“Be the most generous as a host and the most resolute as a fighter.”

Bedouin proverb

“I have seen more horny toad lizards on this ride than in my entire life”, remarked Miles Gurtler. I’d agree. We saw a great diversity and abundance of reptiles and insects on this trip. We were probably a little early for peak bloom, but the flowers are always striking. This trip was my second campout with Wildwood Open Lands Foundation (HOWL 2023) and we have met up at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park (Ride Your Park 2022) and on the micro-playas above Black Rock Point (Rides with Friends #7 2023) so the fourth meet-up with overlanders or truck campers. We may have different means of getting there, but we share the same routes and have the same love for our public lands. And they can bring the beer.

This year the HOWL Micro-Rally was planned for May 9-12 at the Eagle Rock Spring / Lava Beds Camp. The Lava Beds lies between the Hannan Range and Sheep Head Mountains in the east and Dry Mountain in the west. It is most famous for its granitic rock formations and solitude. I made four trips through this area beginning in January of 2019. I came up with a route in that extended beyond the “direct route” to include a micro-playa, the cut-off for the California Emigrant Trail – Nobles section, and a less traveled backroad along the Sheep Head Mountains before arriving in camp.

Starting at Trego Hot Springs is easy. It is 16-ish miles off  NV 447 on Jungo Road. Everyone loves a hot spring. There is ample parking and access to public lands in every direction. I met Doug A, Miles G, and Meghan Q for our 30 mile ride into camp. As a group it was everyone’s first time riding together. Everyone gelled instantly. Every trip has been this way. Bikepackers are good peeps.

The route was good. The horny toad lizards were our entertainment. The elevation came in the last ¼ of the route. But this is also where the terrain shifts from the Lava Beds Wash to the Lava Beds. Rolling into camp we were greeted by Wildwood Open Lands Foundation, Jeff Rosenfeld and Tim Garcia-Jay, and cold beer.

WOLF hosted us beyond our expectations. I didn’t fire up my stove until the last morning. We ate and drank well. On Saturday we did a great stewardship project centered on Pete’s cabin at the camp. As unskilled labor I focused on picking up trash while others did carpentry to fix/improve the cabin. We were a workforce of about a dozen and after an hour it was amazing what we accomplished. It is a challenge to incorporate a stewardship project into a bikepacking trip. But to bikepack to a stewardship project that is vehicle supported is a great model. With organizations like WOLF and Friends of Black Rock High Rock this would be easy to coordinate.

After the cleanup (it looked so good after) we rode to Elephant Head Rock. I was a bit conflicted as to which ride to do on Saturday. There was a desert motocross race scheduled for the same weekend. When this trip was first being planned it seemed unlikely the race would be permitted by the BLM, but it went through. I planned a ride that I thought might be less likely to overlap the race, a sub-20 mile tour of the Garrett Mine, Windy Hill Mine, and Turtle Rock Spring. But Elephant Head is really the star of the area. It seemed Saturday was the kid’s race and Sunday would be the adult race. So we chose the Elephant Head tour. We passed at least four flowing springs, not all are named on the USGS maps, but Mustang, Sheep Head, and Elephant Head Springs are notable. The abundance and reliability of water from Lava Beds to the Hannan Range and Seven Troughs Range makes this area great for bikepacking.

By time we were leaving Elephant Head Rock, the kids race was going off. We encountered a group of UTV trail users as well. Everyone was super friendly. The race organizers even invited us to stop by their camp for beers. Desert Hospitality (Al Diya’fa) comes in many forms.

We looped back on some moto singletrack that required a bit of hike-a-bike. Back in camp we lounged in the shade and waited for sunset. And another feast by WOLF. So much good food and good company.

Sunday’s ride out was relatively easy, a 20 mile, mostly downhill return via the saddle between Dry and Pahsupp Mountains. The view from that saddle is spectacular. From that point you are looking at the portion of the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area that gets the majority of its use and impact. There are very notable exceptions excluded from this view, Black Rock Point, Soldier Meadows and High Rock Canyon, but you are seeing the awesomeness that draws most visitors to the area.

Riders and Rigs: Me on my Falconer B+. Doug A on his Binary. Meghan Q on her Tumbleweed. Miles G on his Blaze.

Meghan stayed behind to watch the moto race come through camp. Doug, Miles and I rode out together. As always each trip inspires the next. There are few enough roads in this area to ride them all and enough springs in the area to stay hydrated. Everyone who has experienced the Lava Beds regards it as some place special. I will host more rides in the area, but if there is anything I can do to get you out there, let me know.

By the numbers: Riding out from Trego to Camp via the micro-playa was 30.3 miles with 1,900′ of climbing. The ride to Elephant Head was 9.8 miles with 1,200′ of climbing. The return to Trego was 20.3 miles with 370′ of climbing (1,900′ of descending). The alternative side trip to the mines was 16 miles with 2,000′ of climbing. As a day trip or overnight or using Lava Beds Camp as a base the area is a great tour.

What I carried: I switched up my shelter and brough the OneTigris (Amazon special) tarp tent. The tent has a huge footprint, and provides great shelter. I usually take it for winter trips when it is nice to have the extra room for the long winter nights. But the biggest new feature was using the Spider Rack from Aeroe. It is great! I have two cradles and the pannier adapter to use it in a wide range of configurations. It will be a great addition to my collection of loaner bags for those getting into bikepacking. I have some bags on order from Nuke Sunrise Bike Bags to round out the utility of the rack.

The accessory bag (Nuke Sunrise Attache Pouch) on the handlebar harness (Nuke Sunrise Strutfortress) has become my camera bag. I have two 120mm toy cameras and a Nikon waterproof digital camera I keep in there. I finally shot the last of the two film cameras and sent the rolls off to processing. There will be pictures over a year old on those rolls. I hope I can match up the trips.

While the area is known for ranching (C-Punch Ranch) and mining (Staggs Mining District) these are the traditional and stolen lands of the Northern Paiute. The First People journeyed through this area long before us. I always travel with that in mind. I strongly encourage anyone traveling through Nixon, Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation, stop in at the Museum and Visitor Center.