craig333
Riley's Human
Just made it home. Got a late start thurdsay after piddling around, getting a haircut. Hit the road at 10am. Headed up 395 to Alturas. Nice seeing the country green. Usually its summer when I head up that way. I was going to head to Lakeview for maps but I realized I'd never make it in time so I stuck with the original plan and headed over to Cedarville. I'd forgotten what nice drive that is. Well since I was nineteen the last I was there I guess thats not too surprising. Very reasonable price for diesel in Cedarville. A BLM station is practically right across the street and I got there just before closing. They were nice and tried to be helpful but they didn't know much outside their district. I showed them the route on the map MarkBC laid out. I think they were ready to check my id and see if my last name was Stolpa so I made my exit. Headed on up to Fort Bidwell. Interesting stone buildings there.
Lots of ranches along the way. As soon as I hit Oregon the terrain changed. Good dirt/gravel road. I found a great place to camp.
Could easily do a dozen rigs here. Stream runs behind the camp. I didn't camp here but I should have. I had a little light left and continued on up to Adel. Reasonable fuel here too but I didn't need any yet. All along the way I saw tons of deer, antelope and coyotes. This was across the street from Adel.
On up to Hart Mountain the National Antelope Refuge where oddly enough I did not see any antelope. Needed the offroad lights by the time I made camp. Too late to eat a proper dinner though I did have cheescake for dessert. Everything was frozen solid in the morning. Nice to have heat. The hotspring was only warm. I didn't find out there were two until after I left. Maybe the other one was hotter.
Talk about your wide open spaces. I need a camera that do justice to those. Steens looked to have a lot of snow from Hart so I didn't attempt the loop road. Headed on into Fields. Too early for a burger so I just had a shake an fueled up. Also found a better map there. On up to the Alvord. I was wondering where it was when I came around a corner and the view was stunning. Found a sweet spot to camp on the Northern end.
Much warmer here. Had a proper barbecue here. Well after using my backup bbq. My main has an issue still unresolved. I could see something just over a hill. Smoke? Steam? I decided to check it out the next day.
No way I'd ever have found this if I'd been looking for it. I think a dip in this one would be your last.
I continued on down the road hoping it would loop back to the main road. Mistake. It just went off into nowhere for a great distance until it stopped at a ranch or something. Maybe it continued, not sure, too many cows on the road be sure. Turned around and headed back. Made it to Denio hoping to fuel up. No fuel there. Decided I had enough to attempt route 1 (on marks map, between the map and his instructions and state maps I had just enough information to go on). Mark was right, it is not a high speed road, could barely maintain 55. I was expecting Sulphur to be an old mining site. Hardly. I watched the big trucks with my binoculars for a while before I kept on heading for the playa. I was looking for a decent place to camp. Didn't see anything I liked. I did hit the playa.
Stopped in at Bruno's for a beer and fueled up. Kept looking for a camp spot. Still nothing I liked and headed on down the Smoke Creek Desert. Finally found a spot by a creek.
Morning dawned with the wind whipping and the clouds looking ominous.
I was hoping to beat the storm. Didn't make it. Rain started coming down. Fortunately the roads were nice hard packed gravel. I had a choice to head along Pyramid Lake, Head to Susanville or to Doyle. I wasn't sure about the road to Doyle so I headed up to Susanville. Still not sure where the dirt road portion of the Nobles immigrant trail comes in, I never saw a turnoff for that. Should have tried to road to Doyle. Next time. Headed over Beckwourth pass and then on down 49. I rarely go down 49 because its long and slow but I had time and the scenery is worth it. No campgrounds were open and it was still raining so I hoofed it on home.
All in all a great trip. Not having enough time to properly plan didn't help. My fault for not having maps of Oregon and Nevada. I should have those ready to go just for times like this. Not knowing where to camp I spent more time driving than I should have. Me being picky about sites doesn't help. The scenery was fantastic. Much more wide open country than I normally see. Gear worked pretty well but next time I need to remember to bring the propane hose. I managed to make one little cylinder last the whole trip. Considering the time of year I can't complain about the weather. Could have been much worse
I'm already planning the route for my next expedition up to that neck of the world
Lots of ranches along the way. As soon as I hit Oregon the terrain changed. Good dirt/gravel road. I found a great place to camp.
Could easily do a dozen rigs here. Stream runs behind the camp. I didn't camp here but I should have. I had a little light left and continued on up to Adel. Reasonable fuel here too but I didn't need any yet. All along the way I saw tons of deer, antelope and coyotes. This was across the street from Adel.
On up to Hart Mountain the National Antelope Refuge where oddly enough I did not see any antelope. Needed the offroad lights by the time I made camp. Too late to eat a proper dinner though I did have cheescake for dessert. Everything was frozen solid in the morning. Nice to have heat. The hotspring was only warm. I didn't find out there were two until after I left. Maybe the other one was hotter.
Talk about your wide open spaces. I need a camera that do justice to those. Steens looked to have a lot of snow from Hart so I didn't attempt the loop road. Headed on into Fields. Too early for a burger so I just had a shake an fueled up. Also found a better map there. On up to the Alvord. I was wondering where it was when I came around a corner and the view was stunning. Found a sweet spot to camp on the Northern end.
Much warmer here. Had a proper barbecue here. Well after using my backup bbq. My main has an issue still unresolved. I could see something just over a hill. Smoke? Steam? I decided to check it out the next day.
No way I'd ever have found this if I'd been looking for it. I think a dip in this one would be your last.
I continued on down the road hoping it would loop back to the main road. Mistake. It just went off into nowhere for a great distance until it stopped at a ranch or something. Maybe it continued, not sure, too many cows on the road be sure. Turned around and headed back. Made it to Denio hoping to fuel up. No fuel there. Decided I had enough to attempt route 1 (on marks map, between the map and his instructions and state maps I had just enough information to go on). Mark was right, it is not a high speed road, could barely maintain 55. I was expecting Sulphur to be an old mining site. Hardly. I watched the big trucks with my binoculars for a while before I kept on heading for the playa. I was looking for a decent place to camp. Didn't see anything I liked. I did hit the playa.
Stopped in at Bruno's for a beer and fueled up. Kept looking for a camp spot. Still nothing I liked and headed on down the Smoke Creek Desert. Finally found a spot by a creek.
Morning dawned with the wind whipping and the clouds looking ominous.
I was hoping to beat the storm. Didn't make it. Rain started coming down. Fortunately the roads were nice hard packed gravel. I had a choice to head along Pyramid Lake, Head to Susanville or to Doyle. I wasn't sure about the road to Doyle so I headed up to Susanville. Still not sure where the dirt road portion of the Nobles immigrant trail comes in, I never saw a turnoff for that. Should have tried to road to Doyle. Next time. Headed over Beckwourth pass and then on down 49. I rarely go down 49 because its long and slow but I had time and the scenery is worth it. No campgrounds were open and it was still raining so I hoofed it on home.
All in all a great trip. Not having enough time to properly plan didn't help. My fault for not having maps of Oregon and Nevada. I should have those ready to go just for times like this. Not knowing where to camp I spent more time driving than I should have. Me being picky about sites doesn't help. The scenery was fantastic. Much more wide open country than I normally see. Gear worked pretty well but next time I need to remember to bring the propane hose. I managed to make one little cylinder last the whole trip. Considering the time of year I can't complain about the weather. Could have been much worse
I'm already planning the route for my next expedition up to that neck of the world
