Adventure Is Out There! - 1500 Miles of Desert Fun. Mines, Hot Springs Etc.

Day- 8 Continued from above....

We stopped up on top to grab something to eat.






While we were sitting there eating lunch Alan asks Craig "What kind of souvenir is that you picked up" Craig decided not to keep it. Lol.




We started working our way back down to the lake bed through another canyon when we came across this cool rock formation.










Craig had to ride back up and try it again.




Just a little further down the canyon we came across these old school buses. By the looks of them they may have been used as camps or ??




OK...Everyone in the school bus for a picture.




Alan checking the bus out.




Taking one of the buses for a spin :-)




After checking out the buses we were back on the trail again. Hmmm...that looks like some sort of natural cave in the distance.






Better go check it out. Standing in the mouth of the overhang.




In the back of the overhang there is a little lava tube that you can crawl back into. Hmmmm.....




Some of the lava around the cave had cooled to a wild texture, this almost looked like coral.




Craig standing in the entrance.




And checking out some more lava formations.




Alan and Mark showed up so we yelled down to them to bring up a flashlight so we could check out the lava tube passage. Here Alan is grinding his way up to the cave.




And into the tube we go.




It was HUGE once you got inside. There was an old wooden ladder that would take you up over a rock formation and then the cave kept going. Unfortunately it smelled like bat urine so bad inside that you about gagged. We didn't spend much more time inside exploring.




Back outside again we walked around a bit checking out the cool lava flows ect. There were a couple more smaller entrances to yet another cave and someone had taken the time to stack a little rock wall around them. Hmmm....




The lava flow on this section looked like it had scales.






Back on the trail again...lots of wide open nothing. I LOVE IT!!




The trail started following some power lines, it was a fast section and we were hauling the mail. Fun Stuff! Here Craig is catching some air over a roller.




Soon we came to one of the many closed gates on the trip. Usually they just have a sign on them saying to please close the gate after you pass. Here Craig got off his bike to open the gate and found some old horse bones laying about in the brush.




We were sitting there and I thought, hey that could be the original Adventure Rider neck brace. We decided that we better try it on for size.

Mark in his "Modern" neck brace.




And with the robust cave man neck brace on. The fit is great! Look for a full review of the "Strong as a Horse" neck brace in the future from Mark. LOL






Craig hung he bones up on the barbed wire fence so other riders could see it better and wouldn't plow into it at high speed.




Soon we arrived back in Gerlach NV for fuel. We topped off here grabbed a bite to eat again at Bruno's and headed to Trego Hot Springs for the night. The wind had kicked up and there was a sand storm brewing out on the playa.

Bike took: 2.833 Gallons
Total Miles: 1238.0




We soon arrived at Trego Hot Springs and got camp set up for the night. Hot Springs here we come!




It was windy and dusty out on the playa. Here Alan is playing with his sleeping bag wind sock.




Couple shots of camp for the night....home sweet home.






With all the dust in the air the goggles helped to get camp set up without getting a bunch of crap in your eyes.




This sign is posted next to the springs.




The Hot springs. The spring is made from a ditch that the railroad dug to get the hot spring away from the tracks that run right along side the springs.




And the source of the hot springs. This spring is pretty weird, the hot and warm water don't want to mix so you get about a inch of the top water that is boiling hot and the rest under it is warm. It feels great as long as you keep slightly moving to keep the hot water stirred up, if you stop moving for a minute it gets VERY hot quick.




Train passing by the springs.




We all headed into the springs for a soak. Felt great!




People have taken the mud from the hot springs and made faces along the banks.




Alan decided people pay really good money back in the city to get a mud treatment so he'd try it out for free while we were here.










Just playing around with the camera a bit..






And a nice camp fire to finish off an amazing day.




Total Miles so far: 1261

Lots more to come!

Hodakaguy

6-3-10....Day 9


We woke up at Trego Hot Springs and started the morning ritual of packing the gear up. We are going to head into Gerlach and get breakfast before heading north again.

Alan found this living under his tent when he went to fold it up.






Gerlach off in the distance. If you look close you can see a bunch of 42" pre-coated pipe being stacked on the Playa.




Another close up shot of the pipe.






After eating breakfast one more time at Bruno's we topped the bikes off again and headed north across the Black Rock Desert.

Bike took: .961 Gallons
Total Miles: 1280

On the Black Rock, this Playa is HUGE!




Had to stop and take a few pictures out on the playa.








A few stills from the Helmet Cam out on the Black Rock.










On the other side of the Black Rock we came across this great Hot Spring. A little hot for soaking!




We stopped for a few minutes to check it out. Here's a sign at the hot springs.




And a few shots of the spring itself.








Around the other side of the spring was a soaking tub that someone had set up. You could regulate the temperature of the water with the pipes. Nice!






After leaving the springs we followed a set of tracks that would take us back up into the mountains, unfortunately after grinding up a long rocky mining road we came to a freshly staked Wilderness Area sign. No motor vehicles! Dang!!

Here we are sitting at the sign, planted right in the middle of the road. What does it hurt to follow this road? It's in the middle of know where!




We turned around and headed back down the rocky mining road to the valley below.




After reaching the bottom we headed for Soldier Meadows to pick up a little fuel before heading back up into the mountains again. The weather is a lot better than when we first came through here.




This is Cathy, the owner of Soldier Meadows. We asked about getting some fuel but she said their meter was broken and she wasn't sure if we could get any fuel. Luckily their ranch hand said they had a system in place to measure the fuel so we would be able to fill up. $7.50 per gallon....cheap when your out in the middle of know where!




We headed over to the fuel tanks to get some fuel. He had a funnel and a 1 gallon cider jug for measuring. Pretty reliable and accurate!








We all took 1 gallon of fuel figuring that would be enough to get us to Denio where we can re-fuel again. After getting the fuel we checked out the original Soldier Meadows Army Building. This building was built in 1865 and is still standing! Very Cool!








And a few shots of the inside.






I thought this window sill was interesting, must have been made this way to let maximum light in.




After leaving Soldier Meadows we were quickly back up in the mountains again. Beautiful country!




Mark heading down a trail.




A small cabin up in the mountains. This one had a No-trespassing sign so we just took pictures from a distance.




Soon we were up on a ridge and stopped for a few minutes, that's when we noticed Mark was missing..Hmmmmmm. I decided to head back to see if something was wrong. As I was heading down the valley I noticed his bike laying on it's side near the trail, although I didn't see Mark. When I pulled up to his bike I noticed Mark was laying under the bike, not hurt but couldn't get out from under the bike. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes. Then I asked if the bike was hurting him being on top of him? He said nope. I then said great, I'll get some pics before getting the bike off you. :-)






Fuel was running out of Mark's vent line on the tank so while he was waiting for us to return he plugged it with a couple roots. Did the trick!




I took a shot of my bike while we were there also.




Antelope




An endless playground.




A couple more cabin remains






Great two track. The scenery up in these mountains was amazing!




Craig out having some fun.




Soon we reached the abandoned bulldozer. The view from the top of this mountain is incredible!




Mark up on top.




More dry lake beds off in the distance. Soooooo much cool country to explore here!




Group shot on the Dozer.




Looking over the nose of the dozer, the view the operator had when it came to a stop to forever rest in this spot.




Zoomed in




Uh oh. Weather closing in fast! I was going to take a Panorama shot from this spot but we decided that being on the top of this mountain wasn't the brightest idea in the middle of a storm. We headed back down the mountain and towards Denio Again.




We had planned on finding the B24 Liberator after checking out the Dozer then working our way up to the Alvord Hot Springs for the night. Unfortunately a solid rain storm moved in and wasn't going to let up any time soon. We rode the next 50 miles in the rain to get to Fields OR where we had parked our trucks. With the rain socked in we decided to load up the bikes and call it a trip, we were wet, tired and no one wanted to set our tents up again in the rain. We would grab a famous fields burger and hit the road.

The B24 escaped me yet again...Grrrrrr. I will be back to find it though!

Loading the bikes up at Fields.






Well the kitchen at Fields was closed for the night so we settled for some chips, soda pop and a little Jerky. Mark headed back to CA and we headed back to WA. We arrived home about 2:30am. It rained the whole way home!

Total Miles: 1491
HRS on bike: 111.3

We all had a great time, Can't wait to see where our next adventure will take us!

Hodakaguy

Thanks for the outstanding report Tom!

Well written and very well documented.

Very nicely done.

Tom, great report thanks for the ride. I really appreciate all your efforts, would have never done these adventures with out you. This is adventure number two with you, they have both exceeded my expectations in every way, Thank you for all you do. Allen

Thanks for taking us all along! Your ride reports are outstanding

Outstanding!

that is great!

a couple of those helmet cam shots while riding were cool, kind of a fish eye effect.

Thanks for the great work on this ride report Tom, it was like we were all there with you guys. Can't wait to see the videos you put together.

All I can say is WOW! I am super jealous. That was a great report, and it looks like a way better ride. I would love to be able to come and join you when you venture off again in search of the elusive B-24. I'm looking forward to more, if there is any.

Starting to go through the Helmet Cam footage from the trip. Here's the first video with pics and helmet cam footage mixed in.

Make sure and select HD for best picture..



Hodakaguy

Oh yes, I like it, brings back memories. Good choice of music. Have already watched the video three times and made anybody that comes to the house watch it too. We need to go again, soon.

That vid was bad ass.

Kind of like the dual sport time machine! Awesome effort, tunes and composition!

Mark

Wow. Great report and nice job on the vid and pics.

I like how you guys stop and explore whatever you think is worthy.

I've 4wheeled in the gumbo mud on the "roads" down in that area; it's squirrely in 4wheel drive, I'd imagine it can be quite a handful in one wheel drive.

Awesome. Awesome, Awesome! I have no idea how you put these rides together. How the heck do you know where you are going or even if you can get through certain areas? Just amazing work! The music on the vid is great too!

Relaytech wrote:

Awesome. Awesome, Awesome! I have no idea how you put these rides together. How the heck do you know where you are going or even if you can get through certain areas? Just amazing work! The music on the vid is great too!

LOTS AND LOTS of time working with the garmin map software, paper maps and gathering as many tracks from other advriders as possible. I had hrs into setting up the tracks for the trip, it all pays off though when your out on the trail

You have that Beta all ready to go?

Hodakaguy

Tom. i have watched this video 6 or 7 times now. lets go back there in October and make a new one.