First Death Valley Report

[craig333]

One of many thats to come. Trip went great. Unfortunately I'm the first poster because I couldn't get more time off. Oh well. I'm really glad I went anyway. Me Ted and Bob met in Sacramento and convoyed on up. Shortly out of Minden who do we run into? DD! He got a late start so we convoyed with DD into Bishop where we had lunch. DD stayed to shop and the rest of us went on to Ballarat.

Omg, theres this huge group of people camped there. Turned out to be Clampers so we headed down the road a bit and found a nice spot to camp. After a bit we were joined by camelracer and Sunman. DD finally rolled in after dark, we're not quite sure why he was so late. Kinda suspicious.

Saturday we explored ballarat some more, went on into DV via Wildrose canyon, saw the beehive kilns, went on up, explored the eureka mine and moseyed on up to Augeberry (sp?) point and had lunch. Then we explored the vigorous metropolis of skidoo (much more to that story later) and finally headed on down to Stovepipe Wells and met the rest of the gang.

Had dinner, chatted with everyone and then I blasted off in the morning. Nine hour drive home. Would have been longer but all the stuff I wanted explore on the way back the roads were closed.

More to come, including pics but I just wanted to get a quick report in.

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

Thanks for the update Craig. Glad all went well.

We'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures and other reports too!

AKSBs

 

[EdoHart]

I second that...

Thanks for the update Craig. Glad all went well.

We'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures and other reports too!

AKSBs

Sounds like fun. I can hardly wait for the pictures and more reports.

 

[Tomas Tierra]

Hot off the trail...

I got a call from Sunman today..he was at Tea kettle junction with full cell bars??

Sunman reported a great drive through titus Cyn today With the group Of 11 Campers!! What a sight that must have been.turns out the Cyn opened for the first time in several weeks this AM. Good fortune! THey were off to a Mysto PV'sToy camp spot for the night.

I'll leave the rest up to the crew on return...Great effort Craig to get out there for a couple of nights

 

[georgem]

DV trip report

but Ed, perhaps this was one of those trips that should be: what happens in camp, stays in camp...

pictures might just incriminate the not so innocent!

 

[EdoHart]

I got a call from Sunman today..he was at Tea kettle junction with full cell bars??

Sunman reported a great drive through titus Cyn today With the group Of 11 Campers!! What a sight that must have been.turns out the Cyn opened for the first time in several weeks this AM. Good fortune! THey were off to a Mysto PV'sToy camp spot for the night.

I'll leave the rest up to the crew on return...Great effort Craig to get out there for a couple of nights

11 Campers in Titus Canyon! Ooh, please, please, I hope they got pictures. I wonder how many made it out to Tea Kettle Junction (or for that matter how many tea kettles were added).

I'm not jealous, I just wish I could have made the trip (well, maybe I'm a little jealous).

but Ed, perhaps this was one of those trips that should be: what happens in camp, stays in camp...

pictures might just incriminate the not so innocent!
With that many witnesses/cameras, what ever happened in camp is likely to escape the bounds of camp. There are quit a few wanderers in our neck of the woods. Something to keep in mind if we have a local mini-rally.

 

[craig333]

Oh it got covered. I saw some very nice cameras along on that trip. Kinda made me feel inadequate toting along my rite aid throwaway

So on the way home, I needed some coffee. Got some with my breakfast burrito. Promptly spilled it all over the front seat

Next gas stop I got another cup of coffee while I was fueling up. Couple miles down the road I reach for the cup. /grrrr I'd left it sitting on the pump.

Next stop I got another cup, this time I kept a death grip on it and other than burning my hand it all worked out well.

Wanted to see Devil's Postpile on the way home but the road to it was closed for the winter. But I did get to tour the town of mammoth lakes. A bit too tony for my taste.

 

[SunMan]

Hey Craig, glad you made it home safely. Hoping Ted did too as he left early this morning. I made it home late this afternoon, it was a long day heading home from the Racetrack via the Lippencott Pass and Saline Valley. Talk about an exciting drive! I really hope the others with much larger vehicles didn't have too much trouble. I believe the plan for those remaining was to head to the hotsprings with the exception of Deltarat. I'm sure they're out there hooting it up as i type.

I must say this trip was an absolute joy to participate in and it was a great pleasure to meet everyone involved. I can't adequately describe what nine FWC's cruising in formation through Titus Canyon looks like but hopefully the pics will tell the story when everyone returns.

I've got a 150 pics to sort through and I know others took many more than I, and definitely had better cameras as Craig mentioned. It should be one mighty fine slide show and slew of trip reports.

Here's a little teaser, this is what I woke up to this morning!!
(the only missing rigs are Craig's, Simimike's and Ted, we missed ya out there Ed!)

 

[Ted]

I'm home. too.

Sunman,

You beat my post by 15 minutes! I was going to post a teaser also. Your shot is of camp from this morning. It was still dark when I rolled out of there this morning. My photo is from when we stopped after coming out of Titus Canyon. I count nine campers in this shot.
It was a 12 hour drive for me. I already let the boss know I'm taking tomorrow off. I'll try to get a report up soon. Like Sunman said, it was just the greatest time. I envy the rest of the group that will be out there all week.

Ted

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

My T Fine!

Great flicks Sunman/Ted! Thanks!

 

[craig333]

Okay, here's the pics

They even put em on a cd for me. Here's some of us outside ballarat, the charcoal kilns, manson's truck, and overlooking mono lake.

 

[craig333]

More pics. Sorry about the arrangement, doing this in a hurry. What happened to skidoo?

 

[Alaskan Snowbirds]

Looks like a good trip!

Craig,

That rite-aid throwaway did good! Really enjoy seeing that bunch of campers. The old Power Wagon (?) would look good with a Grandby on it too

The charcoal kilns fascinate me every time I see pictures of them...we're going to have to make an effort to get there. The La Quinta Hikers had some good flicks of them on one of their posts too. Is there an exhibit there, like there is for the borax mining near furnace creek?

The campfire cooking shot brought back good memories (complete with all those great aromas!).

Thanks for taking the time to post the flicks for those of us that couldn't make it!

 

[K6ON]

A couple more teasers

Here s a couple teasers as I've got a couple hundred images to go through..these two pictures were taken on the road to Leadfield..

What a great trip, and a wonderful group of people.

 

[snow hunter]

Looks like fun. I like the photo with all the campers going up the hill it looks like a army mission for fwc.
Keep the photos and stories coming.

 

[erod]

looks like a great trip, lotta cool rigs. always wanted to heard out that way but been so busy with my new house haven't had much time in the camper. keep the drive alive and thanks for posting guys! cheers!

 

[Marc]

Death Valley days

Ok Gang,

Just got home so here are a couple of teaser shots. Full write-up and lots more pics to come. What a trip !!!

marc

 

[SunMan]

Ok Gang,

Just got home so here are a couple of teaser shots. Full write-up and lots more pics to come. What a trip !!!

marc

Marc,
I recognize the first two shots...what a fun drive that was!! Looking forward to hearing about what we missed.

 

[Marc]

Marc,
I recognize the first two shots...what a fun drive that was!! Looking forward to hearing about what we missed.

10/4 on that Suni. After the group split up, DD and I went to Darwin, Cerro Gordo Mine, (Way Cool) and the Alabama Hills. It was really good to meet you and Jessica as well as the entire group. Can't waite for the next Rally.

marc

 

[craig333]

Oh man, I stopped and read the roadside plaque about cerro gordo. Almost went but then I thought "ah, doesn't sound like much". Darn.