Death Valley: November 2012 (Better late than never!)

[paulbgardner]

I love Death Valley. The desert just fascinates me. As a Florida native, there is just no place on the east coast that creates the sense of remoteness and calmness.

Six years ago, I moved to California. And of course, my first desert experience was Death Valley. It holds a special place in my heart and I try to go back as often as possible.

My past three forays into Death Valley were solo adventures (solo = me + wife), staying in the valley proper and only driving the easier day trip trails like Racetrack Playa, Titus Canyon and Eureka Dunes, and camping at established campgrounds along the way. But this time would be different. This time, I wanted to get off the beaten path. Off the pavement that traverses the park. And onto the trails that always tempted my better judgment.

There had to be a way to link the more difficult Lippincott Road and Steele Pass with a few other trails to create an all dirt route from the South to the North. So I printed out a few 11x17 inch maps, took out a highlighter and started linking up trails in an attempt to stay away from pavement as much as geographically possible.

Several years and one baby later, and I hadn't found the time or right people to do this big trip with. But thanks to IH8MUD, I developed the pretty good group of local friends that shared similar overlanding ambitions. We completed lots of short trips together to Big Bear, Antelope Valley, Mojave Road and some other local OHV areas and were ready for something a little more ambitious. The summer of 2012 rolled around and I found out that my wife is pregnant with baby number two. I now had the reason and the people to join me. The perfect opportunity for one last epic Pre-Baby #2, guys only Death Valley Trip.

My plan was to go with one other truck. Word spread and one turned into two, then three, then four, then 13 other trucks, all friends of friends. Typically I would post this kind of trip on the online forums but decided to keep this one limited to friends for a more intimate trip. An epic email thread started to coordinate the trip. Over 300 emails and a handful of scheduling conflicts later and 13 trucks whittled down to eight.

The Trip
My trips always have some kind of goal. Some trips are based around getting to that perfect location at the perfect time for that perfect picture. Other trips are about finding old mines, exploring historical areas or just seeing some natural scenery. The goal of this trip was to drive. I wanted plan a trip that would test my planning skills, driving endurance and vehicle capability. There would be no wimping out on this trip. If we had to drive all night to read the next destination, then that is what we would do. No getting tired and stopping short, until of course there was a safety risk.

When I go on an off-road, overland, backcountry camping or whatever you want to call it, I really enjoy moving forward. Base camping and doing day trips has its place but isn't what excites me the most. With my trip planning goals of avoiding backtracking and pavement while seeking out a challenge, my route covered almost 300 miles of dirt over 4 days. This may seem easy to some, and it would be with 1-2 other trucks, 8 trucks adds another layer of complexity to the planning. I had to rethink communications, timing and camping locations. Could 8 big trucks even fit in these camp locations? Daylight is limited in November and not everyone would to want to get up at 5am to start driving. Eight times the potential for a break down on top of the driver fatigue that comes with technical terrain and mediocre road for 10 hours a day. But the point of the trip was to seek out a challenge.

The final itinerary for the trip was:

Thursday:
• Meet in Baker, CA between noon and 3pm
• Depart for Stripped Butte no later than 330-400pm
• Arrive at camp in the evening
• Trails: Harry Wade Road, Warm Springs Road
• Total Mileage from Baker: 88.5 miles
• Things to see: Barker Ranch (Charles Manson's hideout)
Friday:
• Wake up early, eat breakfast, break down camp
• Depart for Racetrack Playa
• Refuel at Panamint springs
• Trails: Goler Wash, Mengel Pass, Cerro Gordo Mine, White Mountain Talc Road, Saline Valley Road South Pass, Lippincott Mine Road (up)
• Arrive at camp at Racetrack Playa
• Total Mileage: 142.1 miles
• Things to see: Ballarat Ghost town, Cerro Gordo Silver Mine

Saturday
• Wake up early, eat breakfast, break down camp
• Depart for Eureka Dunes
• Trails: Lippincott (down), Saline Valley Road North Pass, Steele Pass, Dedeckera Canyon, Eureka Dunes
• Total Mileage: 63 miles
• Things to see: Racing Rocks at Racetrack Playa, Saline Valley Dunes, Salt Lake, Upper and Lower Hot Springs
Sunday

• Wake up early, eat breakfast, break down camp
• Depart for Big Pine
• Trails: Big Pine Road, Death Valley Road
• Total Mileage: 48.9 miles
• Things to see: Eureka Dunes, Old sulfur mines



I'm writing this a few months after the trip so my memory may be a little cloudy. I'll let the photos do the talking with a bit of narration on things I remember.


Day 1:
The meet up point was Baker, CA. Some of us meet up on the freeway by chance and convoyed together to Baker. When Craig arrived in Baker there were no signs of our planned meet up point, Coco's Bakery; just a nice big dirt lot along the main drag through town. Coco's or not, it wasn't too difficult to spot the half dozen Land Cruisers pulled off on the side of the road.

After lots of lollygagging around, eating lunch, fueling up and tech talk it came time find out who was who. You spend a lot of time chatting with people on the forums, so it's always fun put a face and a real name to a screen name. Before hitting the road we had a powwow to discuss the plans for the day and the trip, talk rules, and to make sure everyone had all the gear they needed.



When I was planning the trip I used Google earth a lot to chart our course. The satellite view of the road out of baker looked like it was a dirt road. To my dismay it turned out to be 30 miles of the smoothest pavement in California. On the upside it gave the group an opportunity to get into the driving together groove, test out all the various radio communications, and just have some low-pressure chitchat on the way to the start of the real driving. We turned onto our first dirt road, Harry Wade road, where we stopped to air down.



We hit the dirt. Instant white out conditions. The road had just been graded and made completely of dried out riverbed silt. I can only compare it to what the surface of the moon must be like. Just driving the truck at idle speeds kicked up a huge dust cloud. When I stepped out of my truck, I was instantly ankle deep in dust. Not the most fun driving conditions.





At points, the convoy stretched 8 miles long with everyone trying to keep at least a mile between trucks to avoid collisions. There was absolutely no wind at all, not even the slightest cross wind to blow the dust to the side. It just hung in the air forever making it almost impossible to see past the hood of the truck.

As the group slowed to a stop I heard the radio crackle “everyone stop! I got hit”. I was way ahead leading the group and my heart sank. This was the last thing I wanted to happen on the trip. My biggest concern as leader of the group was the safety of everyone. Thankfully the rear ending was at very low speeds and nothing more than some paint was hurt. We all got out of our trucks and regrouped to talk about the road conditions and keeping spacing to try to avoid another collision. The group pressed on.

After what seemed like only 30 seconds, I heard the radio crackle again “STOP! Got hit again”. I couldn't believe it but really I could believe it. The conditions were even worse on the start of Warm Springs Road. The dust was so thick that even at a few miles per hour you could not see your own hood, let alone the truck in front of you until it was too late. I was way out ahead of the main pack of trucks so I turned around to drive back to see what happened. Unfortunately we were not so lucky the second time around.



As I drove up, I said to my co-pilot, Don, “Is that the hood of his truck lifted up? That can't be good.” One of the trucks with no steel front bumper rear ended a truck with a high clearance steel rear bumper, complete with gas can rack and tire swing out. You can guess who won. The collision occurred at under 10mph yet it managed to destroy the entire front end of Adam's truck. The headlights were busted, the radiator support bent in, the hood crumpled, yet the bumper only scratched and cracked.







Everyone got out to assess the damage. In a group of self-proclaimed mechanics there were a lot of opinions flying around of what to do. We debated the merits of continuing on and working on the truck at camp that night or having Adam drive back to Baker. The truck was still running fine but we decided that because we were only getting more and more remote that it would not be wise for Adam to continue on. He probably could have continued on because several months later his truck was in the same condition driving all over Santa Monica while he waited for insurance to work itself out. I was super bummed out that he had to bail after only a few hours on the road. I can't imagine how furious Adam was. Through it all he really managed to keep his cool. It was quite impressive. We managed to pull the front of the truck out with a ratchet strap hooked to the car that got rear ended, flattened down the hood as much as possible and secured everything so Adam could get back to Baker to decide if he could drive home or have to call in a tow.

 

[paulbgardner]

Slightly shaken up and in a somber mood, we all got back in our trucks and continued on, down one truck to seven. The rest of the drive to camp at Geologists Cabin was quite and uneventful. There was not a lot of chat on the radio, everyone pondering the events of the afternoon and enjoying a scenic sunset.







The sun finally set just as we drove into the canyon on our way up to Stripped Butte. The road conditions were good, as the road had just been graded several days earlier. After a few wrong turns in the dark, we eventually found our way into Stripped Butte Valley. It was quite odd knowing that we were driving into a vast, dark valley not able to see the large landmarks all around us.



I had no idea what to expect at the Geologists cabin or if there was even enough room to fit all of us in the area. We arrived to discover a rutted off camber road where we hoped to find a big flat level area to park. Despite the odd angle, everyone managed to find a small bit of level ground to park and camp on.



Due to recent Hanta Virus outbreaks no one took the chance to sleep in the cabin. It was a nice night to camp outside anyway. We made a nice fire outside the cabin, enjoyed a few beers and slept through the on and off rain that night.



Stats for the day:
Duration: 8:14:59
Distance: 275.4 miles
Minimum Latitude: 34°07'01" N
Maximum Latitude: 35°59'07" N
Minimum Longitude: 118°07'16" W
Maximum Longitude: 116°03'11" W
Average Speed: 33.3 mph
Minimum Speed: 0 mph
Maximum Speed: 78 mph
Average Altitude: 1,407 ft.
Minimum Altitude: -228 ft.
Maximum Altitude: 4,312 ft.

 

[paulbgardner]

Day 2:

We woke up to moody storm clouds clearing to reveal a wonderful view of Stripped Butte. I hiked up the mountain a little ways to get an overview of the valley and Geologists Cabin at sunrise. Everyone cooked a quick breakfast, broke down camp, explored the cabin and got ready to tackle Mengel Pass and the long day of driving to follow.







Mengel Pass presented us with the most technically challenging terrain for the trip. We ran it East to West, which is considerably more difficult than West to East as you’re fighting gravity. Without much guidance, I made the first run up the gnarled pass and ended up taking a not so good line that required a few backups and redirects. As one of the only trucks not running sliders, I was a bit nervous when the truck started sliding on the loose boulders. My rocker panel taped the boulders once or twice; enough to make sure sliders were the next addition to the truck when I got home. But I made it through unscathed. Joseph in his almost stock Lexus LX470 took the best line out of everyone and made it look easy., Bob with one of the most well built rigs on the trip, high centered himself on a big rock and had to get yanked off with a strap. Craig charged through with reckless abandon in an effort to try out his new front bumper. Austin also managed to make it look like a piece of cake. While Chris bashed his sliders and lower control arms a bunch. Ryan made it through in his 80 series pulling a trailer, wishing he had lockers.

After one hour and 45 minutes, the entire group made it through Mengel Pass. From the pass we easily cruised up to Charles Manson’s hideout that was unfortunately burned down a few years back; still an interesting side trip.



From Manson’s cabin we continued down the canyon to Wingate Road and the Manly Peak Wilderness Area.



With well over 100 miles of driving to do, Wingate Road gave us an opportunity to pick up the pace and put a few easy miles behind us. The road was firmly packed and kept damp for dust suppression around the active gold mine, allowing us to travel safely at much higher speeds.



Massive dump trucks and water tankers from the nearby gold mine dwarfed our trucks while a pair of F-18 Hornets flying training missions buzzed our convoy at nearly ground level. The fighter jets made several passes on the deck, even turning up the throttle and breaking the sound barrier for us. At the end of Wingate Road lied the Ballart ghost town. We stopped here for a bit to eat lunch and explore.







From Ballart, the trip's longest stretch of pavement lay between us and our destination, Cerro Gordo Road. We were forced to suck it up and return to the pavement for 30 short, washboard-road drone-free, gorgeous miles. We stopped off in Panamint Springs for everyone to refuel with $6 per gallon gasoline, buy some snacks, wash up and use the restrooms. On the drive to Panamint Springs both Bob and Ryan noticed some shaking on their trucks when driving over 50 mph. Inspection at the gas revealed that they had both candy stripped their rear drive shafts on Mengel Pass’s boulders.

 

[paulbgardner]

Keeler welcomed us with a sign: “Rough Road Ahead. 4 Wheel Drive Advised. Snow Not Cleared Beyond This Point.” My kind of warning.



Before my Land Cruiser days I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I had taken it up Cerro Gordo Road after a big snowstorm, when the entire Owens Valley was covered in a foot of white, powdery snow. I made it about ¾ of the way up the road and came across an older Jeep CJ7 sitting on 37” tires, its driver shaking his head saying he couldn’t get any farther because of snowdrifts. The view from Cerro Gordo is breath taking and it has been on my list of drives to finish since.

On that first trip, I visualized the photographs that I wanted to take on my next trip up with other trucks. This was my chance to make those photos a reality. The weather was setup for really dramatic photos; snow storm clouds hanging over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and giant rays of light pouring through the clouds and into Owens Valley. At a certain elevation there were Joshua Trees, windy roads, dust clouds, Owens Valley and the Sierras all in one view. It was the photo I had been waiting for. (Make this sentence a photo caption) This next photo is my favorite from the entire trip.



We rolled into the 8,100ft high silver mine, in the freezing cold, not really knowing what to expect. We were greeted by no trespassing signs and really no signs of activity. Thankfully, seven Land Cruiser pulling up to anywhere draws some attention. The caretaker and two other visitors came out of the building. For a small fee the caretaker was kind enough to give us a tour of the grounds and a little history lesson. The hotel there would be a great place to stay if they could get it certified for occupancy. It has a view to die for.















This mine was one of the few places where we really stopped for a long time to explore. But enough of Cerro Gordo Mine. With over 60 miles left to drive for the day to get to camp, the guys all got back in their trucks and we started driving.

On the way, I managed to give Ryan some really bad directions. From where I was father down the mountain at the front of the convoy it appeared as though Ryan was taking a dead end path down the mountain. Not wanting him to have to back up with his trailer I told him to back up and take the other direction at a fork in the road. Turned out I sent him on a wild goose chase. It was just an optical illusion. He had actually been bringing up the rear of our group just fine. We ended up waiting for 30 minutes and had to send a truck back up the road to find Ryan.

By the time we all got back together the sun was well on its way to setting. We raced the sunset toward Saline Valley Road.

 

[paulbgardner]

Thankfully White Mountain Talc Road was pretty quick and easy and we made it to Saline Valley road with just a few minutes of twilight to spare. Just enough nice lighting to get a group shot with the thin crescent moon and crepuscular rays spraying out over the mountains.



It was time to make some big decisions. The day had already been really long and everyone was getting a bit hungry and ready to not be driving. Our options were to stop where we were and setup up camp, stop where we were and eat dinner and then continue on, or just push through the next 30-40 miles and get to our camp for the night. In the spirit of the goals of the trip we decided to push through to get to camp. It gets dark by 6:00PM in November. So it felt much later than it actually was. The route to Racetrack Playa took us through Hunter Mountain and Hidden Valley. For the short stretch from Saline Valley Road to our Hidden Valley turn off, we all tried to calculate our average speeds over the various terrains we had been on to estimate what time we’d make it to at camp. By all calculations, we had as little as an hour but no more than two more hours of driving.

We were able to drive a steady 15 to 20 mph most of the way. In the darkness we were barely able to make out the steep drop offs on either side as we wound our way over the trail. I would like to do this trail again during the daytime. I am pretty sure we missed some fantastic scenery.



Right as we were about to come up on Tea Kettle Junction, we came across a couple camped in the wash in the middle of the canyon. With all 7 truck’s auxiliary lighting blazing, the couple probably felt like they were about to be abducted by aliens. We stopped and chatted for a bit. They were enjoying a nice secluded night camping. Their choice of camp spot, right at Lost Burro Gap, seemed random and kind of dangerous

I breathed a sigh of relief once we reached the familiar territory of Tea Kettle Junction. What wasn’t familiar was the road condition. Racetrack Road was in the worst condition I have seen in all four times I had been down it. Intense wash boarding and 1-2 foot deep washouts crossed the road. The guys instantly jumped on their radios to complain about the bone-jarring home stretch to camp. Everyone tried to reduce the vibrations by swerving back and forth across the wide dirt road.



Despite the radio chatter suggesting otherwise, none of the 7 trucks rattled apart and everyone pulled into the group camp area around 7:30PM—just in time for dinner. The dry camp at the south end of Racetrack Playa is great for a big group like ours. Plenty of space and each truck had its own parking spot and camp area. I pulled into camp first to see if anyone else was at the site before having all the trucks drive down. There was another couple camped near our area and again, we startled them pretty good. We threw camp together, made dinner and gathered around the fire for our nightly drinks. After dinner I gave a quick lesson on how to shoot star shots. Everyone that brought their cameras was setup in the dark trying to capture a meteor and star trails. The day was long and epic. But we had accomplished a major goal of the trip.



Stats for the day:
Duration: 11:52:22
Distance: 159.4 miles
Minimum Latitude: 35°51'30" N
Maximum Latitude: 36°45'35" N
Minimum Longitude: 117°52'07" W
Maximum Longitude: 117°04'36" W
Average Speed: 13.3 mph
Minimum Speed: 0 mph
Maximum Speed: 68 mph
Average Altitude: 4,040 ft.
Minimum Altitude: 995.4 ft.
Maximum Altitude: 8,180 ft.

 

[yubert]

Nice trip report and awesome photos!

 

[paulbgardner]

thanks. Two more days to post

 

[Keyne]

Fantastic! Great photos too. Sad to hear about the accident but sounds like it all worked out ok (could have been much worse). I have always wanted to go to Death Valley. These types of trip reports keep driving the desire for me to move from Boston out West...

 

[NM-Frontier]

Great stuff! Can't wait for the next two days.:sombrero:

 

[jonharis]

Amazing stuff Paul! Bummed you can't join us in Ouray.

 

[paulbgardner]

Day 3

Day 3:
My original plan for this trip was to wake up super early every morning and be on the trail as the sun was coming up so that I could get photos with great lighting. When I expressed that idea to the group I was promptly told that no one was going anywhere until the coffee had been made and drank with the option for seconds on the table. So when we woke up, Ryan had his coffee machine going on the back of his trailer serving up some Death Valley Brew.



In my experience, Racetrack Playa Dry Camp is always one of the coldest stops in Death Valley this time of year. This trip proved no different. The chilly mornings saw us all gathering around the fire to keep warm before packing up.



There were as many sleeping set ups as there were guys on the trip. 4 out of 7 slept in the back of their Land Cruisers with various configurations. The next more civilized method was my simple North Face ground tent followed closely by Craig’s tent mansion and cots. The king was Bob with his ARB roof top tent.





After camp was packed up and everyone had drank a sufficient amount of coffee, we pulled out of camp to head back up the washboard road to the Racetrack to see the famous racing rocks. The Racetrack was in the worst condition I have ever seen after recent rains messed up the normally smooth dry lakebed. Fortunately, it was dry enough to walk on. Unfortunately, people had walked out on the playa when it wasn’t. There were now dozens of footprints in the playa that will be there for years to come. Which wasn’t as bad as whoever decided that the playa would be a great place to go drifting. Swooping tire track rings marred the surface of the larger and more iconic rocks had graffiti on them. With this kind of abuse there will come a day when the park service closes this unique area down forever.



Day three was another long day of driving. On paper it didn’t look very long. But once the driving started, the day just kept going and going and going. Our double digit average speed over the past two days was now in the rearview mirror as we crawled along at only 8.7 mph. I had really been looking forward to Lippincott Road trail. I had heard all kinds of stories about it; it was narrow, off camber and subject to washouts. There was no knowing what the conditions would be on any given day. We started off down the trail and immediately enjoyed the spectacular view of Saline Valley. The gloomy weather broke and the sky filled with puffy white clouds casting moving shadows all across the valley floor. The trail was in good condition—narrow in places but completely passable in our six 100-series and one 80-series Land Cruiser.

 

[paulbgardner]

Our next stop was the warm springs located at the bottom of Steele Pass. To get to the springs we had to run up most of Saline Valley. There were some large washouts here and there, but for the most part it was smooth sailing. All the guys were pretty tired so we just cruised without stopping too much. A light crosswind kept the dust out of our eyes. On paper the drive looked to be fairly quick. But in reality, it swallowed half of the day. We eventually made it to the warm springs. From what I had read and seen in photos, I expected the hot springs to be remote little holes in the ground devoid of people. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The site was a completely developed campground with dozens of sites, bathrooms and structures. Even the springs were tiled like hot tubs. Oh and lets not forget the nude welcoming committee. As much as we all wanted to relax in the springs, we decided to pass on the experience. We took a two-hour lunch and nap. I deployed my awning, drank a Blue Moon and snoozed on my truck’s tailgate. The other guys worked on repairing Ryan’s CB antenna and more or less sat around talking shop. On the way out of the warm springs, all the guys were drooling over the various Toyota rigs at the campsites. There were several nicely built 40 and 60 series Land Cruisers.

The entire drive up Saline Valley was uneventful but very scenic. I was more excited about starting the way up Steele Pass; so at least for myself, Saline Valley was merely a means to an end. We never even stopped for photos; I just shot from the window while driving. So I’d love to go back and give the valley more attention.







I had my eye on Steele Pass for awhile but didn’t feel comfortable going it alone. All the advice I received about this trail treaded on not puncturing a tire. The trail is known as a tire slicer requiring multiple spares. There was definitely the potential for tire issues if you weren’t careful. But it turned out to be not quite as bad as the books and forums make it out. The trail was a long, drawn out wash littered with softball to football sized rocks, making for a fun but slow going drive.

The timing for this portion of the trip could not have been better. We started in the late afternoon. The low hanging sun transformed a wonderfully colorful sunset before turning into a cold, moody dusk. Once the sun set the temperature plummeted. In order to continue my sunroof photo taking, I was forced into a full down jacket and wool beanie.

 

[paulbgardner]

Our convoy entered Dedeckera Canyon just as the last bit of light left the sky. Just enough light remained to survey the first of the steps into the canyon before driving down into the darkness. It had been another long day, but running this section of the trail in the dark revitalized everyone's sense of adventure. We welcomed the challenge after hours upon hours of driving in straight lines. Austin provided some much needed entertainment riding Ryan's trailer down one of the canyon's larger ledges.











Total darkness engulfed the final stretch down from Dedeckera Canyon to Eureka Dunes. Only a thin crescent moon provided any sense of what direction we were headed. With the interior lights turned off, all we saw was the moon shifting back and forth across the sky as we made our turns along the disorienting drive. Our headlights created the only other light cast upon the monotonous dirt road.

The group rolled into the main Eureka Dunes camp spot around 6-7pm and once again startled the only other nearby campers. Who goes to bed at 6pm? Despite driving over 10 hours a day for several days, we were still up for a good time in the evenings. The last meal for our last night in Death Valley was steak. Without coordinating, each member of the group brought a nice big hunk of steak to grill as a celebration. After dinner we hung out around the fire, discussed the trip, shared war stories, poked fun at ourselves and the world of expedition travel, and finished off the last of the beers. I took a few night shots of our camp and promptly went to bed.



Stats for the day:

I forgot to leave my GPS running during lunch so the stats are broken into two sections: Racetrack to Warm Springs and Warm Springs to Eureka Dunes.

 

[paulbgardner]

Day 4

Day 4:

We all took our time getting up in the morning. I awoke first and decided to grab my camera and head up to the peak of the first dune for sunrise. I enjoyed the last bit of starlight as I hiked into the dunes. On previous trips to Eureka Dunes I climbed to the very top of the highest peak. While the view is fantastic it is quite a hike to get there; typically one-step forward and 10 steps sliding back down the dune. I wasn’t in the mood for that kind of hike. The first peak provided a good enough view of camp.











Eventually some of the other guys woke up and made their own treks into the dunes. For most of the group this was their first visit.







Don looked like he was walking off the set of the latest Quentin Tarantino film. All he needed was a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

 

[paulbgardner]

As I mentioned earlier, Bob and Ryan both high centered on a rock in the middle of Mengel Pass, candy striping their rear drive shafts. Bob and Chris took a look under Bob’s truck and decided that it was way too much effort to remove all the heavy steel skid plates to get to the drive shaft. So Bob just left it in and took the chance driving slowly home with lots of vibrations. Ryan on the other hand had a clear view of his drive shaft and decided to remove it. I challenged him to see how fast he could get it out. The final time was either 15 or 20 minutes. The GoPro time-lapse should tell the whole story.



Chris and Austin were not headed back to Southern California. So they decided to chart a different route home (Arizona and Nevada respectively) that included one more night of camping in the park. The signage at the intersection of Eureka Dunes Road and Big Pine Road said that the road was closed headed into the park. The road status earlier in the week also indicated that the road was closed due to washouts. This didn’t faze Chris and Austin; they decided to chance it and see how far they could get. Evidently they made it and spent another night camped off Echo Canyon Road.



With camp all packed up we gathered together for a group shot, said our goodbyes and hit the road home.





Left to Right: Don, Joseph, Ryan, Myself (in the back), Austin, Bob (in the back), Craig, Graham and Chris. The “EXPO Approved” crew.



After only a few short miles on dirt and gravel we hit blacktop, stopped to air up the tires and head on our way.



One of my favorite views along this route was cresting the pass along Big Pine Road to see the Sierra Nevada Mountains.



Once in Big Pine, Ryan suggested that we stop at the Country Kitchen for a well-deserved burger and soda. While at the restaurant we came across one of the well-built 60 series that we had seen at the Warm Springs. We shared our stories and kept eating. Can’t beat a hearty meal at the end of an epic trip.

Stats for the day:

Duration: 6:54:28
Distance: 303 miles
Minimum Latitude: 34°08'52" N
Maximum Latitude: 37°17'11" N
Minimum Longitude: 118°30'30" W
Maximum Longitude: 117°40'51" W
Average Speed: 43.7 mph
Minimum Speed: 0 mph
Maximum Speed: 78.3 mph
Average Altitude: 3,397 ft.
Minimum Altitude: 801.8 ft.
Maximum Altitude: 7,640 ft.