Backcountry discovery routes is a great non-profit organization putting together awesome rides in remote areas of the US.
With my friend stephane we rode the one for California south a while ago and decided to tackle this time the route for nevada, from primm to austin.
With my friend stephane we rode the one for California south a while ago and decided to tackle this time the route for nevada, from primm to austin.
But first i gave a hand to a friend organizing a road book navigation rally, based in shoshone, ca. I traveled there with my friend dirk, our 2 bikes loaded on his truck. My role was simply to provide gas (and cold beers) to the riders since no gas stations were around the dunes.
Stephane joined us the second evening and we got ready to leave early the next morning.
Old Chevy in an abandoned gas station in Shoshone
If I had to describe Nevada in one word it would be "empty". And from that emptiness comes the wonderful feelings of remoteness and freedom,
like the one we enjoy riding anywhere on one of these huge dry lakes scattered all around the state
like the one we enjoy riding anywhere on one of these huge dry lakes scattered all around the state
Our machines are really wonderful: able to ride long distance but also tackle with ease off road trails all day, even loaded with full luggage. No matter how great they are though, punctures happen!
The surprising site of Hard Luck Castle in the middle, and the gold mine in the top right of the picture. The very remote property has an 8,000-square-foot home including a glass solarium, planetarium, and fountain room. The home has 22 rooms and the property has numerous outbuildings including a work/automotive shop, miner’s cabin, and gold mine tunnel!
We Camped in the middle of nowhere, at 2000m (6,560ft). The views were fantastic and the silence just incredible. It was cold and We were so tired from the long ride that we went to our tent as soon as the sun set.
Hard Luck Castle in the middle, and the gold mine in the top right
The next morning We arrived at Gold Point that came back in forth from its status of boom town to ghost town. Apparently a dozen of people live there.
“This area was first settled about 1880 but the early camp was abandoned in 1882. In 1908 a silver strike brought a new camp into existence. Called Hornsilver, it flourished for about a year boasting 800 residents, at least 11 saloons, a post office telephone service and newspaper. After a number of small booms and busts the town was renamed Gold Point in 1932.”
“This area was first settled about 1880 but the early camp was abandoned in 1882. In 1908 a silver strike brought a new camp into existence. Called Hornsilver, it flourished for about a year boasting 800 residents, at least 11 saloons, a post office telephone service and newspaper. After a number of small booms and busts the town was renamed Gold Point in 1932.”
One of the mine shafts leaving no doubt on why the town was created
Collectors would thrive on all the vehicles left behind in these ghost towns
Like if they had left yesterday
Love the birds up there :)
Stephane scouting the main street. Why new casks??
Waiting in front of the gas pump and Post Office. The Joshua tree dives in it!
One of the main attractions of riding in nevada is the feeling of immensity, especially in these immense plains crossed by roads that disappear far into the horizon. Unfortunately it doesn't translate in pictures.
Goldfield is another semi ghost town. In addition to the old buildings, there is close by "The International Car Forest", crazy project so typical of nevada.
We stop pretty early in the afternoon at tonopah, a "big" city in the area with its population of 2000 🙂
Many business are closed for good but there are enough remaining to eat, drink and buy a few needed parts
Many business are closed for good but there are enough remaining to eat, drink and buy a few needed parts
I always liked this old fire station
You can find adjacent to the Clown Motel (!) the Old Tonopah Cemetery that was active between 1901 and 1911.
Our third and last day on the BDR NV started beautifully with gorgeous scenery. The elevation remained around 2000 m / 6,600 ft since our first evening so it is frisky in the morning. We saw several times gorgeous big antelopes, way to fast to be photographed but it was magnificent! At least I got a picture of these wild horses, and later of Nevada Bighorn Sheep by Walker Lake.
Nevada Bighorn Sheep by Walker Lake
We do a small detour to visit the ghost town of manhattan, but it's not that interesting. After some very fun and challenging trails we make it to a much nicer ghost town: belmont. It was visibly a rich town with stone and bricks buildings. The court house has been beautifully preserved. Surprisingly there are also a few people living in newer houses.
The historic courthouse
Wood, rusted steel and stones
I would not mind living in this house
Back on a fun trail, still heading north we checked a great rocks formation, the black hills. we take the opportunity to enjoy a lunch break in a great scenery.
Black Hills
Black Hills
Snow capped peaks are more and more visible around us
An old corral and a shelter built with adobe and branches
U-turns in the sand are some of the most treacherous maneuvers :)
The trails and vistas continued to be awesome! But we kept climbing and started to see more and more snow around us, then snow on the road. We were at 2700 m / 8850 ft when we hit a major patch of snow, blocking us. You can see ice under the snow. The patch was not that long but the slope really steep if the bikes were to slide down.
We managed to dig a path with our boots, very close to the cliff, where the snow was not too deep. We made it across! We were So happy to go down on the other side of the pass as It would have been a major bummer and detour to get stuck there.
We were feeling lucky and exhilarated after going through that snowed pass. We had 50 more miles before the end of the ride in Austin, and one more pass but at a lower elevation so we felt pretty optimistic.
At Kingston we headed west towards was seemed like a formidable mountain range. Let's cross fingers! Unfortunately, if the snow was not as thick there was still a lot of it, for a long distance
Without knobbies on the rear and a heavier bike I ended up struggling to keep moving forward. We could see on the GPS that the Kingston summit pass was close so Stephane walked in a scouting mission. Unfortunately the snow was everywhere and the climb much steeper so we had to backtrack. Unfortunate but there was no other choice and we could not waste more gas as we arrived at Austin after 220 miles on the tank.
We will come back at another time and do the section of the BDR NV until the end in elko. but for now, what a ride that was! We had 3 perfect days with great weather, spectacular scenery, no big mechanical issues, nor injuries. Great success in my book :)
