Slowpacking defined Scientists who study butterflies and moths are called boring Lepidopterists. The order lepidoptera is the third largest order of insects with approximately 160,000 - 300,000 species. (Why the range? Common with the most highly specious groups, scientists are busy describing new species regularly. So with 160,000 species described or “known to science”, experts …
Tonopah in the distance /toe-KNOW-pah/, pronounced Karen Jacobsen on Google Maps, not /Tone-Ah-Pah/ on my 4-ish hour drive to Tonopah, I’m not sure I want to go to Toe-NO-pah. Nevada’s place names are a challenge to outsiders and I don’t hold it against them, I know I couldn’t do better without hearing a local first. …
Doug A finishing his Burnt Cabin Loop, AKA Middlegate Madness Middlegate is a favorite route starting point for many reasons. The Middlegate Station is a great place for a post ride meal, resupply, a place to park, and easily accessible off US 50. It has a gas station and EV charging station, RV park, motel …
Pole Line Road - beautifully graded gravel, dry and goes forever 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 …
Kumiva and Purgatory Peaks, Selenite Range It’s been a good year at Bikepacking Northern Nevada. In the spirit of every trip inspires the next, 2024 was no exception, and the rides of 2024 will inspire the adventures in 2025. 2024 started with me traveling in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico between Christmas and New Years. Now I …
Continue reading Over My Shoulder, 2024; Around the Next Bend, 2025
Nye Canyon wash, not too snowy Getting home from Basin and Washes on November 23rd, I went straight to the calendar to see if there was an open weekend to offer a trip to our local group. It is a busy time of year. Probably no busier than any other but suddenly it is bookended …
Continue reading Winter Solstice Overnight – Pine Grove Loop
An experiment in story telling. It is that gifting time of year. A favorite gift in recent memory is a pack of field notebooks and a small Space Pen. This gift was given with the idea that I could jot down notes on my trips to write better stories later. I am not a pen …
Continue reading Dark Sky’s Route – Daily Notes from the Saddle
It's great when you get a text message at home and it leads you to here! 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 …
Continue reading A Short-ish Bikerafting Tour – Basins and Washes
Our second night, camped in the pinyons Is it Dark Sky’s or Dark Skies? At the start of the trip we still didn't have a name for the route. Doug liked Dark Sky's( or Skies?). I chose Dark Sky’s because I wanted it to say the route belongs to the Dark Sky. One may assume …
I take this photo every time I enter High Rock Canyon, the guardians Oct 5-6, 2024 October 2020 was the start of Rides with Friends. The idea that we would have a trip every October was born. I figured it had to represent the “Best Of”, or as I termed it the “Crown Jewel”. So …
Continue reading Rides with Friends #3 Fly Canyon Potholes and High Rock Canyon