FireGuy
Adventurer
Chuck(CRC) and myself took a trip out to the Gold Butte Area to do a pre-run before our upcoming TTORA trip there. Both of us had always wanted to check the area out as it is supposed to be very beautiful. We headed out of Vegas at about 11:30 am and headed north on 1-15 for about 70 miles.
Our plan was to follow the Gold Butte road which does a big 61 mile loop through the area. The loop takes you to see things such as the Devils Throat, which is a huge sinkhole (reminds me of the one in Star Wars) and the old Gold Butte mining area. The terrain is very diverse, from gravel roads, rocky trails, a few steep hill climbs, very sandy washes, to smooth dirt track. I'd recommend a stock 4x4 as the minimum, as some of the sand is pretty deep.
It was a good trip. We got back about 8pm. There were a bunch of trails we wanted to explore but just didn't have time. Several trails branch off to Lake Mead, and we will be taking one of those on the next trip.
We learned that while GPS is great, it is not always right. Towards the end of the run, the topo map said that we needed to follow a wash about ten miles east to get to finish the loop. The GPS said we had to tunr around and go back 60 miles. I overruled the GPS and we made it just fine. Lesson - have multiple methods of navigation.
My new BajaRack worked great. I only loaded it up with a fuel can adn a shovel, but so far I like it alot. On to the pics.
Our plan was to follow the Gold Butte road which does a big 61 mile loop through the area. The loop takes you to see things such as the Devils Throat, which is a huge sinkhole (reminds me of the one in Star Wars) and the old Gold Butte mining area. The terrain is very diverse, from gravel roads, rocky trails, a few steep hill climbs, very sandy washes, to smooth dirt track. I'd recommend a stock 4x4 as the minimum, as some of the sand is pretty deep.
It was a good trip. We got back about 8pm. There were a bunch of trails we wanted to explore but just didn't have time. Several trails branch off to Lake Mead, and we will be taking one of those on the next trip.
We learned that while GPS is great, it is not always right. Towards the end of the run, the topo map said that we needed to follow a wash about ten miles east to get to finish the loop. The GPS said we had to tunr around and go back 60 miles. I overruled the GPS and we made it just fine. Lesson - have multiple methods of navigation.
My new BajaRack worked great. I only loaded it up with a fuel can adn a shovel, but so far I like it alot. On to the pics.
