Basins And Washes - Bikerafting/Bikepacking Lake Mead and Gold Butte

 

“You definitely need to be unconsciously competent with both bicycles and packrafts before you put them together and become consciously incompetent at it,” - Andy Toop, Owner at Backcountry Scot

November 2024

Just returning from a quick trip to Oregon, I had a little time on my hands. It was time to dust off another route from my ever-growing list of “wanna-do” trips. I contacted Kurstin, @bikepackingnv, and of course he was all in.

11/19/2024
We started at the designated camp spot along Boathouse Cove Road, heading for Echo Bay by bike. After a quick stop at the store (mmmm, sugar, breakfast of champions!), we pedaled down to Lake Mead’s shore. There, the real fun began: breaking down bikes, inflating packrafts, and carefully balancing bikes on rafts pretending to be competant. 

P.C. - Kurstin

 

With a little wind assist, we paddled to Catclaw Wash, transitioned back to bikes, and rolled into Gold Butte National Monument. The riding was soft, scenic and remote, with feral burros keeping us company, especially near Agua Caliente Springs. Bonus: the spring tank was full! We wrapped up the 30-mile day feeling tired but ready for more.

P.C. - Kurstin

 

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11/20/2024

Day two was a deep dive into remote terrain. We left camp and climbed sandy roads toward Scanlon Summit. Although we traveled only on approved designated routes, some hadn't seen any type of travel for a very long time. Well, except for the burros. The descent via Scanlon Dugway was a very steep, extremely chunky, technical challenge with significant consequences. Definitely don't blow it territory! But both Kurstin and I were stoked by the descent.  From there, we aimed for Gregg Basin passing Lakeshore mine, an abandoned gold-silver-copper mine. Using more burro tracked sandy routes led us towards lakes edge. At the bottom we picked our way down through debris left by the receding waters of the lake to a likely looking launch point. 

Once we reached waters edge, it was back to the rafts. The flatwater felt almost eerie after the wind assisted adventure of day one. The slow movement of our rafts almost made me feel as if we were suspended in time and space. Hours of paddling on calm, glassy water brought us to Hualapai Bay. 

P.C. - Kurstin

We transitioned back to bikes, pedaled a few miles, and spent the night in a great little alcove nestled up against the canyon wall under the stars.

 

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11/21/2024
We kicked off the day riding through Hualapai Wash, a landscape that gave major Grand Canyon vibes. 

 

At the top, we connected to the Temple Bar back road passing a wind farm. 

Enjoying a long downhill we finally reached Temple Bar for a much-needed water refill and—of course—snacks. True to form, Kurstin had found and downed a 'road coke,' must be his superpower. 

P.C. - Kurstin

Fueled by Dr. Pepper and Dorritos, we biked a few more miles on Temple Bar Road before setting up camp just as we lost the light. (A fairly common occurance this time of year). A rewardingly long day at 37 miles and over 3100 ft climbing.

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11/22/2024

The final day started with a 15 mile ride to Bonelli Landing, where we transitioned back to the rafts for one last paddle. We took the obligatory riders and rigs photos, but with a twist. After all, the packrafts were part of the rigs. 

Photos below by Kurstin.

The Virgin Basin treated us to calm, clear water, making the crossing a perfect finale for our over water adventures.

 

The take-out at Boathouse Cove was a bit soft, requiring a little extra elbow grease to pull boats and gear to firmer ground, and after packing bikes for the final time, a short push through the weeds to get out to the road end. 

Once back on solid ground, we pedaled up the road to our starting point, wrapping up an unforgettable four days of bikepacking and bikerafting in some of the most stunning and remote terrain in the Southwest.

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Highlights

• Wild burro sightings around Agua Caliente Springs
• Crazy Scanlon Dugway descent
  
• Flatwater paddling in Virgin Basin with zero wind—rare and magical
• Kurstin’s triumphant road coke discovery
• The mix of challenging routes, serene waters, and endless views

 

Final Thoughts

Bikerafting is an emerging niche in adventuring. It allows human powered adventure to continue into previously unattainable terrain. This trip certainly would not have been possible without this relatively new mode of travel. It does however come with it's own set of challenges, more gear to deal with, wind, weather and additional water hazards, as well as new repair skills. Instruction is always best but you can start locally on something small. Practice breaking down your bike and attaching it to your packraft. I still do this before every trip! Although it may be tempting to leave the PFD (personal flotation device) at home due to bulk, please don't! (You hear that Scott?) If you get the chance to try bikerafting or packrafting, do it. It may open up a whole new world of exploration for you.

 

Stats:

116.2 total miles with 9702 ft of climbing per my Karoo 2 GPS device

Paddling: Approx 14.6 miles

 

Map and Downloadable track:

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/239620698

Bikes and Boats: 

Doug: Binary semi-custom Gordita Fat Bike, no suspension running Surly Edna 4.3 tires. Full bikepacking bags. Alpacka Caribou packraft with Cargo fly.

Kurstin: Meriweather custom long tail fatbike, no suspension Vittoria Cannoli (4.8?) tires. Full bikepacking bags. Kokopelli Hornet Lite packraft.

 

 

Dark Sky's. A Bikepacking Journey Through Central Nevada

October 2024

It started in late fall 2023 when I accidentally discovered the word 'kiln" while browsing Google Earth in USGS topographic map overlay mode loosely looking for an interesting bikepacking area. I don't remember where I saw it first but the more I looked the more I found. Immediately the plan to bikepack to these sites formed in my mind and the Dark Sky's bikepacking route was conceived. 

As winter progressed I continued to build the route and included petroglyphs and old stage stations whenever and wherever possible. Eventually I had something that looked feasible, now I had to find likely spots for water and resupply points for a trip that was substantially longer than any bikepacking trip I had done to date. The route slowly filled in and by spring I had what to me looked like a good route with reasonable resupply and water. Of course in the desert you never really know if you'll find water where you planned until you arrive. Many of the places I had marked were dry but we always found enough to proceed forward.

Clear Creek Ranch. Our apple tree in background.

Spring came and Joannie and I went on a month long road trip to Alaska. That closed the door for riding this route until at least fall. By then Kurstin (check out his blog site) had come on board again and was all in. In fact after our Sagebrush Ripple outing in October 2023 he had a like mindset and had ridden parts of what became Dark Sky's in November 2023, shortly after Sagebrush Ripple. 

Top of the 'Tybo Push'

Departure time finally came in early October of 2024. Ironically our timing coincided with a waxing moon so we generally had ...bright skies. We planned for 16 days and finished in 15. But we deleted a peak climb that I had wanted to do. We simply didn't make it far enough on the biking approach day to make an attempt due to rough hike-a-bike conditions. We also cut a number of miles off the back of the loop so that we could take a rest day in Ely while a weather system moved through instead of at the 9000' high point of the route. We did cross the high summit, just a couple days early. So we ended up staying 2 nights in Ely. Seemed to have been a good call as we woke in Ely after the storm to light snow up high. Tentative plans are to go back and finish that section in January.

Kiln in Kiln Canyon

Pritchard's station

Some of the highlights of our journey were of course the many charcoal kiln's we visited, the hard push up kiln canyon and over the crest to Tybo semi-ghost town. Semi because there are a couple hardy folks still living there. The rock art panels near Moore's (old) stage station. The remains of Pritchard's stage station. The evening of day 5 after a long ride to a camp just outside of Currant, we enjoyed a showing of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) Kurstin was able to capture an image of it. We saw it again from Cave Lake State Park. Day 6 we made it to All In One Truck Stop. A delightful chance to get a room, clean up, resupply and eat in the cafe. Speaking for myself, I needed it, I was a filthy, sweaty mess of a bikepacker! And the mountains! Hot Creek Range, Egan Range, Schell Creek Range. Each range we crossed seemed determined to outdo the last with it's own spectacular scenery. The high point in elevation came at Kalamazoo Pass at just under 9000 ft after climbing up a beautiful canyon next to a creek and adorned with eye popping fall colors. Crossing the White Pine Range we detoured up to Shermantown. Shermantown was where the milling was done for the surrounding mining districts. Then it was down through Cathedral Canyon with shear cliffs hundreds feet high and at least 2 natural arches in the towering limestone. Green Springs was a critical water supply. I must have really liked it because I got up close and personal with it when I took a face plant into a mucky soggy field. But what a beautiful oasis in the desert!

See the comet? Photo by Kurstin.

Incredible Charcoal Kiln's in South Sixmile canyon

The 'Stone Cabin'

Sandstone lintel in Shermantown

 

Arches in Cathedral Canyon. Photo by Kurstin.

Green Sprgs. Photo by Kurstin

We had a wildly successful trip with good if somewhat warm weather, no mechanicals, no illness or injuries. Kurstin is a great partner and has an endless supply of stoke. 

Photos: I've only uploaded a very few photos into the body of this  blog post. For daily albums click here. (Day 10 was our hotel rest day and day 15 I neglected to take any photos.) Also check out my instagram for photos, @seeker57 and Kurstin's instagram @bikepackingnv

Bikes: We both rode plus tired bikes.

I rode my semi-custom Binary Bikes Kinetik set up with bikepacking bags and a custom rear rack built by a friend.

Kurstin rode his custom Falconer B+ set up with full bikepacking bags.

 Kurstin's daily notes:

Dark Sky’s Route - Daily Notes

Day 1 Out of Eureka - Good roads, climb was a hike-a-bike. Descended a killer area with Juniper, big boulders. Nice camping. Cross a valley. Old ranch. Climb to camp, past spring/meadow.

Yahoo Canyon between Mahogany Hills and Mountain Boy Range - Spring Valley - Antelope Valley between Monitor Range and Fish Creek Range - climbed into Antelope Range at the end of Valley, passed Dick Allison Spring to camp.

Day 2 - Long descent to Clear Creek, old apple tree. Net descent day into Little Fish Lake Valley. Through canyon above Hot Creek Canyon. Climb to camp, selected pinyons for shade. Hot afternoons.

Dry Valley between Monitor and Antelope Ranges - dropped into Little Fish Lake Valley between Monitor and Hot Creek Ranges - 3 “lakes” - Box Canyon - camped just beyond McIntyre Summit

Day 3 Descend to Tybo-Push - Kilns, long hike-a-bike. But spectacular. More Kilns over the top. Descend to Tybo, no water. Cross the contaminated site. Rolling descent to Hot Creek Ranch. Filtered Hot Creek water, kinda gross tasting. Climb to 6 Mile, enter 6 Mile, lots of intermittent water, shallow creek crossings. Fish! Kilns, then Kilns + camp.

Stone Cabin Valley then turned into Hot Creek Range - Hike-a-bike Kiln Canyon - over the top into Cottonwood Canyon following Tybo Creek to Tybo - Hot Creek Valley - turned into Sixmile Canyon - 3 miles in to camp at kilns at the base of Charcoal Canyon

Day 4 - Good road then long hike-a-bike to top of Six Mile South. Spring just over the top. Great aspens. Wild descent, steep and sandy. Tricky. Couple more climbs. Drop down to Moore’s Station, side trip to petroglyphs. Met a nice couple from Strawberry, CA on their way to S. Utah. They gave us water. Rode on to Pritchard’s Station. Decided to camp where there is water. Big Water Carries, next two days.

Into the Hot Creek Range - South Sixmile Canyon to Sixmile Summit to North Sixmile Canyon - exit to Moores Station - Petroglyphs at Petroglyph Butte - climb Moores Station Wash - Pritchards Station, Pritchards Canyon

Day 5 - Left Pritchard’s for Summit Station. Then onto Brown’s Reservoir. Everything was dry. Cattle are for the most part off the range, troughs are empty. Climbed above Duckwater Reservation, after a little re-route. Saved us a long sandy hike-a-bike. Then a great descent through a canyon on Rez. Found water just outside of Rez residential area. Road through to Highway, took pavement to Currant. It was Railroad Valley Days at community center. It was late, we were smelly, we rode onto camp. Entertained by locals passing by. Comet sighting.

Pritchards Canyon between Park Range and Andesite Ridge - Summit Station - Little Smoky Valley - Big Sand Springs Valley - Pancake Range - Duckwater Valley - Duckwater Hills - Railroad Valley - Grant Range

Day 6 Currant to Preston - Climb and good descent into a long hot valley. Consumed a lot of water 5.5L and was pretty parched by time we made it to Lund/Preston. The All-In-One, Motel, RV Park, Truck Stop, Convenience Store, Showers, Restaurant was pretty awesome! My body couldn’t figure out what was going on, shower, beer, dinner, snacks, water, Power Ade. Sleeping in a bed.

Grant Range to Horse Range - Stone Cabin - The Cove, White River Valley - Preston/Lund

Day 7 (Monday 14th) Storm forecasted for Thursday 17th. That day we were to cross the highest point on the route, ~ 9k’. So we decided on a re-route. After a restaurant pancake and motel room coffee we were off for a 3k’ climb up Sawmill Canyon. Another highlight climb. Future sport climbing crag thanks to Vince, a relocated Bay Area climbing bum. Summit at 8500’ where I am writing this! Pinyon-Juniper has given way to White Pine and Mahogany. Great descent into the never ending Steptoe Valley. Climb to Elk Flat Campground. 48 miles, 4000’ climbing.

White River Valley - Sawmill Canyon, Egan Range - Lone Pine Summit - Lone Pine Swale - Steptoe Valley - Comins Lake - Schell Creek Range

Day 8 Outta Cave Lake - Big climb through limestone formations and aspens. Chatted with 2 rangers. Must see’s Hunt Unit 241 or 121, ghost town just below camp, Cave Overlook Trail. Crested pass about 2 hours in, 8698’. Re-route in progress to avoid storm on Thursday. Descent was fun, lots of rock formations but not as big. Slightly technical. Hit SR 893, 35 ish miles. Ranches vs. Schell Range. So much water. Turn at Kalamazoo Creek. Long day, very little traffic, pronghorn, lizards, snakes, jackrabbit, sage grouse, raven, fish. Has potential to return.

Cave Creek Reservoir - Cooper Canyon - Cooper Summit - Spring Valley - SR 893 - Cleve Creek Campground - Kalamazoo

Day 9 Climb Kalamazoo - 3200’ off the deck! Climbing along creek. Dominated by aspens and white pine and mahogany. Nice campsites 3 miles in. Picnic tables, vault toilet (fly trap). Road is well maintained. Summit just below 9k’ is super windy, no kidding. Climb was moderate to steep, ~400’/mile. Looks like a long downhill to McGill, then 10 miles to Ely. Downhill but headwind! Stopped for Cokes, then onto Hwy 93. Frontage Rd (intermittent) didn’t seem worth it. Nice shoulder. Arriving in Ely got a recommendation from Kyle Horvath for the Four Sevens Motel. The de facto bike motel. Good location. Ate at Racks. Met with Kyle.

All Kalamazoo - descend along North Creek - through Gallagher Gap between Schell Creek Range and Duck Creek Range - Steptoe Valley

Day 10 Rest Day.

Day 11 - Leaving Ely in the cold overcast morning. What a change, 29*F, high of 48*F. Its been in the 70’s-80’s. Ward Mtn Summit was 32*F. Got off the highway for a great little road through the P&J forest. 25 ish mile downhill with a tailwind into Preston. Another close encounter with pronghorn. Wind at 23 mph in Preston. Rather than turning into it we stayed another night. Ha!

Egan Range - Murray Canyon - Murray Summit - Ward Mountain - White River Valley - Preston

Day 12 - Wind dropped to 12 mph. Took a couple of tries to get out of Preston. It took 15 miles to get to public land and 17 miles to get where we would have camped. Pretty much climbing all day, beautiful canyons. Lots of water. Signage for National Discovery Trail. Next stop Shermantown. Camped at the bottom of the road to Shermantown. Watched a truck pulling a horse trailer down a loose 15% grade. Horse and dog. Two motos and a Tacoma came down from S-town.

White Pine Range - another Sixmile Wash - Cathedral Canyon - Eberhardt - Shermantown Canyon

Day 13 - Woke to 35* but temps dropped to 30* while packing. S-town was a great set of ruins in a fun little cyn. Definitely worth it. Next was Cathedral Cyn, WOW! Caves, arches, rock prows. Hike-a-bike following a cow path. Well worth it. Rolling P-J forest to early camp off Duckwater Valley Rd. Busy desert road. Nice camp, deer came through the night. Mild temps, woke to 38*

Shermantown Cyn - Cathedral Cyn - Green Springs - Railroad Valley - Pancake Range

Day 14 - Found a great well at Pogues stage stop. Then across the cold Fish Creek Valley to Fish Creek Ranch. Climbed the range, good road, stout grade. Traverse across to springs, find camp. Springs all locked up by private ranches. Creek flowing under road so no problem finding water. Camped off Craig’s road in the junipers. Nice spot. Short day tomorrow.

Little Smoky Valley - Pogues Station - Fish Creek Valley - Fish Creek Range - Fenstermaker Wash - 3 C Well (ranch) - Cerutti Well (solar) - Allison Creek (corral) - camped off Cedar Creek Rd, Monitor Range

Day 15 - Rolling north to Hwy 50. Passed Hot Springs Ranch, a potential commercial retreat? Turning onto 50, considerate drivers. Checked out a few side roads to north and south. Great meal at Middle Gate. Table next to us had a Monster Burger. Guy made it as far as I did once upon a time. Not far at all.

Antelope Valley - Yahoo Canyon

Doug's daily notes:

 

D1 Left truck DOT pit yard. 1 steep HAB. Beautiful rock formations, long dusty flats Wtr as it crosses rd near Segura Ranch. Camp 39.072993, -116.315260

D2 To mile 100. Wtr at Clear Cr. Little Fish Lk Valley. Box Cyn. Intersect Sagebrush Ripple. East Stone Cabin Valley. Scooter crash. Camp 38.434456, -116.517198

D3 Kiln cyn. Hard push over Tybo. Tech downhill to Tybo. Wtr at Hot Creek. S. sixmile cyn to 2^nd Kilns. Water in creek. Some pushing and sandy slow. Camp 38.592803, -116.326611

D4 Push, over S. sixmile pass 8.7k. Pristine Kilns. Additional kiln's in Woodtick cyn. No Morey Pk. To Pritchards. Pets @ Moore's. Given wtr at pets. Camp at Pritchard's. Wtr at camp. Camp 38.777618, -116.175828

D5 Pritchard's To Currant. Summit station. Reroute at Brown's Reservoir. Duckwater, filter. Railroad valley Days. No wtr till Preston. Comet!! Camp 38.725938, -115.457531

D6 Currant to Preston. Stone cabin, Washout cut bank. Ragged Ridge, Red Mtn Cross Horse Range. Sand. Camp All in one Truck stop motel.

D7 Preston to Cave Lk SP. Across Egan range via Sawmill cyn, Vince, Lone Pine pass to Steptoe Valley. Hole in the bank spring flowing. Kurstin found a road coke. Comet!! Camp Elk Flat CG, 39.187201, -114.718143

D8 Cave Lk to Kalamazoo. Spring Valley. Schell Creek Range. Cooper summit 8.6k. Reroute for weather. Multiple creeks on reroute. Camp 39.575168, -114.536783

D9 Kalamazoo to Ely. Kalamazoo cyn and Pass. 8.9k high pt. Lots of color in trees. Pony Express mural in McGill. Four Seven's motel. Racks bar & grill.

D10 Additional night in Ely. Chat with Kyle. Racks bar & grill.

D11 A dash of snow. Hard tailwind to Lund. Stayed at motel

D12 Preston to camp below Sherman town. Headwind, Willow grove wtr. White Pine range, Ellison creek. Washburn's stage station, Diet Pepsi from ATV'er. Lots of water high, not just Tom Plain sprg. Lots of horse sign. Englehardt. Camp 39.179800, -115.489955

D13 Up to Sherman Town. Cool tooled cut sandstone. Cathedral cyn. Green sprgs, fell in mud. Camp above Pogue's. Cool rolling territory. Camp, 39.165733, -115.850230

D14 Sherman junc to random camp. Kurstin found well at Pogue's. Sullivan fenced off but wtr in Allison creek. Cramp. Road Grader. Camp 39.363756, -116.360706

D15 Easy day back to truck. Hot Sprg Ranch. Road grader. Middlegate burgers.

 

Stats: 567 miles with over 36k ft of climbing

Link to the route file: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48937391

Route acknowledgements: Parts of this route follow the Comstock Epic Route by Trevor Oxborrow who in turn was inspired by Jason Susslin of Cross Nevada Mountain Bike Ride