For the past two years I've been hankering to get down to DV to do a dualsport ride. Finally hooked up with some local buddies and we got down there for 4 days of riding last week. Got some pics, and my first ever videos....
Finally completed the video.... grab a beverage and enjoy!
(Note - most of the pics below are included in the video)
https://youtu.be/4K51VScnv8w?t=1s
Day 1 - We drove through rain on our way into Panamint Springs on Sunday night and woke to clouds and damp.
As we headed east over Towne Pass at almost 5000' it got chilly in a hurry. This was to be a theme for the next few days. Note to self - big elevation changes mean big temperature changes, especially in the desert. Prepare accordingly... Our first destination was Chloride Cliffs. Really fun riding doing this ascent, especially with the moist dirt that provided excellent traction. This is WRR country....
Of course, when we got to the top, we were totally in the clouds, so no dramatic vistas, but it didn't matter, we were having a blast. Note to self and others - There is little to no signage once you go off road in DV, and there are jeep roads going all over the place. If you can, go with someone who has been there before and knows their way around...
We rode east out of CC over to Beatty for lunch and then down to Rhyolite to look at old buildings and holes in the ground (why, oh why, did those people dig where they did....
). There was some cool art in Rhyolite...
Next stop, Titus Canyon... you can barely make out the road descending ahead, but it's there if you look close (got some good video). What a fun ride. We lucked out because they closed it the next two days, I think due to mud.
Leaving Titus...
Stopped at The Sand Dunes on our way back to Panamint. Nice way to end the day....
Day 2 - On down to Ballarat, Goler Wash, Mengel Pass, Stripped Butte and West Side Road
Route check with Rocky at Ballarat...
Onward to Goler....
Mengel Pass (I think)...
Got buzzed by this helo... saw some jets just off the deck later in the day... awesome stuff
Stripped Butte and the road ahead.... looked like rain down in the valley, but when we got there it didn't seem wet at all... strange.
The high-speed haul up West Side Road... most of the roads had been recently graded, and were not too dusty due to the recent rains....
Day 3 - Hwy 190 to Saline Valley Rd, Hunter Mountain, Hidden Valley, Racetrack, Lippincott... It was a warm morning as we were sitting around camp drinking coffee... almost Tshirt weather. But when we got up to Saline Valley Rd the wind picked up and the temps dropped dramatically.... like 60s to 30s in a hurry.
The view from 190 looking back down toward Panamint (needless to say, 190 is a fun road....
...)
Got into the snow at Hunter Cabin...
Worked our way down Hidden Vally to Teakettle Junction...
Didn't get any rock pics at the Racetrack, but I did get a selfie at Lippincott.... been chomping at the bit to do this road... finally got to do it....
... Awesome road. No pics enroute, but got some video....
Looking down into Panamint Valley from Saline Valley Rd...
SVR must have been recently graded.... it was pretty smooth/sweet... so ends Day 3.
Day 4 - This was to be our "easy" day...
.... Our campsite neighbor, Craig, who is a desert rat from way back and very knowledgeable about DV wanted to show us a very cool mine. He says it's not too far away and not too hard to get to...
... ok, let's do it. We started down Nadeau Rd which quickly presented us with the deepest sand and biggest fields of baby heads we'd seen the entire trip. Not what we had expected. We made the turn toward Lookout Mountain and started to head up the canyon. The road kept getting steeper and harder. The pics tell the rest of this part of the story.... (and yes, it's steeper than it looks...
...)
We weren't ready to concede defeat yet, so we took the adjacent road to the top of Lookout Mountain. You can sorta make out the road across the top of the mountain behind my WR...
From the same spot, looking down at the cabin we'll descend to next (hard to see, but it's there)...
A group of Jeepers had moved in. There are several cabins in the park like this that are available on first come - first serve basis...
That did it for us. It was mid-afternoon and we needed to get packing so we headed back to Panamint and took it easy for the rest of the afternoon.
Hope you enjoyed the pics, thanks for coming along...
Brian
Moonrise over Panamint Valley
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