Tying Up The Dark Sky's Route - Gandy

 

"Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades. - Eddy Merckx 

Gandy - a laborer in a railroad section gang - Merriam Webster

 

May 2025

Text to Kurstin: "Had visions of finishing Gandy loop, Dark Sky's."

 

Unfortunately Kurstin was already committed so I planned to get out on my own to finish up our 600+ mile route from last October. But I had projects to complete as well and the weather was not co-operating for outside projects. It was far from certain that I was going to get things done in time. The part we missed on our original route was a little less than 100 miles but to loop it back to my start would make it 135. I had a couple days of good weather and was able to tie up my projects and pack for a quick trip out beyond Ely Nevada.

I started at the base of Kalamazoo Pass. Mere feet from where we camped in October before climbing the opposite direction up to the summit the following morning. Leaving the truck about 4:30 pm I retraced about 23 of the 35 miles of hwy 893 to where we left the route in October and found a place to camp by a creek. 

Schell Creek Range

Camp next to Indian Creek

Then in the morning finished the pavement and got back on route headed across Spring Valley and up toward Osceola and across the Snake Range. 

Snake Range ahead

Osceola Cemetary

Cresting the Snake Range

From the top it was a nice downhill most of the way to the Border Inn where I stayed the night even though I arrived pretty early. 

Wheeler Peak. Highest in Snake Range and 2nd highest in Nevada

 

I gave the Bates Family Ranch a call that afternoon to inquire about a cave tour the following day. They have Crystal Ball Cave on their property and generally give free cave tours. They can also provide cabins, RV and tent sites. Unfortunately for me they weren't offering any tours tomorrow though. I asked if I could still ride up to the ranch for a water top off and they were accommodating. 

The next morning crossing into Utah it was 30 miles of generally flat riding on excellent dirt to the ranch which I knocked out by 9:30 am. 

Looking back on the Border Inn

 

 

I rode into the ranch grounds and met some of the family and even though I didn't really need the water I loaded some up since that was my excuse for visiting. 

One of the older family members showed an interest in what I was doing so we chatted for 30 minutes or so while I cooled off in the abundant shade. It was so peaceful and relaxing it took a bit of effort to get moving again. I might add that the birds around the grounds were so abundant it was like an aviary. After leaving the ranch, the next point of interest was Gandy Warm Spring. A beautiful oasis of gushing spring water and slightly warm. 

I waded into the pool to wet my clothing for what I expected to be a hot day on slow dirt track. Kinda funny the things you think about. I ended up just wetting out my lower legs and taking my shirt off to dunk it. I thought if I fully immersed I might introduce some chaffing 'down under' with the wet clothing. From the spring I climbed through a low gap between the Snake Range and the Kern Mountains and the track I was following remained surprisingly good.

Kern Mountains

Skirting the edge of the Government Peak Wilderness I realized I could easily make it all the way back to my truck today, a thought I had since I wasn't taking the time with the cave tour. Wild Horses, Antelope and many dozens of 'Horny Toads' were my companions. Even saw a Kit Fox hiding behind his burrow.

Foxy keeping an eye on me

After a 15 mile downhill all that remained was a short climb up to hwy 893 and a couple more miles back to Kalamazoo.

Dropping back into Spring Valley

Even though this trip was planned just to close the loop of Dark Sky's, it turned out to be a great stand alone loop of pretty easy riding and interesting points of interest and scenery. I can heartily recommend this route as a not too hard 3-ish day loop. I carried 5 liters of water but could've easily only carried 3. 

Stats according to RWGPS:

Day 1 -  23.1 miles  421 ft climbing

Day 2 - 43.9 miles 2762 ft climbing

Day 3 - 67.2 miles 3030 ft climbing

 

Bike Setup: 

Binary Bicycles Kinetik hardtail with 130 suspension fork, 29+ tires and bikepacking bags and rear rack. 

Map and GPS file: Link

Spring Rock Climbing At Red Rocks

 

April 2025

Although I'm not much of a climber anymore, I still miss it and try to get out to feel real rock under my hands once in a while. And so a couple of months earlier I had contacted my friend Jeff about a short climbing trip to Red Rocks. Jeff was my primary alpine climbing partner for 10 years when we were doing awesome things in Canada and Alaska. Jeff and I have a somewhat unique dynamic. I generally will pitch an idea, however unlikely, and his short reply is usually, "I'm in." I like that.

Red Rocks is an amazing venue for rock climbing. A short distance from downtown Las Vegas lie thousands of technical climbing routes from easy single pitch sport to mega long, hard as nails trad routes and everything in between. It's supremely scenic and has creeks in some of the canyons. Quite Zion-like.  It's really one of my favorite climbing venues. Seemed perfect for a couple old gray haired gumbies like us.

It was a fine few days of easy grades, great views, hands chock full of cactus needles and awesome rock. 

Day 1. Jeff approaching the belay on P1 of "Physical Graffiti"

Day 2. Beginning the approach up to First Creek Canyon and "Lotta Balls"

 

Riparian creekside oasis

I'm leading the overhang on P1 of "Lotta Balls" P.C. Jeff

Above the overhang on P1 of "Lotta Balls" P.C. Jeff

Jeff above the overhang on "Lotta Balls"

Lotta Balls wall is the dark wall in the middle of the image

Lotta Balls Wall and Strawberry Hill

Last Year it was $2 Hot Dog and beer, this year $3

We had time to visit the 'Speakeasy' under the Mob Museum

Day 3. Looking out First Creek Canyon from the base of Strawberry Hill

Jeff coming up P1 of "Berry Nice" on Strawberry Hill

Jeff leading out on P2 of "Berry Nice". There were 3 more pitches after this.

This is our rappel 3 on the descent. Our rope came up 30 meters short on the first rap so then had to build an intermediate anchor in a crack from a hanging stance. Glad I had some gear on me. To be fair the beta did say bring 2 x 60 meter ropes for the descent but it also said the first rap was 35 meters and we had a 70 meter rope. So there's that... This rap (3rd) was also a sticky pull. We had one more low angle dirty rap after this, then some class 3-4 scrambling to get back to our packs. If you do this route be aware! Also, if you do this route there is a sweet #3 C4 camalot, nut, alpine draw and 'biners about 30 meters down the first rap. Your welcome.

But everything is better with a victory beer. Cottonwood Station in Blue Diamond.

 

Bikepacking The Mojave Butterfly

 

 

Thanks @theforrestbiome for the shot! I'm the old guy on the right.

February 19-23, 2025

Another route I had in the backlog for several years. I mentioned here that I would take a break from Death Valley and head to the Mojave National Preserve. This is that trip. Kurstin (@bikepackingnv) and I originally had this trip slated for early February but didn’t get to it until after mid month. We chose fat bikes because of the amount of sand we expected to encounter. Be sure to check out the map link at the bottom to see why the route is called the Mojave Butterfly!

It’s long drive from Carson Valley to the start of the route so we planned to drive then camp overnight before starting the route in the morning.

The days ride started at Hole In The Wall visitor center and would take us along the Mid Hills and through the New York mountains past a number of points of interest to stop and check out. Government Well (aka Government Holes), a mine adit noted on the USGS map as being a cave, Lecyr Well and the Bert Smith House. All the wells and springs we encountered today were currently dry with the exception of a well, not far from our start that was pumping water. I don’t know but I’m surmising that it may be the source of water for the visitor center? It had a pvc pipe that ran above and below ground that direction. Also, the fact that at Government Well the pump rods are in place and the windmill is chained and locked to prevent rotation leads me to believe that perhaps at certain times of year this well may also be active.

This well was pumping water.

Mine Adit

Government Well

Kurstin at Government Well

The Mid Hills and New York’s seem to be mostly a granitic range and therefore much of the terrain was reminiscent of Joshua Tree National Park. 

 

 

We also passed through the burn scar from the 2023 York fire. Later on day 3 we passed through the 2020 Dome fire scars. It was sad seeing the devastation caused to the Joshua Tree forest. But life finds a way and not only were there some trees surviving but at the end of the trip when we talked to the folks in the visitor center, Kurstin asked about how long would it take for the Joshua's to come back. They pointed out that there were already signs of regenerative growth.

Somewhere late in the day we ran into a caravan of off road vans. Eventually it was revealed that the lead driver was the ‘Real Chris King,’ maker of high end bicycle components. We ran into him again on day 3 and it was mentioned he had been out for 3 months. (Insert jealous emoji.) We ended the day part way down Ivanpah road overlooking Ivanpah Valley and Sauron’s (Eye Of Mordor's) kids, the Ivanpah solar generating station. It was really interesting watching the transition of the super bright 'eyes' on top of the 3 towers and the mirror fields slowly fade to be replaced by the normal industrial lighting of the plant. I also realize that in my last few ride reports I’ve been neglecting to report on the OTAF. So I’m happy to confirm that the OTAF was negligible this night. HOWEVER, the DVTAF (Down Valley Train Annoyance Factor) was about 5-6. We camped above the valley floor for this reason. Would have rattled my fillings if we camped in the valley bottom.

Bert Smith House aka 'Rock House'

Rock Spring area. No water found

Lecyr Well

Sauron's offspring in the distance

PC Kurstin

On day 2 as the sun rose over the horizon and Sauron’s children awoke, the day’s ride began with a fast downhill to the valley bottom. 

Then a rough but quite passable 4x4 road paralleling the RR track for about 13 miles. No trains came by, they must all be night trains...bada bing! 

PC Kurstin

In due course we made it to Cima. Nothing there but a train track maintenance staging area and maybe caretakers residence? Anyway a residence of some sort. Here we picked up pavement and with the new tailwind we were enjoying we barely touched our pedals for the gentle 20 mile downhill into Kelso. Interesting info about Kelso Depot.

We lounged around the old train station, now a visitor center for the park but closed for renovation, taking pictures and trying to convince the tourists we weren’t on E-Bikes. Kurstin said we should get T-shirts made that list the top 10 questions we get on our 'E-Bikes' HAHA! Great idea! Thankfully the drinking water station was on and we happily filled our bottles with the last sure water for the next 2 ½ days. Then began the long sandy slow 12 mile climb up to the Mojave Road as a train finally came rumbling by the old station. 

Remember that wonderful tailwind I mentioned? Yeah, well me neither as all I remember is a headwind climbing out of Kelso. It was here, about ¾ of the way up that we met and chatted with @theforrestbiome, another Bikepacking Roots regional steward and creator of such routes as Capes Of The Canyon, Gold To Grand, El Lobo Lupus and House Rock Wrap. Check out his IG! He was riding the ‘Mojave Solitaire’. A recently published route on Bikepacking.com. We talked for awhile and got some selfies (courtesy of Forrest’s ape index) then moved on another few miles making camp at the junction with the old Mojave Road.

Kurstin getting some too. Don't want to get on the wrong side of Joannie!

Camp at the junction of the Mojave road

 

Morning of day 3 and we’re checking out Marl Spring. There’s a trickle of water emerging from the pipe. I’m feeling genius! I brought my dip n’ sip (name coined by Kurstin) bottle for just such a circumstance! It’s my hydrapak bottle and filter combination. I used it as part of my overall water supply but can now filter a bit of additional water.

 

 

 

 

Onward. We gotta check the mail! Almost unbelievably Chris King and his crew were camped by the Mojave Mailbox. Well maybe not so unbelievably since we saw them drive by our camp the previous evening. We signed in the mailbox register and chatted for awhile again. I was eyeballing the Fireball shot but I feared for my karma so left it there for someone who needed it more than I.

 

 

Next stop was the Mojave Lava Tube. We were in the Cinder Cone Lava Beds and the landscape had switched to volcanic lava fields. As we visited the tube we were alone. A very interesting site and one I recommend you visit! Lord of the Ring’s came back into my head as we explored the underground reaches of the tube. It wasn’t complete darkness as there are a number of ‘skylight’ openings overhead but a headlamp is highly recommended.

Solidified molten lava drips

Pushing on we had the only steep climb of the route climbing up into the Aiken crater and mine. It was rideable but my back tire spun out in the loose cinder causing me to walk 50 ft feet. Yeah, that was it.

 

Leaving Aiken Mine via Black Tank Wash, we were soon out of the lava fields and back in the ‘normal’ sand climbing up Cima Dome. We ran into a group of off road trucks. The lead truck stopped us and informed us that there were four more trucks coming but that they had had some sort of mechanical. He was trying to be courteous and said we should wait for them so they wouldn’t “come around a blind corner and hit us.” Huh? That immediately got my hackles up. I asked if they were hauling ass or what and he replied “usually.” So he wanted us to wait indefinitely for his crew of 400HP trucks so they could drive recklessly on backcountry roads open to all. He really was being polite but I just wasn’t having having it. I thanked him, told him we’d be careful and we left. Sorry but it just irritated me. 10 or 15 minutes later they showed and slowed and were very courteous while passing us. My initial irritation melted away. More long slow washboarded sand took us through the Dome Fire scar and out to the pavement at Cima Road.

Healthy

 

Not so much

 

I was feeling kind of beat up from all the washboard of the last 3 days and wasn’t disappointed to be on pavement. We climbed a bit to the Mojave Cross, a memorial to all who lost their lives in all wars.

 

PC Kurstin

 

 

Another 6 mile gentle downhill returned us to Cima followed by yet another trip down Kelso Cima road but this time only as far as our cut off back to The Hole In The Wall visitor center using Macedonia Canyon road. We rode up about a half mile and called it for the day. Being that close to the train tracks raised DVTAF to about 7.

Early to bed, early to rise makes a person… not ache so bad for laying in bed too long. Short day today. Up Macedonia Canyon past some old ruins until the intersection of Wildhorse road. A little less than 6 miles and 1850 ft climb. Then it was all downhill through the wildly scenic Wildhorse Canyon and past some petroglyphs back to Hole In The Wall visitor Center where we parked. 

There's something magical about waking up in the desert.

PC Kurstin

 

Highlights of the trip for me were the wide array of cactus, the Lava Tube, petroglyphs and very different landscapes from that of Northern Nevada. It was 100% rideable which makes me question whether it was really even a legit bikepacking trip. There was more pavement than I generally like but traffic was pretty light. Train noise was a bit unique and I personally enjoyed seeing the trains go by.

Stats: 145 miles and 10,200 ft of climbing over 3.5 days.

Bikes & water:

Doug - Binary Bicycles Gordita semi-custom fat bike full rigid running 26x4.3 fat tires. Full bikepacking bags. Carried 7 ltrs water with top off fill at Kelso and additional  ~1 ltr filter at Marl Sprg. I had about a ltr left at the end.

Kurstin - Meriwether custom long tail fat bike full rigid running 26x4.8 tires. Full bikepacking bags. Carried 7 ltrs, 8 ltrs after Kelso with 1 ltr refill at Marl Sprg. Kurstin also had roughly 1 ltr of water left.

 

Map and downloadable GPS track: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49478904

Kurstin's ride report.