11-SEP-2010
Getting a better camera angle
11-SEP-2010
We had a great view of the sunlight sliding out of the valley.
Of course we had this view because we drove past our chosen primitive camp area. We didn't really expect it to be a fenced in rectangle of gravel . . . kind of like a parking lot . . . with some picnic tables. We did some map checking (while still in motion) and decided that "we should have turned there". We are now, and have been, on a two lane paved road . . .with a drop off on one side and a steep slope on the other. Not that I'm in to turning big circles on the desert, you just kind of look at things like that when you drive a 23' truck with a short trailer. Backing up is sometimes a challenge.
After several miles of me looking for any possible turn around, while we keep climbing in elevation, and knowing that we will be getting into a steeper and tighter pass, I spot a place where she can pull the rig fully off the road on the down-hill side. It's been used as a pull off many times over the years. The up-hill side is not so steep that the "Beast" can't handle it and there is good space between the desert growth. I figure I can turn this combination around with a 7 point turn . . . I do it with 5 !!! I hand the driving back to Tuff.
On the way back down we got to see these "views", . . . some times you just have to follow the flow.
14-SEP-2010
Mojave
Over the last three days we've spent the night on the eastern slope of the Panimounts? . . . great for early sun, dropped down to below sea level . . . by a couple hundred feet (the "She Beast" seemed to hate that. too much oxygen?), climbed out of the valley headed south-east toward some hot springs (where we spent the night), and worked our way into the north end of the Mojave.
The Mojave is lush compared to Death Valley in the early fall.
After climbing up to my favorite pass we turned off to find a place in the rocks. Climbing had been slow today, I'm starting to think that the fuel filters are getting clogged. With all the low grade fuel types that we've dumped into the tank, with some degree of filtering, the fact that we were still running the filters that had come with her when we acquired her, and that she would not drain out of the filter's drain unless the fuel pump was on, all lead me to believe that these filters were soon to be a thing of the past.
We had purchased a full set of filters and had them on the trailer, in one of the ammo boxes.
As we did some slow climbing, we talked about whether we should find some place to pull off. To let the rig cool down for an hour or so, change the filters, avoid any spilling of her toxic fluids on the earth, and then carry on.
We decided that climbing up-hill slowly was not that bad.
14-SEP-2010
Today Tuff was going to spend some time re-packing for her trip over the Atlantic. She was boarding for that trip a couple days after we land back at the "Oasis".
I used the time to do some exploring . . .
14-SEP-2010
Our camp is on the other side of that rock pile.
20-SEP-2010
Back in the Corral
Being back on the property doesn't change things greatly. I'm still living out of the "She Beast" and planning up-grades before our winter migration.