On the Trail: Great Basin Heritage Trail

Day 1: Virginia City to Stillwater Wildlife Refugre
Mileage: 142

Starting on October 11, I met up with a small group of folks ( @pete_coh-5689, @shierei, @suryanshu, @Rolandooltg ) in Virginia City to head out on the 2,000+ mile Great Basin Heritage Trail over the course of 14 days. Rolling into Virginia City at 8:30am, the rumble of loud trucks could be heard around town. Driving through the main strip, a large inflatable archway denoted the official start of the race. Taking a quick tour of town, I met up with our small group of folks.

In order to make up a bit of town, we opted to skip the normal route and instead took the rather trail over the pass that goes by the old Como mining camp. This section of trail was incredbily rocky and rather slow going. Finally making it past the slow going sections, we hit a series of BLM and county dirt roads, regularly cruising along at 40-50mph. Along the way, we stopped at the Mad Max playa (we deemed this an appropriate name given the burnt out, abandoned vehicles), and another stop at an old Pony Express station with the corral still in place, and remnants of the old water tank and possibly living quarters.

Finally making good time, we set our sites for the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge outside of Fallon. Late in the afternoon we finally made it to the Wildlife Refuge. Running short on daylight, we found a beautiful spot upslope of the regure, with inredible views of the many lakes an playas that dotted the valley. The sunset camp was the best I've seen in a long time!

 

[joeray]

No drones in National Parks without a permit

Hmmm, drones have certainly created quite the stir these days. I've been flying radio controlled airplanes for close to 50 years, long before drones were ever invented. I remember how simple it was back then. Come to think of it, I got busted for flying an airplane in a NRA, probably because it was managed by the Park Service. I'll try to remember to keep my little flying camera parked outside the national parks, or be extremely discreet about it.

 

[OTG Ben]

@joeray The irony of all this is that only one federal agency has authority of our airspace, the FAA. In the past the NPS had language along the lines that it was illegal to fly a drone/UAV over National Park Lands. Now I mostly see language that states it's illegal to operate a drone/UAV on NPS lands. I'm certainly not trying to push the limit with this, but technically speaking you could operate the drone outside of the NPS and fly it over their lands

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 10: Lunar Crater to Diana's Punchbowl

It was a rather mild night camping next to the Lunar Crater. The group awoke to blue skies without a cloud in sight. I took the opportunity to climb the hill overlooking the crater. As I raced up the hill with Shasta trying to beat the rising sun, it was clear the hill provided the perfect vantage point overlooking the crater, cinder cone fields, and the wide-open expanse of the Great Basin that surrounded us. I would not have minded camping at the crater for another day, but we had more trail to cover!

Our first stop of the day would take us to the Project Faultless test site. In 1968, the military used this location (along with others scattered throughout the Great Basin) as a nuclear test site. The test yield of one megaton caused substantial damage to the surrounding land, including the creation of new faults and significant ground displacement. Talk about a blast-- it's absolutely insane that we humans develop weapons that have the potential to end life on Earth as we know it.

Continuing our journey, we finally began to encounter wild horses. You'd think 1,000+ miles into our trip we'd have seen dozens of wild horses at this point-- hope! We saw maybe 2-3 before this beautiful trio, and in the coming days, we probably encountered another 3 or 4 dozen wild horses. The route would eventually take us to the old mining town of Eureka (Nevada), but before making it into town we stopped at an old mine just outside of the town limits. Other than a number of historic buildings, there wasn't a whole lot going on in Eureka, so we decided to mingle with the locals while grabbing a bite to eat at the Owl Club.

Upon finishing lunch, we climbed up the hill to the old Ruby Hill ghost town. Unfortunately, the old mine is mostly fenced off but many of the old buildings still remain. The hills surrounding Eureka are littered with dozens of old mines and prospects. I wouldn't mind going back and spending an entire day exploring the area. As our convoy zoomed between two towering mountain ranges, the sun began to sink lower, and we weren't coming across any suitable camp sites. Finally, we decided to head to one of the waypoints of our planned route for the day and over to Diana's Punchbowl-- score! There was a big flat clearing at the base of a small hill.

Scott drove his Bronco atop the hill and began yelling for us to come up. We were all setting up camp and most likely thinking about a cold libation, so our eventual trek up the small hill may have been a bit more delayed than Scott would've preferred. But upon reaching the top of the hill, we could see a massive hole of maybe 40-50' across that was emitting steam. Diana's Punchbowl! About 15' below, a pool of hot water slowly released bubbles. The punchbowl is known as a travertine dome, a type of limestone that built up from the mineral-rich water over the centuries.

After the novelty of the punchbowl wore off, we headed back down the hill and began settling into camp. It was another magnificent night beneath the horizons as billions of stars and other celestial objects illuminated the night sky.


Sunrise overlooking camp and the Lunar Crater.

Project Faultless nuclear test site.


While the sea of sagebrush is a constant throughout the Great Basin, the mountains have their own distinct geology had characteristics.


It took 10 days before the Wild Horses really started to show up!


Remants of one of the many old mines just outside of Eureka, NV.


Eureka, Nevada, not Utah this time!




We took full advantage of the restaurant at the Owl Club.


Ruby Hill mine and ghost town overlook Eureka.


Great Basin topography, and dust of course!


Sitting atop a small hill, Diana's Punchbowl took us all by surprise!


Another shot of the bubbling cauldron of hot water.


Camp at the base of Diana's Punchbowl.

 

[joeray]

Ben, this is been a great story and photo tour. You guys were real troopers to pull off a trip of this length!

 

[pete_coh-5689]

Ben, this is been a great story and photo tour. You guys were real troopers to pull off a trip of this length!

It was a fantastic trip. I just wish I could have stayed for the last few days. And busting my bed rack on the trail and having to spend a day in Salt Lake City replacing it was no joy either. I'm looking forward to the video.

 

[OTG Ben]

@pete_coh-5689 It was a lot of fun- but I think it'd be more enjoyable over the course of 3 weeks

 

[pete_coh-5689]

@pete_coh-5689 It was a lot of fun- but I think it'd be more enjoyable over the course of 3 weeks

Yeah, my preference would be for a more relaxed pace with more time to hike and explore. I plan on doing the route again and taking a month or so.

 

[OTG Ben]

And part I is up, which covers days 1-7 (Virginia City to Eureka, UT) along the Great Basin Heritage Trail!

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 11: Diana's Punchbowl to Stokes Castle

It wasn't until our 10th day that we really began to encounter the wild horses that Nevada is famous for, and in day 11, they were out in spades. Now, there are some folks who argue that wild horses aren't native to North America, which is only partially correct. There were indeed wild horses that had crossed over from Eurasia during one of the many ice ages where Beringia was exposed. In fact, horses had been in North America for millions of years, long before humans ventured across the Behring Strait. It wasn't until the pleistocene (about 12,000 years ago) that humans hunted them to extinction. I tend to be of the opinion that they are a natural part of the desert landscape, even if they aren't of the same subspecies, we should let them roam these vast wide open spaces. Needless to say, we encountered herd after herd after herd. Some were perhaps 3-4 horses, while others were well over a dozen. In fact, we came across so many horses in this valley, that I dubbed it Wild Horse Valley. And as you can see from the photos below, some of the larger herds decided to gallop and create a mini-stampede of sorts upon seeing our presences. This was definitely one of the more remote sections along our journey, so I got the sense that human and vehicle encounters were far and few between for these wild creatures, who seemed to be mildly disturbed by our presence, even when we had well over 300 meters between us.

Finally we reached the southernend of the valley and were able to cut across a rather easy pass through the the Monitor Range. As I'm studying the map of our track of the day, I realised there's a place between the Toquima and Monitor range called Horse Heaven, that seems pretty accurate based on our experience! Crossing through the Toquima range, we passed through the living ghost town of Manhattan. These living ghost towns are a bit odd, as you see evidence that people live there. Reasonably well kept vehicles parked outside, various political banners (it was election season), gardens, etc. But no one seems to be out and about. You'd think with a small convoy of vehicles passing through, someone might peak through their curtains, but there were absolutely zero signs of any interest for the town's residents. We snapped a few photos along main street and continued along our way.

We were no paralleling the Arc Dome wilderness of the Toiyabe range. The Toiyabes are definitely one of the more rugged basin ranges, and I'd say they were right up there with the Snake Range (Wheeler Peark / Great Basin NP) in terms of their impressiveness. As we jumped back on the highway, I wondered what Kingston Pass would be like traveling through the Toiyabes, and it didn't disappoint. Much of the Toiyabes are inaccessible to vehicles due to the rugged terrain and wilderness, but Kingston Canyon was definitley one of my favorite parts of the Great Basin Heritage Trail. And looking at the number of folks camping in the backcountry, it certainly wasn't a secret to folks in Nevada or the surrounding states of Idaho or Utah. The deep canyon was filled with mud puddles, a product of the recent snow that had below through a few days before.

As the group climbed higher, we reveled at the high peaks several thousand feet above. Finally, we crested the summit and begin working our way down to the neighboring basin. And that's when we encountered a stretch of about 100 yards of snow and ice on a rather steep and precarious section of the trail. It seemed this section of the trail, tucked deep within the canyon didn't get much sunlight, so the ice was stubornly sticking around. Shu made it through no problem, then I was up next in Big Blue, the 5 ton hulking ram. On right 2/3 of the trail was solid ice and snow, while a small section on the left was clear of ice/snow, but that also happened to be right on the lip of where the road dropped off precariously to the mountain slope below. I took it slowly, my heart racing. Every so often, the truck would lurch and slip left a foot or so. This happened maybe half a dozen times, and it was friggin scary! Finally I made it through the icy section and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The other guys, in their much lighter and more agile vehicles made it through with minimal slippage.

We zoomed over to Austin to fill up on fuel, but with daylight being in short supply, we zoomed up to Stokes Castle in hopes of securing camp for the night. Upon our arrival, nothing indicated we couldn't camp here. And after speaking with a local resident who does a bit of volunteer caretaking at the castle, he informed us we could gladly camp there. I ensured him we'd leave the place better than we found it. It was a relatively mild night. We enjoyed our new neighbor, the noble yet abaonded Stokes Castle as we took advantage of the nearby fire ring.

More on Stokes Castle
Stokes Castle is a three-story granite tower located near Austin, Nevada. Built between 1896 and 1897 by Anson Phelps Stokes, a wealthy businessman and mine developer, the castle was intended to be a summer home for his family. Inspired by a medieval tower he admired in Italy, Stokes commissioned the construction of this unique and extravagant structure using locally sourced granite. Despite its grandeur, the Stokes family only used the castle for a short time before selling their mining interests and leaving the area. Today, Stokes Castle remains a prominent landmark in the region and serves as a reminder of the area's rich mining history and the opulence of the silver boom era.


Camp among the sagebrush basin near Diana's Punchbowl.


There they go!


These guys definitely wanted us to keep our distance.


This herd was absolutely incredible.


Little Grand Canyon. It seems we didn't find the main canyon, but rather a smaller finger of it.


One of the historic buildings in Manhattan.


Arc Dome Wilderness, Toiyabe mountains.


Working our way through the Toiyabe Range.





Stokes Castle.

 

[joeray]

Every so often, the truck would lurch and slip left a foot or so. This happened maybe half a dozen times, and it was friggin scary! Finally I made it through the icy section and breathed a huge sigh of relief. The other guys, in their much lighter and more agile vehicles made it through with minimal slippage.

It's disturbing reading things like this. You're living right on the edge of becomming a statistic!

 

[OTG Ben]

@joeray It was precarious no doubt, but if I thought it was that dangerous I would have turned around and backtracked. Based on the tire tracks through that patch of snow/ice, we knew that others had recently made the trip, which gave us the confidence to push through. I was the second vehicle through. One of the guys made it through with minimal slippage in his Gladiator with Alucab camper.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 12: Stokes Castle to Walker Lake
Since we were camping at elevation, we had anticipated a cold night. But it turned out to be rather mild camping next to Stokes Castle. Since we'd rolled into Austin so late the previous day, we packed up camp and headed back into town to snap a few photos and videos. About 15 minutes later, we were back on the road again, this time following a dirt track through the mountains that would take us through another living ghost town, Ione. It's a bit strange. You see vehicles parked out and about and various other signs of life, but we never once saw a single resident, not even a pet dog or cat while driving down "main street".

Back on another stretch of dirt, the convoy began climbing a hill when we noticed a sign pointing to Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. I wasn't sure if I wanted to pay the entrance fee to the state park, but upon pulling up to the ranger kiosk, we could tell the old Berlin Ghost Town had numerous buildings, many in great shape. After seeing the state of the ghost town, we decided to pay the meager entrance fee of something like $8. We perused the hillside where a series of mostly restored buildings sat. Some in better shape than others, but the highlight was definitely the old mill which still houses the original mining equipment. While Nevada has long been famous for its silver production, it's also a major producer of gold, and gold ore was once plentiful in Berlin. After spending about half an hour wandering around the old town site, we decided to jump in our vehicles and head up the hill to check out the Ichthyosaur, which was housed in a giant hall. Unfortunately, no tours were scheduled and no one was staffing the exhibit hall. We were left snapping photos through a couple of windows. The ground here was once part of the sea bed, and the fossils of a giant marine dinosaur (Ichthyosaur) remain embedded within the exposed rock.

But the show must go on, so once again we were winding through the mountains on another dirt road. As we made our way back towards the greater Reno area, the track spit us out onto what I can only describe as a dirt highway. It was nearly 70' wide and seemed to be graded on a regular basis. We kicked it into high gear kicking up a massive dust plume behind our vehicles. About 100 yards off of the road, I could see a pair of horses slowly walking towards the road. I slowed down and that's when I noticed it was a mare and her foal. Given how skittish the horses had been around our vehicles, this mama horse didn't seem to mind us one bit. She calmly approached with the foal crossing the road in front of my vehicle about 25 yards away. I snapped a number of photos and videos of the beautiful chocolate-espresso pair. I'm sure by this time next year, the foal will be almost as big as his/her mama!

We begin getting closer to the highway, but it didn't seem like there were many great options for camping, so we pushed on. Shu checked ioverlander and suggested we head towards Walker Lake for camp. Now that we had a destination in mind, we picked up the pace intent reaching camp. As we climbed through a series of jagged hills and mountains, a massive mining operation came into view. It looked like it was still active, but a quick google search showed this mine had been inactive for a number of decades. Perhaps the owners are holding out hope that it would return to its hey day one day soon-- who knows! After striking out on a couple of dispersed camping areas along the Walker Lake Shore, we opted to take advantage of one of the developed campgrounds. We ended up finding a nice site that was big enough for our 4 vehicles, no neighbors, and a fantastic view overlooking Walker Lake. It was a relatively warm breezy night, featuring another sublime sunset.

Only one day left to go!


Beautiful church in Austin.


A colorful building that claimed to be "open", but that certainly wasn't the case.




The hill to Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park.


Berlin ghost town


The old mill in Berlin.


Exhibit hall showcasing the Ichthyosaur fossils within this ancient sea floor.


Shot of Scott's bronco on 40s, with what I believe is the Toiyabe range in the distance.


We passed this massive mine, which is no longer active but still well preserved.




Mare and foal.



Our one and only paid campsite on the trip!


The sunset was sublime.

 

[OTG Ben]

Day 13, Final day on the trail
Walker Lake to Gardernerville
Total Miles Traveled: 2,110

It's as if the God's had planned the sunrise, knowing this would be our final day on the trail. Looking at the map, we'd veered off the main track by a dozen or so mile's with our decision to camp at Walker Lake, but looking at what remained, at least the dirt segment, it would be an abbreviated day with less than 50 miles to explore. At this point, myself, Shu, Shierei, and Scott remained. Rolando had departed before we reached the Utah Border, and Pete had left a few days earlier, need to return to work. Since this was our last day together, we took our time packing up camp, especially since it was such a beautiful morning. The highway above us hummed with early morning traffic, which we'd soon join. We hit the highway south, making a quick stop in Hawthorne for fuel.

On dirt once again, the rugged snow capped peaks of the Basin and Range's most western mountains came into view. We were now exploring the Walker River watershed, with the old ghost town of Bodie just over the mountain. It's an area that's beautiful, with streams and rivers snaking through the sagebrush covered mountains along with the occasional poplar and aspen scattered about. There's some fantastic camping opportunities along the Walker, and it seems like the locals were taking advantage of the mild weather, as we passed many occupied campsites even though it was a weekday. It's definitely an area I'd like to go back and do a bit more exploring, especially with warmer temperatures.

After departing the Walker River behind, we did a brief stint on highway 395 that would take us to Hwy 89 via Monitor Pass towards Leviathan Mine. Since Scott hadn't joined the group until reaching Eureka, Utah, he opted to head north back to do a few days of exploring in the Jarbidge Range. It was now down to Shu, Shierei and myself.

We pushed on making our way around Monitor Pass which would bring us into the only portion of the trail that traverses California. The trails here were tighter, and a bit rockier. There were a few sections that even required 4-low, which is seldom required on the Great Basin Heritage Trail. As we worked our way around the mountain, we came to a well secured gate, apparently the road to the massive Leviathan Mine, which was the largest Sulphur producing mine in the US from 1953 to 1962.

Not far beyond the gate the road parallels a rugged canyon that was scorched by a wildfire. Looking at the underbrush, I'd guess that fire happened within the last 3-4 years, at the tail end of the massive drought that California was going through. The dirt finally met the pavement. We celebrated our accomplishment, giving each other high fives and taking a few selfies as tokens of the adventure. We aired up, continued along the pavement through Gardernerville and then over the Sierra to our homes in northern California.


Another beautiful, but our final sunrise in the Great Basin, at least on this trip.






East fork of the Walker River

Beautiful fall colors near the East Fork Walker.

Somewhere near Monitor Pass.


Almost there!


The Leviathan Mine was America's largest producer of sulphur for most of the 1950s and early 60s.


We'd eclipse 2110 miles as we made our way along the remaining bits of pavement.


Shu, Shierei and myself, celebrating our accomplishment. The only 3 to start and finish the GBHT!