I've been at the Nevada Appeal over two years now and for some, that's 729 days too many. But for all the articles I've written, some good, mostly bad, there has only been maybe 30 disgruntled readers who have expressed how much they don't like my words. But I know there are more of you out there. Now you have a chance at revenge.
On Monday morning at Echo Summit near Lake Tahoe, myself and three others, Karl Horeis, Rick Gunn and K.M. Cannon will begin an adventure that could be the dumbest thing any of us have attempted. But we're convinced we can complete 10 challenges in 10 days, starting with the 165-mile Tahoe Rim Trail and ending with a climb of 13,140-foot Boundary Peak. In between, we'll visit places like Ely and Elko, Hawthorne and Winnemucca, Beatty and Gerlach.
It's all because of the Nevada Commission on Tourism and its latest advertising campaign, pushing Nevada as an outdoor adventure destination. The commission has recently published a book on what there is to do in Nevada and near the end, it lists the 10 ultimate challenges.
We're calling it the Nevada 10-in-10 Challenge, sponsored, of course, by the Nevada Appeal. Our readers, however, can call it the Nevada 10-in-10 torture tour. For all the mistakes ever made in our paper--misspelled names, erroneous facts, stupid pictures, stupid stories and how much it's made you suffer, now you can let us know how much you enjoy our suffering during this 10-day trip.
But before you do, here is some information on the 10 challenges:
1) Tahoe Rim Trail: the record for the fastest time on the 165-mile trail was set last August by Stateline resident Blakely Hume, who finished the trail in 64 hours and 53 minutes. If we are to complete all 10 challenges in 10 days, we're going to have to do it in less than 98 hours. Hume ran most of the way. We're going to hike and bike. During his recovery effort, Hume couldn't walk for a day and didn't run again for several weeks. Unfortunately, we can't rest because we have eight more challenges to do in six days. Our rest will come between challenges, laying comatose on mattresses in a 28-foot RV.
2) Flume Trail: this 4.5-mile stretch of pleasurable single track high above Lake Tahoe's eastern shore is rated as one of the most beautiful bike rides in the world. There will be nothing pleasurable about this ride for us, however. Leaving before sunrise on the Tahoe Rim Trail from Tahoe Meadows on the Mount Rose Highway, we'll ride almost 10 miles before reaching the Flume Trail. Once we've completed it, we still have 16 more miles to ride the rugged Carson Range via Spooner Summit before stopping at on top of Kingsbury Grade for the night.
3) Sand Mountain: this 600-foot high pile of sand 20 miles east of Fallon will involve a menacing hike with snowboards on our back, most likely in 100 degree heat. We will descend gleefully on our boards, yet since our leg muscles will resemble Jello, eminent falls on boiling sand and somersaults are in store.
4) Black Rock Desert: finally, something not so strenuous. Although, towing on a mountain board behind a motorized vehicle traveling at 25 mph on the playa has its own set of dangers. First, I've only rode a mountain board once. Second, I've only rode a mountain board once.
5) Bloody Shins Trails: almost 20 miles of mountain biking on soil none of us have touched. Actually, since the trail system is just outside of Winnemucca, this is a patch of Nevada our cars haven't even traversed, and probably never will. Searing heat, no permanent water source and rattlesnakes add to the delight of this challenge.
6) Ruby Crest Trail: The toughest challenge by far, it involves 35 miles of difficult hiking, yet some have reported the trail is over 40 miles in length. An undefined trail and a start time just past midnight will make this damn near impossible to do in one day. Most people complete the trail in four days, but that's no good. Four days after we start from Harrison Pass, we should have already completed four more challenges and drank the night away at our celebration party at the El Capitan Resort and Casino in Hawthorne.
7) Wheeler Peak: This round trip hike of 9.6 miles up the rugged 13,063-foot peak would be a moderate challenge under normal circumstances. But after eight intense days, this hike located in Great Basin National Park will be anything but moderate. It is the highest point in the Snake Range and second highest in the state. Great Basin National Park, one of the least visited in the country, also has the Bristlecone Pine Glacier, the only permanent piece of ice between the Sierra Nevada and Utah's Wasatch Range.
8) Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area: With over 1,200 routes to choose from, we'll climb moderate grade rock at a world renowned spot 17 miles from Las Vegas. This will be our first of two challenges on the day and both will be in 110-plus degree weather, making the sandstone hot enough to burn our little palms.
9) Amargosa Big Dune: our second challenge of the day is also our second hike/sandboard descent of the challenge. Again, it will be a brutal climb on punishing sand, all in insane afternoon heat with a full view of Yucca Mountain, soon to become our state's newest playground.
10) Boundary Peak: It seems appropriate we finish with a 16-mile hike of Nevada's highest point at 13,140 feet. A debate has went back and forth for years that while Boundary Peak is the state's highest point, Wheeler Peak is the state's largest mountain, since it lies entirely inside Nevada. Boundary Peak is little more than a bump along a ridge of California's White Mountains, which spill over the border, thus giving Nevada its highest point. Regardless, since the closest town of any size is Tonopah, Boundary Peak is remote and void of water, so it's a perfect high point for Nevada.
My dissenters are already salivating.
Jeremy Evans is a Nevada Appeal sportswriter. He can be reached at jevans@nevadaappeal.com