Well the trip is over, but what a great trip it was.
The players: Me, '97 LX450 with 285's, 1" spring spacers, lockers, roof rack and running boards removed. Passengers were my wife, her parents and their dog (Mini Sheltie)
Pete: "89 4runner, SAS, 35's and all the usual rock crawler stuff. His passengers were his wife, their 2 year old and their dog.
We got up on Saturday the 20th, had breakfast and headed north. We drove through Smoke Creek Desert to Gerlach. The road was in great shape, so we made excellent time. We filled up in Gerlach. The Lexus did excellent on the first leg, I average 17.5 mpg. I was loaded with two coolers, and everything else 4 adults would need for three days in the desert. Pretty much squatted to within an inch or so of the rear bumpstops. Pete only averaged around 11mpg. He was also loaded to the gills.
We initially thought we would be driving across the playa. Well those plans were smashed at the sight of standing water on the playa. So Soldier Meadows Road it was. Well the SMR was also in great shape and again we made excellent time. The plan was to camp at High Rock Lake. We made it to the lake for lunch and the lake was dry. So we moved over towards the old ranch buildings and had lunch. No one wanted to camp there, so we headed into High Rock Canyon. We were stopped at the cave and George Beckworth posting when some of the Battle Born Cruisers group passed us heading out. We continued through the canyon seeing all kinds of flowers and birds. We made it to the Yellow Canyon cabin and someone was camping there, so we continued through the canyon. We decided that we would shoot for Stevens Camp for the night. We made it to SC at around 5:00 pm and had the place to ourselves. So we decided to use the cabin for the night. Made for a very enjoyable night.
We got up on Sunday the 21st and headed out through the Grassy Meadows road towards SR 34. Saw several wild horses, a couple of antelope and lots of cows. We stopped at the Petrified Forest for a stretch. We continued on to the Leadville Mining site and headed up the ruins for lunch. We made it up to the site and decided to take a walk around before lunch. After lunch we continued down SR 34 to the turn off for Melody Mt. Canyon and turned west into the Granite Mt. Range. We worked out way up the road to the cabin. Right at the top, the road had washed out on an off camber section of the trail. As I was easing past the washout, the left rear tire slid into the washout. Instant pucker factor, I tried to drive out, but it was too much of an angle. I backed it fully into to washout, now the LX was really sitting at an angle and not a comfortable one at that. The LX was at enough off an angle that the top of the washout is even with the top of the flares on the drivers side. I engaged lockers and forward we went, I figured that the driver's side mud flaps or flares would be ripped off. I drove up the washout and finally was able to get to a spot that was a little more level and fully out of the washout. I pulled up far enough to give Pete room. I got out and nothing was damaged. We were able to keep Pete out of the washout and we continued up to the cabin.
We arrive at the cabin around 2:00 pm and there are three guys up there on their quads. We chat for a little while and they head out. They had just delivered a fresh bottle of propane and ask us to hook it up. So we set up camp for the night.
We got up on Monday the 22nd and head down to the washout, well it wasn't any fun coming down either. We tried to fill it in with some rocks, didn't have enough. So down I went. Well the back slid into the washout again. Couple of scary moments and I made it through. Pete was next, his right rear tire slid into the washout and the left front tire came off of the ground as the truck tilted. Pete stopped and it landed back on it's tire. Major pucker. Oh and did I mention that it was raining this whole time? Gotta add to the fun somehow. We get Pete through and load all of the passengers back up and continued down the mountain.
We make it to Gerlach and fill up. I averaged 12 mpg across country. We head down SR 447 to Nixon, over to SR 445 and back to town. We made it back to my house around 12:00 noon. Great trip and great time. Gotta love the Black Rock.
I will try and attach some pictures.
The players: Me, '97 LX450 with 285's, 1" spring spacers, lockers, roof rack and running boards removed. Passengers were my wife, her parents and their dog (Mini Sheltie)
Pete: "89 4runner, SAS, 35's and all the usual rock crawler stuff. His passengers were his wife, their 2 year old and their dog.
We got up on Saturday the 20th, had breakfast and headed north. We drove through Smoke Creek Desert to Gerlach. The road was in great shape, so we made excellent time. We filled up in Gerlach. The Lexus did excellent on the first leg, I average 17.5 mpg. I was loaded with two coolers, and everything else 4 adults would need for three days in the desert. Pretty much squatted to within an inch or so of the rear bumpstops. Pete only averaged around 11mpg. He was also loaded to the gills.
We initially thought we would be driving across the playa. Well those plans were smashed at the sight of standing water on the playa. So Soldier Meadows Road it was. Well the SMR was also in great shape and again we made excellent time. The plan was to camp at High Rock Lake. We made it to the lake for lunch and the lake was dry. So we moved over towards the old ranch buildings and had lunch. No one wanted to camp there, so we headed into High Rock Canyon. We were stopped at the cave and George Beckworth posting when some of the Battle Born Cruisers group passed us heading out. We continued through the canyon seeing all kinds of flowers and birds. We made it to the Yellow Canyon cabin and someone was camping there, so we continued through the canyon. We decided that we would shoot for Stevens Camp for the night. We made it to SC at around 5:00 pm and had the place to ourselves. So we decided to use the cabin for the night. Made for a very enjoyable night.
We got up on Sunday the 21st and headed out through the Grassy Meadows road towards SR 34. Saw several wild horses, a couple of antelope and lots of cows. We stopped at the Petrified Forest for a stretch. We continued on to the Leadville Mining site and headed up the ruins for lunch. We made it up to the site and decided to take a walk around before lunch. After lunch we continued down SR 34 to the turn off for Melody Mt. Canyon and turned west into the Granite Mt. Range. We worked out way up the road to the cabin. Right at the top, the road had washed out on an off camber section of the trail. As I was easing past the washout, the left rear tire slid into the washout. Instant pucker factor, I tried to drive out, but it was too much of an angle. I backed it fully into to washout, now the LX was really sitting at an angle and not a comfortable one at that. The LX was at enough off an angle that the top of the washout is even with the top of the flares on the drivers side. I engaged lockers and forward we went, I figured that the driver's side mud flaps or flares would be ripped off. I drove up the washout and finally was able to get to a spot that was a little more level and fully out of the washout. I pulled up far enough to give Pete room. I got out and nothing was damaged. We were able to keep Pete out of the washout and we continued up to the cabin.
We arrive at the cabin around 2:00 pm and there are three guys up there on their quads. We chat for a little while and they head out. They had just delivered a fresh bottle of propane and ask us to hook it up. So we set up camp for the night.
We got up on Monday the 22nd and head down to the washout, well it wasn't any fun coming down either. We tried to fill it in with some rocks, didn't have enough. So down I went. Well the back slid into the washout again. Couple of scary moments and I made it through. Pete was next, his right rear tire slid into the washout and the left front tire came off of the ground as the truck tilted. Pete stopped and it landed back on it's tire. Major pucker. Oh and did I mention that it was raining this whole time? Gotta add to the fun somehow. We get Pete through and load all of the passengers back up and continued down the mountain.
We make it to Gerlach and fill up. I averaged 12 mpg across country. We head down SR 447 to Nixon, over to SR 445 and back to town. We made it back to my house around 12:00 noon. Great trip and great time. Gotta love the Black Rock.
I will try and attach some pictures.
