overland

Black Rock Desert Nevada, 5 day expedition

Last October four trucks and 6 guys set off from Chico California to the Black Rock Desert. One of the guys had been a few times in the past but it was many years ago, well actually closer to a couple of decades. The trucks consisted of my 200 series, an 80 series, a 62, and a Land Rover Defender.

We decided to enter the Black Rock Desert from the North. From Chico it is nearly an identical amount of time to get to the south entrance of BR as it is to get the north entrance. Since the one guy who had been before had never started at the north we ended up going that route. So from Chico you basically head north to Redding and then take 299 all the way to Cedarville, Ca.

Cedarville is the last place to gas up before entering Black Rock. There is no gas once in Black Rock so for the amount of days we were going for we were all carrying at least 35 gallons of gas for the adventure.

Our first day consisted of starting at 8 in the morning from Chico. We made it to Cedarville for lunch and then headed through Stevenson Camp ( a common camp spot for many) in order to find our way to the start of the High Rock Canyon. We found a spot to camp just before dark a little ways into the canyon. The weather was perfect but it did get down into the upper 20s that first night. Most importantly no wind what so ever.

Below are pictures of day 1, I'll make posts for each day. Might take me the week to get all 5 days posted. The pictures get better and better. Is there a way to insert videos?

The crew at the Nevada state line about to crossover:
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A shot of my 200 aka Zombie looking West back towards Cali
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The hills before you get to High Rock

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Our camp spot for the night
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A view from our day 1 camp site with the drone
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OTG Ben

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Hey @Zombie and Gracie looking forward to the rest o the report! On the far right of the toolbar there are three vertical dots, click those and then click the camera icon to load videos. Only thing is, the max size permitted is 8mb per file.

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Zombie and Gracie

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Chico, Ca
Day 2:

We woke up in the morning and headed to the High Rock Canyon with the goal of reaching Soldier Meadows for a night 2 camp spot and hot springs.

The High Rock Canyon is one of the most awesome trails I have done. The shear cliff walls and fun water crossings make for an unreal drive. This is a trail you can only do at certain times of the year due to the level of the water. The High Rock Canyon can get flooded out making it impossible to cross. For our trip it just happen to have just the right amount of water.

Soldier Meadows is a popular spot. There were maybe 10 -12 groups camping there but it is a huge spot with plenty of space and privacy for everyone. More importantly everyone was respectful and quiet at night. The best part of Soldier Meadows is the vast views and the amazing hot springs.

Sunrise views waking up on day 2
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Heading over the hills towards the canyon
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High Rock Canyon ahead
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The start of the cliffs
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Wading through the canyon
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Making out way through the canyon
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Sunset at Soldier Meadows
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Setting up the shower for a rinse off
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Finishing day 2 with a soak in the hot springs
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OTG Ben

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@Zombie and Gracie hoping you post days 3-5. Loving this Trip Report and photos so far. Do you ever travel up to Can or Mex? If so, happy to award you with access to ALL routes.
 

Zombie and Gracie

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Chico, Ca
Day 3 we traveled from Soldier Meadows north east in hopes of reaching the north eastern part of the playa. We attempted at taking one route that eventually became to difficult and impassible for our trucks, so we had to take an alternative route which turned out to be even better than expected. It was a long day of driving but at every turn the views kept getting better and better. Wish we could upload larger videos since my drone footage gives a lot better perspective.

We eventually made it to the upper north eastern part of playa right before sundown. We found an rad spot just off the hills and cooked our dinner via campfire.

Heading into the trail that eventually we had to turn around on. It got brutal and tight with massive boulders.
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Views from on top of the hills
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The crew making the downhill climb.
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Day 3 campsite and sunset

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Cooking dinner
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Zombie and Gracie

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Chico, Ca
Day 4 was probably the most unreal overland/driving experience of my life. We left the north east tip of the playa and headed back through the hills in order to reach the Black Rock hot springs and then the small elevated playas that are just north of the actual "Black Rock." These playas are beyond unreal. It's truly like being on another planet and some of the trails are beyond steep.

The most unreal sunrise waking up on Day
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Another awesome sunrise sky and we begin packing up
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Looking down into one of the small elevated playas. What a blast to drop into and slam on the gas
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Couple shots looking west from on of the knolls in a different elevated playa
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A shot looking east across the elevated playa
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Our camp spot for night 4
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Zombie and Gracie

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Chico, Ca
Day 5

We woke up after pretty much sleeping through a wind and dust storm that you wouldn't believe. Just picture constant 40mph winds all night long and nothing but dust. The good news is we woke up to no wind and beautiful clear skies. We had the morning to drive down into the main playa and play around a bit before driving home through the south entrance of the playa.

Coffee at sunrise
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Morning at camp
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Entering the playa
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The trucks on the playa
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Zombie ready to head home
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