FR26 Powell Canyon s(u) by Bicycle - Velo

FR26 Powell Canyon s(u)

This pass is located in the Wassuk Range, south east of Hawthorne, close to the California line. This town is famous for having the world's largest ammunition depository. It makes perfect sense to expect the surrounding area to be relatively devoid of people. You need people to maintain the depository. But if there is a accident, you wouldn't want to blow up more than necessary. Consequently the entire area is magnificent isolation in breath taking desert and mountains. So - to find great isolated dessert areas on a map, it may be more productive to look for ammunition depositories than national parks.

On a map this looks like an alternative to Lucky Boy Pass. But the two are quite different. As opposed to Lucky Boy, I would not call this a bicycle friendly surface, especially the east side. Also, because of the traverse to access the climb, the direct way over Lucky Boy Pass is shorter timewise.

1.START-END WEST:site of Fletcher
2.profile turns left onto FR26 to Borealis Mine
3.jct with forest road connecting to points south and west in valley
4.TOP,8380ft
5.START-END EAST:jct unmarked road up Powell Canyon - Nv359

Approaches

From West. The initial section of FR26, starting at the site of the old town Fletcher is common to the approach to Lucky Boy Pass. The turnoff to Powell Canyon is easy to mistake for an unimportant spur leading nowhere. The thing to watch out for at this intersection is a sign for the Borealis Mine.

The surface to the mine entrance is as good as you would expect it to be. There are even speed limit and "no passing" signs, when the only vehicles I see the entire day on the unpaved section are 3 ATVs and about 2 cars. The road passes the mine and turns westerly downhill, which makes me check my map instantly. But- the road is the one I want, it just takes a little more roundabout way it its objectives, than I had understood from my first look at the map.

The traverse heading north takes me more time than I had thought. But eventually, after a maze of smaller roads connecting with FR58, the climb towards the ridge begins. To my surprise this road is not the same as the prominent traverse above the mine, that I had seen from below. That must have been a private mining road. Instead this road, hides behind a ridge and steeply climbs in juniper forest, utilizing many curves and general directional changes. Finally the road heads towards a gap between Powell Mtn (9524ft) and Bullet Mtn (9382ft). Though snow covered during May8, after a record winter of snow, from up here, they make a gentle appearance, and would offer an easy walk up. In contrast the yawning distances to the snow covered Sierra Crest to the west seem impossible to reach under one's own human power at this stage of exhaustion.

The crest is approximately at a level where the juniper forest stops, and the snow on this May 8th begins.

From East. (described downwards) The road heads into a gently forested canyon right away. It takes a little longer to get down to the valley floor, than initially anticipated. There are may long sandy sections here. In a downhill direction the road is ridable. But it takes quite a bit of concentration in steering and some luck to avoid faceplants entirely.

In the lowest section the road runs parallel to a desert arroyo in close proximity. It is so nice, that at least it does not run in the arroyo. In this section a part of the surface is washed out. Only approximately 50 percent of the of road width remains (May/23). - Not a problem on a bike though.

A Dayride with this point as highest summit:

( < FR14 Manhattan s(u) | Sand Springs Pass > )

FR26 Powell Canyon s(u) , Lucky Boy Pass , addtional out and back : jct Nv359 - Lucky Boy Rd > up Lucky Boy Rd > Lucky Boy Pass > jct Lucky Boy Rd - FR26 <> out and back on Lucky Boy Rd to site Fletcher with some additional distance in several directions at that intersection >> up FR26 > Borealis Mine > up FR26 > FR26 Powell Canyon s(u) > Nv359 north back to starting point: 58.5miles with 6160ft of climbing in 8:09hrs (garmin etrex32x m5:23.5.7)