20-JUL-2013
Heading Out
We started out as always, letting the Mechs slowly awaken.
We have guardians in place at our self-made oasis. The feline will be tended to, and the dwellings kept.
Time to leave the southern deserts.
20-JUL-2013
Our first run is not north, into the farther reaches of the Mojave, instead it's toward the rocks.
We have friends that huddle amongst the rock piles that make up their land.
It's there that we go first.
23-JUL-2013
Flooded
We started north this morning, after picking our way back to pavement.
Today's goal is to get ourselves up into the southern end of the Eastern Sierras. One more day and then we're in the land of hot springs.
Part way up they had the road blocked off, the only pavement going along this side of the mountains. We had a massive park-in at the only rest stop and adjoining property.
Seems the summer storms had washed off this side of the mountains and flooded across the divided 4 lanes and then head down the roadway.
~~~
They let us get moving once the water flow was down enough to leave 6' of pavement exposed.
I'm sure we could have forded it a long time ago.
24-JUL-2013
Yesterday as the light was fading, the sun having long since passed west of the mountains we were paralleling, we found a decent park-up on the edge of a city park.
Today we'll spend the day climbing. North of us is a mountainous point of land, we can go to either side of it.
The west side has a steep 12 mile climb. This time we're going to run the east side and explore a dirt track the crosses into the valley of hot springs that we're so fond of.
24-JUL-2013
Carnies
Seems like this is where the Carnies set up there show.
They started rolling in last night as we were returning from having a meal out.
24-JUL-2013
Finely, Off Pavement
After rolling up the east side, slowly climbing in elevation, we spotted a dirt track that headed up onto the area that they call the "volcanic tablelands".
We'd been hunting this track. From the maps it looked like it would take us toward the valley we wanted. Only possible problem would be that it was a canyon track.
Topos showed that it would be a narrow one, how narrow we couldn't be sure.
24-JUL-2013
Looking Back
. . . down into the valley that we'd just came from
24-JUL-2013
Once it flatted out we stopped to confer.
This is something that seems to happen a lot on our travels. If we have to run a distance on pavement, as soon as we're on dirt and have a place to pull out, we stop to regroup and figure our next step. Sometimes getting to the dirt track was the mission.
Now we are going to be heading into a canyon that we know little about. But we do know "worst case", that I'll have to back them, and the trailers, out.
24-JUL-2013
The Canyon
Once we find the entrance to the canyon I scout ahead a short distance.
Tuff knows that I'll flag her down before she gets in too deep, . . . if needed.
24-JUL-2013
Road In
Judging from the tracks this is pretty well traveled,
And it is on a marked road,
so I think we'll be ok.
We're not over-size, just medium. ;-)
24-JUL-2013
We are def going to need to watch for stuff that sticks in higher than the standard 6'.
I'm thinking that we'll be ok width wise, and length wise.
It's the height. I think we might get tight up high.
At this point I'm going through tight spaces, getting ahead enough to stop, then running back and spotting her through.
Then I run back up to the lil Draggin' and climb in, drive through the next tight spot, . . . repeat, . . . repeat.
25-JUL-2013
Ready to Move Out
Our park-up of last night.
Notice the darker ground behind us, it's fertilizer . . . the real stuff, right out of the sheep ends.
Seems like this was where the water trailers were during season.
We were thinking, "someone should harvest this". Then we found out talking to a local that someone did.
No waste here!
25-JUL-2013
We figure we'll be at the hot springs after a couple hours of dirt track and a bit of pavement.
25-JUL-2013
It was nice to be in the land of rain again.
25-JUL-2013
Valley of Springs
A day out in the valley, watching summer visiters heading out to the spring, and I started wanting a place more tucked away.
We'd parked-up here several times over the years and it was starting to get too well known.
I was wanting to explore some of the other springs.
Some searching the map filebase, comparing data w/ the paper maps, loading points into my nav system, and I was ready to go scouting.
28-JUL-2013
Climb to a New Camp
A few days later we were climbing up onto a ridge overlooking another spring. Tucked in a side canyon this one was not as easy to get to, and nicely underpopulated.
29-JUL-2013
From our camp new the edge of the ridge we watch the valley fill with smoke from a distant forest fire.
29-JUL-2013
Smoke
The last several years out here this has become the norm. Watching the sun set red, having distant views hazed out, keeping up on the comms so you don't end up on the wrong side of a moving fire.
At times no one finds it threatening that the wearing of filtermasks and face coverings is prevalent.
31-JUL-2013
Clearing
A few days later we get the first , almost, clear views.
31-JUL-2013
But before long we're smoked in again.
01-AUG-2013
Mono Lake
The route we'd plotted out took us north from the lake, climbing to just over 8,000', went through a ghost town, and followed a creek back down to the low lands.
This was the view behind us as we started up.
01-AUG-2013
Looking Down
The track up was 10 miles of crappy dirt road (but we knew that) and we were expecting a dirt track to follow the creek down.
That would prob take us 2 days and be more our style.
01-AUG-2013
Outside of town
Topping out we see the town in the near distance.
As we approach I see the guard shack, the state had claimed the place years ago and now they charge an entrance fee. We were arriving late in the day and the shack was unattended, entrance blocked.
We had no real interest in the town and were only wanting to get to the far side, where the track following the creek started.
Seeing that the exit was still open I informed Tuff of my plans and we rolled in, skirted the town, and out the other side.
02-AUG-2013
Yesterday as we were working our way down the track the sun was getting lower and lower. We hadn't yet found a space big enough to pull our caravan out of the track.
We were hoping to find somewhere before dark.
The first place that was a possible was when the canyon opened up and formed a bit of a flat bottomed valley. This area was getting use to graze cattle and there was a place, if we dropped a gap, that we could pull into. After some discussion we opted to roll on farther. If there's one there has to be more, . . . right?
Rounding a bend we spotted a rock face matching all the colors of our Mechs. As we got closer we found there was space for us to pull off and set up for the night.
02-AUG-2013
And that's what they thought about that
02-AUG-2013
Fresh Water Spring
Scouting the area I found a spring on the edge of the track, and ruins of a stone building.
02-AUG-2013
And below us was the creek.