National Trails Day - Bikepacking And Volunteer Work High Rock Canyon

 

June 2025 

It's funny, not ha-ha funny but, you know, kinda strange funny. As many times as I've been to the Black Rock and Sheldon areas I'd never actually been through High Rock Canyon. It was time to change that. 

I joined up with Kurstin on one of his ongoing "Ride With Friends" outings and this one was a mellow 3 day bikepacking trip up through High Rock Canyon to Steven's Camp where we would meet up with Friends Of Nevada Wilderness to perform some stewardship work in conjunction with the BLM.

There were 6 of us all together. Kurstin, Meghan, Shay, Christine, Nikki, and myself.  I'd ridden with everyone before except Nikki. As always it was a very experienced and cohesive group. Nikki, the only one I didn't know from prior rides has many years of outdoor experience hiking, trail running, riding and backpacking. So it was with these 5 other intrepid explorers that I set off into new to me territory. Easy riding led us north.

Kurstin explained the route the immigrants took and then we wandered down to view the Potholes.

Shay. AKA Dora The Explorer.

We got our first views of the ramparts and "Post Office Cave" with old immigrant inscriptions.

Camp for the night was a meadow area with nearby water at the mouth of Mahogany Canyon. I went for an unintentional swim when trying to retrieve water but figured since I was in there, might as well get water for everybody. That bank was treacherous. Definitely the crux of the trip!

Left to right: Shay, Meghan, Christine. P.C. Kurstin

Meghan P.C. Kurstin

Nikki documenting my sacrificial water gather. P.C. Kurstin

Nikki and me. P.C. Shay D.

I headed out a little earlier than the main group the next morning. Wading through some of the water crossings is unavoidable.

After another relatively easy day we arrived at Steven's Camp and met up with Friends Of Nevada Wilderness. Some of our group went to prune overgrowth along Upper High Rock trail, a couple worked with the crew cleaning up the cabin while Kurstin and I went to help the BLM folks dig out an old register kiosk and reinstall a new one. When we all met back at the cabin, the poor ladies that did all the pruning spent a lot of time cleaning ticks from their clothing and bodies. To their immense credit they took it all in stride. Not sure I would have been so calm about it all. That evening Friends Of Nevada Wilderness served up an outstanding dinner for all.

Not being much of a breakfast eater and wanting to beat the heat, I again got an early start on the group. From what I heard later it was another outstanding meal hosted by Friends. 

P.C. Kurstin

The early start had the additional bonus of being able to view a couple antelope and wild horse groups. A 35 mile ride got me back to my truck while still fairly early so I backtracked the route (drove) on good county gravel to check on the group. Afterwards while they finished their ride, I drove out to Gerlach for a burger and a beer! Life is good!

Stats: 72.2 mi, 3893 ft el. gain

Bike setup: Binary Bicycles Kinetik hard tail set up with 29 plus tires, bikepacking bags and rear rack.

Map and GPS: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50440286