Hodakaguy's Motorcycle Adventures - Adventure is out there!

[hodakaguy]

Thought I would start a blog where I will post my past and present motorcycle trips in words and pictures. I'll start off with my most current adventure, our trip through NV.

This is our 1500 Mile off road adventure through the outbacks of NV that we rode last summer. Words and pictures will fail to capture the beauty of the NV landscape through which we passed, but I'll do what I can with the pictures we took along the way.

First a little history....We decided to ride NV after riding 1100 Miles of Oregon's deserts last year Last year we made it down to the NV boarder and turned north again, before finding the crashed B24 Liberator that rests in the mountains above Denio NV. At that point we decided we would return this summer to find the bomber and then continue south to explore the deserts of NV. Our planned route would take us from Fields OR, around Reno, into Death Valley then back to Fields Again.

This year we would have 4 riders on the trip, three of us returning from last years trip and one new rider that I met. After a lot of planning, phone calls and prepping the bikes we set out for Adventure!

Start: Hrs on Bike (Hodakaguy's bike): 65.5 hrs.

I'll kick it off with a picture of our tracks from the trip.




The Riders:

Tom - AKA: "Hodakaguy". Riding a KTM 530EXC

Alan - AKA: "Mamacone". Riding a Honda XR650R

Craig - AKA: "Craig2211". Riding a KTM 530 EXC

Mark - AKA: "Catsailor". Riding a Honda XR650R



We left the house at 3am and headed towards Fields OR. Mark would be leaving at the same time in CA to meet us at Fields around noon. Our plans for the first day was to unload the bikes, head south to find the bomber then stay at Bog Hot Springs for the night.

Here's a shot of the bikes loaded in the truck. It was raining a good chunk of the way to Fields. The bikes look so clean in this pic now!




We arrived at Fields Station at 12:20pm. Mark was waiting for us so we all got busy unloading bikes and getting our gear on. The weather was dry for the moment but the clouds in the distance told us rain was on it's way. The owner of the station let us park our trucks out back for the 8 days we would be gone, free of charge! Real nice people.




The bikes all packed up and ready to ride.




We left Fields and headed south to find the bomber. We stopped at Denio Junction and Alan topped off his tank, the rest of the bikes were pretty much full. While we were there it started pouring rain so we all got out the rain gear and weather proof gloves.




It started raining pretty good by the time we were ready to leave. We headed out in the rain to find the B24 Liberator.




We started up the dirt road that would eventually lead us to the bomber although the rain was making this road a tricky one. The dirt was turning into the constancy of a well greased baking pan. The tires would pack up with a clay like dirt and you would slip and slide all over the trail. Mark got a little sideways on a hill so while we was getting his bike straitened out Craig and I checked out a mine off the side of the road.






Since the trail was so slick we decided to skip the bomber and check it out on the way back when the weather would be more favorable. This decision put us ahead of schedule though and it was still to early in the day to stop at Bog Hot Springs like we had planned. We decided to continue south to Soldier Meadows Hot Springs and camp there for the night.


Along the way to Soldier Meadows we spotted this group of wild burros. We would see several packs of wild burros on the trip.




The views were both amazing and endless!




We stopped along the trail to check out this natural rock formation up on the hillside. It looked like something strait out of a Dr. Seuss book. Very cool.




Alan in his Frog Toggs. With the Flight Vest that he was wearing he looked like a genuine swat team member. No one would mess with us as long as Alan was wearing this setup .




Since the weather was crappy and it was already getting late (we had been on the road since 3am) we decided to take the lower roads to Soldier Meadows and play in the hills above on the return trip north.

We arrived at Soldier Meadows for the night and stopped in to the ranch to pay for using the Hot Springs. I had emailed Cathy (the owner of the ranch) about a week before the trip to see if they had fuel and to find out what the fee was to use the hot springs on their property. She said fuel was available and it was $10 per person to use the springs, sounded great to us! We paid for the springs and decided to get fuel in the morning since they were right in the middle of cooking dinner when we stopped by.

The forecast was looking like more rain for the night so Craig and I decided to use the Noah's Tarp that we brought along as extra rain protection.




You can see the storm already moving into the area.




Alan and Marks Camp.




After setting up the tents we ate dinner and headed for the hot springs for a soak.




Craig heading to the Hot Springs. This picture was taken from the spring looking back towards camp.




Here's a shot of the larger of the two Hot Springs at Soldier Meadows, and the one we camped at. The springs is actually warm, not hot....about body temp. The thick mud on the bottom is HOT! just under the surface. You can regulate the temp on your feet by how deep you dig into the mud. The weather was moving in and by the time we got out of the spring we had a COLD! run back to the tent to get warm again.




Panoramic Shot of the Soldier Meadows Springs




That's it for day one. The rainy weather kept me from taking as many pictures as I would have liked.

LOTS! more pics to come!

End of day one:

Total Trip Miles: 105 Miles
Hrs on bike: forgot to write it down...Dohhhh!


Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

5-27-10.....Day 2

We were up at 5:30am at Soldier Meadows. When I woke up I heard Craig already outside his tent so I asked what the weather looked like, he said it was about to dump on us any minute so that started a scramble to get the tents/gear packed up before the rain hit. We were just finishing up when the rain started to hit.

Since we didn't fill up the night before we were headed back to Soldier Meadows Ranch first thing this am to get fuel, then we would point the bikes south again. When we arrived at the ranch it started to snow, pretty soon it was snowing hard with some of the biggest flakes I've ever seen. We asked about fuel but they were already getting going on breakfast and said it would be after breakfast before we could top up. We were reluctant to go inside with out wet muddy gear on and standing in the snow didn't sound to appealing either so we looked at our fuel and decided we had enough to make it to Gerlach NV. We were on our way again!

Here's a picture taken at Soldier Meadows Ranch, the pictures really failed to capture the snow coming down.



Another shot looking south from the ranch.





Another shot of the snow coming down.




This home brew 6 wheel drive jeep was parked at the ranch, very cool!




The Snow made seeing out of the goggles a lot of fun :huh, I was carrying anti-fog and rain-X that helped some but it was nice when the snow finally stopped south of Soldier Meadows.

There was a lot of snow up in the higher elevations so again we stuck to the lower tracks and would hit the upper tracks on the way back.

Here we stopped along the road to check out this license plate art exhibit.



Here I'm holding a CA license plate....Destination CA Baby!



Snow from the night before up in the mountains.




Here we are looking at the Black Rock Desert Playa. This baby is HUGE! It looked a little dark/damp with all the rain we've been having so we didn't venture out on the playa just yet....but we will!




About 5 miles from the gas station in Gerlach NV Mark's BRP ran out of fuel and he coasted to the side of the road. We went back and helped him lay the bike on its side to get the last remaining fuel over to one side so the petcock would again pick it up. After standing the bike back up Mark realized that he was still on main and hadn't switched over to reserve yet :baldy All was good and we stopped into Gerlach for fuel.

Total miles so far: 171 miles. Gallons to fill: 3.80 gallons.


While we were at the fuel station the owner said that the local restaurant Bruno's had excellent food and raises their own pigs for sausage and bacon. Sounded great to us so off to Bruno's we went. The food was excellent, just what we needed for a long days adventure ride.




After leaving Bruno's we headed into the mountains for some Beautiful riding! The first part of the trail was slick clay again and made the riding a little on exciting side. Here Marks bike decided it didn't like the trail and it wanted to blaze it's own. We stopped here for a few minutes to point it in the right direction again and to soak in the view.

I have LOTS of HD helmet cam footage from the trip, after the ride report is done I'll go through it and start getting some of it posted up as well.




Taken from the same spot looking back.




Mud packing up on the bike, I wonder how many pounds of mud we were carrying? Hmmm.... I did scrape the mud out of the fenders several times throughout the trip, Didn't want the fender snapping off do to the weight of the mud.






And a Panorama Shot




So I started filming with the helmet cam and decided to drop to the back of the pack. We were hauling up this sweet trail when we come across a natural spring. There is a muddy bank climbing up out of the spring that didn't look to challenging, Mark was in front of me and went right up it, I picked a line (a bad one :deal) about a foot to the right of Mark's and the rear of the bike came to a halt immediately! I stalled the motor so I re-started it and tried again...nope! Wouldn't even turn the wheel, just bog the engine down and kill it. I hopped off the bike and it stayed upright on it's own. Instead of trying to wrestle it by myself I took my gear off and relaxed while I waited for someone to return.






After a while Craig returned and we set about freeing my bike from it's mud captor. We ended up having to lay the bike over on it's left side and drag it sideways out of the hole. A foot to the left and we had plenty of traction to start it and get it up the hill. Lots-O-Mud!




After some more amazingly beautiful mountains we headed back into the valley again. We were hauling along when Craig came to a sudden stop...what's this??




What appeared to be a full can of beer ended up being a unopened empty can, it had a small hole it in. Oh well, it wasn't very cold anyways.




Mark cresting some single track.....hey wait a minute, why is he off the bike There is a LOT of cool single track out here in the middle of know where, Very Cool!




Looks like more rain may be in store.




Craig riding the single track.




Wide Open Country! If you look close you can see Alan in this picture.




Another wide open shot.




This shot was taken at the top of the hill, where I took the above two shots.




Panorama shot of the above stop.




We headed south again until we came to an abandoned mine to check out, there are mines EVERYWHERE in NV. I had all the mines plotted along our trail just in case we wanted to stop and check them out, all 970 of them!, and those were just the ones right along our tracks!!

Here we stopped to check out the mine.




A collapsed audit.




Cool desert flowers at the mine site.




A shot of my ugly mug checking out the cabin ruins at the mine site.




Always fun looking at the rock structure where the miners were working.




Another shot of the cabin remains.




Wooden Dowels used to support the door frame of the cabin.




After following our tracks south for a while more we noticed a overhang up on a hillside. We rode up their to check it out. :thumb




Alan rode right up into the overhang, not knowing how much room was up there the rest of us decided to park at the bottom and hike the rest of the way up.




Craig shadowed in the entrance. I'm sure Indians used this place way back in the day.




The bikes parked below, Cool valley in the background.




Checking out the rock formations.




Mark checking out the view.




We left the Overhang and headed south again. Here's a shot of Alan cruising down the dirt highway.




Back at Bruno's in Gerlach I overheard the waitress telling a customer about the white flowers that were now in bloom. She said something about them being a rare site and only blooming once every 10 years or so. Not sure if it was true or not but I stopped along the trail to take a few pics of them anyways.






It was starting to get time to call it a day, we've had a great day of riding so far. Since our gear was somewhat wet still and everyone was getting tired we decided to head into Reno and get a hotel for the night. We rolled into Reno and started looking for a place. Requirements: Must have a ground floor door so we can slip the bikes into the rooms, don't want to wake up to a missing bike!

I looked on the GPS and we started searching for a place to stay. The GPS took us into a really bad part of town, not only would I not leave my bike outside but I questioned the safely of the bike and us inside the rooms as well. I typed another hotel into the GPS and we headed off down the highway a few miles to check it out. Bingo!

We checked into the hotel for the night, let the bikes run the fuel out of the float bowls then walked across the parking lot to Denney's and had Dinner. When we got back the bikes were cool and when no one was watching we pushed the bikes into the room. It felt great to wash cloths for the night and get cleaned up. All ready for tomorrows adventures!

Here's a shot of the KTM's all tucked in for the night.




And the cloths/Gear drying out for tomorrows adventure.




Total miles so far: 299
Hrs on bike: 74.0


LOTS more to come!

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

5-28-10....Day 3


Filled fuel in Reno.
Miles 309
Gallons: 3.36


We woke up early, pushed the bikes out and loaded them up then headed to Denney's for Breakfast.




A shot taken from the restaurant.




We fuel up and headed into the mountains south of Reno. The air was crisp and we were ready for adventure.






Alan and Mark descending a rocky hill.




Another couple snow shots taken up on top.






After some great riding we dropped back down out of the mountains and into a rocky canyon.




My Yellow Balaclava.




This Canyon was a blast!




Taken at the bottom of the canyon.




Hmmm...whats this out in the distance?




Well a 12 power zoom shows us this off in the Distance. It's the remains of the old Comstock Merger Mill, or the American Flats Mill. The Mill was a Cyanide Mill built to process gold and silver from the Comstock Load. It was built in 1920 and was shut down in 1926. For a while it was the largest concrete structure in the world. We didn't see any no trespassing signs so we stopped by to take some pictures.




Craig taking a cruise through the Mill. To bad the taggers have been so active here, there is a lot of history in this mill.




We parked the bikes and took a quick look around.






There are several underground tunnels that run beneath the main Mill site. Here Mark is checking one out.




While we were there we ran into this group of High School students who were skipping school to play paint ball for the day. They were from the nearby city of Carson City.




Looking down into the main mill site. It goes down several levels.




Looks like this old elevator shaft has been used as a chimney for a LONG time. LOTS of party's have taken place here.




Looking back up.




Tunnels beneath the main floor.








Another part of the mill.




The foundations for the cyanide tanks.





Taken on the way out of the mill site.




After checking out the mill we headed into Virginia City to get something to eat and fuel up the bikes.

Took this picture of this modern mill on the way into town.




The Historic town of Virginia City NV. This town has so much history in it, I'm going to have to return here some day when I have time to check everything out.




We had lunch at this great BBQ place, The food was Awesome! :thumb




Craig enjoying his BBQ Sandwich.




After lunch we fuel up again, earlier in the trip I was joking to mark about filling his bike up with Diesel to give it some extra kick...well at this station the Diesel nozzle wasn't colored green and Mark accidentally topped his BRP off with 1.5 gallons of #2 Diesel! We all got a pretty good laugh over that one, his bike smoked a little after that and smelled like diesel but it still ran great. Oh well, the top end was plenty lubed anyways.

Miles: 336
Gallons: .8

After leaving Virginia City we headed south again. Our tracks would take us along an abandoned railroad for a ways....only problem is once we got to the tracks they have been returned to service for a scenic touring train. Hmmm...... Going to have to bypass this section.

I found this Ford Mustang emblem on the trail up out of the Virginia Hills area. Sweet!




We scouted a way around the defunk tracks and after a few wrong turns we were headed south again.




We didn't make it to far out of town when we stopped to chat for a minute. When I took off the rear of my bike felt really loose. I stopped and looked down and.....Yep. Flat! :baldy

The Ol Nail in the tire routine.




Luckily when I stopped and noticed the flat there was a board along side the trail that would work just perfect for a tire lift.




One thing great about being the guy with the camera is you can get your friends to work on your tire while you are taking the pics :evil








After about 20 minutes the tire was patched and we were back on the trail. It was starting to get late and we were wanting to make it to a hot springs for the night. We plotted one out on the GPS that we could make and headed out.

Here we arrived at the Hot Spring to find it on private property and a big No-Trespassing sign on the fence. Hmmmm. The wind was blowing at a pretty good clip and the air had a certain nip to it, we talked it over and decided to head to Yerington NV to get another hotel for the night.





We made it to the hotel and got the rooms. There was a race getting ready to start and the hotel was packed with Baja trucks. Lot's of money in this parking lot!






The bikes all snug for the night




Mark's and Alan's piggys were smelling a bit like gas tonight so they were plugging all the holes in the bike they could find. We got several good laughs over that one.




The BRP Beverage Dispenser.




Another great day on the trail!

Total miles so far: 425 Miles
Hrs on Bike: 78.8


LOTS more to come.

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

5-29-10...Day 4

We woke up early, loaded the bikes and headed out. We filled up in Yerington:
Bike took: 1.99 gallons
Total Miles: 425

We hit dirt again shortly out of Yerington. A ways out of Yerington we came across the Flying "M" Ranch. This ranch has a 5500' x 50' paved runway!

Aviation Adventurer Steve Fossett took off from this airport on September 3, 2007 and disappeared in his Super Decathlon. They staged the search out of this airport, but he wasn't found until a hiker found his ID card in the Sierra Mountains on September 29, 2008.




Mark riding his XRR.




Stopping for a snack and soaking in the view!




Mark got a little stuck in this snow drift...it was deep. He hopped off, grabbed the bull by the horns and had it out in no time.






We had to ride around a couple snow banks that hadn't melted yet.




Alan resting on his pig.




We headed into Hawthorne NV to get some food and fuel. We ate at Maggies, made a few calls home and were back on the road.

Gallons: 1.56
Miles: 499




This canyon was a blast. Here we stopped to shed some of our winter gear...starting to warm up the farther we get south.




Alan and Mark coming down the trail.




This was a common sight along the trip. There isn't a hill in NV without a hole drilled in it. I love exploring mines but in the interest of time we only stopped at mines that had some kind of structures left, equipment etc.




Next we came to the old mining town (ghost town) of Marietta. Marietta was established in 1867 and originally salt was mined here. Then later in 1872 Francis Smith discovered Borax here and this became the center of the worlds borax market. The mining camp of Marietta became an official town in 1877 that had 150 residents. They had a post office, a store and 13 saloons. Smith established Teel's Marsh Borax Company, that later became the Pacific Borax Salt & Soda Company. Borax was mined here until 1890 when richer deposits were found in Death Valley and the town was soon abandoned. (Information taken from the book "Nevada Trails, Western region")




The workmanship of the stones is amazing. I can't imagine how much effort that took back in the 1800's.




Another decaying structure in Marietta.




Inside between the two big walls.








What's left of the old horse stables.




I feel lucky to get to see what's left of these structures while they are still here. I would love to see some pictures of this town back in it's glory days.






Up above the building relics there are several abandoned mines visible up on the hillside. Alan, Mark and I decided a little side trip was in Order. Off we go. :thumb





This was the first mine we arrived at. It had several old relics to explore.




This was the winch shack. It had a winch mounted inside that would pull the ore up out of the mine.




Another angle of the Winch Shack.




And the concrete winch mounting pad inside the shack.




What's left of the head frame. The winch cable would run up over this structure and then down into the mine.




Here is the mine audit. It's a vertical shaft...I wonder how deep it is?




I held the camera out over the hole for a look inside. Anyone what to test that old wooden ladder? Can you say Dry Rot?




They used a narrow gauge rail system to bring the tailings out in ore carts.




Close up of a piece of narrow gauge track that still remains.




A picture of the tailing pile.




Looking back down on the old town site of Marietta.




Another audit on the other side of the hill, we didn't hike over to this one.




After checking out this mine Mark headed back down and Alan and I took one more side trip to another mine.




Although the pics don't look it this road was steep and very rocky!







A few hard rock mines to check out here. Not a lot of mining relics here though.




Inside one of the mines.




Alan heading inside for a look.




Great Views!




If you look closely you can see the remains of a early airstrip. The frame work for the windsock is still down there!




Alan and I headed back down. One the way we noticed the town cemetery and stopped by for a look.






And someone was recently buried here as well!






These little guys were everywhere. I took this picture at the cemetery.




We left Marietta and soon came to the old mining ghost town of Belleville.




Here are a few pics of the old Belleville town site.






These are the rock walls that remain of the old Mill site.




Remains of a cabin.




Part of the old dump site.




Another rock wall. The effort to build all this back in the 1800's must have been incredible!





Not a lot of metal remains at the site. This piece was one of the few pieces around.




After leaving Belleville we headed south again. We rode a really rocky section for a good stretch and stopped for a break at the end of the trail. While everyone was resting I couldn't help but check out a couple more mines on the hillside above us




No way I'm going to enter this one! Yikes. A picture from the front of the audit will have to do.




Looking back out in the direction we just came from.




Heading out again. Lot's of rocks! Had to do a little boon docking here, the trail just disappeared into the scrub.




Back on a rocky power line road.




Soon came to another old mining ghost town, this town was called Columbus. Columbus was initially settled in 1865 when a quartz mill was erected here. In 1871 William Troop discovered Borax in the area and soon there were 4 Borax companies operating in the region. in 1875 Columbus reached it's peak with it's population at 1000 people! It had a post office and a newspaper, "The Borax Miner". By 1881 Borax production had drastically declined and only 100 people remained in the town. (Information taken from the book "Nevada Trails, Western region")






The construction of this building was wild. The entire structure was built using boxed structures.






Inside another building.




Just outside the building was a open pit. These mines were everywhere in this area, some were fenced and some weren't. Be careful exploring here!




Craig off to check out the Columbus cemetery.






Checking out the cemetery. There were a lot of graves here, but with 1000 people in this town back in it's heyday I guess that's to be expected. The crosses were still standing proud but the paint they were painted with had long since pealed away. The people here are forever lost in time.




We left Columbus and headed south again. Soon we were hauling across another dry lake bed, this one had lots of Salt! The tires made a weird howling sound while flying across the salt.




Mark heading across the lake road.




Another shot of the lake bed.




There was suppose to be a fuel station at the other end of this lake bed....Nope! Nothing but wide open desert. We looked at our maps and weighed our options. It was getting late in the day at this point so we decided to head to Tonopah NV for the night.

Home sweet home for the night in Tonopah.




Mark performing the ritual of letting the bike run the carb bowl dry before bringing it inside for the night.




The bikes all tucked in for the night. We grabbed some food at the worst McDonald's that I've ever eaten at and hit the sack. I was going to change filter skins tonight but I get up early every morning so I'll just do it then.



Awesome day of exploring today!

Total miles so far: 622
Hrs on bike: 84.9


LOTS more to come!

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

5-30-10....Day 5


I was up early and needed to get the filter skin changed out on my bike, the weather was great so I pushed the bike back outside and went to work.




New filter skin installed, chain slack checked and gave the bike a good once over for loose bolts ect. Everything looks good! Just a note on the filter skins...they work GREAT! Did the whole trip on just one filter, changing out skins when needed (I carried 7 pre-oiled skins rolled up and sealed in a ziplock bag). Each time I removed the skin the filter itself looked perfect so I just installed a new skin, added a tad more grease to the rim of the filter and sealed it back up. Way easier than carrying a bunch of filters!




We loaded up the bikes, put on our gear and headed out to get breakfast before hitting the trail.....Well that's how it was suppose to go anyways. Mark's BRP started up, then died again and wouldn't re-start. After Mark got exhausted from kicking I gave it a try. Craig is still optimistic that we will be leaving soon and remained in his full moto gear at this point.




Ok...I can't kick any longer. Alan, your up! Alan kicked like crazy for a while but still nothing. I think it's time to pull the tank and see what's going on.




We decided to check the carb to see if something is plugging the jets or ??? While we stayed to work on the bike (and photograph the progress :evil ) Craig headed back into town to the worlds crappiest McDonald's to get a few Egg McMuffins so we could save time eating and get back on the trail sooner.




Our tracks will take us out of town on a road behind this hill, once the BRP is sucking fuel again.




Mark re-installing the carb. Everything looked to be in good cond. We decided to pull the plug and check it out, the diesel that Mark accidentally filled with back in Virginia City may have fouled it out. The plug looked brown and in good cond but we changed it out for a new one anyways, can't hurt.




The plug did the trick :clap With the BRP up and running again and everyone full from the crappy McDonald's we hit the trail again. We fueled up at a local station and met a group of about 30 dual sport riders that were out for a two day ride.

Bike took: 2.859 Gallons
Total Miles: 623

After chatting with them for a few minutes we headed out of town. When we rounded the hill (the one mentioned above taken from the parking lot) there was a HUGE old mining dump site that the road cut through. It looks like the miners had been using that back side of the hill for a dump since the 1800's. Thousands of cans and metal bits littered the ground in every direction. There were numerous vehicles parked and people with shovels digging and sifting the dirt, I presume looking for old relics thrown away by the early miners that might hold some kind of collector value today...such as old medicine bottles ect. There was one guy that had a mini walk behind excavator and a gas powered shaker table mounted to a double axle car hauler trailer! Serious stuff. I really should have stopped and taken a few pictures of everyone searching through the dump but we were anxious to make ground and just glanced as we flew by.

This is the road out of Tonopah, the dump site is at the base of the hill in the top of the picture.




Alan cruising down the road.




We passed this large open pit mine and stopped for a few minutes to take a look. There is a building and an abandoned cement truck up on the hill that we didn't check out.




Taken along a sandy portion of the road, skirting a large dry lake bed.




Here we started seeing the first of the Joshua trees. Very cool!



Craig and I decided to walk over and check out one of the tree's. On the way we spotted a UFO! Oh, that's just the cow pie that Craig chucked towards Alan




Craig posing with the tree.




While he was out looking at the tree Craig found a new toy to play with. I think he's missing his wife more every day!




Hmmmm....what's this???



12 power zoom brings us this picture. Looks like the remains of a old mill site just south of the town of Goldfield NV. No trespassing heading to the site so we'll have to bypass this one.




Heading into the town of Goldfield for fuel.



Lot's of old Head Frames still standing around Goldfield.




This guy had a collection of art cars. Leftovers from Burning Man???




We topped off the bikes, picked up a couple snacks, a cold pop and parked across the street at an abandoned service station to rest a bit. While we were there we started talking about when to turn around and head north again. Do we ride another day or take a little more time going back north to find the crashed B24 and to explore some more around the Soldier Meadows area? We talked it over and decided to turn back and start working our way north again. Our tracks would take us a little further south from this point, just about to the gates of Death Valley before we turn north. The decision was made and off we went.

Fueled in Goldfield NV
Gallons: 1.1
Miles: 673

Here I stopped to take a couple more pictures of the Joshua trees that were now much more abundant.




Craig coming up to a stop behind me.




Craig and Mark riding through the trees.




Heading across a long open stretch I stopped to take a "Darth Peach Pose".




I'll catch the action from here as the group passes by.




Here they come.




Alan cruising by at 60mph.



Craig and Mark flying by.




Further on down the trail I snapped this picture of Alan.




Time for a break and to grab a snack. We're getting close to our destination now. Fish Lake Hot Springs! :clap






Alan resting in the shade.




Finally we pulled in to Fish Lake Hot Springs. This place is great, except we happened to stop here on Memorial Day Weekend so it was crowded and quite a few of the campers were loud and drunk :baldy We set up camp and I walked around to take some pics and check out the views.




Panorama of the Hot Springs.




The hot springs originate in the small concrete structure with a lid on it coming out of the ground at 105 Deg F. The water then flows into the concrete pool then out into the larger ponds. Very nice setup.




Sun setting in the hills. Felt great to just hang around and rest here for the night.




There were quite a few people camped here, we chatted with them for quite a while about the local area, riding dirt bikes etc. After dark when just about everyone was very drunk and obnoxious a couple of camp fires were started and we all stood around the fire for a bit. There was a 84 year old man there (I didn't catch his name) who brought out his harmonica to play us some songs, he played quite a few of the old Hank Sr. songs and wasn't to bad. Here's a picture of him playing the harmonica.




And here's a short video of him playing the Harmonica.




Had another great day on the trail today! Can't wait to see what Tomorrow will bring.

Total Miles so far: 770 Miles
HRS on bike: 89.4

Lot's more to come!

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

5-31-10.....Day 6


Woke up to a beautiful morning at the hot springs. I grabbed my camera to capture the sun rise as it was popping up over the mountains.




The moon still high in the sky.




Quiet and calm....Nice!!




Time to get busy breaking down the tent and packing all the gear onto the bike again.



Mark didn't get much sleep this night because of all the drunks carrying their party late into the night. I fell asleep pretty quickly and got a good nights rest, Craig slept with ear plugs and said he slept well also. The only comfort Mark had was knowing that he would wake them up when they had hang overs in the morning with that sweet BRP sound Mark started his bike plenty early to let it "warm up" before we headed out

Craig and I were packed first so we headed out to the near by town of Dyer NV to get fuel before heading north again. We arrived at the "24hr" fuel station to find that their credit card machines were out of service and we would have to wait till 9am to get fuel....it was 7:30am now so we left the bikes parked at the pump and walked across the street to the local bar/restaurant for breakfast. Alan and Mark showed up shortly after and we had a great meal while we waited for fuel.





Fuel Used: 2.694
Total Miles: 909


We once again crossed back over the salt lake this time stopping to check out the remains of another mining operation.






Hmmm...whats that?




Someone with a lot of time on their hands picked up a lot of misc pieces of scrap and arranged them into an art exhibit. Cool.



Collapsed building of some kind.




Craig cruising around looking for more relics.




Bikes parked out on the playa.




Old gas powered water pump.




Name of the engine cast into the block.




Soon we were back to the spot where we had to boon dock out through the rocky sage brush to find the trail again. We really wanted to take as many alternate routes as possible on the way back to avoid covering previously ridden ground so we started looking at the topo maps. Yep, there's another road that will take us through the same area so let's go!

Hmmm....those are HUGE tailing piles.



After a long rocky power line road we came to this...Dang! No Trespassing. This was the back entrance to a huge mining operation. Oh well, back down the hill and back through the rocky scrub.




Craig sitting at the locked gate, even with his gear on you can tell his expression....CRAP!




Back into the scrub.




And back onto the trail again.




We crossed through the old town of Belleville again and noticed a small cemetery up on a hill.








We stopped back into Hawthorne NV to get fuel again on the way north, then we were back on the trail again.

Bike Took: 2.711 Gallons
Total Miles: 909


There is another dry lake bed over every hill!




Heading out across the valley.




Another fun canyon to play in.




Craig on the move.




Our goal for tonight was to reach a hot spring just SW of Yerington NV. We hit some great single track and that took us all the way to the hot spring. Unfortunately the hot spring was dry! Dang. It was windy up on the hillside where the hot spring was so we headed down into the valley to camp at a place along the river that we noticed on the way up.

Home sweet home for the night.








Had a river right in our back yard. And a large ORV area behind that!




On the last section of trail (the single track) Alan said he heard a weird noise behind his bike. His dry bag had come loose and was now hanging by the Giant Loop strap that he had looped through it as a safety. He stopped to strap the bag back on but one of his sandals had fallen off the bike and was missing. He was about to go back looking for it when Mark pulled up with the sandal in his hand. The bike wasn't kind to the sandal!




Craig set to work on repairing Alan's shoe while Alan decided to check his air filter and his home brew (hair net) filter skin.



Repair complete. Not pretty but it's wearable again!






Looks like air filter oil will break down hair nets




Not sure if the spare filter Alan brought along is in much better shape.




Alan checking out his repaired sandal. Sweet!




Some previous campers had left some wood behind so we had a fire before we turned in for the night.




Hear the story of how Mark found the sandal out on the trail and Craig describe what happened to it. Funny Stuff.




Another great day on the trail!

Total miles so far: 982
HRS on bike: 95.5


LOTS more to come!

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

6-1-10....Day 7


We broke camp and headed down the road a few miles to the BuckBoard General Store in Smith NV to get fuel and something to eat.




Alan and Mark fueling up.




Unique mail box at the store.



Bike Took: 1.78 gallons
Total Miles: 986


After eating a quick bite we were on our way again. Quickly we were back into the trees and spent quite a bit of time riding on some great single track and in rocky canyons.

Here are a couple shots taken from the helmet cam footage.






This was a great trail, it would follow the creek and drop down into it once in a while. LOTS of rocks!






I was out front going down the canyon when I came around a bend and noticed a bunch of sheep heading our way! We shut down the bikes and watched as they drove hundreds of sheep up the canyon. Watching the sheep dogs work was pretty cool, they really keep the sheep moving in the right direction.








Panorama of the sheep in the canyon.




After we popped out of the canyon we headed down towards the town of Carson City NV. Whats this structure?




Another old mining operation. These look like some kind of brick/rock furnace. Not sure what they were mining/smelting here?




We filled the bikes again in Carson City and headed to the Subway across the street to get some lunch. Made a few calls home and relaxed in the shade for a bit. While we were there a kid came up to us and said "Hey, aren't you the guys that was up at the old Comstock Mill the other day?" I said yep, turns out he was one of the kids that we took the picture of that was there playing paintball that day. Small world.

Bike Took: 1.3 gallons
Total Miles: 1039

Just leaving Carson City and heading into the mountains above Virginia City again. Had to stop and take this picture. :




The valley near Virginia City.




Another fun rock filled canyon to play in




Reno NV off in the distance. We have a route planned around Reno this time so we can stay on dirt. Sweeeet!






Endless power line road.




We got to the bottom and noticed Mark was missing from the group. Craig headed back up to see what happened.




Uh Oh...there's the problem. He was ok just got a little sideways on a rock. Craig helped upright the beast and we were back on our way again.








At the bottom of the hill we came around a bend and found a couple wild horses grazing in a meadow.






We took a side trip up another canyon to check out some Indian Petroglyphs.




These were very cool! I wish I knew what some of them stood for back in their day.












Back on the trail.






We finally hit the road for a short while and ended up in Fernley NV for the night. We got a hotel, hit the showers, washed cloths and went next door for a great dinner.

Bike took: 1.379 Gallons
Total Miles: 1095




Alan and Mark topping off the BRP's with a home brew paper funnel.




ADV cloths line






Marks bike took a little damage from the rocky trails...but nothing a little duct tape and a few snap ties won't fix!






We had to wait quite a while to get the bikes into the room this time. The owner of the motel was up and walking around working on stuff till about 10:30. We finally checked and the coast was clear....in the bikes went.

Can't wait to hit the trail again tomorrow.

Total Miles so far: 1110
HRS on bike: 100.5

LOTS more to come!

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

6-2-10.....Day 8


We were already topped off on fuel so we woke up early, packed the bikes, had a great breakfast at the restaurant beside the Hotel and then hit the trail again. After a short stint on slab we were back in the dirt again!




We stopped here for a quick rest. We noticed a trail going up the edge of a HUGE hill. Wow.






More desert flowers along the trail.




Hey what's this??




Whats left of a old Mining Mill Site. The equipment is long gone but a lot remains to be explored. Not sure of the history on this mill, but it was often common practice to remove all the equipment when the ore became non-profitable to work. There is a good chance the equipment that used to be here was moved to another mill site way back in the day. Very cool!




Looking back down towards the bikes.




Alan sitting up on top on his BRP.




Wonder what this was?




Craig standing next to some of the mill ruins.




This piece of glass was laying up on top, it was about 3/4" thick. Wonder what it went to?




Some kind of old metal tank and chute above the mill workings.




Not a lot left of the metal tank.




Standing up on top.




Our tracks would take us up the canyon above the mill ruins. Good chance we will see quite a few mine sites today, they didn't build a mill this big without a large volume of ore to process.

We left the mill site and continued up the canyon, wasn't very far before we came to the first mine.





Some kind of little shack, not sure what it was used for.






Looking back down the hill, some kind of old loading chute.




Just a little further up the road we come to a VERY large open pit mine.






A piece of the tailings laying around the mine site.




This little critter was hanging around the open pit as well.




Looking back down the valley from the open pit site.




Craig and I decided to head down and double back a bit to check out a few more relics while we were there.

A couple more Collapsing audits.






No way this is safe to enter. We'll have to settle for a picture at the opening.




Old rail tracks.






Whats left of an old outhouse.




We decided to check out this little shack. Is it a powder shack?




Nope it's a shed they used to store their core samples that were drilled about the area.






This little piece of tailing was sitting at the shed above.




With those mines looked at we headed up the canyon again. There was a lot of great riding here, fun stuff!

Looking back down the canyon that we just came up.




Shot of the mine workings that we are heading towards.




We waited here for Mark a few minutes and could neither see or hear him. Uh oh, better head back down and take a look.




There he is, he managed to get a little sideways on the rocky hill. We had him up and going again in no time.




Craig waiting at the top of the hill.




Here we are about to arrive at the mine at the top of the canyon.




Alan got a little sideways going around a corner here in the soft stuff, good thing I had the camera rolling LOL.




Here we arrived at the next mine site.






Hmmm...this looks interesting. We better check it out further.






Inside the mine shaft. We just went in as far as the entrance to take these pictures. Way to dangerous to explore this one.








After checking out the mine workings we rode some beautiful single track for a while.






Mark heading across the single track. This trail was awesome! High speed, felt like down hill skiing.




LOTS of pictures on today's post so I'll split it into two sections for Day 8.

Continued Below......

Hodakaguy

[hodakaguy]

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

[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