After Graham’s successful elk hunt we returned to Meadow Valley to regroup at my folks place, experiment with elk recipes, harvest beautiful chanterelle mushrooms, and pack for the next leg. Our plan was to return to Nevada for the remainder of the fleeting fall before heading south to join my folks in Death Valley by Thanksgiving. I had been dying to travel Highway 50 east beyond Austin to Ely and Great Basin National Park, but we also wanted to spend time in the northwestern corner, had Halloween plans and a baby shower back in Reno, and hoped to explore hot springs and small game hunting opportunities on our way south. Knowing the winter weather was fast approaching we tried to squeeze in as much as we could and lamented not setting out a littler earlier in order to have more time to savor the remote wilds of our resident state.
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| Elk Burgers! |
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| Elk tenderloin feast |
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| Elk roundsteak salad |
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| Chanterelles in the backyard |
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| Elk steak sandwich with cream of chanterelle soup |
Our first venture was to the northwest corner. For years we had heard about the remote section of the Applegate Immigrant Trail that passes through High Rock Canyon. Here wagon wheel ruts can still be seen etched into welded volcanic ash deposits and along the canyon walls names of the hardy travelers are carved in stone. Nearby, geothermal-rich Soldier Meadows provides great camping and soaking opportunities. We set out from Reno skirting the northwestern edge of Pyramid Lake, camped one night along the edge of the Smoke Creek Desert, and continued around the northwestern edge of the Black Rock Desert and on to Soldier Meadows.
Soldier Meadows, named for the Army encampment stationed there in the mid-late 1800s, was on the whole absent of people with the exception of the ranch on the north edge. A few OHV’ers whizzed by our camp on occasion. But mostly we shared the valley with antelope, lots of jack and cottontail rabbits, and all the other critters drawn to the springs as we were. The soaking was fantastic and we watched the sunset behind the large fault block range to the west. We discovered another series of pools on a nearby hot springs creek and settled on that as the next evenings soaking destination.
The following evening as we settled into the pool, I noticed multiple tiny red dots swimming toward me. The first thing that came to mind was a friend’s story about hot springs mites at a warm spring in Eastern Nevada. We watched them coming and going around us and half-heartedly washed them downstream when they got close. Just seeing them gave me the creepy crawlies and I swore I could feel them crawling on my skin. We really weren’t sure what they were and gave them the benefit of the doubt. The next day I noticed I had a few mosquito-like bites - Graham too. Graham soaked again in the morning, I passed this time. He tried a different pool but still they were present. The next day we noticed even more bites with the itchy likeness of poison oak. When we returned home a search online revealed they were indeed water mites which other soakers had also experienced in Soldier Meadows springs. I was glad to learn you can at least see them during the day. Since this experience I will forever be on the lookout and leery of soaking at night without seeing the spring in the light first. Graham and I both agreed the experience of hot springs mite bites would deter future soaking in even the most juicy mite-laden springs.
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| Soldier Meadows hot springs |
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| Free BLM cabin open on first come first served basis in Soldier Meadow |
During the day we biked the first 10 miles of the 26-mile High Rock Canyon. The high, rust-colored canyon walls towered above us in many sections. We followed the narrow 4WD drive road along the drainage as it opened up into a series of meadows each one confined on either end by a steep rugged canyon section. We stopped often to marvel at the scenery and traces of both pioneer and native artifacts pondering what it must have been like traveling through such remote, rugged country. It would be fantastic someday to have the opportunity to travel the entire canyon section. There are designated camps along the way and even some water to be had in the fall where the creek emerges from the ground.
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| High Rock Canyon |
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| Historic graffiti |
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| Wagon wheel ruts |
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| Goldi at the head of High Rock Canyon |
Further north we traveled through the Summit Lake Paiute Reservation where a huge land slide created the dam that forms the lake and great wetland oasis in this remote section of Nevada. Just north of the reservation we crossed the Ruby pipeline, a pipeline recently installed to transport natural gas from Wyoming to Oregon. Disturbed earth could be seen for miles in both directions. Our aim that night was to land on the shores of Onion Valley Reservoir in the Pine Forest Range. This was another destination that had been our list for a long time and we were glad to finally have the opportunity to make it there. It is rare to find high mountain lakes in a range in Nevada. We put Goldi to the test on the approach and barely bounced our way up the super steep incline that accesses the range from the west. We were hopeful the eastern access road might be smoother coming down but were amazed to find out that we had just come up the “easy” road.
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| Summit Lake |
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| Ruby Pipeline |
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| On the road to the Pine Forest Range Lakes |
The next couple days we spent exploring the lakes in the range – some augmented to deliver water for agriculture and some in their natural state and loaded with fish. This is a stunning area with extensive aspen groves, great camping, cross-country hiking, and views! Our attempt to climb Duffer Peak, the highest in the range at ..10,000ft was foiled due to a late start but gave us the opportunity to explore some beautiful high meadows and loop back through the fish-laden lakes. It was unfortunately at bit too cold to fish and we had our first taste of winter temperatures at our perch camp above the lakes. After descending the “easy” road we vowed to return but only in a high clearance, 4WD rig.
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| Grazed high meadows in the Pine Forest Range |
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| View of Blue Lakes in the Pine Forest Range |
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| Rainbow or Tiger trout |
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| Blue Lakes |
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| Onion Valley Reservoir |
The cold temperatures made a stop a Bog Hot Spring a must on our way north toward Denio. Unfortunately we were greeted by the same hot springs mites making our soaking experience short. At this point we still weren’t sure quite what they were. With a couple days to spare before returning to Reno we headed for the Granites just northeast of the Kings River Valley. We spent the next day and half biking and hiking through the area. Graham tried his luck chucker hunting and invented a new biathlon sport: mountain bike hunting. The chucker hunting proved every bit as challenging as we had heard. Every time Graham got within range they successfully escaped by rapidly scattering in all directions. At the end of the day we felt lucky just to have found them and to have played their game on their terms. Graham successfully hunted a couple quail later that day. It was a treat to taste such fresh game, though we found there really wasn’t that much meat. In my opinion it really didn’t seem worth killing for so little meat. I think chucker and grouse would be a different story.
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| Bog hot hotspring |
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| Mountain bike hunting |
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| Disaster Peak |
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| The Granites |
The Granites were glorious. Disaster Peak is so intriguing. We’ll be back someday!
In Reno we had the chance to catch up with friends at both Mandy’s baby shower and Margo and Jeramie’s annual Halloween Party. Again we realized what a great community of friends we have in the Reno zone and how much we miss them.
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| Hippies livin' in a van... |
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| Frida |
By the end of the weekend we were stocked and ready to set off for Eastern Nevada. Traveling east on Highway 50 we settled in for the night off Highway 722, the old Overland Stage Route, in the Desatoya Range. Smith Valley hot spring was our next destination. We had the spring to ourselves all day and night and enjoyed soaking in the fantastic little tubs, one or two of which were outfitted with plumbing features to control temperature. We awoke in the morning to an outside temperature of 1°F. The inside water tank had froze for the first time and we realized why snow-birders do what they do. We knew a storm was forecast latter that week and so decided to move east more quickly to have the chance to visit Great Basin National Park before the weather turned. In exchange we passed up a visit to Ichthyosaur State Park, explorations in the Toiyabe and Monitor Ranges, and other great hot springs. Again we lamented not having started our Nevada leg a bit earlier in the season. There is still so much of the state we would love to explore.
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| Smith Valley playa |
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| Smith Valley hotpsrings |
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| more springs |
I was grateful for the chance to see the communities of Eureka and Ely from the road as we passed through. The current mining activity that keeps these communities afloat could be seen on the outskirts of the towns. We settled in on some public land for the night outside of Baker, Nevada and watched the sunset behind glorious Wheeler Peak as Graham reminisced about working in the nearby Snake Valley in Utah last season. Great Basin National Park was a fascinating stop. We altered our plan to hike Wheeler Peak due to weather, but still took a nice little hike toward the base of the glacier, through the ancient bristlecone pine forest, and around two alpine lakes. The glacier was an incredible site in its carved cirque below the tallest peak in the state (13,063ft). A tour of the limestone Lehman Caves wrapped up our visit and then we were southbound.
Along Highway 6 we stopped in Railroad Valley to explore hot springs Graham had come across a few years earlier. It was truly an enjoyable soaking and camping experience and we shared some interesting conversation with the resident Austrian/Canadian “caretakers”. We traveled the Extraterrestrial Highway south of Tonopah through the exotic town of Rachel and onto Ash Springs. Again we enjoyed soaking, meeting nice snow birders, explored a local rock art site, and camped for free at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. As stunning menagerie of birdlife flocks to this wetland in the winter.
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| Stella Lake below Wheeler Peak |
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| Bristlecones |
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| Near Wheeler Peak Glacier |
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| Lehman Caves |
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| Railroad Valley hotpsrings |
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| Hotsprings |
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| Railroad Valley camp |
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| Ash Springs hotspring |
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| Camp near rock art site |
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| Ash Springs rock art |
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| Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge |
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| Sunset at Pahranagat |
By this time we had plans to rendezvous in Las Vegas with our buddy Mick who was climbing in Red Rocks. En route we spent a day in Valley of Fire State Park. The park boasts brilliant red rock sandstone and an amazing collection of rock art. In Vegas, thanks to a great gift from my folks, we splurged and made reservations for two nights at Circus Circus. We couldn’t believe the deals: $70 for two nights in an upgraded room, plus two free buffets! We were happy to spend a little time out of the van, warm up, meet up with Mick, do some climbing in Red Rocks, and observe the spectacle that is Vegas. Our most enjoyable experience was a steak dinner deal we discovered online at the Ellis Island Casino. We all ordered the $8 steak dinner (not on the menu) that included bread, salad, a very good steak, potato, green beans, and a large micro brew beer. What a steal!!! The finishing touch on the night was a successful game of “chicken in the pot”.
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| Valley of Fire Sate Park rock art |
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| Valley of Fire |
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| Fancy room at Circus Circus |
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| Ellis Island steak dinner feast |
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| Graham got the chicken in a pot |
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| Mick at Red Rocks |
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| Graham at Red Rocks |
We really enjoyed time with Mick in Vegas and Red Rocks and the opportunity to get on the beautiful rock.
Heading northwest toward Death Valley we stopped just before California to camp in old dunes and for Graham to do some rabbit hunting. Sure enough the dunes were loaded with rabbits. With both a jack and a cottontail in the bag we were looking forward to the taste test and also the chance to try cooking the rabbit in our pressure cooker. The following night, camped just outside of Lee Flat on the way to Saline Valley, we made the our best van meal ever: a fantastic mixed rabbit curry. The pressure cooker worked wonders on the tough jack. The cottontail, inherently tenderer, was less in need of the pressure cooking but still turned out well. With a nice big pot of rabbit, sweet and regular potatoes, kale, lentils, and a green coconut curry sauce we feasted for a few nights. We’ve come to conclusion that rabbits are one of the best wild meats out there. They are plentiful, lean, and quite tasty when cooked slow and long or hot and fast. Jacks taste like dark chicken and cottontails like white chicken meat. Thanks to Graham for his hunting endeavors - we’ve enjoyed some fantastic wild meals this fall!
