While camping in a wash less than 12 hours after the national weather service issued a series of storm warnings for the area may seem foolish to any normal person, it actually turned out to be one of our most pleasant nights of the trip. Of course, I was reasonably confident that was to be the case when we setup camp - this wash didn't appear to have had much in the way of water as we'd hiked it the previous evening, and we were several feet from its low point should water have started to flow. The trailhead we'd…
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The rain that had started just as we crawled into bed persisted throughout the night - a consistent patter on the tent, its rhythm never letting up. This was no surprise, really - near enough to town that we had cell service, we'd seen that several flash flood warnings were issued for the area, and we hoped that we'd be able to continue our adventure in the morning. In no rush to get up in the deluge, we lingered in bed an extra hour or so, hoping that the forecast - which was for rain the rest of the day…
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Preface You'll note pretty quickly that this trip took place right near the beginning of what has become a worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. At the time of the trip, there had been approximately 600 cases and 24 deaths across the USA. 18 of those deaths were from the Life Care assisted living community in Kirkland, WA. Schools at all education levels were still open, and while some companies were starting to allow employees to work from home, it was not widespread, and definitely not mandated. There were no travel restrictions - or even really talk of such restrictions on a broad…
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Camped in a casino parking lot, it was a noisy night - at least comparatively. But, by the time we woke up the rain had stopped, a light breeze was blowing, and the skies to the west - where we were headed - were mostly sunny! The tent still needed a little drying, so I set about that task as @mrs.turbodb got breakfast ready to go. We ate while admiring the long line of cars still backed up on I-15, and then turned on the heater as we slotted ourselves into the line of traffic. Luckily, we only had a…
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This trip is going to be EPIC. In fact, once we complete our 8 days in the Mojave National Preserve, we'll probably be done exploring the area - we'll hit all the important bits, and will have no reason to go back - except to show of the coolest areas to our friends.Famous last words! Spoiler: I need to go back. Just look at all the cool places we'll go (in blue). The First Day (Christmas) It was Christmas day, and for us, that meant we were kicking off our next adventure by starting the two-day trek from the Seattle…
1 Comment![In Search of Overlooks - A Fall Trip to Western Death Valley [P1]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49072602511_82aa16d541_h.jpg)
Death Valley is not nearby, and yet - it continues to call time after time, urging us to make the 20 hour journey south to explore its wonders. And it's hard to say no. That's how - on a Wednesday morning - we found ourselves packed up in the truck and heading towards southern California, excited for the three-and-a-half days we'd have to explore. I promised myself that this trip would be different. We wouldn't attempt to squeeze everything in; I wouldn't over-schedule our time; it wouldn't be like it always is - a mad dash to not miss a…
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July 18, 2019. Having arrived late the night before, we were not up early. We'd slept well next to the East Fork of the Jarbidge River just outside Murphy Hot Springs, and it was a little after 10:00am when we rolled into Jarbidge, NV - the official start of the Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route. Our first order of business was to fill up with fuel. I wasn't sure that we really needed to do this (it turns out we didn't), but I wanted to make sure we at least started off on the right foot for this trip. Plus, we'd…
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Our sleep was short-lived, the wind continuing to pick up as the night wore on. In fact, this chapter technically starts on February 15th, since it was 11:45pm when we awoke to the most violent shaking of the tent I've ever experienced - significantly more violent than the night I spent with Monte @Blackdawg and Mike @Digiratus at the base of the Henry Mountains in Utah. I'd already gotten up once to secure the ladder, tying it to a full 5-gallon jerry can of water and the slider of the truck to ensure that the fold-out half of the tent wouldn't make…
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The night passed much more peacefully than the one before and we slept extremely well on our new Exped Megamat Duo 10 - a great fit in the @cascadia tents Mt. Shasta, and significantly more comfortable than the foam mattress. Hoping for a dramatic sunrise, I was up early to explore camp. In the end, given our location in the pass - there wasn't much color in the sky, the weather seemed to be holding and the temps were warmer than the day before, and I was happy to explore the hilly area around camp to see what secrets it held.…
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The Day the Tent Closed...with Us Inside Before it even began, the trip was off to a rough start. See, we'd planned - if you can call deciding to go on a trip just a few days prior to departure, "planning" - to leave two weeks earlier, but inclement weather caused us to push the trip back. Even so, the weather report was iffy just a few days before the new date - something we decided we'd ignore so we could get out and explore. Plus, by pushing the date, we'd gotten a couple of friends - Ben @m3bassman, Zane @Speedytech7,…
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I'd returned from The Re-Tour a mere three weeks before our departure date, but that didn't mean there were only a few short days to plan for our next epic adventure. In fact, quite the contrary - we'd been planning our trip south to Arizona and Utah for nearly a year - knowing that there was way more ground than we could cover in the two weeks we had allocated for the excursion. Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then…
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July 4-5, 2018. Having parted ways with Ben @m3bassman and Kirsten after a wonderful couple days in Idaho, our first and second stops were in Boise for some fuel and food. We'd hoped to hit up a place that @pizzaviolence suggested as "the best taco's in Idaho," but being the Fourth of July, it was unfortunately closed. Instead, we grabbed some burgers before heading south-east - a four-state day in store through Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and finally California where we planned to find a place to camp for the night. Off the dirt, we racked up miles quickly - many…
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April 14, 15, 2018. A couple hours after falling asleep just north of Saline Valley Warm Springs, I was awoken by what I initially thought was a gunshot in my dream. But, with the valley still echoing, I soon realized it was no dream. Unsure what was going on, I looked back towards the springs, to see how others were reacting. I saw no real reaction, but then a few minutes later, I heard a "thump-thump-thump" and saw streaks of light heading into the moonless sky. And then, light and explosions. Fireworks continued intermittently for the next 10-15 minutes. Ultimately,…
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January 21-22, 2018. It was a clear, snowless night - a big chilly out, but cozy under the down comforters in the tent. Morning light gave us a chance to explore our site a bit more - a big cave carved into the sandstone that had clearly been used by previous campers as well. The sky was clear of all clouds, so there was no dramatic sunrise, but after a bit, the sun was still low enough to paint the far wall of the canyon a brilliant orange. We set about making breakfast, packing up camp, and exploring the cave…
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The alarm woke us at 6:00am. We were cozy under the covers but it was cold. It hadn't rained or snowed overnight, but dew had covered the tent and frozen, so the tent went away wet - not ideal, but we had places to be and weren't about to wait a few hours for the sun to come up and dry things out. We decided to forego breakfast for the time being, and were on the road by 6:38am, heading south. After a quick breakfast stop in Luning, NV - a town of nothing except the Wild Kat brothel, and…
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Death Valley: Intro and Day 1 - A Day of Driving Winters in the Pacific Northwest, (but perhaps especially this one) are tough to swallow when you like to get outdoors to explore and experience new adventures. The weather gets cool and wet, and it often takes a multi-state trip south to escape the gray. No different from a weather perspective, this year is different for @mrs.turbodb and I from a availability perspective. And, because of that, when we heard that Ben (@m3bassman) and Zane (@Speedytech7) headed to Death Valley for New Years, we were immediately jealous. We'd been wanting…
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