XR650Rider
Member
- Jan 10, 2001
- 17
- 0
I just spent 10 days traveling all over Nevada.
Started off with a little dirtbiking around Pahrump. Sand and rocks. Reminded me of my home state of Arizona. Then I went to a one day submachine gun course(uzi) at Front Sight training institute. Short night ride outside of Tonopah. Fantastic canyon ride. Love that Baja Designs headlight.
Then I buzzed back up 6 and rode around Currant. Great location with lots of water to drink. Big mountains with plenty of trails to ride in the valleys. I almost created a new XR model with an elk ornament. Good thing I was going slow.
Then I went to Baker and spent the night at a friends house. The following afternoon we went out to Negro Creek. A man by the name of Sam Bass shot us down when we asked to camp with the rest of the dirtbikers down there. It is private property. I have never, ever been turned down by a fellow dirtbiker like that. He really gave the Vegas crowd a bad name. Sam if you are out there, good luck to you buddy.
From that location, I crossed Spring Valley and camped at Kalamazoo in the Schell Creek range. Fantastic two days of riding in the high country all over that range. Quite a few elk and mule deer running around. Also had tons of wildflowers out. It was dificult to find the trail at times. Sure looked good.
Then I went to the North end of the Schell Creeks and camped by Siegal. For a minute there, I thought I was running Keith's rattlesnake removal service. I thought 6 in one campsite was a bit excessive. Great palce to camp in an Aspen grove. Saw the only two people for the entire trip there. They were miners from Ely. The riding was interesting there. BLM had toppled a lot of trees in the lower areas. They use two CATs and a big chain to uproot the trees. This makes huge grassy fields with lots of brushpiles to avoid. I guess it's all done to let the grass grow for food. Who ever knows what the Feds are up too....
Then I drove through Schellbourne. The little station there is just a restraunt and bar. No gas and no store. I always have a lot of extra gas on the trailer. I drove behind the Cherry Creek range in order to ride up on Telegraph Mountain. DO NOT GO OVER THERE. I have never seen dust 2 feet thick on a road. Absolutely indescribeable. I tried shutting off my airvents on the Pathfinder, but the cabin quickly filled up with so much dust, you could not see or breathe. The whole area was like that. Absolutely terrible conditions. I have given that whole area a big, fat F-. Stay out.
I then took the Cave Valley road outside of Ely. I stopped up at the old mine on Ward mountain for lunch. I think the mosquitos sucked the entire can of beef stew out of me before I left. Evidently there was some hydro mining that left big pools of water for them to breed. The road up to the top of Ward was destroyed. Not a riding area.
I headed toward Cave Valley and stopped to move another Great Basin Rattler off of the road. Unlike the Crocidile Hunter, I use a shovel. Then after a couple of hours, I was in my favorite spot in Cave Valley. I stayed there for a couple of days to finish off the trip. There is everything from fast two-track to woods trails. The best part about all of these areas is the fact that no one lives there.
Have I mentioned how good of a bike the XR650 is? They don't call it the Lexus of the desert for nothing.
More to follow....
KDK
Started off with a little dirtbiking around Pahrump. Sand and rocks. Reminded me of my home state of Arizona. Then I went to a one day submachine gun course(uzi) at Front Sight training institute. Short night ride outside of Tonopah. Fantastic canyon ride. Love that Baja Designs headlight.
Then I buzzed back up 6 and rode around Currant. Great location with lots of water to drink. Big mountains with plenty of trails to ride in the valleys. I almost created a new XR model with an elk ornament. Good thing I was going slow.
Then I went to Baker and spent the night at a friends house. The following afternoon we went out to Negro Creek. A man by the name of Sam Bass shot us down when we asked to camp with the rest of the dirtbikers down there. It is private property. I have never, ever been turned down by a fellow dirtbiker like that. He really gave the Vegas crowd a bad name. Sam if you are out there, good luck to you buddy.
From that location, I crossed Spring Valley and camped at Kalamazoo in the Schell Creek range. Fantastic two days of riding in the high country all over that range. Quite a few elk and mule deer running around. Also had tons of wildflowers out. It was dificult to find the trail at times. Sure looked good.
Then I went to the North end of the Schell Creeks and camped by Siegal. For a minute there, I thought I was running Keith's rattlesnake removal service. I thought 6 in one campsite was a bit excessive. Great palce to camp in an Aspen grove. Saw the only two people for the entire trip there. They were miners from Ely. The riding was interesting there. BLM had toppled a lot of trees in the lower areas. They use two CATs and a big chain to uproot the trees. This makes huge grassy fields with lots of brushpiles to avoid. I guess it's all done to let the grass grow for food. Who ever knows what the Feds are up too....
Then I drove through Schellbourne. The little station there is just a restraunt and bar. No gas and no store. I always have a lot of extra gas on the trailer. I drove behind the Cherry Creek range in order to ride up on Telegraph Mountain. DO NOT GO OVER THERE. I have never seen dust 2 feet thick on a road. Absolutely indescribeable. I tried shutting off my airvents on the Pathfinder, but the cabin quickly filled up with so much dust, you could not see or breathe. The whole area was like that. Absolutely terrible conditions. I have given that whole area a big, fat F-. Stay out.
I then took the Cave Valley road outside of Ely. I stopped up at the old mine on Ward mountain for lunch. I think the mosquitos sucked the entire can of beef stew out of me before I left. Evidently there was some hydro mining that left big pools of water for them to breed. The road up to the top of Ward was destroyed. Not a riding area.
I headed toward Cave Valley and stopped to move another Great Basin Rattler off of the road. Unlike the Crocidile Hunter, I use a shovel. Then after a couple of hours, I was in my favorite spot in Cave Valley. I stayed there for a couple of days to finish off the trip. There is everything from fast two-track to woods trails. The best part about all of these areas is the fact that no one lives there.
Have I mentioned how good of a bike the XR650 is? They don't call it the Lexus of the desert for nothing.
More to follow....
KDK