Desert Survivors NV Desert Trail Dispatches
This page will have the dispatches from the Desert Relay as they are sent in from the Trip Leaders.
DISPATCH FROM THE 2004 NEVADA DESERT TRAIL RELAY
This page contains Segments A, B, C.
Segment A: Sylvania Mountains
Leader Steve Tabor
April 30-May 1, 2004
The first segment of the Relay went well. Four of us hiked from the segment’s South Trailhead at the California border in Cucomungo Canyon to the North Trailhead on Nevada State Route 266. The car shuttle was easy. We used the east approach past Pigeon Spring, a route passable without difficulty, even for our three passenger cars. We noted only a few ruts on the smooth surface.
The weather was perfect: clear as a bell, hardly any wind, with great temperatures for hiking, low 70s F. at midday. It was the kind of weekend that makes you wonder why you would ever want to spend time indoors, job or no. It was the kind of uneventful weather that makes you want to go on and on into a seamless future, ignorant of sushi, ball games, taxes, wars, or any other diversions or responsibilities. It was a good time to be in nature.
On the first day, we checked out Cucomungo Spring. We fished out a dead ground squirrel in the lower spring box. The upper box, luckily, had no dead bodies. We put sticks in the springs and wedged them in, cowboy-style, so subsequent visitors could crawl out. We then entered the woods and hiked north to White Cliffs Rim with its excellent view. Woodland birds were active, including Clark’s nutcrackers, nuthatches, towhees and Stellar’s jays. We enjoyed an excellent camp in a small clearing at 7920', the highest point on the route.
On the second day, we day-hiked down to the old Sylvana Mine west of the route. This proved to be the highlight of the trip. The camp was deserted of humans but offered an excellent view of mid-Twentieth Century mining history: cabins filled with clothing, catalogs, books and a 1987 calendar; food in the cupboards and household items left in the kitchen sink; old trucks and cars, some still intact; a cooker and a shaker table, each mounted on a forty-foot semi trailer. The temperature setting on the cooker’s control panel still worked, though the gauge was broken. One hiker found a stash of rare sheet music, another found the entire legal history of the mine. There was even an intact copy of the May 22, 1972 U.S. News and World Report laying on the ground; we read news of the Vietnam War and protest marches. We found out from jeepers in the area that the entire site is up for public auction for back taxes; starting bid is $200.00.
The hike out was uneventful. After lunch with a view from 7814' Fab Point, we hiked down a long canyon to the north, noting a circular Indian dwelling partway down. We placed a trip register at the “Buster Claims” midway down the canyon. The approach roads had been bladed with a bulldozer, probably by RS2477 enthusiasts or county officials. That spoiled the ambience near the North Trailhead.
At-large Director Jerry Goss met us at the trailhead. I’d used his sophisticated GPS unit to record our exact line of travel. Jerry had come to download the data into his laptop computer. Hikers on subsequent routes will do the same thing. We hope to have the entire Relay route recorded in detail. Once that is done, maybe people will stop jamming me for “overestimating” distances in my guidebooks.
On Sunday, we saw off Bob Ellis and his hikers on the second segment. They had a beautiful day too. On this route I was lucky to have three of the ablest and most reliable hikers in the Survivors: Spencer Berman (who delights in discovering artifacts and old trails), Bruce Loeb (who went on the most hikes in 2003), and Robert Armstrong (who designed the DS Desert Trail pennant, with us on all Relay trips). It was a pleasure to hike with these gentlemen, who have really “made” the Relay thus far; they went on to do Segments B and C.
I had some trouble with my lungs on this trip, huffing
and puffing at high elevation, but I’ll be back for Segments D through G on
flatter ground. I’ll send more dispatches when I’m done with those segments.
Dispatch Desert Trail Segment B - South Silver
Peak Range
May 2-4, 2004
Leader: Bob Ellis
After setting our shuttle cars five of us left the trailhead at Nevada Highway 266 in Fish Lake Valley heading north with warm air and clear skies. Three through-hikers were continuing from the first segment and we were given a send-off by DS Board members Steve Tabor and Jerry Goss.
Almost immediately we were greeted by a buzzing rattlesnake and several horned toads as we hiked up the dirt road past numerous flowering shrubs and annuals. As we got closer to the mountains, joshua trees began to appear, and after leaving the graded road for an unused jeep track we began to enter the real outback. We rested at an old cabin lined with tin can sheet metal containing an occupied bird nest, and then began climbing up onto the ridge line. Here the flowers got even better and we barely stayed ahead of the rising temperatures by rising to cooler altitudes as the afternoon progressed. Our reward at the crest were the first views of the White Mountains as well as Clayton Valley and the ranges eastward.
Above 7000 feet now we entered the pinyon woods along the ridge and made our way to "Rocky Point," so named by the Desert Survivor recon team. Here we spent the night watching the almost full moon rise as the sun dropped into the Whites.
In the morning we coasted along the ridge spotting rare cactus and great views. Then we dropped down into a delightful twisting canyon, shady and cool, which led us off the ridge and eventually onto the wide wash leading to Big Spring, our water stop. A two-hour stop at the large watering hole provided us with good rest and sufficient water, but little shade as the afternoon temperatures kept rising. We said goodbye to the seven wild horses waiting for their turn and headed up toward the canyon which would lead us back up almost 2000 feet to the crest.
Heat took its toll and after several readings of the trail guide and some map review, we decided that an alternate route up a spur ridge would get us out of the hot canyon bottom before we were completely wilted. The spur route worked fine as we followed wild horse trails and made the open ridge crest just before sunset. This camp proved to be the trip highlight: snow-covered White Mountain Peak to the west, full moon rising Clayton Valley to the east, and just us on a bare ridge in between. Our fears of high winds were unfounded and we savored our luck and special location. Thanks for finding this route Steve.
North along the ridge the next day we encountered several lava rock hunting blinds used by those long ago for serious close-up work. The ridge gradually dropped in a series of ramps and we came to the McAfee Canyon dirt road by mid afternoon. Got to the cars by 4pm in time for a cold beer and a chance to recount our adventure. A group dinner was high-lighted by a five-chef meal which surprised everyone by being quite edible.
Segment B is a good, at times tough, route with a lot of variety and several surprises. Well recommended. Several folks in the Fish Lake Valley town of Dyer were interested in our hike. The store owner wants to stock literature and the B&B owner would like to connect with us about other types of trips.
See Pictures Here From Segment B
12. Departure and Hello Segment C
Dispatch from Desert Trail Segment C
– North Silver Peak
Leader Paul Menkes
On May 4, 2004 I rendezvoused with Segment B participants in McAfee Canyon, in the Silver Peak Range in Nevada. 3 participants, Spencer Berman, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Loeb were continuing on segment C. Segment B trip leader Bob Ellis and Ingrid Crickmore were not, but they provided us crucial support the next day. That night, however, we feasted on fresh foods and referred to the wine jug liberally.
The next day we picked up participants’ vehicles at the segment B south trailhead, and went to the tiny village of Dyer for supplies. Bob already discussed the interest in Dyer concerning the desert trail. We talked with several residents, including one who drove up to ask us if we were hiking the trail! After organizing our supplies and packs we dropped off our cars at the segment C north trailhead and Bob and Ingrid graciously took us in their van to the south trailhead.
Please note the south trailhead is a little more obscure to find since recent grading of the McAfee Canyon Road makes it very hard to see the old road that comes off of it that we follow for the first 0.6 miles. A road that leads to a spring just west of our road would now be a better starting point. Please refer to the Piper Peak USGS map and to the GPS waypoints recorded on this trip.
Other than noting the difficulty of finding the trailhead for people not familiar with it, the first day was a breeze. At one saddle we could observe apparent past Indian activity, with lots of chert and obsidian fragments present. There were great flowers including penstamon, phlox, mallow and lupine. We hiked up to Piper Peak, noting all the waypoints as we passed them. The views are still spectacular. We spent hours sunning ourselves on the rocks above Icehouse Canyon before repairing to our campsite on a small dry lake just below the summit. The wind had picked up and it was a little chilly that night, not unexpected at 9,200 feet.
The next morning we proceeded down a ridge to the headwall of Jeff Davis Canyon. We soon were in heavy pinion woodland. However, it was relatively easy going to get to Jeff Davis Spring. The flow here was light but reliable and we filled up our water containers. After an extended break at this pleasant spot we headed down canyon. Spencer Berman came across two circular rock shelters, one with a collapsed pinion log roof. We also found a small corral built with rocks and very rough pinion logs.
Jeff Davis Canyon is extremely beautiful. The narrows and the slot made a great resting place, though we started getting a lot of mosquitoes there. From there we dropped into Blind Spring Canyon proper and continued past gorgeous walls of various volcanic composition. We also spotted an unusually colored rattlesnake, orange, beige and cream colored. Past the Pipe Spring Canyon cutoff we spooked a beautiful burro that watched us for about 2 hours while we set up camp and relaxed. Other than some persistent mosquitoes it was a very nice site.
The next day we lost an hour trying to find Spencer, who inadvertently hiked past us. After verifying he was not behind, the rest of us moved down canyon, where we found Spencer waiting for us. We continued to get great flowers. We got to the mouth of Blind Spring Canyon and we could see our landmark hillock 3 miles away across Fish Lake Valley. In that span you get to cross a lot of vegetation zones. Highlights included blooming silver cholla on the bajada, and desert dandelions. We took a final rest on some dunes before trudging the final mile across the very soft soil of a dry lake.
At our north trailhead at “The Crossing” we were met by Jerry Goss, who plied us with beer and chips. He set up a shade structure for us and we took a long time to sip our beers. In the meantime, I passed the GPS unit and battery packs on to Jerry. We then headed to Fish Lake Valley Hot Springs for a nice soak. Afterwards 3 hikers went home and Spencer continued on.
Continue On To Segments D, E, F, G.