Nevada Reroute Increases Crossing Success
Since its inception, the Achilles Heel of the American Discovery Trail has been the crossing of Nevada and Utah. But a new updated route through the Silver State significantly increases an ADT hiker's success.
Since its inception, the Achilles Heel of the American Discovery Trail has been the crossing of Nevada and Utah. But our new updated route through the Silver State significantly increases an ADT hiker's success.
The arid deserts and mountain ranges of Nevada and Utah, and long stretches of both between towns and villages, have required additional support or weeks of preplanning work such as water caches to cross successfully.
Our new route heads north out of Pine Creek Campground and follows roads and 4X4 paths. Hikers are close to many active springs and pass through a resupply town – Eureka, "The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road in America" – at the mid-way point.
Then it is south on US 50, east on the Old Lincoln Highway, and south through the Humboldt National Forest – bouncing again from one spring to another – before rejoining the original route near Easter Springs and the Ellison Ranger Station. We have extensive Hiker Notes of the reroute from Eastbound ADT hiker Bernie Krauss whose documentation of his journey, both textually and visually, is second to none. You should give him a follow.
The new route also eliminates crossing the private Duckwater Indian Reservation, which annoyed some locals.
We are now calling the new route Nevada 6A - Pine Creek Campground to Humboldt National Forest. It is available in our collection of maps, waypoints, Hiker Notes, and Gaia GPS data points. We are keeping the previous segments active and available through the end of the 2022 ADT hiking season for those who have factored those into their plans.
Expect a final consolidation of Nevada Segments 6-8 in November or December 2022.
Final thoughts and considerations:
- THIS IS STILL A DIFFICULT SEGMENT. But it is less of a challenge and finally possible to accomplish without support.
- The stretch between Eureka and Humboldt along the Old Lincoln Highway lacks water or services.
- One unknown: While Bernie found many springs flowing during his cross in late June, it is unknown how active they are later in the year. We will be watching closely as Westbound hikers arrive in the coming weeks.
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Mitch Columbe