Dust to Snow- another Nevada transit

Lars70

Observer
This story has been gestating for awhile- over a year, in fact, since the gear was packed up and put away.

After being inspired by a couple of threads on this board, I decided to shift my attention from wandering around central Nevada to a bit further north. The goal became to drive from the Utah border to the California border with minimal wheel time on pavement. Our choice of the first week in October proved to be interesting weatherwise, which became a concern as the departure date drew nearer, but with fellow travelers converging in northeastern Nevada from California, Washington, Arizona, the logistics meant locking in the dates. Most of us planned to rendezvous in Wells, with a final mustering in Wendover, after which we would depart the pavement. Hopefully for 6-7 days.

My first day, traveling across I-80 from NorCal to Wells, NV, gave no hint at all of the weather we would encounter later. A dry lightning storm had scoured most of northern Nevada a couple of days before, igniting brush and grass spot fires across a broad swath of the state.

P1020738-L.jpg


IMG_4961-L.jpg


P1020740-L.jpg



Eventually we made it to a nice stopover campsite in the northern end of the Ruby Range, south of Wells. The following morning dawned bright, warm and calm.

P1020741-L.jpg


P1020743-L.jpg



No time to linger; the last of our party was waiting for us in West Wendover, where we met for breakfast before gassing up and preparing for leaving town. But... given that Wendover was where the crews of Enola Gay and Bockscar trained for what became their place in history, we had to pay a visit to the airfield.

IMG_4968-L.jpg


IMG_4969-L.jpg


P1020747-L.jpg


P1020748-L.jpg
 
Last edited:

Lars70

Observer
Saturated by our history lesson... Time to direct our attention north by northwest, past Pilot Peak, with a quick top-off in the ex-railroad town of Montello.

P1020753-L.jpg


P1020754-L.jpg


The road out of Montello was extremely dusty. A good thing in that it made oncoming traffic easy to spot- fortunately there wasn't much on this day- but with 6 vehicles, we had to spread out several miles to keep our sanity.

Crittenden Reservoir used to be open to public fishing. No more; oh well.

IMG_4979-L.jpg


Continuing past Delano, we eventually arrived at Rock Spring, where we crossed the Hastings Cutoff and began our climb toward Devil's Pass and hopefully beyond, to conclude the first day of our adventure.

IMG_4985-L.jpg


P1020760-L.jpg
 
Last edited:

Lars70

Observer
Over Devil's Pass and beyond

The route up Rock Creek was not exactly a major thoroughfare. A good thing, but as it closed in with increasingly tall brush, we managed to miss the turnoff out of the creek towards the pass. Getting later that we liked, not a good thing. Luckily it revealed itself easily as we descended the creek on the backtrack. Except for the minor matter of crossing said creek. The lockers on the old Bronco don't get exercised often, but this was one place where both were welcome. One of the Tacos, lacking the "gray wire mod" and not being in low range (love my mechanical shift levers), had a rougher go.

IMG_4994-L.jpg


IMG_5000-L.jpg



The view eastward at the top of the pass was sublime:

IMG_5005-L.jpg


It was obvious that no one had been over the top and down the other side in a long time. The tall grass hid deep ruts on a slightly off-camber track, that threatened to roll us. Given the sense of urgency we felt due to the late hour, it was a sketchy combination, but fortunately no one tipped. The steep descent from Devil's Pass eventually leveled off, and we found ourselves crossing a broad valley. Turned north in search of a camp spot, barely missing a a lovely spot described in another thread, but settling on a clear area with room for everyone. It turned out to be our last dry, mild evening of the trip.

IMG_5007-L.jpg
 

Lars70

Observer
Day Three

Onward and northwestward. Another metropolis in the wilderness. Well, not exactly...

P1020772-L.jpg



Wouldn't be a Bronco if it didn't stymie me once in awhile. Naturally the one part of the EFI wiring harness that wasn't a Ford component, a hidden toggle switch used as a kill switch, would be the device to fail. Open, of course. How many mechanics and engineers does it take to diagnose a bad switch?

IMG_5015-L.jpg



It's gotta be after 12PM somewhere...

IMG_5018-L.jpg



Narrow gullies opened...

P1020777-L.jpg



...into beautiful valleys, albeit framed by weather that portended what was coming, for the rest of the trip, it turned out.

P1020778-L.jpg


The planned route proved to be more difficult on the ground, and thus slower, than we hoped for. In light of the incoming weather, we re-routed somewhat, but still tending west by northwest. The goal for this day was high country in the mountains northeast of Jarbidge.

Fun with side-hilling:

IMG_5025-L.jpg



Don't look down while you are traversing:

IMG_5026-XL.jpg



Some roads were well-signed.

P1020781-L.jpg



Soon we were climbing steeply, eventually topping a ridge above 8000 feet, with spectacular views into southern Idaho.
 
Last edited:

Lars70

Observer
The road ahead:

P1020784-L.jpg



And the road just traveled:

P1020785-L.jpg



A USFS station, tucked into a high valley at 8400 feet; Idaho just visible through the gap at center right.

P1020791-L.jpg



Wet stuff falling from the sky, though at our current elevation it wasn't liquid. Looking north into the flat volcanic terrain of southern Idaho.

IMG_5037-L.jpg



We started feeling desperate as the route we had mapped petered out into increasingly vague 2-tracks through the sage, but coming over a north-south ridge, terrain falling away to the north, we discovered a small hollow. Infested with range cattle droppings, but under the circumstances we weren't in a mood to be particular. The showery rain added to our sense of urgency.

We encamped near the site of someone's failed dream.

IMG_5038-L.jpg


IMG_5045-L.jpg
 

mkitchen

Explorer
I'm impressed with both the scenery and the old Broncos.

My two favorites; Fords and Toyotas all on what looked like a very nice, scenic run.
Mikey
 

JIMBO

Expedition Leader
:sombrero: Beautiful pics and "onspot emergency" repairs is what make off-roading/overlanding so special---doesn't matter what the vehicle is, although nowa days it's getting tougher, with ECU/ECMs computers involved--

It seems like a lotta fishing spots in Nevada are becoming harder to fish--

One of the reasons is the property ownership by the PAIUTE indians--not all but some


They're still plssed at us for the Western movement in the 1800's-

The entire East side of PYRAMID lake is now closed and I've had some great trips on that side, including the "Pyramid", but they're pissed at weekenders, they've even closed a great fishing/camping section of the Truckee river-

--Go East young mang--go East-

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO
 

toddz69

Explorer
Onward and northwestward. Another metropolis in the wilderness. Well, not exactly...

Wouldn't be a Bronco if it didn't stymie me once in awhile. Naturally the one part of the EFI wiring harness that wasn't a Ford part, a hidden toggle switch used as a kill switch, chose its moment to fail. Open, naturally. How many mechanics and engineers does it take to diagnose a bad switch?

IMG_5015-L.jpg



It's gotta be after 12PM somewhere...

IMG_5018-L.jpg


If I did my math correctly, we had 4 mechanical engineers, an electrical engineer, and a software engineer working on the problem :). We also had the meteorologist along, but as you can tell, he was drinking our beer and giving us dire warnings of the weather ahead.

Todd Z.
 

toddz69

Explorer
Lars is doing a great job with the narrative for the trip and encouraged a few of the other attendees to chime in as well. I was the Arizona contingent in our group and drove from Phoenix to Wells to meet the group. I stopped in Henderson, NV, along the way to pick up my co-dog Terry from southern CA. I was thankful for Terry's company as well as his driving skills. A one day trip from Phoenix to Wells is a haul in a modern vehicle, let alone a 43 year old one, so Terry helped with some wheel time so I could relax.

Late in the day, I helped pass the miles by taking photos of the Bronco's shadow silhouetted against the Nevada sagebrush.

IMG_8468.jpg


We arrived in camp at Wells and soon were fast asleep - already enjoying the cooler temperatures and isolation of this beautiful country.

Todd Z.
 

ntsqd

Heretic Car Camper
If I did my math correctly, we had 4 mechanical engineers, an electrical engineer, and a software engineer working on the problem :). We also had the meteorologist along, but as you can tell, he was drinking our beer and giving us dire warnings of the weather ahead.

Todd Z.
Not to mention the call to our resident Ford Tech in S.D. just to keep all us brainiacs grounded.
 

toymaster

Explorer
If I did my math correctly, we had 4 mechanical engineers, an electrical engineer, and a software engineer working on the problem :). We also had the meteorologist along, but as you can tell, he was drinking our beer and giving us dire warnings of the weather ahead.

Todd Z.

I would not worry to much about that. Troubleshooting is an art that can only be mastered by practical application. Theory can only take you so far. Besides Vic wiring is a PITA no matter who 'ya are. I for one am happy to see that old iron used that way. :sombrero: Although, it does seem there was a traffic jam every where you went.
 

Lars70

Observer
The trouble was, the mechanical engineer that built the entire harness and selected the switch under consideration, and has about 40 years of automotive troubleshooting experience, namely me, missed the switch problem on the first 3 passes. My DVM was so sensitive that it was picking up stray ECU voltages that led me to believe the switch was good, whereas if I'd simply disconnected a wire from one pole and then checked the resistance (which I did, eventually) using the ohm meter function, it would have been instantly obvious. Duh. Again, the only non-Ford component in the engine harness. The rest of the (Ford) EFI stuff has been as reliable as the proverbial rubber doorstop.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,539
Messages
2,875,662
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top