Death Valley to San Diego

It's hard to do justice to the country I'm riding through. Words and photos just seem pale by comparison. The desert is subtle to begin with. You need to be quiet and wait for it to come to you. 

Then you notice the little things; varying shades of color in the sand, a tiny lizard scurrying across the rocks, a bird soaring high on unseen air currents. 

I sit to the side and watch people flying by in their air conditioned cars, occasionally sticking a camera out the window to take a picture of what? Something to prove they were here to their friends back home? Don't forget to buy the t-shirt too!

On the road south I passed out of Death Valley and headed toward the Mojave desert. 

Along the way I passed the Dumont Dunes and the Kelso Dunes. Way to soft for me to do anything but approach cautiously and then turn back before I got stuck.

In Kelso I found this restored train station.

It's a National Park Service site now. The lunch counter is ready for use and they are looking for someone to run it. A retirement opportunity?

Crossing Rt 66 was totally unexpected. I took a chance that nobody was coming to grab this picture.

And everyone loves a train.

After that I continued into the Joshua Tree desert and later the Anza-Borrego desert. By this time it was getting late and I was more interested in getting to San Diego than sightseeing. 

I made a tactical error in heading west through Julian rather than staying on Rt 86 south to El Centro. Julian is a nice little mountain town that I remembered from days past. What I had forgotten was how tight and twisty the roads were getting to and from there. Lots of fun in the daytime, a real pain in the dark. I might have saved some miles but I lost time from my slow pace.

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Thin Blood - Part 2

A couple of days ago I wrote about the non-motorcycling masses who think that motorcycles are nothing more than a death wish on wheels. As I reflected on what I had written I realized that there was another side to this coin. There were motorcyclists who think the same way.

You know who I'm talking about already. The ones who wouldn't venture down to the corner drug store without their 'Stich, Schuberth helmet, and communicator. Their rallying cry is, "Dress for the crash, not the ride!" And then congratulate themselves knowingly when it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. 

They arm themselves with CE armor, Kevlar skid patches, and all number of helmet certifications. They load there bikes with modulating headlamps and tail lights. They rewind their alternators so they can add fog lights and running lamps. God forbid they should not have gauntlets with armored knuckles!

They have their own Uncle Henry stories. They know a guy, who knows a guy, who saw a YouTube video of a rider that hit a deer and lived because he was padded like a toddler in a snow suit.

I'm not saying I'm ready to join the squids riding in t-shirts and flip flops. Or the cruiser crowd with only fringe vests and fiberglass yarmulkes. But spare me the condescending looks when I take my Bonneville out for a ride on rural roads in a jacket and jeans. I don't want to have to spend 30 minutes getting my special boots on with my special suit and my special gloves, I just want to go for a ride!

Why, Horrors!, I even go out without a helmet (legal in CT) sometimes. When I started riding in my carefree youth I didn't even think about owning a helmet. That was for racers and really fast guys. Besides, I couldn't afford one on my paper route budget. Now I can afford what I want and own several helmets but I still like the breeze in my face once in a while and hit the road au natural.

Frankly, I think all the safety freaks are a pain. It's just a fetish and a costume. Another clique with a feeling of superiority. You see them at rallies, standing to the side, making snarky comments about passing bikers who don't live up to their anal compulsions. Almost as if they wish the others would have an accident to justify their precepts.

Not everyone with a concern for safety is in this group but blinking headlights are for bicycles and day glow vests are for construction workers. Wear them if you want but leave the attitude at home.

YMMV!

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Death Valley Notes

First, let me say that in all my travels I had never been to Death Valley before. I don't know why. Maybe the name scared me off. Or maybe it was the horrible stories of death by heat or thirst. This time it was high on my list of places to visit on this trip.

Second, let me say that it is big. More specifically, it is REALLY BIG!


Third, let me tell you how completely naive I was to think I was going to do more than scratch the surface in a one day transit.

I left Big Pine in the morning and took the Big Pine Road to The Crater. A nice twisty paved road through canyons that was lots of fun. There was even a bicyclist pedaling up the mountain. Coming down into The Crater was more of the same but as I descended I was beginning to get the concept of BIG.

My eyes had no frame of reference to gauge the distance. There was no familiar object to provide scale to what I was looking at. The terrain is totally flat and it is not hard to imagine that a million years ago it was all a giant lake.

Photos are hard to take because even with a 24mm wide angle only a small area is covered.

This is the same view from the other side with a photo stitched together from 8 individual shots.




Another movie coming down the Hanging Rock Canyon to the valley in the picture above. 

Now, if you're getting an idea of how big Death Valley is, think again. This is only about 1/20th of the park! I spent 2 hours getting from the crater to Scotty's Castle on what should be listed as a Class 1.5 road. The problem is that the hotter sand gets, the softer it gets.

Another big problem is the way the bike is loaded. I had to use my Giant Loop Coyote bags because I wasn't able to buy panniers for the AT in this country. 

Too much weight placed too high and to the rear makes the bike handle like a drunken donkey on roller skates. Several times I got into mini tank slappers when one soft ridge crossed another. 20 mph was all I wanted to risk. I only saw one other vehicle all morning until I hit pavement. Not a good place to take a dive. Remember DBAJ ?

So everything is big, and everything is hot, and it's all hard work. And yet, there I was marveling at how great it was to be there. The road leading in through the canyons reminded me of Morocco and the Atlas mountains.

There were little discoveries like this abandoned mine tunnel.

And these painted rocks.

There were so many side roads I wanted to explore that the thought occurred to me that I had all I wanted right here and didn't really need to venture into Mexico. Still, at the end of the day, I was ready to push on. It would be easy to come back but much harder to gather the resources to get to the Copper Canyons.

Temperature at 5 in the afternoon!

One last reminder that I was in Death Valley. Just not so scary now that I had actually experienced it.

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Kelso Dunes

There is no way to describe how big these are. They are as big as any of the ergs I saw in the Sahara. The plaque says 45 square miles and easily over 1000 feet tall.

Not a sign you see every day

I guess the hare is up ahead

Made it out

A very trustworthy pony!

My campsite for the night

Chose an abandoned road and slept under the stars. A warm breeze that came up from the desert kept me warm.

I think they're trying to tell me something

Getting hot!

The road ahead

You have to ask yourself, Just how much do I trust my pony?.

Last night was a little spooky. The breeze made the tent fly rustle and the full moon played dancing shadows across the tent flaps. Was that a critter ...?

Finally, I got up and staked down the flaps and tightened the cords to stop the noise. At last I got some sleep.

Sunrise over the dry lake

The day was a slow start. I awoke at 6 and burrowed deeper into my sleeping bag. At 7 the sun came up and started to warm things. By 8 I was drinking coffee and eating oatmeal. 

The hard part was figuring out which bag had what. I had everything I needed but the organization left a little to be desired. By 11 I was reorganized, repacked, and on the trail.

Only 2 1/2 miles off the main trail my little side trip had started as a Class 2 road, then became a Class 3, and then a Class 4 in places going up a steep hill. The trouble was that there was no place to turn around. It was onward and upward only!

Luckily, the AT is extremely dirt worthy. Torquey engine, supple suspension, and grippy tires made the bike dance across the ruts like a billy goat. Not that I didn't feel all 500 pounds of it but I had confidence that I could trust the bike and it didn't let me down.

The road east was Class 2 & 3 so it was pretty easy going. Riding through the canyons exposed some pretty amazing rock formations. All went well until I came to the junction I thought was for Fletcher but turned out to be for Aurora. My map book wasn't any help since I had lost it along the way. I wish DeLorme would use a less slippery material for their covers. It isn't the first one I've lost.

Aurora was a mining town like Bodie but is pretty much gone by now. I have no idea what this strange building was for but it looked cool so I stopped and took a picture.

The temptation to take roads at random that headed south to see if I could pick my way back was great but I also wanted to keep to my schedule so I could spend time in Death Valley. So I back tracked to the road with a sign that said Hawthorne 22 -> and took it. I had no idea where Hawthorne was but it sounded civilized.

View from Lucky Boy Pass at where I had come from

Hawthorne turned out to be Hawthorne Nevada and to get there I had to go over the Lucky Boy Pass. The nice lady at the gas station let me look at a map of Nevada and I picked roads to get back on track. Losing the map book and missing my turn probably added about 75 miles to my day but I got to see more than I expected and proved the old addage, "As long as you have gas in your tank, you're not lost, merely misplaced."

Boundary Peak - 13,147 feet

Traveling across the desert floor on US 6 (the same one that starts in Provincetown MA and passes 7 miles from my house in CT) I came across this curious phenomenon; Heat on the desert floor and snow in the mountains. The snow has to be glacial to have lasted all summer.

I ended up at the Starlight Motel in the town of Big Pine, CA and had dinner at the Kozy Kitchen diner. I'm back on schedule and ready to hit the trails in Death Valley tomorrow.

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Sleeping Part 2

This is the picture that went with the last post

Where are you sleeping tonight?

On top of a hill next to a dry lake at the end of a class 3 road. How do I find these places? Just lucky I guess!

Mono Lake

A beautiful view made possible by a bike like the AT. This is why I ride!

Where's J.?

If you would like to know where I am in semi-real time you can go to:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=09dYLIBOyomLIRLPT2xJcqQip3iNLdXRn

I am using a SPOT satellite tracker to follow my progress. This not because I think I have so many adoring fans but rather because it will point where to where to find the body.

It has buttons for I'm OK, I need Help, and Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money! The idea is that I will start it tracking in when I begin my ride and hit the I'm OK button if I stop for lunch or dinner or for the night. If the track doesn't move for a long time and I haven't hit the I'm OK button I may have gone off a cliff. Or I may have just forgotten to hit the button.

I'll start tracking tomorrow. Let me know if you have any problems so I can see what I need to do.

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Another exciting day in paradise

I thought about heading out today but decided to spend another day at the cabin. As you can see from the photos, it's hardly a burden.

My decision to stay is so that I can do some in-depth planning for the next part of the trip. Instead of just winging it (my usual custom) I've been working out routes through the back roads of the Sierras, down through Death Valley, and on through the Mojave to San Diego. By tonight I'll have a detailed route sheet laid out to keep me on track.

Not that it's particularly dangerous. I have a 6 gallon gas tank with a range of over 300 miles. I'll be carrying all my camping gear plus an additional gallon of water. I've chosen roads that are marked as Easy or Moderate, leaving the Difficult ones for another trip.

This brings me to my ATM (Adventure Trip Mantra) - DBAJ - Don't Be A Jerk!

There are lots of cool things that would be fun to try but on a long, solo trip like this a tiny bit of prudence should prevail. Trying things that would cause damage to the bike or body are to be avoided. The salt flat that would be fun to rip across could have a soft spot in the middle that would mire the bike and send me flying over the handlebars like Clark Kent minus the leotards and cape.

Plans are always open to modification but having a plan to modify is generally best.

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Burn Notice

Last week I rode the local roads and trails with Eddy and Karl. The last couple of forest fires have taken their toll and there are places that look like a lunar landscape. I thought I'd post the pictures now before I forget.

This hill used to be covered with trees and brush - all gone now. If you look closely you'll notice that the wooden guard rail has been burned away.

 

Standing in front of this I could just imagine the fire racing up the hill consuming everything in its path.

 

Karl and Eddy in another scorched area.

The sign said "Road Closed" which we took to be a challenge. The tree took some work to get around but the bridge was impassible. The fire had totally burned away the roadbed. We spent some time hypothesizing ways to get past it if we were caught in the Ebola-Zombie-Apocalypse but each of our theories were sillier than the last. We turned around and headed back for dinner.

Yes - that's a bear print.
 

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When did our blood run so thin?

Warning - this is a bit of a rant. While riding alone my thoughts tend to wander. This sort of post will pop up from time to time.

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When did our blood run so thin?

One of the unavoidable hazards of adventure travel is Uncle Henry. Uncle Henry is the friend of a friend who knows a guy who had an awful disaster befall him because he a) was riding a motorcycle, b) was visiting a place outside the U.S., or c) ate or drank something that wasn't processed and wrapped in 3 layers of plastic.

Uncle Henry is well versed in the ways of the world and knows that the only safe place to visit is Disneyland. They speak our language, serve familiar food, and take money that isn't weird looking. He always says “murdercycles” instead of motorcycles and is sure that all riders should carry organ donor cards.

Uncle Henry once had a motorcycle but, as he tells it, “This guy came out of nowhere and scared me so bad I ran off the road and crashed. I sold that bike the next day and haven't gotten near one since. Any damn fool can see how dangerous they are!” He thinks MSF stands for Mighty Stupid Freaks.

As for travel Uncle Henry is sure that if he wanted to visit Italy or Germany he would visit Epcot Center where they are only a few steps apart and everyone speaks English. The Sphinx and the Eiffel Tower are in Las Vegas, everyone knows that too!

I could go on but I'm sure you get my drift. We all know the well meaning friend, relative, or acquaintance who drives a Camry and uses hand sanitizer by the gallon. They can't understand why anyone would want to go to Mexico. If the banditos don't get you the narco-terrorists certainly will. And god forbid you should drink the water! We should all wear earth tones and stay close to home. Travel, if it is to be done at all, should be in carefully orchestrated tours and cruises where the experiences are all precisely orchestrated for maximum enjoyment. Stay with the herd, there's safety in numbers. 

It is tiresome to listen to their small minds and little voices but, ironically, there is often a look in their eyes that a suppressed spirit exists within them that yearns to be free.

I wonder when it was that the spirit of adventure and discovery left so many of them. When did safety become the new religion? When did we trade the family station wagon bound for the wonders of the road for a Volvo that promised to save us from ourselves? Sure, we mocked the phony wood grain panels on the sides but what kid didn't love to ride in the “way back” and pretend that the trip was all their own?

Let the herd stay at home and watch the phony reality shows on TV. There are beautiful places to visit and wonderful people to meet. It's easier to get mugged in New York City than in the villages of Mexico. We're all going to die no matter how much granola we eat or how many Volvos we buy. What's the point of a long life if you're bored to death?

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The first day of the rest of the trip.

Packed and ready for the road

I left Alameda yesterday to begin the solo portion of this trip. Finally, all the maintenance to the bike is complete and I'm ready to go!

My Dad telling me I'm crazy for the 20th time but wishing me a good trip anyway.

Four and a half hours later I was back in Foresta where it was warm and sunny. I had stopped along the way to buy a DeLorme California map book and once I had watched the sunset I spent the rest of the evening laying out plans for the next leg of the trip.

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What a great day today is!

I have nothing to do, no place to be, and nobody to please but myself. Food is on hand, the weather is sunny and warm, and it is blessedly quiet. Plus, I found Cherry Garcia left over in the freezer from last week's stay.

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My plan is to visit the ghost town Bodie tomorrow and then take back roads east to try out the AT on the roads I expect to encounter along the way.

From there I'll work my way down to Death Valley and spend a couple of days poking around. I found a good road guide that rates them for easy, moderate, or difficult. Depending on the heat (expected to be in the low 90's) I'll pick a camping spot lower in the valley or up into the cooler Panamint mountains.

The next several posts will be cel phone posts where I can't get a wi-fi signal.

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Sahara Engineering

A few years back I drove across north Africa with some friends in a pair of old Land Rovers. Along the way I developed the concept of Sahara Engineering. It goes like this ...


We were crossing the desert east of Timbuktu when the radiator in one of the Rovers developed a leak. A couple of the core tubes had split and were leaking. Continuing to drive would only damage the engine. 

We hooked a line to the other Rover which towed it to a nearby village. No electricity, no running water, little but concrete government houses and a well. Since Land Rovers are ubiquitous throughout Africa there was always a chance there might be an old one to donate a radiator. But not this time.

We were pointed to a man who, we were told, could fix our vehicle. We went over to see him and were confronted with a great pile of automotive odds and ends. A junk yard of broken and discarded parts.

We explained the problem to him and he responded, "I can fix." 

When he started assembling a pile of old car batteries I thought he had misunderstood us and I tried explaining that it was the radiator, not an electrical problem.

He just replied, "I will fix" and turned away.

So we pulled the ailing radiator out and brought it over to him. By this time he had assembled a propane burner and an old pot on top of it. With a hatchet he was dismembering the batteries and throwing pieces of each into the pot. Hmmmm

With the radiator laid out on the sand he walked over with his pot and poured a stream of molten lead over the damaged tubes. It formed a giant scab over the open splits and sealed them from further leaks. The lead was the plates from the old batteries he had hacked apart. Ahhhhh

That is Sahara Engineering, making things work when you don't have the tools or resources to do it the normal way. It's the path you find when it's a matter of survive or die.

We replaced the repaired radiator and made it on to Bamako, a thousand kilometers across Mali. I was humbled by what I had learned from this man. I regretted that I had doubted him. I wish I knew his name so I could honor him every time I tell this story.

Replacing the missing connector with shrink wrap and tape

My little fix for the missing plug so that I can continue my trip is a testament to what I learned that day.

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3 does not go into 4 evenly

I put in the new regulator this morning. I was able to test the charging system and it works well now. However they sent me the wrong connector kit. I need a 3 spade connector and they sent me a 4 spade connector. Back to the drawing board! Again!

What has this got to do with a trip to Mexico?

My friends Jason and Erica drove my Miata out to California. Next summer Beth and I will drive it back to Connecticut.
On the way out it developed a leak in the radiator. Before I can give the car to my sister for the winter I'm replacing it.
Tomorrow, the new regulator for the AT is supposed to arrive. Once I install that I'm ready to go theoretically.