you know- Lance was always wondering how long a side trip to Tijuana would take! we explored the lower springs which were a bit of a desert Giligans Island complete with Koi pond, library, etc.
Southern Expidition update
- Thread starter LanceCruiser
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Great write-up and pics.
funny how you found another place that has wild burros.....you people really need help.
Awesome sunrise- It is now officially shorts and sandals weather. Some ribald remarks were exchanged about how things were going on Mat's arctic expedition. I mean really? What kind of individual dreams of Williams Lake in the winter? I sunburned my upper lip fiercely while hoping he was O.K. and this impeded the 'replenishment of vital fluids' but we must press on regardless.
We decided to break camp and head out over Lippincott Pass, a cliffside trail that goes from the lower Saline Valley over a tall crest to Death Valley proper- where we wanted to check out the famous 'moving rocks'. First we passed the wrought iron sculpture at the lower end of the springs then we got onto the brutal washboard road. Best way to attack this is to air down as much as you dare and hammer it as fast as you can. This way to the rock cairn that marks the Lipincott turnoff. We had the trail mostly to ourselves excepting a minitruck and a 4runner. More great views
We decided to break camp and head out over Lippincott Pass, a cliffside trail that goes from the lower Saline Valley over a tall crest to Death Valley proper- where we wanted to check out the famous 'moving rocks'. First we passed the wrought iron sculpture at the lower end of the springs then we got onto the brutal washboard road. Best way to attack this is to air down as much as you dare and hammer it as fast as you can. This way to the rock cairn that marks the Lipincott turnoff. We had the trail mostly to ourselves excepting a minitruck and a 4runner. More great views
Cruisin'
Out in the shop, building something cool!
Awesome guys, I'm glad you had such a great trip! The pics are a feast for the eyes. Gotta love taking a bread to sunny and hot places in February (even if it is unseasonably warm here...)
BTW, while you guys were away, my wife and I had a baby boy. Little Owen was born on the 23rd. Now I just have to find some coveralls that fit him so he can start helping me in the garage!
-Jason
BTW, while you guys were away, my wife and I had a baby boy. Little Owen was born on the 23rd. Now I just have to find some coveralls that fit him so he can start helping me in the garage!
-Jason
Awesome Jason! Congratulations! You really pulled through for us with your heroic efforts to complete both our sliders! There are pictures later which will illustrate how much damage they saved me, maybe a video or two. By the way- they bolted up perfectly and were even better than I anticipated. My thanks for your efforts and most sincere best wishes to you and your family!
Back to business... After pausing at the top of Lippincott to top up from our jerrycans, we decended into the valley to the racetrack where the mysterious moving rocks of Death Valley reside. Sadly the playa that composes their 'Racetrack' was flooded so we couldn't see any action. I bet the rocks only turn left though!
we rolled along to Teakettle Junction following a group of 4 very senior citizens in a Cherokee. This golden ager, however, had no trouble finding the skinny pedal! He was flying! I was fully in the 'smoke notch' trying unsuccessfully to keep up. When we got to the Tea kettle monument they surprised us again with their other car! Truly cool people with a great zest for life! We chatted for a while then they were off in a spray of gravel.
As seen in the previous pics. we were enjoying great temperatures during the day and clear skies. The water from the mineral springs caused my normally maintenance free hair to assume a configuration reminiscent of Kevin Bacon in the late 80's. Lance, of course, was merciless. We rolled North East on more washboard Past the Ubehebe Crater (Closed) to the Grapevine Ranger Station where we regained the pavement and aired up. The park entrance fee of $20 was happily paid and we picked up a Death Valley newspaper. I screwed up here and assumed the store at Furnace Creek was closing soon so we raced south for supplies. As we passed one of the many work crews happily absorbing Mr. Obama's stimulus money we heard the flaggers, coincidentally on our FRS channel exclaim- "Those two Land Cruisers are European Land Cruisers! Those things are f'n Sick!" I assume that is good, no? We made Furnace Creek to find we had three more hours of shopping so we got supplies and went to the restaurant/bar for a great western meal, reasonably priced. Like a total moron I was charmed by the waitress (Lance- I think youve got a chance here!) and overtipped etc. You'd think a guy would learn! Off to Hole In The Wall in the dark for a campsite. And yes, I blundered past the enormous gap in the mountains without even seeing it.
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It was very windy at night, something to think about if tent camping in the desert. The wind can be very powerful and spring up instantaneously.
Oh yes. Well I've been bashing Lance a bit (there's more!) so I'll post up that famous hair shot!
After exploring around Hole In The Wall, with a bit of mild wheeling, we decided to head to Dante's View. This is a lookout 5500 feet above the valley with terriffic views. There is an area to un hitch and store trailers as the final climb is a 15% grade with tight switchbacks. It was very cold and extremly windy up there.
Oh yes. Well I've been bashing Lance a bit (there's more!) so I'll post up that famous hair shot!
After exploring around Hole In The Wall, with a bit of mild wheeling, we decided to head to Dante's View. This is a lookout 5500 feet above the valley with terriffic views. There is an area to un hitch and store trailers as the final climb is a 15% grade with tight switchbacks. It was very cold and extremly windy up there.
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Drew (the one on the FCC's most wanted list) had loaned us two books by Charles Wells detailing areas in California to go wheeling- after perusing them we decided to head to the Barstow area to get down to some serious wheeling. We blasted south along another washboard road out of the park to the town of Shoshone, where we had Mexican at the CrowBar diner. Shoshone is a small town that is totally owned by one person , the descendent of its founder in old west days. There is fuel and limited groceries and a resort. Further along to Baker Ca. we paused at the Dumont Dunes to do a little sand running. This is not the best place for an HDJ so we left after some mild goofing around. Baker is famous for having both the worlds tallest thermometer and the Mad Greek restaurant- home of the worlds best strawberry shake. I agree. Lance managed to scarf down a gyro after our huge brunch in Shoshone. I made sure to keep my hands and feet a safe distance from his mouth!
We motored west ( I couldn't resist) towards Barstow and overtook the 'General Leemo' pulling off at Yermo, a small town that looked like a war zone with burned out houses and abandoned businesses. Clearly the economic breakdown hit hard there- Turned north toward Calico and the Odessa Canyon where we camped for the night and had our first campfire. Interestingly- the stones under the fire began exploding sending shrapnel whipping by with the riccochet sound of a bullet! It was cold that night as well.
Nope, the pickles are straight ahead by the till now.
Nice camp breakfast of BBQ Ribeye and bacon.
Calico Canyon travels up to the Bismarck mine then descends to the start through the Bismarck Canyon. Charles Wells' book rates this run at it's most difficult level with a high probability of body damage. Were we nervous? Nahh.... We were to stupid to be nervous! The rocks were close together and steep. Leaning over too much guaranteed taking out a window on the canyon walls. It was really just a gorge with scattered boulders not much wider than the truck!..
Lance prepared himself for this ascent by developing a whole new 4X4 technique, combining rock crawling with prospecting. Always the innovator, he decided to substitute the prospectors gold pan or metal detector for his front differential! I suspect he smacked every loose rock in the canyon! Truly hilarious. There were all kinds of obstacles to overcome, several of which took a long time and several false starts to overcome. One in particular seemed impossible until I got halfway up the wrong line and saw the easier path.
- a short video which doesnt do true justice to the angles and proximity of things
The third photo show Lance at the obstacle in the Vid.
YouTube - calico 2
Here is a vid I found on YouTube of a jeep in the 'Squeeze' we went through- very steep up hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_XrLDQ8BM8
And yes- we did drive through those narrow gaps all of which was a very steep ascent.
Nice camp breakfast of BBQ Ribeye and bacon.
Calico Canyon travels up to the Bismarck mine then descends to the start through the Bismarck Canyon. Charles Wells' book rates this run at it's most difficult level with a high probability of body damage. Were we nervous? Nahh.... We were to stupid to be nervous! The rocks were close together and steep. Leaning over too much guaranteed taking out a window on the canyon walls. It was really just a gorge with scattered boulders not much wider than the truck!..
Lance prepared himself for this ascent by developing a whole new 4X4 technique, combining rock crawling with prospecting. Always the innovator, he decided to substitute the prospectors gold pan or metal detector for his front differential! I suspect he smacked every loose rock in the canyon! Truly hilarious. There were all kinds of obstacles to overcome, several of which took a long time and several false starts to overcome. One in particular seemed impossible until I got halfway up the wrong line and saw the easier path.
- a short video which doesnt do true justice to the angles and proximity of things
The third photo show Lance at the obstacle in the Vid.
YouTube - calico 2
Here is a vid I found on YouTube of a jeep in the 'Squeeze' we went through- very steep up hill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_XrLDQ8BM8
And yes- we did drive through those narrow gaps all of which was a very steep ascent.
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It took us several hours to get up to the Bismarck mine, an interesting collection of interconnected tunnels and mineshafts- I took this oppertunity to have a camp shower, improving the atmosphere in my truck considerably. We descended the Bismarck canyon which was easier than the Odessa acent- for a time. We came to some tall steep drops that neither truck could negotiate without rolling or leaving the entire back bumper behind! We commenced to rock up, taking several more hours to pass 2 obstacles.
Lessons learned- My BFG ATs gripped tenaciously here at street pressure and performed superbly. Lances Swampers were next to useless at street pressure and only a little better aired down. It is all about the line and a two foot technique with gentle and progressive transitions from throttle to brake. I found that I could get up on the door panel to get a view of the front right corner was very helpful with these big tanks on a trail reccomended for 'short wheelbase only'. The clearances were that close in these deep, narrow passes where one slip would have you crushed against the rock wall. In fact, the guide book illustrates a YJ pinned against the wall where we struggled through.
Lessons learned- My BFG ATs gripped tenaciously here at street pressure and performed superbly. Lances Swampers were next to useless at street pressure and only a little better aired down. It is all about the line and a two foot technique with gentle and progressive transitions from throttle to brake. I found that I could get up on the door panel to get a view of the front right corner was very helpful with these big tanks on a trail reccomended for 'short wheelbase only'. The clearances were that close in these deep, narrow passes where one slip would have you crushed against the rock wall. In fact, the guide book illustrates a YJ pinned against the wall where we struggled through.
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here's some I forgot
As you can no doubt discern, Lance fit right in with the redneck segment of the community.
He had been acting a bit restless and broached the idea of returning north through the Saline Valley. Now- Lance may have stated his reasoning had to do with the hot showers and hot tubs, but I think he longed to rekindle his relationship with the individual pictured below!
He had been acting a bit restless and broached the idea of returning north through the Saline Valley. Now- Lance may have stated his reasoning had to do with the hot showers and hot tubs, but I think he longed to rekindle his relationship with the individual pictured below!
We headed through Barstow and back north on the 395 to Trona for diesel arriving in Panamint Springs Death Valley late that night. Had dinner there which was terrible. - overpriced and bad food but we were hungry. Found we would have to drive to Stovepipe Wells for supplies to take to the Warm Springs caretakers. We camped at the roadside after checking out an old desel generator. It's a 6 cylinder Waukesha with a huge Garrett turbo hooked to a 150 KW generator end. Then over South Pass in the snow where Lance had trouble staying in the ruts with his Swampers.
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We arrived at the springs afteranother run down the diabolical washboard road and I cracked a beer to celebrate while soaking in my private pool. I got a little cocky and got huge air on the road which cracked most of the eggs in the cooler and broke a beer as well. As soon as we pulled into camp we had a ten egg scramble, laced with Hy's steak spice. Might have contributed to the high winds that hit me later on!
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