NV 2012 - In Memory of the Crewmen.

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above...

Doing a little repair work on a fallen piece of art.








I decided to leave my own piece of art on the display :-)




Alan pointing at the snow above soldier meadows that came in over night.....bummer, that's where we were heading.






A quick stop at soldier meadows, we were hoping to catch Kathy home but she was still away on business. We chat a bit with the ranch hand and continue north.




There is some great riding in the hills above Soldier Meadows....but with the snow we decide to stay low and continue north to Denio Junciton.




I stopped along the road to take some pictures of the snow...cold!






Getting close.






The Pueblo Mountains above Denio Junction where we placed the Memorial Plaque on the first day....now dusted with snow.




Back at Denio Junction...ready to warm up and get some grub!




A Syncro Vanagon at Denio Junction when we arrive, owned by a nice couple from Oregon.




Continued Below...

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above...

We arrived just after Trever and Mark arrived...Perfect timing! We all grabbed a bite to eat then will load up the bikes and move the trucks up to the Alvord.




Yummmm!!!




Ok....which one is out of place for the NV desert? lol.




And a few shots from Trever and Mark's journey north to Denio Junction.










These are some cool rock formations!






Would make a great shelter in a pinch!




Back to Denio Junction. We loaded up the bikes and rolled to the Alvord Desert. We had planned on riding up to the mines above the desert and I was going to show the guys the old miners orchard that resides up there as well....But. When we arrived at the Alvord Hot Springs we find this...

The entrance road that leads to the mines, orchard etc is blocked and fenced off! This is also the spot where a lot of people camp that stop to soak in the springs. Hmmm......




The dirt access road the connects the lake bed to the springs is also blocked off. To get to the lake bed you now have to drive a mile or so down the gravel road then drop onto the playa from there....no more riding up from the playa for a quick soak.....this sucks!




Later at Fields Station we learn the scoop. The Alvord Hot Springs is on private property and they let the public use the springs...but the owner is wanting the BLM to take over liability of the springs as well as install a bathroom at the site. I guess he hasn't got it yet so he closed off the road and the entrance to the hills....the hills are BLM but the entrance is on his property. If he doesn't get the bathroom etc then he might shut down the springs all together. That would be a real shame...such a cool place to visit and enjoy a soak. I hope it all works out in the end.

Well we can't ride up here where we were planning either....we decide to take a nice soak then roll for home, we will return again to complete our original 1700 mile loop!






Continued Below...

[Hodakaguy]

Continued from above...

There are two pools at the Alvord Springs. It looked like someone had just finished cleaning out the "outside" pool and the hot water pipe was still open to it when we arrived...it was WAY to hot to soak in. The inside pool was warm but not hot...to cold for me to want to get in since it was really cold and windy outside. Something had to be done to cool down the outside pool!

Where there's a will there's a way! Inside each pool are several washing machine drums turned upside down for seats, in a pinch they can become buckets to scoop cool water to the hot side! Oh yeah....Nice hot soak here we come!




The piping that brings the hot water down to the pools from the source.




Panorama of the springs, Amazing scenery!




While I waited for the hot pool to cool a little I checked out the inside of the changing room, here's a shot of a memorial left for Carl. Carl lived down the road from the Alvord Springs and did a lot of maint and upkeep at the springs. He knew the area very well and was very friendly....rest in piece Carl!






Trever is first in the hot side. It was still HOT but you could get used to it and get in eventually. The heat felt great!




Mark instantly turned into a lobster! lol.




After the soak we left the Alvord, headed to Fields for fuel and rolled towards home. At Fields a young Ukrainian women named Elena was getting fuel and was asking how to get to British Columbia, she was on the way up from Vegas to visit friends. Not wanting to get lost she joined our caravan towards WA and was now part of the RR....Smile for the camera :-)




Every time we stopped she would stop with us. She followed us till John Day and we convinced her to stop and get a hotel for the night while we continued on, she had been on the road a long time and looked pretty drowsy.




We arrived home around 2am. Another trip in the books.

Can't wait to return to NV again....I love that area!!!!!

End Trip.

Miles on bike: 2225
Hrs on bike: 78.0


Hodakaguy

[corndog]

Dude....epic!

[needles]

Just amazing man... this one is one of the 1% ride reports. Thanks for sharing!

[Whiskeywarlord]

What an awesome thing to do guys! We used to desert race towards there...had heard of the crash site but had not ever been there. I'll certainly have to take a trip out and sign the book next time im out that way.