Burrito Packing - No Burritos.

 

Posted by Doug

 

November 2021

I got together with the Facebook Group, Burrito Packing NV. I had not made it out with them for an overnighter since January 2020. It was a relatively small but experienced group that met near Thacker Pass to start the trip. Beside myself, there were three others. All veterans of previous Burrito trips. Kurstin Graham, Shay Daylami and Christine Anderson. Despite the group name, I, sadly didn't bring a Burrito for my evening meal. Fail. The route was planned by Kurstin, (@bikepackingnv) the de facto leader of the Burrito outings since he had planned and been on every trip since the monthly outings began back in September of 2020. He is also the most experienced bikepacker out of all off us. The route turned out to be another great one with the highlight being the descent down China Creek. 

 

Why Thacker Pass 

Kurstin planned the route as a way to call attention, in our own small way, to what will likely be lost with the opening of the Thacker Pass Lithium mine. The character of the land and quality of life for local residents and Indigenous Peoples will without question be impacted. I encourage you, if you have an interest, to educate yourself about the project. Then weigh in your own mind the potential costs against potential benefits of the project. A simple Google search will provide numerous links to the proposed mine. Get involved in any way you are comfortable with. You have no voice unless you speak up. Besides the many links you can find googling, here is the final Environmental Impact Statement.

 

Thacker Pass Lithium Mine EIS

 

 

 

 

 

 

November. Dig, Ride, Paddle.

 

November 2021

A last minute road trip to eastern Nevada and southwest Utah. 

First, we drove out to dig for fossil trilobites at the Oak Springs trilobite site. Pretty much skunked on our first try we camped nearby and returned for another round. Eventually we hit a large patch of fossils. The sign at the trailhead stated "you will find mostly heads" which we did. The funny thing is we are walking around a month later and whatever we are doing we say, "you will find mostly heads." Doesn't sound that funny in writing but it always elicits a chuckle verbalized. BTW, it is legal to collect a "reasonable" amount of the trilobite fossils.
 

"You will find mostly heads"

From there we spent a couple days riding the emerging trail system in/around Caliente Nevada. They have a great start and there is huge potential throughout the area. We spent one day riding the Kershaw/Ryan State Park trail system, and the next day went out to the Barnes Canyon system. Fun fun!

 

 

A different kind of trailhead

The 'normal' trailhead

Alt line at Kershaw

Alt lines abound

Boar's Head trail

Of course we were just a few short miles from Cathedral Gorge State Park so after riding we went out and explored the fascinating terrain and incredible slots contained therein. There is a campground there but we were still out boondocking. If you find yourself in the area I highly recommend a visit.

 

From there we drove down to Hurricane Utah making camp on Gooseberry Mesa. Of course these mesa tops are well known by the mountain biking community but we still managed to find a great site with views into Zion National Park. We rode the Wire Mesa trail and then Gooseberry Mesa's South Rim Trail, Hidden Canyon, and Secret trails. Then we moved over to Guacamole Mesa with it's plentiful petrified wood and a camp with even better Zion views! I rode the trail system there that includes, Guacamole, Margarita, and Holy Guacamole. I only got lost once, but crashed twice.

South Rim trail

Wire Mesa trail

Views forever

Guacamole Mesa camp

Secret Trail

Sadly by now it was time to start making our way home. But happily we had brought our packrafts. So we drove to our favorite backcountry camp location below Hoover Dam and camped that night. The following day we made the short hike down the canyon with our rafts, lunch and a couple beers. Since we first discovered paddling the Black Canyon in 2015(?), we have been back I think at least once every year and have made several bikerafting loops through the canyon. It's that good!

Well it was a great spur of the moment trip. We spent one more night at another favorite spot west of Death Valley and made it home the following day.

But November wasn't over. I was going bikepacking with the Burrito Packers!