Father and Son take a cross country trip..

[concretejungle]

We were back on the road, stocked up with water and candy bars, new Ujoints and a spare along with fresh grease. Life was good. We crossed over I-15 and were heading towards Delta, UT. We were on US50 and life was good. As we pulled of I-15 and stared at where we were going, we looked at each other and just laughed and gave each other a big hug. This was a great bonding experience. We were both excited like kids on Christmas Eve! We were heading to the wide open desert and i was pumped. Dad looked at me and said "I love you son" and i looked back and said "you too dad".

For those who live out west, this may be just a normal drive, but to me it was true adventure. I've never been out in a desert like this and the feeling of isolation was so peaceful to me. I felt an instant feeling of calm and again, i felt like i could drive for days. The cruise was humming along, music blasting, we felt good and we were in good spirits.

One thing that did surprise me a little was that i would have full 4G cell phone coverage for a while. It would disappear for a little while and then, bam, full signal again. I guess if you put one tower on one of the mountains it could service the entire valley.

It felt like these folks live free with "no rules" as i kept saying to my dad. you could see trails leading off the highway and could tell if you had a dirtbike or ATV you could kick it across the desert and have a blast. My only concern was where would i get gas again. I wasn't too worried as i had 5 gallons on the back, but still, we were in the middle of nowhere and getting further into the middle of nowhere.

We kept seeing dust devils (little mini dust tornados) and just looked at the wide open views. You could see forever. Even though it was hot, the air was dry so you didn't stick to you seat like you do back east, it was relatively pleasant. Windows down, we cruised across US50 taking it all in.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thats flippen cool as heck that you did this with your old man.

Agreed, very cool! Looking forward to reading more

 

[Raddic]

Subscribed. Love this kinda chit.

 

[hman913]

 

[concretejungle]

We were trucking! Weather was perfect. It was a little hot, but i refused to run the AC, i wanted it to be a true experience. We had to feel the wind, hear the sounds, smell the smells. I wanted to get the total package.

We hit a few small towns that i found fascinating. They were mostly agricultural towns with small farms that appeared to be growing wheat. It could of been barley, but i was not 100%. You would enter this tiny town like Ely for example. Not much too it. It was one of those towns you just knew that everyone knew each other.

Before we knew it we were in Nevada. As we entered Nevada, the scenery changed slightly. As we first entered NV it seemed it was a little more green, but not much. THere did seem to me more trails exiting the highway and more opportunities to pull off and explore. So, we decided that we would drive until we got hungry and then pull off a trail and eat.

The best way i can explain the terrain would be a big mountain pass, you would climb up it on a winding road and then crest the top, as you crest the top you could look over a huge expanse of a basin and see a long straight road until it appeared to hit another mountain range waaaaaaay off in the distance. You would eventually get there and then climb another mountain. This process repeated for hours and hours but to me it was interesting. My dad was not as impressed. He kept asking me what if we broke down, what if something happened, what would we do. I finally said to him that this was adventure. We had cell coverage for the most part and we were not going to die out here. We had food, shelter and water. We would be fine and he finally settled in.

It was during this part of the trip that we saw numerous dust devils and one in particular that i didn't have a chance of filming it. we timed it just right as the "twister" was heading from out in the desert and was going to cross the highway in front of us, but if we timed it right we could hit it. I bumped off the cruise and we timed it perfect. Drove right through it as it crossed the highway. It felt like the draft of a big rig had just drove by and we got a nice little wiggle.

Dad looked at me and said, CRUISER baby!!

We kept driving and passed a crazy sand dune. I wish i would have pulled off and taken a few closer pictures (this is one regret where i wish we would have stopped). We didn't and kept going. Our goal for the day was to stop for lunch and eventually make it to Carson City, NV.

 

[custyota]

Cool story bro! Enjoy reading this! I would like to do a trip like this with my dad.

Meatball

 

[concretejungle]

It was time to stretch our legs and take in the sights. I was hungry and thirsty. I decided the next mountain pass we would pull of and eat lunch.

we were not disappointed. We climbed a high pass and found three trails exiting the highway. I took one and it climbed up and crested the mountain top and then down it went. It kept going for as far as i could see.

This was good enough for me. Time for lunch and a cheer wine.

After lunch we got back on the road. We were about to enter the great basin park and this part of US50 was labeled "the loneliest road". The sign said next stop for gas 90 miles. Sweet!

 

[concretejungle]

Carson City was the goal. We were getting close and the sun was starting to get low in the sky.

A few things that struck me odd about this great basin area. First off, there were people on bicycles that were riding this highway! I was shocked that anyone would try to ride out here. It was hot, dry, windy and in the middle of nowhere. You would have to pack a serious amount of water to survive IMHO and i just thought that was super crazy.

Secondly, we would be trucking across this large expanse of desert and all of a sudden see a mail box! WTF i thought, as you looked down this dirt/sandy road you would see a camper with a few broken down cars, a small wind mill and maybe a solar panel. Who in the heck would live out here in the middle of nowhere! And when in the world would you get the mailman to deliver mail out here?! I never figured that one out.

We finally arrived in Carson City, NV at dark and found a hotel. We decided to get a hotel since we were going to be in the woods for almost a week. We wanted one last shower and one last bed.

Going against all my moral values, i agreed with my dad that we would stop at McDonalds and get a fast food meal

We crashed out and I slept like a baby! The next day it would be official. I would be in California for the first time in my life and we would be in the midst of "The" rubicon trail. Almost there....

End of the day... 551.5 miles

 

[SchniperJB]

Amazing! And fantastic your dad was able to go with you.

 

[concretejungle]

We woke up pretty early the next day.

On a side note i was really excited to be "getting up early" because i'm NOT a morning person. We were now 3 hours difference from home, so getting up at 6:00am west coast time is not a problem! That in itself is a small victory as far as i'm concerned.

We walked out to the truck after a nice hearty continental breakfast, which really was not all that it's cracked up to be. You know, dry eggs, room temperature yogurt and watered down juice. But i snagged a few blueberry muffins and bannanas and tossed them in our food bin. Afterall, our food stash was not really where i wanted it to be. Tossed our bags in and i climbed under to check for any leaks. Everything looked good so we struck out.

The plan was to continue on US50 down through the south areas of Lake Tahoe and into the Elderado National Forest.

Now being the super excited and tunneled vision guys we were, we still did not stop for more food and water! We were on our way to the Rubicon and nothing was slowing us down. This is a decision we later regretted.

Climbing up out of Carson City towards Lake Tahoe on US50 is a heck of a climb. The Cruiser was running great and we held a steady 55-60 MPH the whole climb. I kept one eye on the twisty road and one eye on the water temps. Both were clicking along in fancy fashion.

The scenery was breathtaking for sure.

There was lake Tahoe!!! Wow!

It was beautiful. I was pretty impressed to say the least. The water was blue as i've ever seen water. The trees, considering i have a degree in forest management and i like trees, they were amazing. I had a huge grin on my face and felt giddy.

As we rounded US50 and started hugging the coast of Lake Tahoe we snapped some pictures. I spotted a boat loading ramp and parking lot up on the right and told dad i was going to swing in so we could get a few pictures. We pulled in and there was a attendant at a gate. I told her we just wanted to snap a few pictures and were not even going to turn the truck off, we were just passing through. She said, sure, no problem, that will be $2. What?! I said we just want to snap a pick. She said, i heard you and pointed to the sign below.... i'll be damned there it read in what lettering "Photographs : $2" No ma'am i said. I'll just back out. I think she thought i was bluffing. I rolled the window up and backed the 80 out and kicked it. Give me a break i thought... oh well. On we went.

 

[angerhater]

man....you got me dreaming......i wonder if my 75 yr old dad could enjoy anything like this....the old soldier might just do it.... glad you and your pop got to share this....kudos

 

[concretejungle]

By this point in the trip i really didn't give a rat's ass what i was paying for gas. I felt in order to enjoy this trip i needed to keep the expense part out of it. I work hard and have saved for this trip and i was going all out.

We decided to stop in South Lake Tahoe to fill up on gas. We topped of at $4.26/gallon and we got back on the road.

Our target was Icehouse road. Andy said it should be on our right and we had a pretty good feel of where it was going to be by looking on the maps on the phone. Also out of pure randomness, i was thinking about the GPS. I then realized that maybe since i updated the maps and added a map folder for all of Alaska, i wondered if i had both maps checked as active. So i pulled the GPS out and checked it out... sure enough, i had both maps trying to fight each other, so i turned the old one off and left the new one on. Whalllah, GPS was working again.

Looking out the windows dad and i kept noticing the big trees and the cool little cabins on the side of the road. We kept commenting that 10 years ago they were probably million dollar cottages and now they are a bargain at "only $500,00" haha
Regardless, this place was magical and i would love to own one.... maybe some day.

Told dad to keep his eyes out for a river on the right and we should then know where we are in relation to Icehouse. On que, there was a killer river. I enjoy fly fishing back home and this thing was a dream. Open with deep holes and i'm sure big fish. Too bad i couldn't stop and wet some line, we had to keep digging.

There it is! Ice House on the right, up we turned. It wound up and up and up. I thought this would be quick, but i was wrong. No worries, it's a beautiful drive and we had good tunes. Sit back and enjoy. The blower was pushing the cruiser up the hills like a dream and the sky was carolina blue!

I was getting hungry and told Dad i wanted to stop for lunch. He agreed and we did. Found a killer little trail, pulled off and made lunch.

We were practically there. Life was good.

 

[concretejungle]

man....you got me dreaming......i wonder if my 75 yr old dad could enjoy anything like this....the old soldier might just do it.... glad you and your pop got to share this....kudos

He can do it. If he can handle long car rides, he will love it. My dad said it was the greatest trip of his life when he got back.

 

[concretejungle]

Cruiserdrew and I had been exchanging a few PM's over the past couple of months, and so the plan was to meet those guys somewhere either at Icehouse resort or at the second damn. I was always confused about this "second damn" thing, but figured what the heck, it's not rocket science. I turned on my radio and listened for any chatter on the channels that Andy told me they would be on.

Dad was still sitting in silence starring out the windows. I was too. we didn't talk a whole lot, just looked. I did mention we had some good music playing!

We finally arrived at icehouse resort and there were some bad looking cruisers sitting there. This must be the guys. We pulled in and met up with Cruiserdrew, Alvaro. They had pulled in and were getting ready to head back down for a restocking of supplies and then coming back in. He said "keep heading down the road and you will reach the second damn. When you get there, you will see a big rock down on the left, we will camp down there. " OK, i thought, this should be easy.

Being the eastern guy i am, i pictured this big forest covered hill with a big slab of rock sticking out down below a damn. So we set off looking for this big ol' rock and a "second damn"...

I don't have any pics of the ride up since i just strapped the gopro to the ARB and turned it on..

We kept driving, and driving. I'm sure it really wasn't that long but i had been driving for over 4 days and i was ready to get on a trail.

Finally, we popped out on a bridge which was a damn! This had to be it. As i drove out i looked to the right and saw a huge, beautiful blue lake and then to the left.....

Rock, that wasn't no damn rock, that was a mountain of granite! HOLY cow that was one massive rock. We crossed over the damn and stopped at this bulletin board and a bathroom.

We drove out on to the rock mass, dad got really nervous finally! Haha this was going to be fun. Dad asked "whoa, where you going there buddy, that aint no road" yea, i replied, "We have arrived. THis is what we are going to be driving on for a few days".

I drove around and crossed the truck up a few times, used the lockers, smacked a slider and scared the poop out of the old man.

End of the driving day. 103 miles.

 

[concretejungle]

To be continued....

 

[NCNole]

Awesome thread Alex...can't wait to read the rest and see more pics. I was in Tahoe in February and it is beautiful there! I have some nice (free) lake pics from the top of Heavenly. Haha!

 

[Cruiserdrew]

More! More!

 

[custyota]

Making me miss home! All those cabins were in Strawberry or Kyburz. Most of them are on leased forest service land. My buddy and his parents have one in that area. I miss the sierras!
Nobody understands the majestic beauty of the Sierras, great basin and eastern high desert.

 

[lt1fire]

Nobody understands the majestic beauty of the Sierras, great basin and eastern high desert.

Why is it a mystery for the ages???


Pretty sure anyone who goes there understands how beautiful they are.

 

[lt1fire]

Great pics Alex.

Driven across the US once in the 80, most likely i'll be doing it again in the near future.
A trip like this with my Dad is something I will do at some point.