CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.
Desert Trip VI: Trip Report starting on page 6
- Thread starter Larry
- Start date
Irish1941
1/2 ton status
Nice. Glad to see you made it in and out in one piece.
Love it out there. So quiet your ears rings for the first day or so.
Love it out there. So quiet your ears rings for the first day or so.
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Posts
- 1,695
- Reaction score
- 2,115
Day 3: Monday, March 25th – Mojave Rd
Goad: Try not to die
Monday morning after packing up camp we took a side jaunt up to a nearby corral next to a little canyon. Pretty cool.
A bit down the trail we ran across our first Joshua Tree where we all took many pictures of it like a bunch of tourists that had never seen a Joshua Tree before. About an hour after this we were so deep in Joshua Trees scraping our trucks we were ready to start cutting them down.
Little Elvis joined in on our initial Joshua Tree excitement
This sucker was huge!
GoPro video of cruising through the Mojave. The truck sounds cool cruising the desert at low RPM's.
[youtube]uFae2p03NO8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=1[/youtube]
Frame twister
[youtube]JoVqM16Utm8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
GoPro Frame twister
[youtube]nlNwkcgDZB4&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Just cruising the Mojave. Most of the time we are just off idle cruising along in 3rd gear between 900 to 1,000 RPM's. Sounds really cool if you put on your headphones!
[youtube]WOwzdp59nVU&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Then we came upon an old school bus and Ford station wagon laying out in the desert all shot to bits.
Little Elvis said that was a Ford engine with nothing worth taking with us for spare parts
Motivational proverb written on the fender of the School Bus.
Just past the bus was a tool can hanging from a tree. Toll fee is .01 per person. All we had was a Nickel so the next 3 peeps get in free.
MIL read in the Mojave Rd guide this was the only spot where this particular cactus grows in the Mojave Desert.
Big hill decent
[youtube]g4QakbjcW-A&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Next up was a really cool multilevel spring. Well hidden too. We would have driven right past it if it hadn’t been in the road guide.
Little Elvis was ecstatic to get out to swim for a while
I can’t remember the significance of this place as my health was quickly tanking.
After the above picture was taken I called my buddy on the squawk box and “Hey man, we need to find a place to camp soon…I think I am going to die”. Here it was about 78 degrees and was wearing two long sleeve t-shirts with a sweat shirt and a hoody over that while sitting on the sunny side of the truck and still freezing my butt off. My eyes burned like crazy and every bone and joint in my body ached. My joints hurt so bad I could barely step on the clutch anymore. After what seemed like forever to find a place to camp I had the top up, gas and water turned on and in my sack within 5 minutes. My MIL was freaking out and kept asking if she needed to use the 911 button on SPOT. I kept telling her to just let me sweat out whatever was bothering me and I would be fine. Within 2 hours I totally drenched all the clothes I was wearing as well as the sleeping bag. MIL snatched the A/C thermometer from the dash of the truck and poked it in my mouth. Not sure how accurate a Blue-Point Air Conditioning duct thermometer is on humans but it said I had over 100 degree temp. None the less, I slept like a baby for a few hours and woke up just as the sun was setting and felt a whole lot better even to the point I was able to eat some soup MIL made and downed some coffee. After dinner I crawled under my sack and went back to sleep. The next morning I woke up and felt 90% better. As it turned out MIL and my buddies were up studying the map to see where we could get off the Mojave Rd to find an ER to haul me too. Thankfully it did not come to that.
I know what most are thinking, I was dehydrated. Nada…This isn’t my first rodeo to the desert and learned long ago the importance if staying hydrated. My urine was clear and plentiful which is not inductive of dehydration. Not sure what the issue was but I really haven’t felt 100% since that day, which was over a week ago. In fact, I went to the Doctor today (4-2-13) and got some antibiotics. The Dr. seems to think I am coming off of a sinus and ear infection.
See, it pays to bring the wife’s momma on these trips. She helped nurse me back to health. She even washed my drenched clothes by hand in the sink so they didn’t stink up our house.
More later…..
Goad: Try not to die
Monday morning after packing up camp we took a side jaunt up to a nearby corral next to a little canyon. Pretty cool.
A bit down the trail we ran across our first Joshua Tree where we all took many pictures of it like a bunch of tourists that had never seen a Joshua Tree before. About an hour after this we were so deep in Joshua Trees scraping our trucks we were ready to start cutting them down.
Little Elvis joined in on our initial Joshua Tree excitement
This sucker was huge!
GoPro video of cruising through the Mojave. The truck sounds cool cruising the desert at low RPM's.
[youtube]uFae2p03NO8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=1[/youtube]
Frame twister
[youtube]JoVqM16Utm8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
GoPro Frame twister
[youtube]nlNwkcgDZB4&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Just cruising the Mojave. Most of the time we are just off idle cruising along in 3rd gear between 900 to 1,000 RPM's. Sounds really cool if you put on your headphones!
[youtube]WOwzdp59nVU&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Then we came upon an old school bus and Ford station wagon laying out in the desert all shot to bits.
Little Elvis said that was a Ford engine with nothing worth taking with us for spare parts
Motivational proverb written on the fender of the School Bus.
Just past the bus was a tool can hanging from a tree. Toll fee is .01 per person. All we had was a Nickel so the next 3 peeps get in free.
MIL read in the Mojave Rd guide this was the only spot where this particular cactus grows in the Mojave Desert.
Big hill decent
[youtube]g4QakbjcW-A&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO[/youtube]
Next up was a really cool multilevel spring. Well hidden too. We would have driven right past it if it hadn’t been in the road guide.
Little Elvis was ecstatic to get out to swim for a while
I can’t remember the significance of this place as my health was quickly tanking.
After the above picture was taken I called my buddy on the squawk box and “Hey man, we need to find a place to camp soon…I think I am going to die”. Here it was about 78 degrees and was wearing two long sleeve t-shirts with a sweat shirt and a hoody over that while sitting on the sunny side of the truck and still freezing my butt off. My eyes burned like crazy and every bone and joint in my body ached. My joints hurt so bad I could barely step on the clutch anymore. After what seemed like forever to find a place to camp I had the top up, gas and water turned on and in my sack within 5 minutes. My MIL was freaking out and kept asking if she needed to use the 911 button on SPOT. I kept telling her to just let me sweat out whatever was bothering me and I would be fine. Within 2 hours I totally drenched all the clothes I was wearing as well as the sleeping bag. MIL snatched the A/C thermometer from the dash of the truck and poked it in my mouth. Not sure how accurate a Blue-Point Air Conditioning duct thermometer is on humans but it said I had over 100 degree temp. None the less, I slept like a baby for a few hours and woke up just as the sun was setting and felt a whole lot better even to the point I was able to eat some soup MIL made and downed some coffee. After dinner I crawled under my sack and went back to sleep. The next morning I woke up and felt 90% better. As it turned out MIL and my buddies were up studying the map to see where we could get off the Mojave Rd to find an ER to haul me too. Thankfully it did not come to that.
I know what most are thinking, I was dehydrated. Nada…This isn’t my first rodeo to the desert and learned long ago the importance if staying hydrated. My urine was clear and plentiful which is not inductive of dehydration. Not sure what the issue was but I really haven’t felt 100% since that day, which was over a week ago. In fact, I went to the Doctor today (4-2-13) and got some antibiotics. The Dr. seems to think I am coming off of a sinus and ear infection.
See, it pays to bring the wife’s momma on these trips. She helped nurse me back to health. She even washed my drenched clothes by hand in the sink so they didn’t stink up our house.
More later…..
Last edited:
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Crazy stuff! Good that you didnt die! Then we wouldnt have these awesome pics/vids/ and stories!
Glad it was nothing too serious Larry!
Cool updates!
It's easy to see why you do it regularly.
Gota say, I laugh when I see the little duck, in the pics.
Keep the updates coming.
Cool updates!
It's easy to see why you do it regularly.
Gota say, I laugh when I see the little duck, in the pics.
Keep the updates coming.
It was the power of little Elvis that helped pull you thru!
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Posts
- 1,695
- Reaction score
- 2,115
Glad to hear this entertaining for at least 4 of you
You're right, Little Elvis saved our bacon so many times
Day 4: Tuesday, March 26th – Mojave Rd
Goad: Complete Mojave Rd and peddle up to Death Valley
Woke up Tuesday morning feeling a whole lot better. Wouldn’t want to run a marathon but I was good enough to continue on.
First stop was the mailbox
Interesting collection of frogs a few paces away from the mailbox. One frog even whistles at you as a shadow casts over him. We didn’t have any frogs to donate…only a rubber duck and snake and they didn't want to stay and hang around the frogs.
Approaching Soda Lake. The GoPro gives the false illusion one is traveling much faster than they really are.
[youtube]NAbTKHIhw6s&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=12[/youtube]
Soda Lake
More Soda Lake
[youtube]8qy_2KXHRNU&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=13[/youtube]
Exiting Soda Lake towards Razor Rd
[youtube]Lw9vECV1nO8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=14[/youtube]
As we were approaching the end of the Mojave Rd I was in communication with Richard from Camarillo, CA (Mighty Dodge Ram from Expo) where he was in the area and would met us at the Zzyzx exit which was only 1 exit North of where were coming out. Once we reached the gas station at Razor Rd and I-15 we aired up then started peddling North to Baker while Richard jumped behind us as we passed the Zzyzx exit.
The next stop was Baker, CA to restock on fuel, water and supplies. Finding water for the camper’s water tank turned into a hassle driving from gas station to gas station until finding one with RV accommodations. $5 later and I had all the water I could ever want but unfortunately, I didn’t have a hose long enough to get the water from the well-guarded water spicket into the camper so we had to improvise by stuffing a small piece of the water transfer pump hose into the washing machine water hose I keep in the camper.
From Baker we pushed on for another 115 miles to Furnace Creek Visitor center in Death Valley while Little Elvis provided the route guidance
We rolled into Furnace Creek Visitor just in time to watch the Ranger lock the door in our face as approach the door. Ah, well….no DV tee-shirt for me this day
. We ran around the corner to the general store to top off with fuel once more before headed out into the dirt so see what this Death Valley thing is all about. After a group inspection of the map we decided to head up the road to Echo Canyon to camp for the night.
We ended up finding a pretty decent camp spot in Echo Canyon with a great sunset view of DV.
We all took turns passing through the shower stall on my truck to rid ourselves of the days dust, ate a great meal and crashed.
Tomorrow is a new day….
You're right, Little Elvis saved our bacon so many times
Day 4: Tuesday, March 26th – Mojave Rd
Goad: Complete Mojave Rd and peddle up to Death Valley
Woke up Tuesday morning feeling a whole lot better. Wouldn’t want to run a marathon but I was good enough to continue on.
First stop was the mailbox
Interesting collection of frogs a few paces away from the mailbox. One frog even whistles at you as a shadow casts over him. We didn’t have any frogs to donate…only a rubber duck and snake and they didn't want to stay and hang around the frogs.
Approaching Soda Lake. The GoPro gives the false illusion one is traveling much faster than they really are.
[youtube]NAbTKHIhw6s&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=12[/youtube]
Soda Lake
More Soda Lake
[youtube]8qy_2KXHRNU&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=13[/youtube]
Exiting Soda Lake towards Razor Rd
[youtube]Lw9vECV1nO8&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=14[/youtube]
As we were approaching the end of the Mojave Rd I was in communication with Richard from Camarillo, CA (Mighty Dodge Ram from Expo) where he was in the area and would met us at the Zzyzx exit which was only 1 exit North of where were coming out. Once we reached the gas station at Razor Rd and I-15 we aired up then started peddling North to Baker while Richard jumped behind us as we passed the Zzyzx exit.
The next stop was Baker, CA to restock on fuel, water and supplies. Finding water for the camper’s water tank turned into a hassle driving from gas station to gas station until finding one with RV accommodations. $5 later and I had all the water I could ever want but unfortunately, I didn’t have a hose long enough to get the water from the well-guarded water spicket into the camper so we had to improvise by stuffing a small piece of the water transfer pump hose into the washing machine water hose I keep in the camper.
From Baker we pushed on for another 115 miles to Furnace Creek Visitor center in Death Valley while Little Elvis provided the route guidance
We rolled into Furnace Creek Visitor just in time to watch the Ranger lock the door in our face as approach the door. Ah, well….no DV tee-shirt for me this day
. We ran around the corner to the general store to top off with fuel once more before headed out into the dirt so see what this Death Valley thing is all about. After a group inspection of the map we decided to head up the road to Echo Canyon to camp for the night. We ended up finding a pretty decent camp spot in Echo Canyon with a great sunset view of DV.
We all took turns passing through the shower stall on my truck to rid ourselves of the days dust, ate a great meal and crashed.
Tomorrow is a new day….
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Glad to hear this entertaining for at least 4 of you
.
I can pretty much guarantee there is a ton more people watching that dont comment. How could there not be? You are doing the stuff that is the reason we all have/modify trucks.
Very cool Cept for the almost die'n part! 
Elvis!
now I gotta go back and watch your video.
Elvis!
now I gotta go back and watch your video.
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Posts
- 1,695
- Reaction score
- 2,115
I hope more than us handful getting entertainment out of this. It’s a lot of work building a trip report. It is good for my memory to look back and figure out what we did on which day. Sometimes I have to look at the photo dates to figure it out
Hope to have time to continue on tonight.
Awesome! This is such great inspiration for my suburban build. My dad and brother and I are talking about doing Mojave Rd next year now.
sixb
1/2 ton status
I hope more than us handful getting entertainment out of this. It’s a lot of work building a trip report. It is good for my memory to look back and figure out what we did on which day. Sometimes I have to look at the photo dates to figure it out
Hope to have time to continue on tonight.
Yeah I guess I'll come out of the closet
y5mgisi
1 ton status
LArry, just watch the thread views. You get two replys for every 100 views it seems like. We have a lot of lurkers!
I enjoy the hell out of these threads. I kept thinking I live too far away from anywhere to do something like this. Then I see you drove over 800 miles to get to the first trail and I think I'm just a wuss!
Two threads that I really get a lot out of is yours and Mosesburbs!
I can't not love what you guys are doing!
I can't not love what you guys are doing!
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Posts
- 1,695
- Reaction score
- 2,115
Cool, glad you're all enjoying it
Day 5: Wednesday, March 27th – Death Valley
Goad: Check out Scotty’s Castle and find the Race Track Rd
So Wednesday morning we figured we’d follow Echo Canyon up a ways to see what it was all about. Richard in the Mighty Dodge Ram wasn’t still wasn’t feeling well either and decided to hang back and catch up with us on our way back down the canyon.
Interesting rock wall right around the corner from where we camped the night before. I believe this was called Window Rock
GoPro ascending up Echo Canyon. Not much to see up there actually.
[youtube]RFFgIJWP78o&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=15[/youtube]
On the way back down Echo Canyon we picked up Richard and proceeded back into Furnace Creek to get our Park Pass (my MIL has a lifetime pass but the vending machines won’t recognize it). From there we made the 53 mile ride to Scotty’s Castle. The oddest thing happened to my truck as we got closer to Scotty’s Castle, the rear axle started overheating and loading the engine like the brakes was applied. With us being so close to Scotty’s Castle I just kept going. One we got there I poked my head underneath the truck to find a decent quantity of lube had purged out of the vent and smoking on the exhaust. We messed around the castle for about an hour or so then came back and the truck rolled fine until we were headed to Beatty, NV a few days later where it overheated again. From there Beatty it never acted up along the 1,300 mile journey back home. Weird.
-165 Ft. below sea level. I couldn’t get pulled over in time to get a picture of the -200 ft a few miles back
Scotty’s Castle. Pretty much a tourist trap
No shortage of tourists here
After leaving the castle we backtracked a few miles to the Race Track road. We missed our opportunity to air down before got on the actual Race Track Rd so we ended up airing down right in the middle of the road. Who knew the road would have such high berms where we wouldn’t be able to pull off to air down for like 1000 miles
I am sure we pissed off the few vehicles that passed while we aired down.
After airing down we followed the Race Track road for an annoying 25 miles to Tea Kettle Junction. Any car can make the drive to the Race Track. It is just an annoyingly bumpy road with lots of washboards but rich with scenery.
An hour or so further down the road we come across the famous Race Track where the rocks magically move when the dry lake bed is wet.
Pretty amazing view when the Race Track first starts coming into sight
MIL way out there
Racing Rocks
Day 5: Wednesday, March 27th – Death Valley
Goad: Check out Scotty’s Castle and find the Race Track Rd
So Wednesday morning we figured we’d follow Echo Canyon up a ways to see what it was all about. Richard in the Mighty Dodge Ram wasn’t still wasn’t feeling well either and decided to hang back and catch up with us on our way back down the canyon.
Interesting rock wall right around the corner from where we camped the night before. I believe this was called Window Rock
GoPro ascending up Echo Canyon. Not much to see up there actually.
[youtube]RFFgIJWP78o&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=15[/youtube]
On the way back down Echo Canyon we picked up Richard and proceeded back into Furnace Creek to get our Park Pass (my MIL has a lifetime pass but the vending machines won’t recognize it). From there we made the 53 mile ride to Scotty’s Castle. The oddest thing happened to my truck as we got closer to Scotty’s Castle, the rear axle started overheating and loading the engine like the brakes was applied. With us being so close to Scotty’s Castle I just kept going. One we got there I poked my head underneath the truck to find a decent quantity of lube had purged out of the vent and smoking on the exhaust. We messed around the castle for about an hour or so then came back and the truck rolled fine until we were headed to Beatty, NV a few days later where it overheated again. From there Beatty it never acted up along the 1,300 mile journey back home. Weird.
-165 Ft. below sea level. I couldn’t get pulled over in time to get a picture of the -200 ft a few miles back
Scotty’s Castle. Pretty much a tourist trap
No shortage of tourists here
After leaving the castle we backtracked a few miles to the Race Track road. We missed our opportunity to air down before got on the actual Race Track Rd so we ended up airing down right in the middle of the road. Who knew the road would have such high berms where we wouldn’t be able to pull off to air down for like 1000 miles
I am sure we pissed off the few vehicles that passed while we aired down.
After airing down we followed the Race Track road for an annoying 25 miles to Tea Kettle Junction. Any car can make the drive to the Race Track. It is just an annoyingly bumpy road with lots of washboards but rich with scenery.
An hour or so further down the road we come across the famous Race Track where the rocks magically move when the dry lake bed is wet.
Pretty amazing view when the Race Track first starts coming into sight
MIL way out there
Racing Rocks
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Posts
- 1,695
- Reaction score
- 2,115
Day 5 Continued……
At the end of the Race Track road begins the Lippincott 4x4 trail that runs down to Saline Valley. This trail turned out to be quite long where we ended up camping for the night about half way down. Lippincott isn’t much of a technical trail but it is quite steep and narrow with plenty of opportunities for one’s sphincter to pinch many of holes in the truck seat.
Mighty Dodge Ram on his way down early into the Lippincott trail
These are long GoPro videos to watch but if you have the time and patience you’ll get a good idea of the steep grade and narrowness. Wear your head phones for the best audio. The truck stops a few times while I spot for Mighty Dodge Ram behind me.
Beginning the Lippincott descend
[youtube]Q1CSJCzyBUc&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=16[/youtube]
Second of the descend. Very long video (21 minutes)
[youtube]8YHHsX1mVTQ&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=17[/youtube]
Third of the descend. We stopped at the end of this video to camp for the night. Pucker factor pretty tight at 1:15
[youtube]4vNoDvc6iNE&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=18[/youtube]
Our campsite about halfway down Lippincott. Everybody quickly made dinner, enjoyed a few beverages then on to bed for the night.
That is it for day 5
At the end of the Race Track road begins the Lippincott 4x4 trail that runs down to Saline Valley. This trail turned out to be quite long where we ended up camping for the night about half way down. Lippincott isn’t much of a technical trail but it is quite steep and narrow with plenty of opportunities for one’s sphincter to pinch many of holes in the truck seat.
Mighty Dodge Ram on his way down early into the Lippincott trail
These are long GoPro videos to watch but if you have the time and patience you’ll get a good idea of the steep grade and narrowness. Wear your head phones for the best audio. The truck stops a few times while I spot for Mighty Dodge Ram behind me.
Beginning the Lippincott descend
[youtube]Q1CSJCzyBUc&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=16[/youtube]
Second of the descend. Very long video (21 minutes)
[youtube]8YHHsX1mVTQ&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=17[/youtube]
Third of the descend. We stopped at the end of this video to camp for the night. Pucker factor pretty tight at 1:15
[youtube]4vNoDvc6iNE&list=PLlRxeg9lCAEQzoxik-75tybl8QIZTRYnO&index=18[/youtube]
Our campsite about halfway down Lippincott. Everybody quickly made dinner, enjoyed a few beverages then on to bed for the night.
That is it for day 5
Last edited:
Irish1941
1/2 ton status
Cool man. Great trip pix! We don't go to the castle or race track anymore due to tourists who STILL get lost in their hy-breds 5 miles from the castle road.
Glad Soda was dry for you. Even a drizzle and it's slicker than goose sh*t.
Glad Soda was dry for you. Even a drizzle and it's slicker than goose sh*t.
