January 6-8, 2025
It's a new year! Time for a first adventure. Kurstin (@bikepacking NV) invited me out for a quick loop north of Fallon NV. Two half days book-ending a full riding
day. A great loop with surfaces consisting of everything from great
gravel to no longer existent dirt track, playa's that were in our case,
luckily, frozen mud, incredible frozen sand dunes and a bit of highway pavement. We traversed open
range. Had ripping descents through desert canyons and rode typical
extensive valley's. Geology was impressive and well represented. Tufas formed in ancient
Lake Lahontan, volcanics immediately adjacent to limestone caves
which held the evidence of prehistoric human habitation 4000 years
ago. The area also has a rich historical period. As we traveled on the old Carson immigrant trail, we stopped to view an old lime kiln and a curious set of open wells.
We paid our
dues on day one peddaling through showers and mud that had me
questioning my life choices. As usual Kurstin provided all the stoke
needed to continue the route and we were rewarded with beautiful
weather for the next 2 days. Thanks to Kurstin for identifying and
inviting me on this trip!
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| The ride started out beautifully on great and fast gravel. |
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But the weather took a turn. PC Kurstin.
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So
we rode over 10 miles in varying conditions and a little rain but
enough mud to set off my mud-o-meter and trigger my mud allergy. PC Kurstin.
We bailed in to our tents pretty early after finding a somewhat dry-ish desert pavement to set up camp.
But the next morning was beautiful and clear as forecasted. PC Kurstin.
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Ancient Tufa. PC Kurstin
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GPS navigation required. PC Kurstin
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Back on an existing track
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We crested the range at a small pass.
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A fast and fun descent down Muttlebury canyon,
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brought us out to the Humboldt River. This would be boatable via packraft!
Great gravel and interesting geology led us south toward Lovelock Cave. We camped a mile or so below the cave.
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Another beautiful dawn greeted us,
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and we rode the short remaining distance up to the cave.
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Leaving the cave, road conditions deteriorated somewhat crossing some delightful frozen dunes and later a thawing
mud playa as we made our way around Humboldt Sink. Luckily it wasn't bad
yet. PC Kurstin.
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| We followed the old Carson immigrant trail. |
Soon enough we crossed HWY 95 and checked out some old wells Kurstin knew about. Pretty umm...skanky, but interesting from a historical point of view!
Then a visit to the last waypoint of the trip. An old lime kiln.
Then it was a short few miles back down Hwy 95 to Kurstin's parked truck. We closed out the trip with a post ride burger at Woody's Burger Shack in Fallon. Recommended! A great route and ride! Check out Kurstin's ride report of this route.
Stats:
83.6 miles, 2878 ft climbing per my Wahoo Element Bolt.
Link to Kurstin's route on RWGPS:
Bike setups
Doug: Binary Gordita fat bike set up with 29" wheels and 29x3 tires. This was to give room for mud clearance. Bluto fat bike suspension fork. Bikepacking bags with custom rear rack.
