It had been 9:00pm or so by the time I'd finally climbed up into the tent to head to bed, and I'd hoped that my second connection of the trip would show up as I slept - the plan, to spend the following day (today) together exploring a few interesting areas around Eureka Valley. Hoping to make that connection easier, I'd left my APRS on in the truck, and I'd also left a couple paper plates attached to creosote bushes along the road in hopes that they'd be spotted by the amazingly bright lights that I knew this fellow explorer…
2 CommentsMonth: February 2020
Previously, you may recall... It was just before 1:00pm when I arrived back at the truck, and I had a decision to make: the day's plan called for another ~8.5 mile loop hike high into the Last Chance Mountains, but I wasn't sure I'd have enough time before the sun went down. My options - perhaps obviously - were to try for the full hike, skip it altogether, or cut the hike in half by making it an out-and-back rather than a loop. Ultimately I knew there was no way I'd be happy with myself if I skipped it altogether, and…
2 Comments
From the get-go, I'd known that my second day in Death Valley would be my fullest. As such, I'd done my best to set myself up for success by camping at the trailhead for my first hike of the day - though "trailhead" might be giving significantly more credit than is due. Camped in Eureka Valley, I knew that the Last Chance Range would block any sort of early-morning sunrise, but that didn't mean I was up any later. Rather, even as the sun was still behind the mountains, I was up and prepping for my first hike - eating…
18 Comments
Prologue It was 4:04am on a Wednesday morning when I pulled out of the driveway and pointed the Tacoma south towards Death Valley. I was looking forward to the warmer weather - the forecast in the mid-70°F's - but even more than that, I was looking forward to the company. Because - while I was all alone for this leg of the trip - I planned on making two connections in the next several days that were long overdue. But first I had to make it south. At 20 hours - with refueling and food - it would be a…
4 Comments
So after having my Exped MegaMat 10 Duo LXW for a little over a year - during which time I've spent about 90 nights on it - I figured it was time to share my long-term impressions as well as a few things I've learned. "Pro tips" as it were... or at least, "tips." I should also note here that I'm not sponsored by Exped in any way, and I paid full price for my mattress. I'm just a fanboi, and want to help others get a great night sleep. TL;DR - I really like the Exped. Of everything I've…
3 Comments
January 4, 2020 Another year of wheeling and camping is in the books. I find myself here writing a rig review as one of 2020's first posts, for the last couple of trips that we took in 2019. By and large, the truck performed well on those trips In Search of Overlooks in Death Valley and though an unexpectedly snowy trip to the Mojave Preserve. There were - as always - a couple things worth calling out - so without further ado, let's get to it! Seemingly solved from previous Rig Reviews Front ADS Coilover Spherical Bearings Squeaking Unchanged /…
1 Comment
When we arrived at Zzyzx the previous evening, we’d expected to drive right into the town of the old Mineral Springs and Health Spa - so you can imagine our surprise when we encountered a locked gate across the road. It didn't matter all that much since it was dark and we weren't planning on exploring until the next morning anyway, so we found a campsite that was reasonably private near the base of the Soda Mountains. After our normal routine, found ourselves snoozing through our warmest night of the trip - understandable give our elevation of only 951 feet…
3 Comments
When I'd marked the spot we camped in Valley Wells, I hadn't really done any research on it. I knew it was on a road that would take us to the Copper World Mine, and I'd seen what looked like some ruins during my route planning in Google Earth, but that was the extent of my research. Shoot, I didn't even know that it was called Valley Wells! What I did know when we went to bed though was that we were well positioned for a colorful sunrise - if some clouds showed up overnight. Lucky for us, they did,…
3 Comments
We had mostly clear skies and a it of breeze when we awoke in the morning. Our spot on the alluvial fan had worked out great, though not quite as remote as it appeared - the Morning Star Mine Road below us was significantly busier than we'd expected. The sun out, nothing about the morning seemed out of the ordinary as we got breakfast underway and broke down the tent. It was only when we went to latch the swing-outs closed that we discovered something was amiss. The u-bolt on the latch had broken, and no longer secured the swing-outs.…
1 Comment