overland

Trail Run: Black Rock Desert Adv Route Aug 10 - 15, 2022

OTG Ben

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Route: Black Rock Desert Adventure Route

Meeting Location: 9am on Thursday at Bruno's "Country Club" in the town of Gerlach.
445 Main St, Gerlach, NV 89412

Please make sure you fill up on fuel before arrving at the meeting location. We will depart at 9:30.

Communications:
Freq 462.550, GMRS channel 15

Ben's SpotX satellite communicator (can send + receive texts including lat/long): 254-460-2664

Fuel: Please top of your vehicle in town of Gerlach. There are no fuel stations along the entire route. You should be prepared to travel 250 miles off road until we reach Gerlach on our return south. It's recommended that you carry 5 gallons of extra fuel as a precaution.

Typical Day on the Trail w/ OTG:
We'll announce the departure time the night before, which will most likely be 9:30am (it's possible we may shoot for 9am the first day or two to avoid high temps in the desert). This means you should be fully packed up and ready to hit the trail at departure time. Please plan accordingly (our night owls are typically up until 11pm, this isn't a hard partying group).

Preparation: Expect high temps on day 1 while on the playa (80s - 100). We'll continue gaining elevation each day, so temps should be significantly lower by the time day 3 rolls around, and night time temps can drop into the 40s once we get into the mountains. Given the amount of time we'll be spending in the backcountry in the high desert, be sure to bring plenty of water(1.5 gallons per person per day) and food.

Camp Fires: Fires are currently permitted. If burning on the playa or sand dunes, fires must be contained so as not to scar the underlying surface.

Hot Springs: There's a good chance we'll stop at or camp near one of Black Rock's many hot springs. We recommend bringing your swimwear (or not!) and a towel to dry off.

Itinerary: We'll be running the Black Rock Adv Route in counter-clockwise direction. If you plan on arriving Thurs or Fri night, please post a reply so we know. I can send lat/long location out via text on my SpotX.

Weds Night Camp: I'll be camping in the viscinity of Frog Pond Hot Spings (about a 10-15 minute drive from Gerlach, south of Trego Hot springs). Planned arrival is likely after 9pm. So if you arrive before us, please send a text (you should be able to get reception out on the playa).

Thurs Night Camp: We'll be up in the viscinity of the Lassen-Clapper murder site (see your gpx file). If you plan to arrive on Thursday night, please text my SpotX while you're en route and I'll send back location.

Friday Night camp: We'll likely be in/around Soldier Meadows. There's a possibility we could be out by High Rock Lake, which isn't too far away. The gpx file contains a route upper soldier meadows road. This is the recommended route if you're arriving after sunset, as part of the playa is closed for Burning Man (still possible to get around, but not a good idea to go speeding across the playa at night!).

Sat Night Camp: TBD

Sunday Night camp: TBD

Black Rock Playa Closure
Please note, part of the playa is closed for the setup of Burning Man. Jungo Road that runs on the eastern side of the playa (near Trego Springs) and the county road on the western side will remain open. It's also possible to get around the closure on the playa as well.
 

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Clan.har-4455

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Ben,

Due to the uncertainty of the exact rout for the upcoming adventure rout and also due to some unplanned conflicts. I must withdraw from the event.

Thanks
Bill Hart
 

OTG Ben

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Thanks for the heads up @Clan.har-4455

Hopefully we can get you out on a future adventure. Wildfires and smoke seem to be the new normal when planning these mid to late summer trips now days.
 

OTG Ben

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we are on for

BLACK ROCK DESERT!

The original post has been updated with all of the deets! GPX coming soon (will also be posted to the original post).
 
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OTG Ben

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If you plan on arriving Friday night, you'll want to take Soldier Meadows Road all the way from Gerlach for nearly the entire way up to Friday's camp. Be sure to check in with me for exact location. DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS DIRECTIONS TO SOLDIER MEADOWS. You should follow the road on the western side of the playa (soldier meadows road) and should be able to travel at a decent rate of speed up most of this road. If you happen to be traveling during daylight, you can take one of the playa access points and hightail it across the playa at freeway speeds.

The arrow denotes the approximate location of Black Rock City for burning man (around 9000 acres around the center of BRC will be closed at this time).

1659934371119.png
 
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schultzp-8939

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If you plan on arriving Friday night, you'll want to take Soldier Meadows Road all the way from Gerlach for nearly the entire way up to Friday's camp. Be sure to check in with me for exact location. DO NOT FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS DIRECTIONS TO SOLDIER MEADOWS. Your right should follow the road on the western side of the playa (soldier meadows road). You should be able to travel at a decent rate of speed up most of this road.

The arrow denotes the approximate location of Black Rock City for burning man (around 9000 acres around the center of BRC will be closed at this time).

View attachment 871
Hi Ben -- since I'm coming early Friday morning, is there a good place to intercept you? Soldier Meadows and backtrack towards the Murder Site? Is there a shorter route to get to your Thursday night camp? ---- Andreas
 

OTG Ben

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@schultzp-8939 and those arriving on Thursday night or Friday AM. Please make sure you post your plans like Andres (schultzp-8939), and please send a text to my SpotX number so I know your approximate arrival time when you're on the way.

You'll want to follow the track up towards the Lassen-Clapper murder site. I don't know what our exact camp location will be for Thursday night, but I'm pegging it for somewhere not too far from that area. You can enter onto the playa at Trego Hot Springs (will show up on the map), but you also have the option of using one of the access points along Soldier Meadows road. Keep in mind about the temporary closure in place for burning man (see original post in this thread). You can certainly get around it, but if you shoot straight up the middle of the playa you may run into the perimeter fence that was recenty erected for the BM event.
 

schultzp-8939

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@schultzp-8939 and those arriving on Thursday night or Friday AM. Please make sure you post your plans like Andres (schultzp-8939), and please send a text to my SpotX number so I know your approximate arrival time when you're on the way.

You'll want to follow the track up towards the Lassen-Clapper murder site. I don't know what our exact camp location will be for Thursday night, but I'm pegging it for somewhere not too far from that area. You can enter onto the playa at Trego Hot Springs (will show up on the map), but you also have the option of using one of the access points along Soldier Meadows road. Keep in mind about the temporary closure in place for burning man (see original post in this thread). You can certainly get around it, but if you shoot straight up the middle of the playa you may run into the perimeter fence that was recenty erected for the BM event.
Hi Ben -- cool. Thanks. My SMS number for my Zoleo is (201) 831-7903. -- Andreas
 

bayrunner

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I'm planning on arriving tomorrow (Wed.) evening. @Ben I'll text you my ETA once I'm underway. Looking forward to it!
 

OTG Ben

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I won't be there until after 9pm most likely. My rig is hard to miss though :p

1660153072682.png
 

bayrunner

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unless I’m missing something it looks like Lower Frog Springs is on private property with a “no trespassing sign”. I found a place a few hundred yards north East’s of Frog Springs I’ll wait for you and we can decide. Here are my coordinates: 40.74753. -119.16856
 

OTG Ben

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ben will be at the meeting spot in Gerlach at 9am - the rest of the group is still camped out Trego springs.
 

OTG Ben

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Big thank you to everyone who made it out! What an epic trip! I'll be posting a trip report in the next week or so with the best photos and vidz (youtube video coming in the next 4-8 weeks) as well. In the meantime, you can check out the photos and drone vidz below. If you'd like to add photos to my google photos album, let me know and I can invite you!

An extra big thanks to @Emilio and Bobbie for lunch at Bruno's Country Club!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/c8AjVFVMqBRjBXzA8

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=kZdsbYVZWEOTLJdtXPmqL4mwj2rdlplzENn7
 

CAchief

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San Luis Obispo, CA
Looks like you guys had a lot more fun than that Mazda!

Trip has a little bit of everything: Trains, wild horses, water crossings, playas ... I hope to get out there sometime, bummed I missed it! Thanks for the photos, looking forward to the video guide.
 

schultzp-8939

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Great pictures, Ben. Unfortunately I took very few pictures. I missed the first day with you guys, but I think that climb to the 1500 ft overlook is a MUST HAVE for your upcoming tour. I would consider it a definite highlight, especially if you went clockwise, included the upper section of the clockwise loop that we talked about, and wrapped up the tour with that vista on the last day. Super cool!
 

Emilio and Bobbie

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Ben, I agree with Andreas, great pictures and the climb to the overlook is a must. Please do send the link for us to add our photos. We'll also have some GoPro video, how do we get it to you.
 
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