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. 

Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 6 Map

 

Video: Basin and Range Trail Thru Hike Section 6

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 6 Journal

Day 37 – July 7th: Diamond Mountians

Started hiking at 9am. When I checked out of the hotel, the woman who works the front desk wished me good luck on my hike, and mentioned that she wanted to hike the Pacific Rim Trail. I always kind of crack up when people Call it The Rim Trail instead of the crest trail. Still, it’s an admirable goal and I told her I’d be rooting for her.

It was a short walk out of Eureka as it was only a few blocks before I turned off the main road and began a climb up and around a small hill. So, it felt like it only took about 10 minutes to get out of town. Now it was a dirt road that makes its way towards Diamond Peak and the Diamond Range.

I had been excited about this section for a while. The Diamond Range and Ruby Mountains both have gemstone names, they’ve gotta be pretty good, right?

Simpson Creek had water, but it looked very nasty. There were a bunch of cows here, and oddly enough, they kind of follow you around, of course with a fence blocking them in. Normally, they run as soon as they see you. These cows wanted attention.

The road begins to climb after leaving the ranch that Simpson Creek passes through. Very slowly though, which is a great way to ease into the first day out of town.

The diamond mountains don’t look like much from below. Plain, Brown, and maybe a little green. Not too Rocky or Jagged. The lower reaches of the road had some trees, but they quickly fizzle out. I normally hike in roughly two hour blocks, in between breaks. I was ready for a break, but there was no shade now. So I just had on the road and took my break anyway after about two and a half hours.

Now the road begins to climb a little steeper. There’s a water source marked on my map just above, but I have to Contour around a whole side to shortcut around a road. This was off Trail, through Sagebrush.

When I reached the saddle I could see cows at Diamond Spring. That’s good, almost guarantees water. When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see a pipe with water flowing out. No trough, no muddy puddles, no cow shit to deal with. Just Clear water running out of a pipe, easy to collect from. This is nice little break spot.

After leaving this spring, the road gets extremely steep. Fortunately, it doesn’t last all that long. It brings you to a Saddle, with an excellent view. Now I’m on the crest of the Diamond range. Woohoo!

I was surprised to see a pretty good Trail here, since there is none marked on the map. There was even a cairn marking it. Now the trail follows the top of the ridgeline. Fairly easy walking with very good views. It was hard to make progress because it was so pleasant, the scenery was distracting me.

Then the trail fades out as it goes over some rougher terrain. Horse trails lead the way, but even they fade out, and you’re left to put together your own route in between small segments of easy walking. In other words, this was pretty good hiking for the Basin and Range Trail. 

Closer to Diamond Peak, the scenery was excellent. I was more impressed with the diamond Range so far than I had anticipated. 

Once at the base of Diamond Peak, there were game trails that appear to skirt the side of the peak. This looks a lot more appealing then going up and over at the moment, with 8 days of food and 5L of water on my back.

I skirted around Diamond Peak, and continued to follow the game trails. I was expecting them to leave me up to the top of the ridge at some point, after the Ridgeline loses elevation. However, that never happened. Horse trails became faint and continue to traverse increasingly steep terrain. Eventually, I realized my best route forward was to just head straight up to the ridgeline below Diamond Peak. A 30 minute climb up a steep slope and I was there.

Now on the crest of the diamond range again. It was around 6pm now, a very pleasant time to be up here and walk the ridge. It was very Smokey today, forest fires burning west in California. The walking on the ridge alternates between easy challenging. The horse trails generally do a good job of avoiding the steepest terrain, but they also fade out often and leave you not sure which way to go.

Sometimes, the Ridgelines turned into a knife edge or very undesirable climbing. I had to backtrack a bit at times, as well as climb down some steep and loose chutes. I saw one pronghorn as I made my way around one of the game trails. Also, I had 4G service all day.

The views hiking the crest of the Diamond Range were excellent all evening. This is the kind of thing I dreamed of when I was planning this route. Up high on the spine of a mountain range, straddling two massive, desolate valleys on both sides, hiking to sunset. And here I am, living that dream. 

As the sun started going down, I found myself on somewhat of a knife Edge Ridge. Very Rocky and steep. Once I had a bunch of thick trees, and that’s the side I ended up hiking. This was just as the sun was going down below the horizon. Then I made it to a saddle, which did have a flat spot that I could have camped on. But of course, I kept going. Followed a game trail along the hill side until it was almost dark. I was on the crest again, going downhill now.

Finally, I found a spot. Sub par, but it will get me through the night. It was just on the side of the crest that is protected from the wind, about 3 ft down below the crest and protected by a small bush. The ground was actually flat too. It was windy though, so I needed this protection, even if it was very minor.

I set up camp as quickly as possible, and got in my sleeping bag. I cowboy camped tonight, no room for a tent and too windy for it anyways. I was literally camping on the crest, with a 360 degree view. Amazing.

 

Day 38 – July 8th: Diamond Mountains, Newark Valley

The wind died down about an hour after I went to bed. Lots of Lights shining in both Diamond Valley and Newark Valley. I remember seeing the earliest rays of light started to rise over the mountains, with the rest of the sky still black. Too early for me. Then woke exactly at 6 with the sun on me. Hiking by 6:45.

Followed The Ridge, and horse trails. Walked for 10 or 15 minutes before realizing I was at the spring on the map, the first one of only two along the entire Diamond Mountains route. I would need to drop wayyy down off the ridge to reach it though, and since I had a little over two liters, that wasn’t necessary. Instead, I’ll push on to the spring that is about 8 air miles away. There was also some flat spots on the saddle where I could have camped, if only I pushed 10 minutes further last night.

Next I followed a horse trail well below the crest. Eventually though, I had to reach the top of the crest, so it was a climb straight up the hill side. Walked the rest of the ridge for a while, before needing to choose the east or west side of the crest to drop down, and try to follow game trails. The east side of the crest looks less steep and Jagged, so that’s what I chose.

I didn’t see any game trails on the east side at first, but then there was an obvious path. These game trails, they can be really solid and then Fade Into nothing in a matter of a few feet. Sometimes it worked out, other times was kind of horrible… Boulder fields, Sagebrush etc. The typical stuff I guess.

Saw an elk sitting under a tree a few hundred feet below me. Of course, he quickly ran away as soon as he saw and heard me. Diamond Valley on the West Side of the crest had a lot of Agriculture, large green circles pretty much spanned the valley at this point. On the east side is Newark Valley, still following the dry Lake bed, but agriculture in between the mountains and the lake bed now.

The game trails were intermittent. Even when they did exist, it was still a constant matter of fighting sagebrush. It wasn’t a fullon bushwhack, but there was enough vegetation to scrape, cut and stab my legs. Needless to say, the route along the crest of the Diamond Range is slow going, despite looking relatively easy from afar. 

Eventually I reached the last Ridge before I had to drop down and get water from a spring. This was the last spring I had marked on my map until the end of the entire diamond range. Unfortunately it’s many hundreds of feet below the Ridgeline. From here I had a choice to make, follow the game trails to the east or west side of the ridge. I really wanted to be on the east side, that’s what the spring is. However, the game trails leading east looked pretty weak. They looked pretty strong on the west side, so that’s the route I took.

I was thinking I would be able to just follow a game Trail back to where I needed to go, on the east side of the ridge, but that didn’t work out. I realized the game trails were taking me a bit out of the way after I turned the corner around one side of the mountain. So, I had to go straight up the mountain side through very thick brush and trees. This part was awful. It was around this time when the Flies started getting really bad. They weren’t a problem or earlier today, or any other day, but all the sudden there were 40 or 50 flying around me at all times. Super annoying! To make matters worse, the brush was so thick going up that I had to put my pant legs on. Now I was protected a bit, but at a great cost… Sweating like crazy.

At the top of the ridge, I couldn’t really see this spring at all. The flies followed me over the ridge and we’re still all over me. Started making my way down the somewhat steep Hillside. It was mostly loose dirt and rock, smaller rock, the kind you could just dig your feet into, and kind of slide down the hill in a controlled manner

I could see a lot of thick green vegetation in the ravine, and this is where I was generally headed. I was super disappointed to see no water In the creek bed though when I reached it. To follow it downhill looks terrible, it looks really thick.

Eventually I reached a point where I couldn’t go any further. All directions, except up, we’re completely covered in thick green vegetation. It looks really, really thick! I put on my pant legs, and chose a spot that looked like it would be the shortest section of vegetation to traverse. I stumbled through it, getting snagged by all the branches, having to push many out of the way, before stumbling on a tiny trickle of water. However, vegetation was so thick here, there was nowhere to even bend down to touch the water, let alone collect it. I was getting cut up by Thorn bushes, covered with flies, hand in Tangled by the vegetation. What a nightmare.

After the bushwhack, there was still a lot of side-hilling to do, and I had a lot of debris in my shoes at this point. My feet were pretty sore and tender now from running on all of this debris while walking these steeply angled slopes. At the moment, I remember thinking that this Canyon was one of the worst experiences of the whole hike.

I walked along the Hillside, above the thick vegetation that choked the Ravine. As I dropped lower in elevation, I dropped down to the Ravine to check if there was water. It was dry. This was a bit devastating. I kept walking down hill, that’s all I could do. Closer to the bottom, I dropped down to the Ravine again to check. It’s really thick and hard to reach, but here I did find a little water. And, I actually had enough space to sit down next to the creek and filter water. Up high, I couldn’t even bend down to collect the water if I tried there was too much vegetation. It would have been more pleasant without the Flies, but still, it was shaded and there was water. I had to dig out a pool to collect from. There was a bunch of squiggly little swimmers in the water. I spent a good while here, filtering water and eating lunch. I chugged 2L of water and took one with me. I would have taken more but the map showed a lot of water coming up, now that Im down low in the valley and off the ridge.

I wasn’t far from the bottom of the canyon now. No way in hell I am going back up that Canyon. So I guess I am done walking the crest of the diamond mountains. I would have to carry my maximum water capacity, which was now 5L, plus one dirty water bottle. Instead, I’ll just have to walk the road through Newark valley around the northern section of the diamonds.

I was the google satellite images in my pre-hike planning to try and determine whether or not water would be at a marked spring, or anywhere else. However, in this section of the Diamond Mountains, the satellite imagery shows snow on the ground. This makes the satellite imagery useless for my needs, and adds to the difficulty of planning a route through the Diamond Range. However, after returning home from this hike, I found the ESRI satellite layer, which shows the Diamond range without snow. Using the ESRI layer, I was able to locate another spring that wouldn’t require dropping down over 1,000ft to reach it. This means for anyone else hiking the Basin and Range Trail, you shouldn’t have to drop down off the crest of the Diamonds as far as I did, and you should be able to stay high up on the crest for the remainder of the hike to Corta Spring, where the BRT would drop down off the ridge.

After filtering water, the rest of the hike down the canyon continued to be a pain in the ass. Eventually though, I reached a small little road that leads out of the canyon and into Newark Valley. For this I was very thankful.

Now I’m on a road that parallels the main road through Newark valley. The map shows several water sources here, such as fairy Dell. In reality, these were fenced off. I could have access them if I wanted, but didn’t really need to at this point.

It was much warmer down here in Newark valley. But I didn’t care, the ease of walking more than made up for it. Many of the Canyons leading up into the diamond mountains looked similar to the one I came down, a ton of green, looks like a pain to hike.

Now on the main road through the valley, I was surprised to see it paved. I’d be on this road the rest of the day. It really wasn’t that interesting. The dried Lake bed ends and turns into farms and agriculture on the northern end of Newark valley.

There wasn’t much traffic on the road. Not a single vehicle stopped for me, unlike a dirt road, where everyone stops. So now I am heading to a place called Cold Creek Reservoir, the next water source on my map. I walked 3 hours straight from my last water source to reach it. It’s very well hidden from the road When approaching, I didn’t think it was going to exist. But sure enough, a little dirt road leaves the main road and leads down to hidden reservoir. Boy I was thankful for that. Water level was low. There were a couple of campers parked around it and a family fishing. I stopped at the creek that feeds the reservoir and sat there for about an hour, I filtered several liters of water, chugging a few and collecting 4 to take with me. Ate dinner, washed my socks etc.

I left the reservoir around 6:30pm. More Road walking this evening, headed towards the Pony Express route that runs into the southern rubies across Huntington Valley. I was really hoping to make it to the Jacob’s Well Pony Express station, which would have surely provided a flat spot to camp if nothing else. However, it was 9 plus miles away. I wasn’t going to make it before dark. It would have been cool to say I slept in an old Pony Express station.

The paved road turns into a dirt road. There is a turn-off for Bald Mountain with a sign that said Kinross. Apparently, that’s a mine. I kept walking and eventually found a spot under a tree, surrounded by cow crap around 8:30, just as it was getting dark. Perfect timing.

Day 39 – July 9th: Huntington Valley, Pony Express Trail, Overton Pass, Southern Ruby Mountains

Slept pretty good. Finish writing in my journal this morning since I fell asleep during it last night. This is pretty common for me. Started hiking around 7:30.

Continued walking the road north. After while, I hit the Pony Express route. This is marked by a couple of brown signs. I turned right, heading roughly east and after a few miles I hit the Jacob’s Well Pony Express station. There really wasn’t anything here, just a clearing, which was fenced off. There was a marker made out of railroad ties, and these were all over the Pony Express route. And a couple of signs that described what went on in this area.

A few miles up the road I hit Jacob’s Well, the water source. This was a large tank filled with water that fed tires and Troughs. There were cows here but they were fenced off. I could access the well without being in the same area as the cows. There was a spigot on the well, which was very handy. I was able to wash my socks, with some pressure. I chugged 2 liters of water and took 5 with me.

Now it was a long road walk from here, still along the Pony Express route. I didn’t see single car drive by. I crossed the main road running through Huntington valley here, and continued hiking the Pony Express route. A truck past, the woman stopped asked if I was okay. She said she was hiking the John Muir Trail later this month. That’s awesome!

I stopped along the road for a break under a tree. It was getting really hot today, forecast to be in the low 90s. I continued walking the road, and saw maybe five other vehicles drive by, all coming up over Overland pass from The Ruby Valley side. On the top of Overland pass, looking to the north there was a large burn area. Haven’t seen many of these in Nevada, the only one I can remember is in the grant range.

Finally I hit the road that takes me up into the Ruby’s. It look the same as every other mountain range for the most part; at it lower reaches, plain dirt road with some small pine trees. I was really struggling now with the heat. Just having a hard time walking up the road and finding the motivation to keep walking.

It took roughly two hours to get to the top. My mouth was dry, I was thirsty and hot. I had already drank two liters of the five I took from Jacob’s Well. Then I drank another liter at my break, which I took after reaching the hill above the climb I just did. This break was nice, under a tree and a good view.

My route now continues uphill, along the crest or just below it. From the top, I could see a long way; the Diamond range where I just came from, and down into the Ruby marshes below in Ruby Valley. There was a lot of water down there, and had its own unique look a braided network of ponds and channels, spreading out like a spider web. Maybe, a spider that was drunk or something. Really nice views now, nice to have some reward for all the hard work I put in today.

Climbed up to the top of the ridge, and then found a trail that dips down on the other side. It’s skirts the hillside, with a good view to the east of the Ruby Marshes. Now, I’m in the Basin that holds burro Lake. I wish it was a lake, because i was pretty thirsty now. But of course, it was dry as a bone.

I followed the crest up The Ridge, knowing I would have to ultimately find my way up a pass. It was easy going at first, a nice game trail. Then it was a difficult off Trail climb. Difficult because it was steep and I was tired. Had one tick on me, that’s three now for this whole hike. Saw two horses in the woods on my way up the pass.

The climb up this unnamed pass near really hit me. At this moment, I was feeling pretty tired of doing this hike to be honest. The off-trail stuff is just so hard. I’m always thirsty, hungry, tired, dirty, sore, feet hurt etc. I was stumbling up the hill, like I was on autopilot. This really is nothing at all like hiking the Continental Divide Trail. The challenges are far greater. Seldom can one just walk without much thought. Everything here is a battle.

I sat down for a minute at the top of the pass, looking to Sherman Mountain to the north. With the wind blowing, it was quite cold actually. Headed down hill through a forest, following game trails where I could. I got down to a clearing, and decided to start looking for camp. I checked one green area for water, no luck. I walked over to a patch of trees, and saw another 10 horses. They ran is I approached. I thought I might camp where they were, though.

However, before I set up camp, I decided to have a look around the Mountainside to see if I could spot tomorrow’s water source. I had given up on reaching it tonight, its too far. It would either be a large climb, say 800 or thousand feet, or skirt around the mountain side. I was leaning towards the latter. So, I started walking around the mountain side on some game trails. Before I knew it, I had gone too far and had committed to the route. The water was too far away to see, but I think it’s going to work based on the terrain and potential for game trails.

The view over Ruby Marshes was incredible. This was a unique view, no doubt about it. The way the fading rays of sunlight reflect upon the braided channels and pools of water below in the Ruby Marshes was something Ill never forget. I forgot I was in Nevada for a moment, this place looked nothing like the rest of the state I have hiked thus far. For all the challenges, the heat, thirst, bushwhacking etc, this is my reward. The cruel thing is about these hikes is that the payoff is so short lived. For all that I endured today, my reward is so brief, in comparison to the effort involved to reach this place.

Now after 8pm, it was time to find camp. It was a moderately steep Hillside, and nowhere to camp. There were certain spots that where basically small Ledges, although filled with rocks. I found a spot where I cleared a bunch of rocks, and decided this would be camp for the night. I had planned on cowboy camping this evening, mostly due to the lack of space for a tent.

I used my foot to clear out the small rocks, and had to dig out the big rocks. Eventually I cleared a spot the size my tents footprint. I put the Tyvek down, I blew up my air mattress, and then realized they were too many ants around. I haven’t had much problem with ants at night so I figured cowboy camping would work. However, there was just too many ants. They were crawling all over my stuff, and all over my sleeping pad.

The problem now is, it was Dark now and there were no other options for other campsites. The spot was very small. I didn’t think I could get tent in here, if I did, it would be on a huge slant… but that’s just what I did, not having much other choice. What a pain in the ass this was. It felt like amateur hour. It took a long time to set up the tent, my poles were off at odd angles, there were rocks underneath the tent that needed to be moved, and when I did, it stirred up the ants nest. I cut my hand somehow trying to remove some plant from underneath the tent. Basically everything went wrong. But in the end, the air mattress is flat and I’m tired enough that it doesn’t matter.

Just under 1 liter of water left. If Tomorrow is water source doesn’t work out, I will have to dip down out of the mountains again, as there are no other water sources for a long, long ways up on the crest of the Ruby Mountains.

Day 40 – July 10th: Southern Ruby Mountains, Ruby Marshes & Ruby Valley, Pearl Peak

Slept good because I was so tired, but sure was a shitshow of a campsite. Wind died down a little bit but was still kind of gusty throughout the night. Could not get the tent pitched taught, so I had to listen to the tent flapping around in the wind all night.

I continued working my way around the hillside, contouring around along the same elevation. Intermittent trails, faint at best. Saw a tank just before I reached the drainage where I had marked water, but this was dry.

When I reached the drainage where I marked water on the map, this too was dry. Actually, it was damp. So now I could follow it up Hill or downhill. It makes more sense to follow it uphill and try and find the source. However, the canyon was steep and narrow. Still, I didn’t have a whole lot of options, I was a long way from water no matter what I did. So I went up hill. There was a ton of bugs here though, flies and mosquitoes.

Found a couples trickles of water coming off a rock, but the ground itself was still just damp, no running water. I kept going uphill, and finally found a 2-3ft pour off, with a few trickles of water running down that. First thing I did was dunk my head under the water. It was nice and cold, it felt amazing! Really amazing. I wont lie, I got a little emotional finding this water source. You know you are living when finding water brings a tear to your eye. I couldn’t help but scream at the top of my lungs Woohooo!!

After soaking my head and washing off a little, I chugged the half a liter of water I had left, and started to filter more. All in all, I drank 2.5L here, and took 5 with me.

Next it was a steep climb out of the ravine, although a short one. More side-hilling for a while, then reached a 4×4 road. This was a relief. Now, I could just relax and walk for a couple of miles, before going off-trail again later today. Now at a saddle, the road climbs up. The trees where practically growing sideways here, very exposed to the wind.

 I stopped to check out a big rock formation that looked like it might be worth exploring. There really wasn’t anything interesting here, other than some cool views!

Went over another pass. Road passes through some trees on the side of a hill. Pleasant hiking for a bit. Pretty nice views all around. 

Then, another 900 ft climb. In the middle of the climb, I saw 8 horses.

This climb wasn’t too bad, didn’t seem like 900 ft. This is where I thought the road would end, at the top of this hill. Very very steep 4×4 Road leading to the top. At the top, the road continue to along the Ridgeline towards the next high point.

Along the Ridgeline, near Cass House Peak, I found some very interesting rocks and minerals. There was a small hole that someone had dug here, and the ground was littered with rocks bearing colors of green, blue and silver. I am pretty sure this was a copper/lead deposit. The green indicates Malachite, the blue was probably azurite, and these colors are a strong indicator of copper. The silver metallic mineral was likely Lead (galena), which is often found with copper. A very cool find!

Followed the road to the top of the next high point. This is where the road ends. Then it was a ridge walk down crossed a few other high points. Finally, Pearl Peak was in view. The climb up didn’t look too bad. It was going down I was worried about, from looking at the topo maps.

The hike to the summit of Pearl Peak was pretty easy, all things considered. There was an intermittent game trail at times, and the grade was not too steep. Good views along the way.

The summit of Pearl Peak offered an excellent view. Especially to the north over the rest of the Ruby Mountains. The Rubies are a long range, and the section that most people hike (Ruby Crest Trail) is a 40 mile section, north of here. Where I am though, in the southern Rubies, few people hike this.

Now it’s a slow and tedious descent down from Pearl Peak on loose rock and talus. I’ll dip down to a saddle below peak 10,664′, then hike up to the top of it.

Coming down form 10,664′, I drop down to another saddle before going right back up to peak 10,528′. From the top of this one, I couldn’t see over the edge to get eyes on the route down until I got started descending it. It was steep! But, quite manageable. 

When I reached the ridge I was worried about, it had me very nervous. Extremely steep descent. On my map, the caltopo slope angle shading was solid red for 1000 ft. Darker colors indicate a steeper slope. Took a break here, ate food drink water, and went for it.

This is the type of terrain where you just dig your heels and feet into the dirt and rock and just let it slide, basically a controlled slide. Hopefully its a controlled slide anyways, much better than an uncontrolled slide. I fell numerous times on the way down. Still, it was somehow more manageable than I was expecting. My feet hurt, there were pebbles in my shoes and they were rubbing on my feet, making them sore.

Finally worked my way down the steep slope and over to the ridge itself. Now you could hear a bunch of sheep down in the valley, and I could see the sheep herders white tent on a ridge. Following the ridge was still hard; it was slippery with loose rock, caught myself many times from falling. Sometimes I didn’t catch myself though!

Now I had to go up a series of ridges and Hills, all off Trail. I was absolutely wiped out, basically stumbling around. Beautiful views, just so much hard work. Some of these ridges were a bit of a knife edge at times.

Eventually, I reached the last Ridgeline of the Basin that held a couple Springs. I begin The Descent, off Trail, instead of just following Ridgeline a ways more to a Road. Big mistake. I found myself at a wall of trees, totally impenetrable, with only a tiny bit of daylight left. No way!!

I went back up the hill side, very steep. Worked my way around the trees, and was literally running downhill through Sagebrush, with no care given to my legs. My legs got pretty cut up, they were bleeding and completely black and brown from being dirty. But, I reached the bottom, and then eventually, the road.

I continued to jog along the road, as there is almost no daylight left now. I reached the general area where the spring was on the map, but it was too dark to find the water. I had no choice but to continue along the road, following it up Hill until I found a subpar place to camp alongside it. There was just a little bit of sand over a huge rocks slab, so I couldn’t get my tent up, the stakes wouldn’t go into the ground more than a half inch. Couldn’t even find a single rock to try and pound stakes in! So I ended up cowboy camping, even though the mosquitoes were out. I don’t care, I was too wrecked to give a shit otherwise. 9pm now, another 14+ hour day of hiking.

Day 41 – July 11th: Harrison Pass, Ruby Crest Trail, Ruby Mountains, Overland Lake

Woke at 6:45. Feeling wrecked! Thirsty. Tired. Sore. Legs still really dirty, despite cleaning them last night with wet ones. I guess I missed a few spots, like the entire leg. Ha.

Walked down hill to the spring I passed last night in the dark. Found it, in thick brush. A small flowing creek. Found a spot to sit down, thick canopy but open enough to sit on grass. Actually pretty nice.

The Basin I camped in last night was really nice, lots of Rock hoodoos everywhere. There probably would have been some great camping spots I had time to explore in the daylight. I followed the road North towards Harrison pass.

At Harrison pass, there were three vehicles parked. An actual hiking Trailhead, with a couple of cars. I haven’t really seen many actual hiking trailheads in Nevada along my route, and they usually don’t have cars at them. Welcome to hiking central Nevada.

Continued North on the road above Harrison pass. A sign said Ruby Crest Trailhead 2.8 miles, wilderness boundary 6 miles. The road is rough ahead, so most people park at Harrison Pass, which ought to be considered the official Ruby Crest Trailhead. The road here was also lined with Rock hoodoos and interesting formations, and some pretty excellent campsites for the car camper. I passed one spot that must have had 10 tents. I also passed a couple of Runners coming down Road, they said you picked a good Day to come out, referring to the heat. Today was supposed to be 98 in Spring Creek. Of course, I can’t pick and choose my hiking dates around the weather.

Along the road, I saw a couple Beaver ponds along the creek, I think it was Gardner Creek. Farther up, I reached the Ruby Crest Trail head. There were three trucks parked here. I was surprised to see anything parked here because the road was pretty washed out and deeply rutted in spots.

The next many miles were not that interesting. It looks like the area had previously burned and low brush was growing back. Just a sea of bushes that were only knee high. Pretty horrible actually, but good thing for the trail. The views were not that great here either. Also, the trail here has a lot of small ups and downs, and even though I was putting in a lot of work, was not really getting anywhere elevation wise.

Saw my second hikers in Nevada. A younger couple that had just left Overland Lake, going back to Harrison pass. They had giant backpacks, with REI tags on them. Looks like they rented their gear.

There were many small trickles of water over the trail. The small streams, probably could have collected from them if I tried, but instead, just used the water to wet my head, hat, and Sun flap. This felt amazing in the heat. It was really hot.

I reached McCutcheon Creek Which is really nice, good flowing Creek and the backdrop of pointy mountains was finally starting to show itself. Hiking North, the scenery didn’t look that great still, but now, looking back to the South, the Ruby mountains began to look bit more impressive.

Went over a pass with a nice View, before dropping down to South Fork Smith Creek. Saw two more people with the dog taking a break under a tree. It was a nice hike down to the creek. Good views, Big Valley. Still not amazing, but getting better.

Down at the creek, I was hoping to have water large enough to have a swim. It was only a few inches deep though, with slightly deeper pools here and there. There was a large campsite along the river, really the first pre-existing backcountry campsite I’ve seen in the rubies.

Next the trail climbs up over a ridge. Good views at the top, then it drops down to Middle Fork Smith Creek. Roughly the same size as South Fork. I stopped here to filter water.

The trail climbs up over another Ridge, and then begins its Ascent to the pass above Overland Lake. Trail all the way up to the switchbacks at the end of the basin was actually pretty easy. All of the climbing came in the form of switchbacks, about 1,000 feet straight up. I saw two horses in the upper portion of the basin. This felt like a really long climb, there were many times I thought the leg of the Switchback I was on was the last one, like a false Summit.

The View from the top of the pass was excellent. Looking back to the South, there were two pointy Peaks staggered in such a way that it looked like sawtooths if there were more of them. There was a snow cornice too. I turned my on phone to check for service, had 4g. I sent Cody a message, letting him know that I expect to reach roads end trailhead in upper Lamoille canyon by tomorrow night and was looking for a ride into Elko. After sending the message, I lost my signal, and it never came back! Funny how the wind blows cell phone signal I guess.

The view of Overland Lake… Wow! Way more impressive than I was expecting. Two small lakes, the trail sitting very high over the Basin. This was a very impressive little Cirque. I can’t say wow enough. Even from the top, I got Wind River range vibes. This whole cirque was lined with Jagged Rocky spires and impressive sheer rock slabs. the sun had just gone down over the Ridge, so my pictures of this area are not what I was hoping for. Still, my eyes could see the beauty. Wow.

Followed the Steep switchbacks down to the upper Overland Lake. Stopping every so often to take in the scenery, see the place from a different angle. Upper Overland Lake was incredible, but the Lower Lake is usually the main event. I could see a tent down there, so there was at least one person camping, which I expected.

Along the lower Overland Lake, I saw it about 10 tents along the shore now. There was an abandoned cabin here too. There’s a group of people, the closest person was a guy with a big long beard. I said hello, and kept going. I climbed up the hill above their campsite area and found my own. Pretty good spot with an excellent view of Overland Lake, slightly elevated above it.

Next I headed down to the lake to get water, wash up and eat dinner. The group was mostly ultra marathon runners, and they just happened to be doing this hike together. They weren’t really avid hikers, although one person in the group had hiked the PCT in 2019. Marlene, (trail name fa-fa). She was a SOBO hiker, and made it 30 miles from Mexico of Mexico and suffered a fractured hip. I cant imagine walking all that way, being that close and having that happen right at the end. Just heartbreaking.

Day 42 – July 12th: Overton Lake, Liberty Lake, Ruby Mountains, Ruby Crest Trail, Lamoille Canyon

Beautiful morning. When I woke up, I noticed a campsite perched almost at the end of a small hill overlooking the lake, about a hundred feet from where I camped. This would have been a better view for sure, although more exposed to the wind. And really, what’s the difference when I didn’t have any time at camp in the sunlight anyway.

The views were excellent leaving Overland lake. There was a bit of a haze in the air in the distance, as I look down into Ruby valley out of the Ruby mountains and into the desert. It was really amazing how one could Traverse so many different environments in one day, by climbing up on Valley. Here, you can go from desert to alpine/sub-alpine environment in a matter of hours.

Good trail to follow. The trail drops down a little bit into a valley and then Contours around the Mountainside for quite a ways. As I made some distance from Overland Lake, the scenery became too impressive to ignore. Incredible towering Rock faces, at least 1,000 feet vertical. In the distance, I could see 2 waterfalls at least 40 to 60 feet high. Lush green environment. Absolutely nothing like the rest of Nevada!

I was pleased that the trail was routed right underneath one of the waterfalls. The only other waterfall I had come across in Nevada was about 3 ft high. Now I was at the base of a 40ft waterfall. Amazing!

I was feeling really good as I walked away from the waterfall. I could tell today was going to be one of the best days on trail. I was taking a lot of photos and video, could barely make any forward progress it seemed.

I went around a corner on the trail and ran into Marlene, who I was speaking with last night. we ended up hiking the rest of the day together. Marlene is an artist and farmer. One unique thing about her, she is a master pumpkin carver and will carve pumpkins for businesses around Halloween time. Pretty unique Niche there!

It seems like much of the day we were hiking on a Ridgeline that kind of connects two larger segments of mountainous masses, the North and South. The map of made it look like we just stay high on this Ridgeline, which we do, but there was a lot more ups and downs than I thought. Great views, although they kind of looked the same over each Ridgeline.

 

The hike in-between Overland Lake and Lamoille is definitely the best part of the Ruby Crest Trail. Everything south of Overland Lake is just not at the same level. Here, there are constant sweeping views and excellent hiking. The trail is good, the route is easy. Very enjoyable indeed. 

By late afternoon we made it up over the last pass the drops us down into the Basin with Favre Lake. We kept saying, where’s the lake? We had to drop down all the to the lake itself before it was visible. I will continue on to Lamoille Canyon this evening, but Marlene needed to find a place for her entire group to camp. They were still behind, we didn’t see them all day. Apparently ultra-marathon running doesn’t translate well to hiking. That, and their packs are really heavy.

Farve Lake itself was nice, but not nearly as nice as Overland Lake. The Shoreline was muddy, and the water had some green algae in it. The lake itself looks a bit barren.

After parting ways with Marlene, I continued my hike up towards Liberty Pass, which connects Farve Lake to Lamoille Canyon. In upper Lamoille Canyon is Roads End Trailhead, where I will meet up with Cody Terras. Cody was one of the guys I met on 4th of July, he had given me his number and said he would pick me up since he only lives a short ways away. I had no service, so I use my satellite Messenger to send him a text here to let him know my ETA.

The hike up Liberty Pass was nice. From Favre Lake, it was almost like a two-tier pass. One Mini pass up to Liberty Lake, and then another mini pass up to Liberty Pass. There were many people hanging out around Liberty Lake. Liberty Lake was a large and impressive Alpine Lake. Not unlike what you would see in the Sierras, for example.

Coming down Liberty Pass down into Lamoille Canyon, I was surprised to see how rugged it was and how much snow remained up here. There were many switchbacks and they were very close together, snaking the way down Hill, looking like they make almost no progress. I could tell this pass was going to take longer than I thought.

I had to walk over several patches of snow. Trail itself was very Rocky. It was indeed time-consuming. At the same time, it was really impressive to look back up at Liberty Pass. Steep rock walls and snow.

I could see Lamoille Lake from above. A deep green turquoise color. I didn’t really have any time to go down to the lake, and the trail stays a little ways away from it anyhow. I tried to run downhill when I could, trying to reach the trailhead by 6pm, the time I had told Cody to be there.

I had a bit longer route planned for this section. I had a high route mapped that would connect upper Lamoille Canyon to Echo lake and drop down into Seitz Canyon, ending this section at the Powerhouse Trailhead in lower Lamoille Canyon. However, that would add another day of hiking and logistically, it just worked out to have Cody pick me up here today. Make no mistake, the high route from Lamoille to Seitz would be stunning, based on the maps. I will have to save this route for another time. You just cant do it all on on a thru-hike.

I reached the trailhead around 6:15pm, pretty happy only being 15 minutes late. Cody was sitting there on a rock at the edge of the parking lot, he had been watching me come down hill. He had a cooler waiting for me with a water or beer, drink of my choice. I went for the cold water. Jumped in his car and we took off.

we made our way to Elko, while I decided which hotel to stay at and where to eat. Cody suggested Round Table Pizza, which sounds good to me. I was in my hiking clothes still an extremely dirty. There was a huge hole in the back of my shirt. But Cody insisted with the miners in town, I would fit right in. Works for me.

we made pretty good progress on an extra large meat lovers pizza, and I took the rest with me. From there we went back downtown Elko, and I got a room at the Econo Lodge

Day 43 – July 13: Zero Day in Elko, NV

Town chore day. Usually I’m tired and out of it, but I felt really good today. Besides grocery shopping, I had all of my chores done by late morning. Washed my clothes, washed my tent and the zippers to try and restore the functionality. One of the zippers no longer closes properly. Too much sand and Grime in the zippers. I gave Cody a call and asked him if he could take me to the grocery store and the post office This afternoon. He said he would swing by mid-day.

Luckily the grocery store and post office in Spring Creek shared the same parking lot. I picked up my package that Dad had sent containing a new shirt, gaiters and new pair of boxers. Then I did my grocery shopping. I picked up a case of beer for Cody’s folks to return the favor for the generosity on the 4th of July. Then we went back to his place for a bit.

Travis, Cody’s dad, was out fishing for the day, and his mom was out somewhere too. We hung out in the garage and jammed a little bit on the acoustic electric guitar. Their house was situated on the end of the street, last house before you reach The Ruby mountains. What a backyard that was!

I took Cody out to eat at a local restaurant to return the favor for driving me around town. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the motel and getting ready for the next section. Cody will join me for a day or two in the beginning, which will be great to have the company!

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.