Tuesday June 3, 24.0mi/38.6km
Clayton Saddle (693.8/5130ft) to Paymaster Canyon Rd (717.8/5520ft) (NV)
I got an early start at 6:30 and finished the paved road walk before the warmth of the day arrived.
After I turned off onto a powerline road, I started noticing all these hoof prints.
They’re much smaller than horses so I’m pretty sure there are burros around. A mile later, I spied the culprits!
Which also meant I was getting close to a water source since these guys never seem to stray too far from water. And I came around a hillside and there was the Alkali Hot Springs!
The pool on the right was the perfect temperature, while the one on the left was way too hot. There are ways to adjust the temperature, but it takes awhile and I didn’t plan on being here for more than an hour. It was a nicely constructed site with lots of little signs and walkways and posts for hanging shade tarps.
The outflow of the hot springs was captured by a little rectangular pool, where I grabbed 3 liters to get me the 24 miles to town tomorrow.
As I was packing up to leave, a woman pulled up in her conversion van which had clearly been constructed to live in. She was super friendly and explained how she’s taking a 2-month detox, and will be living out here at the hot spring and eating all sorts of overly healthy sounding things I’ve never heard of. She gave me some nice ginger tea, some powdered lemon juice for flavoring my water, and some sort of dehydrated sea saltgrass.
The first two things were delicious. The third one, not so much. I said goodbye to Allison and also to my burro friends as I left the hot spring.
The rest of the day was pretty much all walking dirt roads, most of them small non-drivable roads.
The landscapes out here really are huge and while there’s not much to see up close besides sagebrush, the distant views are really cool. After a while though, I put on some podcasts and enjoyed the afternoon, just easily hiking to my planned campsite about 5 miles before town.
As usual, it’s always a little windy out here so I was fortunate and found a small hill for a windbreak. And even better, there’s a wash at the base of it. Camping in washes is basically my default option in the desert, they’re kind of perfect for camping as they’re usually mostly level and free of spiky plants.