Getting back from Dark Sky’s Route there is always the question, what’s next? Doug solved that question with a text, “I’m cooking up something if you might be interested, 18-24. Bikerafting. Lake Mead.” Then I got the route, and then the actual route. Checking my calendar it looked good to go! A new place, new terrain, and my biggest paddling commitment to date! I have mistakenly said that this was my first multi-day bikerafting trip. Not true, Doug and I did an overnight on Stampede last year. But this big loop, with multiple basin crossings and road sections climbing and descending dry washes will be a first.

I did a little preparation in the weeks leading up to the ride. I got some miles and elevation on my Meriwether mid-tail fat bike. And I got some miles in bikerafting as well. Otherwise there wouldn’t be much else to prepare for. I am never in a rush to put things away after a trip so it was easy to pack up my kit from Dark Sky’s. One consideration was waterproof-ness. I subbed out my Patagonia down ½ sleeping bag for my synthetic Sea to Summit quilt, and extra dry clothes got packed in an additional stuff sack as a precaution. Otherwise I was expecting fair warm weather.

It is a common assumption by the uninitiated that Reno is right next to Las Vegas. But Las Vegas is a little over 400 miles away or about a seven hour drive. Our starting point at Lake Mead was about an hour out of Vegas. We made a well planned pit stop in Tonopah for beers and burgers at the Tonopah Brewery. Doug drove and it was great to review all the places we had ridden or planned on riding from the cab of the truck.

Once we entered the National Park (Recreation Area) we decided to camp at some designated dispersed campsites off Boathouse Cove Road, which was part of our route. Then we decided this would be the start of the trip. Waking up the next morning we had an easy ride to Echo Bay, about 14 miles to our first put in. The marina has a nicer convenience store for any last chance items, like breakfast.

The transition from pedal to paddle Bikerafting is the combination of packrafting and bikepacking. The small, light weight packrafts weigh between 5-7 lbs., can be rolled into the size of a bulky sleeping bag or paper towel roll, inflated with an inflation bag, and paddled with a multi-sectioned kayak paddle. The boat is typically carried in a backpack though Doug and I both carry our boats strapped to our bikes. When paddling the bikes are strapped to the bow of the boats.

Doug paddled an Alpacka Caribou with internal storage. An airtight zipper allows gear to be stored internally within the boat. The Caribou is recommended for bikerafting waters up to Class II. I paddled a Kokopelli Hornet-Lite. This is the lightest duty and least expensive packraft in the Kokopelli line. When I was first looking into packrafts 5 years ago it came highly recommended as an entry level packraft. And it came as a kit with a 4 piece paddle. As a light duty boat it is recommended for flat water. It doesn’t have the option for internal storage and the bow is lower making carrying a bike a little more challenging. But the barrier to entry into the sport (cost) is about ½. So that has been my boat over the last few years, though I upgraded to Kokopelli’s Rouge-Lite after this trip.

Doug’s transition consists of taking the bags off his bike to store inside the boat, removing the non-drive pedal, removing the front wheel, inflating his boat, then stacking his bike and front wheel on the bow of the boat. He gives it a test float to check the balance and he is ready.

My transition includes taking the bags off my bike, removing the non-drive pedal, removing both wheels, inflating the boat, storing my bags in a dry bag in the bow of the boat, then stacking my wheels and frame on the bow of the boat. I have much less leg-room as I share the cockpit with my gear.

I recommend practice, dry-runs, and wet-runs of the transition. Be very critical of each step. Can you do it better? Faster? I feel like I learn something every time I make a transition. Once you are on the water you are pretty set in the boat. You are not likely to be reorganizing anything until you are back on terra firma. Is your water bottle, snacks, sunscreen, hat, electronics, all within reach? Is your boat 100% inflated and your valves and zippers sealed? Mistakes are made and you learn from them. I timed us at about 40 minutes in transition.

Mostly photos by Doug of our first crossing to Catclaw Wash.

Crossing Virgin Basin from Echo Bay to Catclaw Wash The trip had three basin crossings between 5 and 6 miles each. I estimated I could paddle at about 2 mph, so I was expecting 2.5-3 hours of paddling to cross. I always feel a little apprehension leaving the shore. Then you are out there, it was us and the birds. We had a little tail-breeze. A little swell and wind chop but nothing for concern. My shoulders were feeling it by time we were navigating to the bottom of Catclaw Wash. The experience could only come from bobbing in a tiny inflatable in an otherwise infinite watery world. Drifting away from Doug there was absolute solitude on the water.

Catclaw Wash The transition from paddle to pedal is just the reverse. Everything stayed dry and the clothes I was wearing had dried completely by time I was ready to ride. The Catclaw Acacia was the namesake for the wash. Ride too close and it will reach out and grab you. So many new things to look at in the Mojave Desert. The wash was soft coarse sand and river rock. This was ideal terrain for the fat bikes. The general consensus that deserts are best traveled by fat bike was solidified to me on this trip. If this was my backyard bikepacking terrain I would have a lot more miles on my fat bike.

We shared the wash with many burros and a few cows. I really wanted to see a road runner. We were now in the Gold Butte National Monument. We rode until our 8th hour and found a suitable spot to camp. Doug and I have a touring routine that centers on riding from 8 to 4 with about a ½ float on either side. Our routine includes setting up camp, then bringing our chairs to the kitchen for dinner. Then an early bedtime to recover for the next day. Ride, eat, sleep, repeat.

The next day we climbed Scanlon Ferry Rd, Twin Springs Wash to cross over to Greggs Wash. In doing so we had the most spectacular descent, Scanlon Dugway. Steep and loose are the conditions where the Meriwether mid-tail really excels. We passed the Lakeshore Mine then down Gregg Wash for our next crossing.

We crossed the Colorado River at Gregg Basin. Doug pointed out South Cove directly across from us. He said that is where the tours that float the Grand Canyon pull out. But that wasn’t where we were headed. We paddled 5.5 miles, navigated between Reef and Hualapai Islands to enter Hualapai Wash. As the lake level recedes the paddle portions will get shorter. It is always odd that on reference maps it looks like we start and end our paddles in deep water. I was asked if I thought Lake Mead would ever recover? Unfortunately, no. The balance sheet of water into the Colorado River Basin is not healthy, nor showing remarkable signs of recovery.

Photos from Doug and me climbing Hualapai Wash

Doug was anxious to share Hualapai Wash with me. He likens it to what the Grand Canyon must have looked like in its infancy. It really was spectacular. And again our fat bikes were ideally suited to climb the wash. We camped in the wash with a 0% chance of precipitation. Obviously neither camping nor travel are not recommended if there is any chance of rain in the drainage. I found myself looking for high ground just to satisfy the “what if” scenario. It was the cleanest camping spot I can remember, flood rinsed sand, spread flat, easy to set up camp. Spotless.

The day without boating, crossing the White Hills. Photos from Doug and me

The land crossing The next day was a land crossing from Hualapai Wash to Temple Bar, to our end-of-day campsite (we did not have hard planned spots for the end of each day). The crossing traversed some big washes through the White Hills. Doug shared the area is known for its petroglyphs. We filled up on water at the Park Service Station above Temple Bar, then made a quick resupply for snacks at their convenience store. There was wind in the 48 hour forecast, probably too strong to make our final crossing if we didn’t time it right. If so we would wait it out, maybe even 3 days at the Temple Bar Restaurant & Bar. We weren’t going to suffer if there was an alternative.

Bonelli Landing to Boathouse Cove Our final campsite set us up for an easy run to Bonelli Landing. We crossed the massive Detrital Wash before our descent to Bonelli Landing. Our final crossing would take us back into Nevada from Arizona across the Virgin River/Mojave Desert Basin. Our goal was Boathouse Cove. From there we would climb back to Doug’s truck parked in the Black Mountains. It all went that smoothly. We navigated across Lake Mead focused on a ridge line including Pyramid Peak. There was an S-shaped entrance into Boathouse Cove and we landed in the mud after a little more than 4.5 miles of paddling.

After a little chat with some local picnickers, that went something like, “no, these are not motorized bikes,” and “yes, this is day 4 of our trip,” we made an 8+ mile climb to our starting point. The view through Cleopatra Wash was amazing. The climb split Pinto Valley and Jimbilnan Wildernesses. We did it!

By the Numbers The Basins and Washes Loop was estimated as 114.5 miles, with 8888’ of climbing and 18+ miles of paddling. I measured it at 117.8 miles, with 10251’ of climbing and 14.7 miles of paddling. Of course mileage may vary based on device used for recording and program used to analyze. I use a Garmin 540 Solar for the overall and my Garmin Instinct watch for the paddling and visualized it with Ride with GPS.

What we carried, What we rode Doug rode his Binary Cycles Gordita fat bike and paddled his Alpacka Raft Caribou. Rolling on Surly Edna 4.4” wide tires, it made me wonder, is this the sweet spot for fat bike tire widths? There is a reason there are memes about fat bike riders and their obsession with tire size and pressure. Otherwise, with the addition of paddle and life vest, his kit was fairly unchanged from our Dark Sky’s trip.

I rode my Meriwether long-tail (mid-tail?) fat bike and paddled my Kokopelli Hornet-lite packraft. The Meriwether was conceived to carry a little extra (or a lot if I don’t show constraint) and with big enough tires to roll through a little more. The bike does not eliminate hike-a-bike (it’s not if, but when) but it delays the inevitable as long as possible. The long wheel base really shines on steep rough downhills. It is comfortable and confidence inspiring. Its utility comes through the full compliment of bags from Nuke Sunrise Bike Bags. Just about every tube of the frame (hmmm, how do we add bags to the chain stays?) and fork has a bag, either standard from the stockpile or custom which shows off the craft of Dave Wilson. The kit was fairly standard in comparison to what I carried on the Dark Sky’s trip but I did make some considerations to “water-proofness” such as double bagging electronics, swapping down insulation for synthetic, and the like.

Our preparation and planning paid off, the trip couldn’t have gone smoother.

On bikerafting I am still learning with every bikerafting trip. This was a first, as a big loop that required a packraft to get us back to the starting point. I made small adjustments to how the bike and gear was stored in the boat with each crossing. The perspective of being on the water, under your own power, at the mercy of the conditions, eye-to-eye with the wildlife, come together into a magical experience.

Before this trip I spent a day on Lake Lahontan, with two crossings, just to give myself opportunities at the transitions, packing the bike on the boat and packing the boat on the bike. I got to deal with wind and a less than ideal landing. Doug’s preparation included a dry run of transitions to see how his bike and gear would fit on the boat. We are both strong paddlers but the question of how a 5 mile crossing (mapped as 5, could it become 10?) might tax the arms, shoulders, and back was a real consideration.

I have had some great bikerafting adventures, the Walker Lake day trip being a highlight, and there will be more to come. Biggest mistake made and lesson learned is always to ask how to keep things dry. Now that I am thinking about it, I can probably come up with a long list, is everything you need while paddling, food, drink, sunscreen, electronics within reach when you push off from shore? But I will leave it there. There are great resources out there (check out Doug’s blog) and I believe experience is the best teacher. Seek it all!