Cycling to Argentina EP10: The Nevada Desert (Video)

Words, photos, and video by Greg McCahon (@gregmccahon)

Seven months since we set off from Alaska, we found ourselves in the dusty desert valleys of northern Nevada. It’s a part of the country I’ve always wanted to properly experience, being a little desert obsessed, and we weren’t disappointed. It felt a bit like bikepacking heaven.

We pedalled through huge, expansive desert valleys extending as far as the eye can see, with nothing but a lonely dirt road cutting through right through the middle. These parts are generally quite inhospitable most of the year, but for once on the trip, we actually felt our timing was pretty ideal, arriving towards the tail end of winter. We were typically carrying between 20-30 litres of water between us for these long wilderness sections where we’d be without it for 3-4 days at a time.

The days didn’t get much above freezing, and our coldest nighttime temp was a biting -9°C (16°F), but I can’t imagine the amount of water we’d have to carry if it was any hotter. Somewhere in there, we had a visit from Tumbleweed’s Daniel Molloy, who came bearing gifts for our journey south—the main event being a brand new Prospector for Victoria. It was perfect timing considering the death mud we encountered a few days later.

If you missed them, be sure to catch up on the previous installments of Greg and Victoria’s ongoing video series in the Further Reading grid below.

Further Reading

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