Moments in Dirt and Ink

Bristlecone Field Office BLM (blue lines, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 My rib didn't feel any worse after a sleep. Bashing it on my camera the day before left it feeling bruised, but no bruise seemed to be forming. The chocolate pancakes were still very good. I'd neglected to pocket some fluff from the mountain mahogany, but the fluff off a rabbit bush got the stoves flaming nicely for a little warm water. I was in a grand position to watch the colors on the clouds as the day brightened. It was a little moment of perfection. Spots of color across the sky. My little patch of flat dirt under the interesting rocks. Then I got packed up and moving upward and the perfection ebbed away quickly. The north side seemed a nice enough side to go up at first, but then things got steeper and steeper until I couldn't find a footing. But I could go up. Eventually I couldn't go up far enough. I had to go down. I had to cross. Just short of the bottom, I sli...

Caliente Field Office BLM Bristlecone Field Office BLM (green lines, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 A new day and time to continue on with Plan B, up to the high point in the morning then as far along as possible to Schoolhouse Spring. Since I hadn't got over the last little ridge to a large flat for my camp, I had to pack up before going up. I felt like I had a lot of water still, so I cooked breakfast leaving my pancakes for the next day. A changing terrain to face later. An Uinta chipmunk still out gathering for winter. Are the little seeds of the white fir part of the gathering? The map marks pinnacles along the little ridge, and here is one. The flat does look like it would have been a great place to camp so long as it wasn't too windy. I dumped my gear among some logs and had a big ridge to go over. Some 600 feet up, 200 down, and another 400 up again to the top.

Bristlecone Field Office BLM Caliente Field Office BLM (redder lines, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 I took the weekend to write, then Monday to post and shop and find information. In Ely, you can get kerosene and denatured alcohol from the ranch store and white gas from the supermarket, so I could keep my stoves running. I didn't find anything of interest in the sports shop. The Forest Service district office is kind with water and has a spigot that doesn't go off in winter. Then I ran south to avoid weather. I was aiming at a spot behind (east of) Lund, but landed along an unmaintained, but well used, access road for the South Egan Range Wilderness. I walked the road to Sheep Pass Well and decided I could drive it. There was more thumping than expected, so that's as far as I got. I suppose I got just far enough south, because I watched it rain over Lund as I ate in the dry. Special bonus weather passing over Lund picture from the day before this...

Garnet Hill Recreation Area Bristlecone Field Office BLM ( map link ) I stopped by the Bristlecone Field Office, AKA the Ely District Office, to pick up the lovely Ely District Recreation Opportunities map and see what else they might recommend. They seem to be really pushing the Garnet Hill Recreation Area area, although they failed to mention that plans are afoot to improve the site. For now, it has good access roads, a picnic site, and two camping areas are mentioned although their locations are not even hinted at. I probably found one of them and used it as a staging area for a hike wandering the hills to the Ely Benchmark (which happens to be on a 1000 foot prominence peak), then back to tag what Peakbagger calls Garnet Hill. On the way, I also tagged a slightly better (by a peak bagger's standards) "Garnet Hill" with another benchmark on its side. The often used camping area is high up, so there's already panoramic views of the copper mine and its colo...

Bristlecone Field Office BLM Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest ( map link ) I was aiming at the trails at the end of Cleve Creek Road, which is supposed to be maintained for cars, but it turned out to have a rough patch that the baby car barely got over and then I caught sight of the slightly deep ford across the creek. Nope. Someone had stuck a big rock right in the middle of the road on the far side, too. I hadn't even got half a mile along and there were at least four to go. I decided to stop in the fancy (and free) Bureau of Land Management campground just outside the National Forest instead. Weather moving through the evening before putting clouds in front of Wheeler Peak. Mount Moriah is hidden away a little more deeply viewed from Cleve Creek Campground. I had thoughts about going up Black Mountain for a big day hike, but not just now. The morning was 5°F (-15°C!) and even with a late start, I was dealing with my pancake batter freezing (which happens around 17...

Sacramento Pass Recretaion Area Bristlecone Field Office BLM Great Basin National Park ( map link ) I stopped again at the Sacramento Pass Recreation Area to hike the trail I hadn't had time for before . This one was constructed specifically for horseback riders who are not allowed on the other trails. It starts at the upper campground, which includes a corral for the horses that might be taking this trail. After starting furthest from the highway, it continues further away. Excellent. I found the sign for the start and got started on the trail, marked for motorcycles as well as horses and hikers. Slapstick marking the start of Weaver Creek Trail. It doesn't last long as a trail, though. It goes about 100 feet and joins a road that goes off at a diagonal a short way to the west. From there to the end, the trail is a series of markers at junctions. The markers to follow. They also mark off the miles. Looking back at the upper camping area. The rocky flat wh...