tired and thirsty. I thought I had drank enough today, but my body just wasn’t having this walk today. Every day now the temps are low to mid 90s. My water was very hot, barely drinkable. However, as I approached the Pequop Range, the scenery was starting to get better. I wasn’t expecting much out of the Pequops, but they are starting to look like they have more potential as I draw near.
Once I reached maverick canyon, where interstate passes through the Pequop mountains, the canyon narrowed. I began to get wedged in between steep hill sides and a fence. I was really whooped now.
Left the interstate and started walking up a canyon on a dirt road. Left the dirt road for secondary road. My side was starting to hurt a bit so I had to stop again for a break. Thirsty for cold water, and not much appetite.
Once at the Top of the pass, the scenery began to get beautiful. Not stunning, but simple beauty. Rolling hills, excellent view East towards the Toano Range and the Goshute Mountains. The play of Light and shadows with the clouds over the mountains was peaceful.
I walked up and down a series of rolling hills towards my next water source Nanny Creek. Looking down into the canyon below, I could see a large pond. Sweet! Just need to get down the steep hill side to get to it. I was struggling now to finish out the day. Exhausted from the heat, presumably, even though I seemed to handle the same temperatures much better throughout the rest of this hike. Still, I was tired, had cramps, feeling light-headed and just slow.
Nanny Creek was swampy. There is a man-made embankment on the downstream end forming a small pond. No way to get to water, the banks were shallow water with thick grass protruding a few feet into the water. Tried downstream, but no access either. I was on my way upstream to check the source when I heard an engine approaching. It was an older guy on dirt bike with weed whacker. Interesting!
Kem, local rancher and mountain bike enthusiast, was out maintaining some dirt bike trails for the mtb project. We talked for about 15 minutes, and I was having a hard time concentrating… So tired, thirsty. Occasional stomach cramps. Dizzy. Ears plugged and could barely hear myself talk correctly. Dropped my pack while we talked and I had to sit down.
Kem offered to let me stay at his ranch this evening and join for dinner. Yes please! It was only a mile downhill. So that was that portion of private property I saw on my map.
Walked down to his ranch, a nice walk. The entrance to his property is marked with a sign that says Mountain bikes welcome. Beautiful property, lush green, rock formations, sprinklers ruining, horses, Llamas etc. Nice farm house. Greeted by barking dogs which quickly warmed up to me.
Kem’s wife Donna prepared Salmon and rice for dinner, which was very good, but I could barely eat. So exhausted from the heat that it was messing with my appetite. Drank 2L water and 2 glasses of red wine. We talked about the route I’ve hiked through Nevada so far, and I went over my plans for this coming section, in Kem’s backyard basically. Kem was familiar with some of my route through the Pequops to the south of here, as his mountain bike trails and dirt bike trails run through this area. Ultimately, Kem decided to join me tomorrow as I continue my hike south through the Pequops. Hell bring the dogs and hike a day or so south with me, before turning back around, as I continue south.
Took a shower and had a nice comfy bed to sleep in. Wow what an unexpected way to end the day. To have been in such rough shape earlier, and having just walked the worst section of the Basin and Range Trail, to bump into Kem like this was an incredible moment. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
Barely slept last night even though I had such a comfy bed. Had horrible cramp in my calf in middle of night, still sore this morning. I Was really out of it last night and not feeling great, heat wore me out I guess. Roosters outside bedroom woke me at 5am. Slept to 630.
Kem and Donna were up when I walked out of bedroom. Donna had already made breakfast, pancakes and fruit. Delicious!
Kem and I left for our hike around 8am, with 4 dogs in tow. Left the ranch and walked the dirt road back up into the Pequops. It was nice to follow Kem and have no navigating to do for once.
Kem was in the air force, and flew C130 transport places. After his military service, he flew for Delta, and is now retired.
In the northern Pequops there are a couple of guzzlers. When we reached the first guzzler, it was nasty water. Brown, like a cattle pond. The dogs jumped in the guzzler to cool off. Well, I’m not drinking that water now. Oh, and there was a dead elk a few feet away from the water. It had just recently died, within the last couple of days. This guzzler was not plotted on my Calopo map… Did I miss it in my research? Kem says another one higher up, so well get water from that one. Hopefully, its better water.
Good views now that we’ve gained some elevation. Rolling ridges, really Nice. We filled up our water at the second guzzler. Clear water, no green tint. There were four separate troughs here at this guzzler. The dogs jumped in first one. We used second one until one dog jumped in, then we used third tank. I took 7L, expecting no water for a solid day plus across Goshute Valley and into Morgan basin.
Clouds building now, getting a little windier, Temps cooling. Hiked the crest of Pequops south and a network of game and bike trails that were mostly pretty good. Nice place to walk, pretty easy now. Mostly open terrain, some limber pines. Kem says these can grow to be over 1000 years old.
Great conversations with Kem. Talked about exercise, nutrition, family, adventures, economics etc. Kem is a great guy to talk to, seems very educated, reasonable and open minded.
Next we reached an F-111 plane crash by South Peqoup Mountain. Debris scattered everywhere, even over the ridgeline to the east. We could see it from a distance. The clouds were dark now and rain appeared imminent, with a visible shelf cloud approaching. It started to rain as we reached the crash site. Took shelter under a pine tree along trail. It was getting cold now, and I put on my wind pants/jacket. One of the few times along the Basin and Range Trail where I put on my wind pants, but at only 1oz, I’m glad I carried them.
The rain cleared around 5pm and we continued to scour the F-111 crash site. Lots of debris, random parts. Hydraulic lines and valves, fuselage parts, circuit boards and wires, hatch, tail piece etc.
We set up camp not far form the crash site, on the crest of the Pequop Mountains. We had some cover from the wind thanks to a nice short, fat pine tree.
After dinner, we walked east side of ridge and found the M61 Vulcan Gatling gun from the F-111! The barrels were twisted and full of dirt, but it was unmistakable.
Woke at 545. The ground was lump and not at all flat, but I slept good because I was so tired. Rain for 20 seconds over night around 4am. Good campsite though, in the sense that there was a large tree that blocked most of the wind that otherwise would have hit our tents. Still some clouds over Goshute Valley to the east. A nice play of Shadows over the Basin.
This morning, one of Kem’s dogs laid next to my tent, and put too much pressure on the string that holds the stake to the tent and snapped it off. My Tarptent Notch Li is made from a Dyneema fabric, and I really don’t know much about the nuances of sewing this type of fabric. Kem assured me Donna could sew the string back on to the tent, but Id need to follow him back to his ranch instead of continuing on south along my route traversing the crest of the Pequop Range. My tent is not functional without it, and I would likely not be able to find anyone to repair it in Wendover, my next town stop. So, what option do I have other than to head back to Kem’s ranch?
We hiked back to Kem’s Ranch mostly the same way we came in, except the final stretch. Again we had good conversations together. We talked about ancient civilizations and tribes, complex problems of the future, economics etc.
We’ve reached the area where Jack, one of the dogs, lost his saddlebags yesterday. He likes to rub up against the bushes, even if he doesn’t have the saddlebags, to scratch his back. So we each took a side of the trail and began to scour the brush. Kem found it hidden in the bushes as we expected.
We passed the highest guzzler, but not needing water we didn’t stay long. We gave the dogs a chance to rehydrate. BB, the biggest dog, was having the hardest time. She jumped in guzzler to cool off, as some of the other dogs did. Only problem is, she could barely get out!
Instead of taking McKitchenson canyon, as we did the hiking up yesterday, we took solar coaster, Kem’s favorite mountain bike trail. He builds mountain bike trails in the woods and besides riding them himself, tries to get other riders to ride his trails through the mtb project. He says in a normal year he might get 100 riders passed through his trails. Some may stay at his Ranch, as I did. He mentioned I was the first hiker to wander through his area, though.
On the route we took back to Kem’s Ranch, we passed by a tree that Kem said is the largest known Juniper tree in Nevada. When he found it years ago, he had called the biologist for the BLM in the area, and they came out and measured it in various ways. There is a certain point stem, based on height, width, crown, etc and apparently, this tree is the biggest Juniper in the state. Pretty cool.
Looks like rain clouds building. Dark Skies by the time we got back to the ranch. When we got to the house, Kem offered me a monster energy drink. I was surprised to see he drinks those, but it just so happens they are my guilty pleasure, same as him. So we both enjoyed an ice cold monster.
Donna was able to sew up my tent in a matter of minutes. I checked the radar and it looked like rain clouds are continuing to build and move into the area. It was 1pm. now when we got back. Kem was going golfing with his buddies at 4pm, a regular event he does to get together with friends. The plan now is to drive me up to Morgan Basin in the Goshute mountains, rather than hike the northern Pequops again for the third time to in order stay on my track. But with the weather moving in, is that a good idea? It looks like an almost two hour drive to Morgan Basin from the ranch, which is kind of hard to believe since it was basically just across the valley, so Kem was reluctant to do it this afternoon since he didn’t want to be late for golf. Understandable. He asked Donna to drive me, but I could tell she was hesitant, unsure of her abilities to drive the truck on such a rough road as she said the visibility wasn’t the greatest in that truck. They suggested we wait until the morning. I’m okay with that, in fact I was only wanting to go this afternoon because I didn’t want to be a burden, impose or over stay my welcome.
I chatted with Donna for a while and she made me dinner, farm fresh eggs, bacon and cream cheese bagels. Very good! We chatted some more this evening, about her son’s Adventures as white water rafting guide in Idaho, and work for the mines. Kem mentioned his sons several times, they all seem to have quite a bit of outdoor experience and knowledge. One of their sons was into survival, and would go out into places like the Sierras with only a knife and water bottle. Apparently he had a lot of knowledge of plants as well, which to eat and which to use for medicine.
I went to bed a bit early tonight, at 9. I need to catch up on some sleep.
Woke 6:15. Donna was up already, filling the hummingbird feeders and surveying the damage left from the elk. Apparently they have elk come in many nights and they eat the plants around the farm.
Donna made us breakfast, bagels with cream cheese and lots of fruit. Kem and I loaded up the truck and we left the ranch around 7:45. The dogs jumped in the back of the bed, wanting to go. But it wasn’t going to happen today.
The ride out to the Goshute mountains was interesting. Its really dry, in fact this area is among the driest along the entire Basin and Range Trail route. There was one spot along the railroad tracks that looked like a puddle of water on satellite, but that’s likely all it was a puddle after a recent rain. We saw no water in Goshute Valley.
After crossing the railroad tracks, I was surprised to see how wide open and free of Sagebrush this Valley was. There was Golden grass as far as the eye could see. Now, Kem told me the land looked over grazed. The grass that grows in here is called cheat grass. He said the original vegetation that grew here was some sort of rye. The first herd of wild horses we saw was about 20 strong. In the distance, we could see other herds of 10 or 20.
We stopped along the road to check out a railroad tie marker for the California Trail. These can be found scattered throughout the Great Basin along sections of the California Trail. I saw these at Overland Pass, in the Ruby Mountains, and Huntington Valley.
We also stopped to check out a small cave on a hill. It ended up being quite small and having no interest or significance, but it was a fun little side adventure.
As we made our way south, the rugged nature of the Goshute Range revealed itself. The Limestone Cliffs first start around Morgan Canyon. This is our entrance into the Goshutes. The road goes up and over Morgan pass. It can be driven in a truck, as we have done, although most probably do it in a side-by-side.
We parked on top of Morgan pass in a small clearing. From there we walked up the Ridgeline of the Goshutes south to meet up with the route that I had mapped. There was a small cabin here in very bad shape. However, there were actually horse trails to follow. This is very encouraging and gave us a lot of hope, specifically me, about the prospect of the rest of this route across the Goshute Range panning out well.
We went up and over a couple of Ridge and contoured around a few Hill sides. The father we went, the more beautiful the landscape became. Down the valley to the east lied a large Limestone rock formation carved out in almost a smooth manner. And farther to the east is the Bonneville salt flats. While the official measurement is roughly 30,000 acres, or 46 square miles, when one looks at the map the salt flats are only one small part of the much larger dried lake bed, Lake Bonneville. A rough measurement of this on the map is over 100 miles long!
Rugged limestone cliffs along the west side of the Goshute Range. Basin and Range geology in action right here
We continue to hiking South until we reached a spot on the map that required a bit of work to get around. We should have stayed higher up on the Ridgeline, and so we needed to gain about 200 ft elevation. We climbed up towards the Ridgeline, and a small natural arch became visible. We took lunch here in the shadow of the arch. Looking Through the arch was a very impressive view of random rock formations and the Bonneville salt flats in the distance. Rain clouds began to form, thunderclouds billowing. I even saw one bolt of lightning.
After lunch, Kem and I separated. This was roughly the point he wanted to hike to before turning around. He had about a 2 hour walk to get back to the car, then his plan was to play some golf in Wendover. And of course, he must factor in the long drive back home. Looking back, I didn’t realize how far this would be for him and really appreciate the ride out here. Not only that, everything Kem and Donna had done for me… I stayed two nights at their house, Donna had made multiple meals, washed my clothes, I was able to shower etc. Its amazing what people are willing to do for a stranger. It makes me eager for the opportunity to return the favor to others someday.
Now on my own again, I had to climb up to the crest of the Goshute Range and the true nature of the challenge presented itself. I found myself out on a Rocky Ridgeline that at first looked like it was going to require quite a bit of climbing. There were some scrambling sections for sure. One side had quite a bit of exposure, the other side a little bit less. Two sections of the Ridgeline were separated by a small gap, that required either a leap of faith or to climb down and around. I chose to climb around. The views here though are downright stunning. I am in awe of the Goshute Range, and completely surprised by it’s overwhelming beauty.
The next couple miles offered outstanding views. In fact, some of the most Scenic miles of the entire Basin and Range Trail. I say that often, but the beauty Goshute Range really stands out in my memories of this hike. The thing is, the horse trails have disappeared now, and it’s largely an off-Trail scramble. Still, not that hard considering there is not that much vegetation. Excellent views of Goshute Valley to the west and massive sweeping views of the Bonneville salt Flats to the east. Dark Skies Loom in the distance, though. A bit ominous, but the provided an excellent backdrop to the stunning landscape that surrounded me.
Looking east, where the Goshute mountains end and the salt flats begin is roughly the Nevada-Utah border. The town of Wendover can be seen in the distance from here as well. To the north, Pilot Peak is the prominent, volcanic-looking, Peak that dominates the horizon.
Working my way along the Ridgeline, the horse trails follow the edge of some cliffs. It was heavily wooded to the east, forcing me to stay along the cliff Edge. Eventually, the horse trails pass through the trees. This wasn’t really a bushwhack per se, but forced me to walk in a crouched down position to stay under the vegetation. Then, I passed a small cave. Couldn’t quite get to it without having to descend a small steep chute with a long run out, and so it was just not worth it.
This brought me to a saddle below Peak 8735. Across the way was a small cave, somewhat hidden with some trees by the entrance. I will hit this on the way down from the peak. Going up, you just pick your route and walk straight up. Great views up at the top looking back the way I came, it was a massive vertical limestone rockwall. Very impressive! Stopped to take a quick break while I Let a GoPro timelapse play out, hoping to get some movement on the storm moving across the valley.
After coming back down to the saddle, I made my way over to the small cave. There were some deer legs and a pelvis near the entrance, which always makes me think of mountain lions. I rounded a corner and saw the cave entrance. It was pretty small though, maybe four feet high at the entrance and slanted down to the ground about 10 ft deep. I could see a rodent sticking his head out in the back of the cave.
Next I followed the Cliffside for a while. Saw another 8 or so wild horses. I followed some horse trails and contoured around a hillside a bit before climbing up to a ridge. The horse trails disappeared on the way up. There didn’t really seem to be a good route around this Ridge, it was Cliffy on one side and heavily wooded and steep on the other. This is where things started getting tough. Very tough.
I couldn’t really follow the very top of the Ridgeline, at the high point marked as 8780, as it was Rocky and too much vegetation. So I followed the steep hillsides about 50 feet below the top. Even here, the vegetation was thick. I weaved my way in and out of the trees. These were mostly mahogany, maybe some junipers. Eventually made it around the top of the Ridge and came to a Ridgeline that leads down to a saddle at 7990. This was a very disheartening sight. At the top, the Ridgeline leading down to the saddle was often a knife edge Style, with extremely thick vegetation to boot. There was no way to follow the knife-edge, it was too steep to the left / East, so I had to stay to the West. Here, it was a bit of a bowl-shaped Valley with a sea of green. An impenetrable wall of vegetation, a nightmare Thicket. Very disheartening indeed.
I began my descent through the brush. There were no horse trails, there was no obvious path or route, there was no section that looked less thick than others. It was literally one solid mass of green. I knew this was going to be awful. I pushed ahead, literally, pushing through the trees. They stood so thick together that it took a lot of force to bend the branches enough for me to fit through. These branches were not soft and limber, they were solid.
Bushwhacking here scraped away at my skin, drawing blood more times than I can count. Scrapers and stabbers galore. Pushing the branches aside and trying to squeeze through was one approach. The other was to break branches. This works better on older and dead trees than Lush and limber ones. Using my hands, it was easy to get cut, poke and stab wounds. If possible, I prefer to use my feet. I would kick the branches and try to break them off that way if they were low enough, waist-high or slightly above. This was the best approach overall, but it was slow and only worked with certain trees. I fell a couple of times in the process.
At one point I checked my watch and realized I had only moved about 250 ft down from The High Point in nearly an hour. This is about the worst feeling you could imagine. It was pretty overwhelming to find myself completely surrounded by thick brush, not having any way out, and knowing that it would still take a massive amount of effort to reach safety again. It’s hard enough to have worked your way into the situation, but I thought to myself what a nightmare this would be if you dropped somebody off in this scenario and left them to find their way out. I can’t imagine how a person would handle this situation. It’s super easy to lose your cool here.
I now I had several large cuts on my leg, many puncture type wounds on my legs and hands, and a cut on my forehead. This one was the worst as it took my hat off, so the cut sits about an inch above my eye and extends into my hairline, right where my hat sits.
I made it back to the Ridgeline, which was somewhat less knife-edge like at this point now. I hopped over the other side, now on the east side, to see if the going was any better here. Somewhat, at times, but overall pretty much just as hard. I was now on a steep slope, and I stepped on a boulder which I dislodged. I was able to get my leg out of the way, but I slipped and fell and my forearm took the brunt of the fall on another Boulder. The dislodged Rock tumbled down the hill, and took out a downed tree limb, before tumbling another few hundred feet.
Eventually made it to the saddle at 7990. I checked my watch and realized it took me two hours to go about a mile. Wow. I don’t know how many times on this trip I told myself that I never want to do that again. Then time and time again, I find myself in that same situation.
It was now about 6:45. I stopped to take a break to eat dinner. I had a solid view of Peak 9174, my next obstacle, while coming down through the thick brush. Now on the saddle, it was time to make a decision. It wasn’t really a hard decision at all, there was no way in hell I was going up and over that like I had planned. This Peak is heavily wooded, just like the one I came down, but with many limestone outcrops, ridges and Spires protruding from the trees. 1/2 mile an hour pace isn’t going to cut it, and there’s just no reason to put yourself through that kind of stress unless there is a more specific goal/purpose.
After my break, I began to follow horse trails around Peak 9174, contouring the hillside. At first, the horse trail led me right into some thick brush. And for another 10 minutes or so, it was a pretty shitty bushwhack again. This is where you just want to flip out. I had just got done doing this for 2 hours and now I’m right back into it again, with the sun going down soon. Fortunately, it was a short patch of brush and I emerged into a clearing again. From here, there was a very solid Horse Trail that led around the Mountainside, completely clear of all brush. I followed that and made quick progress.
My path up and over the Ridgeline requires leaving the horse trail and climbing 200 feet the hillside. When I got to the top, I was hoping to find a good spot to camp, but there was nothing. On the other side, it was pretty windy. The sun was going down soon and I didn’t want to commit to the other side of the ridge, being exposed to the wind and not really having a solid sightline of what the coming terrain would look like. So I was pretty set on camping on this side of the ridge. But where?
After walking back and forth for about 20 minutes, I finally settled on a spot. It was a small Spot barely big enough to Cowboy camp, but I was determined to make my tent work tonight. I got started by pulling rocks up out of the ground, using my tent Stakes as a digging tool. Some of these rocks were 3 ft long! Then, I started pulling up sagebrush. I use my shoe to kick all the rocks out of the way and clear a relatively flat spot. I was able to get my tent up, although it was slanted in spots and one tent pole sat down in the hole where a rock was, about 10 in lower than the other side. setting up a tent in this scenario is not easy, and basically impossible to get everything tight and taught.
Dirty and bloody, I began to clean myself up as best I could before settling in for the night. This was one of those days I was just happy to be done hiking.
Woke around 5:45. There were many bees buzzing around my tent this morning, and even a hummingbird. Over the past several weeks my sleeping pad was becoming a bit dirtier as I usually sleep in boxers now, no base layer bottoms. There were many more smears of Blood on the air mattress now from my leg wounds sustained during yesterday’s bushwhack.
It’s amazing what a night of sleep will do for you. It can be frustrating going to bed right after a difficult bushwhack, and then the added stress of needing to construct a suitable, or even subpar, campsite out of nothing. But this morning, I was feeling better about things.
I was walking by around 7am. I continued around the ridge that I stopped at last night, and began to scope out the route. From here, not only did I need to Contour the hillside, but I needed to gain a little elevation to maneuver around a slightly steep section. Fortunately, there were good horse trails to follow here. It really wasn’t an issue finding my way. This was a relief, especially in early morning. It’s difficult mentally to start the day with a bushwhack.
This morning’s hike was pleasant. I could still see Pilot Peak behind me which I really enjoyed. For some reason, I thought it had a primitive look to it, adding a unique feel to the area.
I saw a horse contouring around the hillside, coming out of a bit of a gully or ravine. The Horse had the sun behind him, and stood on a small Ridge or piece of high ground. It looked somewhat Majestic as he debated his next move, and walked along this High Ground.
Game trail at the top of the Pass. The ridgeline ahead looks heavily forested, almost certainly more bushwhacking
After rounding the corner, coming out of the Ravine, I was overlooking a burn area now. This has been rare to see lately. It wasn’t long before I reached the saddle where I would drop down to a guzzler to get my water for the day. Here, there were many horse trails and an obvious Road up to the top of the saddle. I stopped here and had a look at the route to the South. If I continue South along the Ridgeline, that means going up a hillside that looked very thick with trees and vegetation. I know it clears out a little bit south of that as I approached Goshute Peak, but from there on South, My Maps show a heavily forested and super thick Ridgeline, complete with steep Terrain. If I wanted to continue South along the Ridgeline, that would mean dropping down about 450 ft to the guzzler, then climbing back up to the saddle, and then proceeding south on the ridge. From there it would be about 20 miles of Ridge walking, 100% off-trail, to Highway 93. To me that just didn’t seem realistic given yesterday’s bushwhack at a half mile an hour pace. The only logical Choice was to head downhill to the guzzler, get my water, and then proceeded down to Goshute valley and walk along the base of the mountains South to Highway 93. So that’s what I settled on.
I’m in luck, the guzzler isn’t filled with water, but… Lemon Lime Gatorade! Score! Electrolytes… it’s what hikers crave
Following the 4×4 road, it was quick progress down to the guzzler. This one was a completely different style than the other ones I’ve seen so far. This guzzler was basically a large piece of metal, like a metal roof, on a slight angle to collect all the rain water which funnels into a gutter, and then drains into an underground tank. From there, it’s piped over to a trough. The trough was full of very green water, with a lot of dead bugs in it, and many more flying around. But this is the only water available, so it’s what I will drink. There were two game cameras set up pointing at the guzzler. One of them had a sticker on it that said, “hello this is not hunting, College project, thanks”. The other one did not have a sticker.
It took quite a while to filter this water. I took 5 L with me. I backflush my filter after about 4 liters when I noticed it was getting really slow. Extremely green water came out, about the same color as what I was putting into it. Then I backflushed the filter again after my 5th liter so that the gunk didn’t stay in the filter.
I walked maybe a quarter mile downhill from the guzzler and a Truck approached. I was pretty surprised, but assumed they were going to look at the guzzler. Course they were just as surprised to see me. I told them I was hiking 1100 miles to Nevada and that always gets their attention. They were indeed Hunters, scouting out the area, here to look at the guzzler for signs of elk. They asked if I needed water or food or anything, and I told them I was all good, I had just filled up with all the water I need for today and have 3 days of food for a 1-day walk. But they were persistent and convinced me to chug one of their liters of water and Help them eat some of their salami cheese and crackers. So I stopped for a while and chatted with them. Bradley and his son Dylan, and Brad’s friend Pat.
After talking with them for 20 or 30 minutes, I continued downhill. I walked down the valley, more or less enjoying the hike. There were some rocky formations among the hillsides, and I think more than anything, I was just enjoying the fact that I could walk without having to put any effort into off-trail hiking. It’s kind of a luxury now walking a road, compared to the past where I’ve often despised it.
I walked South for a while, enjoying the view of the Goshute mountains with the golden grass waving in the Wind down low in the valley. Cheat Grass, I remembered. I could see a couple of buildings, structures and a Corral in the distance. I knew this was Shafter well #4 as marked on my map.
Approaching Shafter Well #4 and an old homestead
At Shafter well #4, there were a couple of buildings… A main house, the entrance to what looks like an underground bunker or basement storage type area, a chicken coop like building, and a 3 sided Barn. There were also many corrals, which looked super raggedy. The doors to the main house were wide open. The floor was littered with hay and it was clear that Animals had been living in there. There were piles of cow shit inside the house. The doors had interesting things written on them, such as “escape room and telephone”, and “looters and loafers beware, survivors will be prosecuted”. How Nevada.
The three sided Barn was somewhat interesting in the sense that it was the most intact building. You could really get a sense of how this place was used back in the day. Ther were various animal pens and other small wooden structures. There is now water at Shafter Well #4, unfortunately.
Moving on from Shafter number four, it was back into the sun, the heat of the day. The clouds were building now and it looked like a bit of rain to the north. The clouds were intermittent where I was, providing some shade here and there. Even so, it wasn’t as hot as other days. The view of the Goshute mountains to the East were nice, as this was the rugged Cliff side of the thrust fault Mountain geology. This is one reason why walking this side of the mountains was so Pleasant, through Goshute Valley. I always feel defeated and disappointed in myself when I back out from a plan, such as walking the Ridgeline of the Goshutes. But in all honesty, I was really enjoying this walk down here. All of the other valleys, or basins, I’ve hiked along the Basin and Range Trail were thick with sagebrush and had a much more desert-like feel to them. This one was full of that golden grass, and just had a completely different feel to it. The cliff-like mountains on one side, golden grass, absolutely massive Valley stretching far to the West, with the South Pequop Range, Spruce Mountain range, and Cherry Creek range on the horizon. It’s tough to explain why exactly I liked this Valley so much. It was just so massive and empty. I thought back to my time on the CDT And the area just north of Snow Lake in the Gila Wilderness. The area I called a sea of gold. This was a lot like that, in a way.
I stopped for lunch under a Lone Tree on a hillside that had about four small caves. They were high enough up on the hillside and small enough that it wasn’t worth going up there to explore, but still cool to see. At some point around here, Goshute Valley becomes Antelope Valley, according to the map. On the ground, I can see nothing that would indicate any sort of geological boundary line that separates the two valleys. It seems like they just merge in the middle of a great vastness, with no obvious landmarks or features that would dictate such a change.
I walked on, enjoying Myself much more than I expected for a low route. In fact, I found myself feeling exhilarated. Something about Wide Open Spaces, hard to explain. I couldn’t help but smile. Let out a couple loud woohoo sounds with no one around to hear them.
When I reached US 93-Alt, it was time to hitch 33 miles north into Wendover. Five or six Vehicles passed by, in a span of about 30 minutes, with no luck. A stake truck drove by who also passed me up, but then I could hear the vehicle stop a few hundred yards up. I turned around and indeed saw him backing up a bit and moving over to the shoulder. I grabbed my pack and ran up the road. He said a ride to Wendover is no problem, hop in.
His name was David and he was from Provo Utah. He runs a handyman business, as well as driving the truck that he was in. Some sort of manufacturing company. He grew up in Utah and had lots of fun memories about outdoor trips, hunting arrowheads and such. It was about a 30-minute Drive into Wendover.
When we reached Wendover, he asked where I needed to go. I said drop me off near Smith’s grocery store, please. So he dropped me off there at the parking lot. There were no hotels here though, that was the problem. They were all about two and a half miles east, across the state line into Utah on the Wendover side. The Nevada side is called West Wendover. No problem though, I will just do my grocery shopping here and now and then walk over to the Utah side afterwards and grab a motel. This way I don’t have to do it tomorrow, and it will save me two and a half miles of walking as part of a round trip.
I made a quick hotel reservation on Priceline and then threw my backpack in a shopping cart and went inside the store. I had a feeling people were looking at me a bit funny. When I was done, I discarded most of the extra packaging for the food outside of the store and threw it away so that I could put my newly bought food into my backpack with minimal space. This worked out as I walked across town.
So now it was a 40+ minute walk across town to my hotel. In the middle of the street in West Wendover, is a giant cowboy sign/statue. It says, “Wendover Will welcomes you to West Wendover”. What a tongue twister. Pretty goofy. This was in the median of the street. The statue is probably 50 or 60 ft tall. In the median is a small patch of grass, and a pronghorn was feeding here in broad daylight. Aha, Town wildlife.
As I walked into the Utah side, I passed by a small gas station with a Subway. Outside was a couple of guys who looked homeless. One of them saw my backpack and his eyes lit up. He gave me a thumbs up and said something to the effect of “way to go brother”.
I was a bit disappointed that my hotel was on the extreme east side of town, pretty much passed everything on the walk in. But I guess that is to be expected for one of the lowest priced hotels in town. Even still, it was $71 a night, which might be my most expensive night yet along this whole route. And on the Utah side, the taxes were quite a bit higher then in Nevada.
Not wanting to leave my room and walk across town again for food, I ordered Pizza Hut delivery… Large 3 topping pizza, 12 chicken wings and a two liter of Coke. Took a shower and when I got out as the delivery guy was just arriving. Perfect timing.
Washed my clothes and started charging my batteries. Now I could relax and watch a little TV for a bit before becoming so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
Slept great. Slow start to the morning like many zero days. Laid in bed and updated my journal. I’ve been having a hard time keeping up with it at night on trail, I usually fall asleep before I can finish it.
Today I went up to the Wendover Army Air Base Museum on the edge of the Bonneville Salt Flats. This is a historic Air Base, playing a huge role in World War II. This place was heavily involved in the Manhattan Project as well, with the training and deployment of the first atomic bombs dropped on Japan.
I watched an 8 minute video inside the museum, and then walked around looking at the various artifacts inside. During World War II, The Wendover Army Air Base was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews., as well as playing a vital role in the Manhattan Project. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit that carried out the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In addition to the military significance of the Wendover Army Air Base, Scenes from the movie Conair and Independence Day were also filmed here. There is a C130 transport plane here that is open to walk into. This was the exact plane, the Jailbird, used in the movie Conair, for the Lerner Airfield scenes. After filming the movie, it was left here to the museum. Now you can self tour the Jailbird for yourself, and look out from cockpit into the Bonneville Salt Flats. How cool!
Wendover itself doesn’t have much to offer, but it was cool having the Wendover Army Air Base museum here to explore on my zero day. That’s more than I can say about the rest of the town stops along the Basin and Range Trail.
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