May 20, 2023- My initial thought was to overnight at Fiddlers Green. I had been by this spot in 2016 after riding Eldorado and Sullivan Canyons. This time I was approaching from Brunswick Canyon. As you can imagine the Pine Nut Mountains are a spiderweb of linked canyons. The bonus is there are some geologically fascinating routes through the mountains but with that comes some radically steep roads in between. As a training ground the Pine Nuts’ varied conditions can test your mettle.

I can access the Pine Nuts by an easy 5 mile ride from my house, so it is a no brainer for a S24O or longer trip. There are hundreds of miles of two track and moto single track to connect into a Pine Nut odyssey. The Pine Nuts Pedaler Project is a crowd sourced overview of the Pine Nuts so you can plan your next adventure. In true fashion of the S24O put forth by Rivendale’s Grant Petersen, I packed up a minimal kit, grabbed a burrito from my local taco stand, and rolled out.

The Al Pastor burrito came from Rivas Mexican Grill #9 (Out of 18 locations in NV, UT, AZ, and CA!) It is a tasty burrito. As a member of BurritoPackingNV, I am a keeper of the Loneliest Burrito, so the Rivas #9 review has been submitted to Marc P, the technical genius behind the guides (Loneliest Burrito and Pine Nuts Peadaler Project). I packed a cold Pacifico in a can, so dinner was set.

I rolled out at 2:30p so I was tempting fate with the spring thunderstorms. These storms seem a little more frequent than years past, but they are holding off the inevitable hot weather. I entered Brunswick Canyon, then went down to the Carson River to see the old bridge at the Brunswick site. Not much remains of the old mill site and V&T railway, so I turned around to climb the canyon.

I wasn’t alone. The canyon sees its share of OHV traffic. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it is the most popular route. But once you are out of the canyon traffic dies off. A COVID reminder, where dispersed camping on public lands was adjacent to municipalities, camping restrictions were still in place. Signs indicating a camping ban for the first mile or so on BLM land remain. I was warned there are squatters’ camps tucked into the forest but I have never experienced conflict.

I wasn’t going to thread the needle between thunderstorms. Optimistically I ducked under a tree to wait out the rain. I should have put on my raingear. This seemed like a good time to have that beer. After about 45 minutes I got out on a damp trail wishing I had brought a second beer. There is always a worry that the mud would stick and gum up the bike. Luckily the route had enough sand that it wasn’t a problem. My route out of Brunswick was steep eroded jeep trail greater than 22%. I told myself this was adverse conditions training, pushing a bike up a muddy trail in sandals. It was fine, my goldfish brain kicked in and I was in awe of the scenery and seeing unfamiliar roads shooting off into the unknown.

I rode past Bidwell Mine. This was a lead, copper, gold and silver mine. Andesite is reported as the host rock, a speckled gray rock, but the most striking material around the mine appears to be Malachite. I am not a geologist but I glean information from experts. Beyond Bidwell Mine the trail dipped in and out of steep ravines to the next rise, Fiddlers Green.

I decided I had gone far enough and I could make camp on a relatively flat clear spot. Truth be told, I was looking at the hike-a-bike between me and Fiddlers Green and said, no need to cross that twice on a S24O. I brought my small tent, North Face Storm Break 1, which I really appreciate it for its small footprint. Once camp was established I rocked back in my chair to watch the sunset and enjoy the burrito. Once the sun set I retired to the tent and at some point during the night woke to the sound of rain on the fly.

The next morning I tried a slightly different route back to Brunswick Canyon navigating from the maps in the Garmin computer. Usually I have everything pre-programmed in the computer so this was a fun alternative. I made some choices that eventually dropped me on a road around a reservoir. Brunswick Reservoir stores treated waste water from Carson City until it is needed for irrigation projects.

I was tempted by Sand Canyon which feeds into Brunswick and I will definitely return to see how it could work into future routes. Here are Outbound and Return rides on Ride with GPS. I was home by 8:30a with a full day ahead. Another S24O, another night under the stars.

What did I carry: Seat Bag– Quilt, Liner, Light Jacket, Rain Jacket Gadget TT Bag– empty Titan Tank Stem Bag– multi-tool, sunscreen, face cloth, spare straps, candle Frame Bag– Repair Kit, First Aid, Spare Tube, Pump, Burrito, oatmeal Silo Feed Bags– left Pacifico Beer, right backup battery, headlamp, SPOT satellite locator Handlebar Harness– NF tent Salsa Anything Bags– left extra base layer, chair, right stove, pot, bowl, kitchen Mojave Cages– 1.5 L(x2) Nalgene water bottles Cleaveland Mountaineering Everything Bag– empty. Misc– Phone, Garmin GPS. Unless noted, bags are built by Nuke Sunrise Bike Bags.