Dam Nation

If it weren’t for the heat, the ride from Las Vegas to the Hoover Dam can be a pleasant one. Once outside the boisterous Strip the main arterial streets through the suburbs are quiet and wide with ample bike lanes. Between the suburb of Henderson and Boulder City, there is a beautiful bike path that winds up through the hills with nice views of the Las Vegas skyline.

I got a good deal on Expedia to stay at the Hoover Dam Lodge which is all newly renovated. It’s the closest place to stay to the dam. I got there before 11 am and I was lucky they let me check in early. The temperature rose to 105˚F (40˚C) but by 2:30 pm I decided to brave the heat and ride down to the dam since it almost all (steeply) downhill, and hoped that it would cool down a bit for the ride back up. After cycling across the dam and looking around on the outside, I managed to catch the last tour down to the generators. Amazing to see what was achieved 90 years ago, I doubt a project of this scale this could ever happen again with the environmental assessments involved nowadays.

The ride back up to the hotel was on an old rail bed used to supply the construction of the dam. Although the surface is rough gravel, the grade is mostly gentle through some roughly cut tunnels. The views of Lake Mead along the trail are spectacular, although it is obvious how low the water has become in recent years. The extreme heat still made the climb a bit challenging. Once back at the hotel I took the second shower of the day and got a hearty dinner at the cafeteria before calling it an early night.

They've had to move this marina about a mile because of the receding waterline

I woke up at 3 am, and by the time I packed up and got ready to go it was 4. In the predawn darkness it remained hot, around 80˚F. I was already sweating as I was strapping on my headlight, and there was a good long climb heading out of the river valley after the bridge. As the sun rose so did the temperature. When I got to a gas station 50 kms away I drank the biggest bottle of Gatorade that they sold and wolfed down a sandwich. 25 kms down the road there was supposed to be another store that I intended to stock up on, but to my dismay it was closed. I hung out at their shaded overhang for a half hour hoping they would open, but it did not look like it.

There rising sun casting the shadows of the cliffs behind me

US Highway 93 which runs from the Hoover Dam to Kingman AZ is slated to become Interstate 11 in the future. The newer northbound lanes has shoulders, while the old southbound lanes I was (supposed to travel) on did not, as they were converted from the old two-lane highway. I decided to cross over and ride the wrong way down the wider shoulder, which was as wide as a car lane.

Riding down the wrong side of the highway!

With 50 kms to go until Kingman, the heat became so unbearable in the open desert so I had to think quickly to avoid hyperthermia.  I happened upon a wide drainage culvert under the highway, so I climbed over a low barbed wire fence and snuck in. It was somewhat clean except for some some debris on the other end. There was also some standing water left over from some recent rain even farther down which kept the spot cooler when a cross-breeze blew. I set up my tent and fell asleep beneath the rumbling of cars and trucks for a few hours.

Camping under a drainage culvert. This is why other people don't like travelling with me :)

At 5 pm I decided to pack up and make a go of it again. It was still super hot and I was getting nervous that I only had two waterbottles full left, and my large reservoir was empty. I was starting to think of drastic measures (like hitch hiking), but just as I thought I was descending into heat delirium a highway patrol car stops in front of me. I thought the patrolman was going to give me a hard time for travelling in the wrong direction, but he said he was checking on me since it was super hot. I said I was dangerously low on water, and he gave me five bottles from the back of his truck. I downed two of them straight away. He told me that he had to go out to a stranded motorist a few miles up and that he would check on me again on the way back to see if I needed a ride. He doubted I would get very far.

I went a bit farther to the outpost of Chloride and the one other store I had marked on the map for supplies was also closed! Thankfully the sun was starting to set, and after a few bites of a Powerbar and a bit more water I got my energy back.  A light cooler tailwind had developed and by the time the patrolman caught me again (and he was surprised I had gone so far) I felt I had gotten a second wind and (foolishly) declined the ride with 20 km to go.

What I didn't realize was those 20 km included a climb up Coyote Pass to get into Kingman. It was an interminable climb in the growing darkness. When I finally coasted down to the town I was so exhausted, I took the first motel I could find, grabbed a fast food meal (drowned my self in the drink refills) and slept like a log.