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Despite the flood devastation, the canyon was still
as incredible as ever. I took a little time and explored a few
of the side canyons. The road closed sign obviously had
deterred everyone from venturing further into the canyon, as I did
not see and would not see a single person for the next ~75 miles.
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Some of
the trails proved interesting, as I was running Metzeler
Tourance tires instead of my usual TKC-80 knobbies. This,
combined with the fact that I was |
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The side Canyons of Rainbow
Canyon contain even more beauty |
running a little heavy with my golf clubs on the
back, gave my bike a new feel in the dirt that I had never
experienced before. Metzeler claims that the Tourance tires
are good for "light offroad" travel. This tour would test the
limits of this definition as I would soon discover. So far the
tires seemed to perform well on the dry hard-packed and relatively
flat side canyon trails.
After several miles of makeshift roads and trails,
mixed with a few sections of intact asphalt, I reached Elgin,
Nevada. Elgin is basically a |
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railroad siding - as are all of the places along the
Carp/ Elgin Road. If you decide to take this route, don't plan
on any encountering any type of services, civilization, or even
humanoids. There are a few active ranches in the area, and
Elgin has an old one-room school house that has been converted into
a museum, so it is not completely desolate, but nonetheless you
should plan on being completely self sufficient.
Elgin is where Kane Springs Road leaves Rainbow
Canyon and west towards Highway 93. This is the route I took
in 2004. This year I planned to explore a dirt road that
continues south from Elgin, passes by the railroad siding of Carp
(hence its name of Carp/ Elgin Road), and eventually meets up with
I-15 between Mesquite and Glendale, Nevada. There is actually
an exit (exit 100) on I-15 called the Carp/ Elgin Road Exit.
It took me a second to find this road, as the main
road out of Rainbow Canyon continues directly onto Kane Springs
Road. You actually have to cross to the opposite side of the
narrow canyon, near the old school house, to continue south on the
Carp/ Elgin Road.
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