Huge thanks to Mike, Stuart, Joe, and JD for coming out! Turnout was low, but I still had a great time!
These 3 posts will cover our ~3 days in the desert. Click a picture for a bigger image.
Thursday, my Dad and I traveled to the Avi Casino. We drove into AZ to fuel up (it was virtually the same price as the Avi this time, unlike prior years), then cross back into NV to stay the night at the Avi Casino. Our room had an amazing view:
Dad and I met up with Mike, Stuart, and his friend Joe at the buffet which was disappointing food-wise. After a sleepless night from an air conditioner that constantly cycled on and off, we went down for breakfast buffet which was much better. Mike and Stuart filled up, and we headed out.
After hitting the trail head, we aired down and started heading up the trail. This first section does not have much in the way of interesting attractions, but is both very beautiful and ultimately a means to an end. It was fairly windy much of the weekend, so beards were sideways most of the time!
Reaching Fort Piute, we came across a group of guys driving a Super Duty Ford and a full size Dodge pick up with the biggest canvas camper I have ever seen. Think half a covered wagon on the back of pickup. They were inexperienced with the route, and were relying heavily on the guide book. I gave them some pointers and suggested some camp sites. They left a bit before us, but it wouldn't be the last we would see of them.
Fort Piute:
The road dead ends here, where the old wagon road would continue on. There are several waterfalls that prevent further travel, but there is a gate far before those anyway. The pass starts about 1.5 miles south of the road we came in on, and is actually the road the serviced the underground AT&T telephone cable that has since been removed. This cable was buried deep underground to protect it from a nuclear blast, ensuring transcontinental communication would remain possible in the event of a nuclear war. The park service had it removed when they assumed control of the land. The road is no longer maintained except for volunteer work to fix the major washouts.
High point on the AT&T road crossing the Piute Range:
From there, we drove up to Piute Gorge outlook. This spot never ceases to amaze.
Our next stop was Indian Well. This area is covered with Indian petroglyphs and is home to a well which may be prehistoric, although it was almost definitely improved in the early 20th century.
Lunch was spent at the old school bus. Recently, a group from Steel Soldiers put a strap around the roof, pulled it on its side, and ran their vehicles into the roof. It was up-righted by another group, but it is a bit worse off than it was. They (stupidly) posted their antics on YouTube and have received significant public shaming.
After lunch, we came upon stopped vehicles on the trail. In this section, the surrounding desert floor is about 4-5 feet higher than the road. The culprit was a badly shredded tire on the Ford we had encountered earlier.
They had a spare tire, but no spare wheel. When we found them, another vehicle had come between us and them, an older Chevy pickup with an older couple. They were not thrilled with being stuck there, but with the walls so high, there was not much to do about the situation. The offending truck had already had its wheel removed, old tire removed and new tire on the rim, but they could not get the bead seated. They were trying the starter fluid trick, and it would seat both beads then immediately pop back off. Finally, they got one bead seated, but their on board air was not powerful enough to seat the other bead. We eventually decided to lift the tire into the desert, roll it back a few dozen yards to my truck so we could use my higher volume air to hopefully seat the other bead. We got the bead set, but the valve core would not hold air - it had been melted during the repeated attempts to get the tire on the wheel with fire. Only a few weeks ago, I purchased an extra set of valve cores and already had the removal tool. A quick swap of the core and they were good to go. I am glad we were able to assist them. I know Stuart and Mike got some pictures of the action, so look on for those.
After the trail repair, we continued on to the drop into Watson Wash and on to Rock Springs.
From there, we visited the Burt G. Smith Homestead, Government Holes, and made it to our camp just a bit later than we had planned, due to the malfunction.
The windmill was pumping hard, and a very large bird of prey (maybe a hawk or falcon?) had nested near it in the trees. It was investigating us, but figured we were not much of a threat all the way down on the ground:
We camped in the corral at Thomas Place as we took refuge from the wind. It was in the low 40's Friday night, but the camp site was amazing!
Looking East at the rising sunset shadow and moon:
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