Circumnavigation of the Great Basin
I've been planning this trip for three years and at the last minute my partners succumbed to lawyers and surgeons. Chance of finding someone at the last minute are slim but:
This is a 3800+ mile loop that traces the outline of the Great Basin.
This is the drainage outline of the great basin.
And my route (blue) chops off the Mojave in extreme southern California and cuts from Las Vegas to Death Valley.
There are several 200+ mile legs with no gas. The longest is 275 miles. The divide goes right through Las Vegas so probably R&R there. I have the entire route on gpx and kmz. Not a speed run by any means but hoping for 200+ miles a day. 3 weeks?
And it needs to start by the first of October to avoid snow at the high elevations (11,000 ft.) and those same elevations don't open up until the first week in August. August in Death Valley can be 130 deg.F October is still probably hot but cooling off at night. That's why the leaving date. But if by some fluke you happen to be geared up and sorted, I'll be trailering to Bend and renting storage for the pickup.
There will be very few opportunities for motels. Most roads are maintained to some extent. Most. But this was planned for heavy adv bikes and I'll be on an Africa Twin... with a sidehack.
My resume on adv:
Geezer Factor
Meandering Geezer
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