First outing of 2025, where to go, how far, how long? It is great to have so many options! I was considering a Tonopah to Goldfield Loop, Imlay to Winnemucca Dunes, or a Pine Forest Range Loop. But rather than spending more time in the car driving, what would be a close-to-home trip? I thought I had a route planned from Grimes Point to Lovelock Cave. This area is Nevada’s richest archeological arc. But I couldn’t find the elusive route. Strange since the memory is so strong. But I have long wanted to loop the West Humboldt Range.

After a bit of time on Ride with GPS’s Route Planner I had a 90+ mile loop that could be an ambitious day ride, a full overnight, or a relaxed three day, two-night overnight. I was not sure of water resources, the water carry would be the biggest logistic. As a winter trip I would accept cold, maybe unpredictable weather in return for a more manageable water budget. I decided on a Monday-Wednesday trip, ideally two ½ days of riding (Monday and Wednesday) and one full day. Time for travel, unpredictables, and a post ride meal – all wrapped-up in a novel route.

I reached out to Doug A to see if he was interested. “Caves!” was his response. Yes, the West Humboldt Range is known for its caves, especially those that held clues to prehistoric times and Nevada’s first people. Lovelock and Ocala Indian Caves were on my route plus one more spot indicated on the USGS topo. Caves might be second only to hot springs in general interest. But no one likes sticky peanut butter mud! (just a little foreshadow)

Friday before the ride saw some pretty healthy precipitation that even made it as far east as Fallon. I reached out to friends there and they were still reporting good riding conditions. But then it rained again during the early hours of Monday! Well, my philosophy is go look. Weather is so localized in Nevada sometimes you just get lucky! When Doug and I parked off US 95 and Pole Line Road it was dry. We got lucky! The road was a beautifully graded gravel and sand road. A sign warned us that it was a minimally maintained county road.

The first miles were along the Mopung Hills. They are home to several mines including one that probably gated the road I had planned on returning by.  Next into view was Topog Peak at 5,534’. By mile seven the road grit started to stick, then fill the tread of our tires. Then it squished onto the sidewalls and filled in to the space between the rear tire and stays. At this point it starts to catch the chain. The solution is to scrape it off and hike to a drier patch. The road was rising and falling about 10’ and that was just enough to collect water. Optimistically I figured these were isolated spots and they wouldn’t persist. Looking to the skies there were a lot of dark clouds ahead. This wasn’t the forecast so I kept scanning for blue skies.

Then it started to rain. I was slow to respond to put on my light rain jacket, Patagonia’s Dirt Roamer Shell, not a waterproof layer, but the DWR kept me adequately dry for this light rain. I was wearing the Patagonia Nano Puff Vest, also with DWR over a Stio base layer. The rain was a little sporadic, but enough to inspire setting up camp. Doug was sporting his new Durston freestanding X-Dome 1+ one person tent. Doug’s review is up on their site. What is super cool is he got immediate feedback from Dan Durston on the review. I would consider Durston in the future. I broke from my 2024 trend of being in my bivy and brought “the coffin,” North Face’s Storm Break 1. It is a great little tent at a great price. It is easy to set up and has a very small footprint. It has a weight penalty of about 2.3 lbs. over the Durston.

The night was long and it feels way longer with the sound of rain on the fly. Is it snow? My mind was playing tricks on me because I got out of the tent in the middle of the night and the sky was clear. Tomorrow will be a beautiful day!

A new product for me was the Sea to Summit collapsible kettle, cup, and plate combo. I made this purchase to replace my Toaks small titanium pot, “Amazon special” silicone bowl, and “found” silicone cup, which has been my setup for years. Overall I am super happy with how everything works and packs away flat. My backcountry meals are all the rehydration type so the kettle boils a larger volume of water better than the Ti pot. The quality of cup and plate are much better than what I had been using. My hot coffee and muesli were a treat.

Our first night only dropped into the high 20’s, our second night into the high teens. Both Doug and I were comfortable, he in his Feathered Friends Lark YF 10 sleeping bag, and I was under my Sierra Designs 35^oF down quilt and my Sea to Summit Glow 50^oF synthetic quilt, a great combo!

Day Two We rolled out on a fast frozen road. I didn’t expect this to last once the sun was on it. It would have to melt before it dries out. I would anxiously watch my tire tread go from clean, to sandy, to packed and back to clean. As long as the frame and fork didn’t pack with mud we were good. We crossed Packard Wash then I missed our turn to Muttlebury Canyon. I missed the road that wasn’t there. My GPS pointed out my error, so I went back to take a look. The road did phantomly show itself as we followed the GPS track. Every once in a while I try following a route on an USGS topo that isn’t there anymore. I am sure we could have followed a bigger loop off Pole Line Road which would have kept us on main roads, but this was the adventure, unexpected backroads. An added treat was watching a group of three wild horses zig-zag in front of us. Then beyond them was a herd of a dozen+ prong horns. Always a favorite sight.

Climbing Muttlebury Canyon was especially rewarding looking behind us at the mountain ranges to the east. A broad valley narrowed into a rocky jeep trail that took us to the summit. Then we were in for a real treat. Descending Muttlebury Canyon was a narrow banked snake-run. The exposed rock in the canyon was inspiring. At one point the vegetation changed telling me we were near a spring. Then there was water flowing on the jeep trail. Following a branching road I located the spring. I was expecting a water trough but there was just a small pool. If this is mostly permanent then this could be great resource to expand routes through this area. We were carrying 3 days worth of water for winter touring. For me that was 5+L, which doesn’t sound like much, but I knew it was sustainable for 3 days.

Popping out on the north side of the range we were above the outskirts of Lovelock, ranch land, and the Humboldt Sink, the terminus of the Humboldt River after its 300 mile journey across Nevada. Across the sink was the Trinity Range, at its base I 80 keeps goods and people moving across America. We turned onto the Lovelock Cave Back Country Byway and I thought, we don’t deserve a road this good!

The geology on this side of the range was even more dramatic than the Carson Sink side. According to the Roadside Geology of Nevada (De Courten and Biggar, 2017), “Both mountain ranges (Trinity and West Humboldt) are fairly complex, consisting of a basement sequence of Triassic (252-201 Mya) ocean basin sedimentary rocks that were deformed and metamorphosed by the accretion of oceanic terraces in the later Mesozoic Era. The intrusion of granitic magma during Jurassic (201-145 Mya) and Cretaceous (145-66 Mya) time and widespread caldera-forming volcanic activity and extensional faulting in the Cenozoic (66 Mya-present ) time led to significant mineralization.” Admittedly I have to decipher this text with the book’s glossary, as well as referencing the geologic time table. But there was a lot going on over a long period of time to shape the West Humboldt Range.

We ended our day at the base of the Lovelock Cave a little early. There was a cold wind blowing but it was sunny. The sun helped dry out our once frosty packed tents that were now pretty wet. If the trip were extended by a couple more days I would spend some time midday to dry out tents and sleeping bags, especially if we were to extend our riding time to sunset or later. We didn’t hangout and cook per our usual pattern established on our previous two trips Basin and Washes and Dark Sky’s.

Into my tent, out of the wind. I made dinner in the vestibule, mashed potatoes, couscous, and a hard boiled egg. Hot and gooey, not bad, not the 5-star review you were expecting. Then I put in my earbuds and fell asleep to the Seek, Travel, Ride Podcast.

Day 3 Waking up to no wind and temperatures in the high teens was great. I had plenty of time to prepare a hot breakfast and pack up in a systematic way that kept me covered by my quilts as long as possible. I used to be critical of my leisurely mornings, but now I embrace them. Soon enough the sun was up, we were packed, and headed up the road to Lovelock Cave.

The area is managed by the BLM, and has a kiosk, covered table, pit toilet, hiking trail, printed guide to the area, and an interpretive boardwalk into the cave. Bring a light! Cell phone flashlights are not adequate for lighting up the depth of the cave. There is a bit of exposure on the trail to the cave so take care. The rock, folded limestone, that creates the cave is a swirled arc, likely the origin of its earlier name Horseshoe Cave. The archeological importance of the find was that it gave insight to the life of the Numu (Northern Paiutes) living on the edge of the Humboldt Lake. The duck decoys, nets, and fishing hooks along with implants of food preparation were uniquely preserved. For a comprehensive tour of Numu, check out Nevada’s Indian Territory’s itinerary. These are the traditional and sacred lands of the Lovelock Paiute Tribe, Koop Ticutta.

Leaving the cave meant leaving the groomed gravel road of the Backcountry Byway behind. But our next road wasn’t bad. It took us over frozen dunes, a rocky railroad bed, a nearly frozen playa, and back onto a nice road headed to US 95. We crossed the dike separating the Humboldt Sink from the Carson Sink. As legend has it this is Coyote Dam, built by Coyote to catch Trout to give him a kiss! But Trout got away. (as told by Helen Williams, 2000) This was a part of the California Emigrant Trail – Carson River Route that I had ridden years before with Pete Rissler. We stopped at the paired wells and at the Limestone Kiln in Huxley.

Now we were headed south to close the loop. Turning onto Pole Line Road we had completed 84 miles with 3000’ of climbing. We traveled through three mining districts and looped a major portion of the West Humboldt Range (WHR). While the up close geology of the area was eye-opening, descending Muttlebury Canyon, identifying the spring, and visiting the Lovelock Cave were exceptional highlights.

The loop could be extended in the four cardinal directions. The land managers are fairly diverse from federal, state, and private lands. To the west is the 40 Mile Desert and the Hot Springs Mountains. I rode through the Hot Springs Mountains out of Hazen, a route that could be a nice addition to this loop. To the south of the West Humboldt Range is the Carson Sink, Navy Bombing Range, and Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. Pole Line Road will T into the County Road between the NWR and the Stillwater Range. To the north through the Trinity Range you can ride through to the Seven Troughs Range and Black Rock Country. To the east and northeast there are a couple High Roads destinations in two separate mountain ranges, the Humboldt and Tobin Ranges.  All in all, the under spoken West Humboldt Range is a great connector for routes in the area.

What we rode, what we carried. Doug rode his Binary Cycles fat bike with his 29+ wheelset. The advantage to this setup is ample mud clearance. For western desert winter travel where sticky mud is an issue this is a brilliant option. I have done trips with riders who stuff the fattest tires in their frames and they clog up with mud significantly faster than riders with clearance. Keep in mind how bags and racks reduce clearance along tire sidewalls. If you don’t, the mud will. In dry conditions stuff away! I rode the Falconer B+ with 27.5X2.8 tires. Cameron Falconer designed the frame with a little extra clearance because he understood our Great Basin mud.

Doug carried 8L of water but with hindsight figured he could have gotten away with 5L. I carried about 5L but only drank 4. With hindsight I should have drank that last liter. Part of my hydration strategy is a Camelbak that hangs over the seat of my truck for sipping on the way to and from the trailhead.

Temperatures were relatively mild. It is hard to plan for mild temperatures on a winter trip. I carried more warm layers than I needed but I was comfortable throughout the trip. I sized up on winter boots this year to see if I could save a few toenails come flip-flop season. The boots were way too warm for the 50^o highs but were comfortable for the low temperatures in the teens. The alternative was to endure cold toes in the morning knowing they will eventually warm. I recommend the Kamik’s Iceland Winter Boots with Defeet Woolie Boolie 6” socks.

All in all the trip went smoothly with minor adjustments to our standard kits. When I pack I ask, do I have adequate food, water, and shelter. Simple, but not so simple. Then I add the comfort items; stove, chair, second quilt, one extra clothing layer, bourbon flask, earbuds, and chocolate. More chocolate next trip.