Smack in the middle of winter, we found ourselves with a little extra time and nothing planned to fill the days. That, in addition to the fact that it was going to be cold and snowy in nearly all of Washington state, signaled to us that an escape down south would be a doubly worthwhile endeavor. The question was: where should we go? We'd been to both Death Valley (Nadeau Trail, Loose Ends), the Mojave Preserve (Short Days), and Owens Valley (Tragedies, Right Back to Owens Valley) a couple times in the last couple months - and while another trip to those would have been delightful, we decided to change things up just a little bit. We'd still visit the same desert - the Mojave is a big place - but this time we'd head to its very eastern edge - right around the intersection of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.
There, we'd find ourselves searching for Pahranagat Man (and a plethora of other petroglyphs and pictographs), wandering through a Bowl of Fire, exploring a Snow Canyon (appropriately, as snow fell from the sky), and venturing to the very edge of the Grand Canyon.
It was, to be sure, a trip we'll remember for a long time to come!
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Pahranagat Man | Mid-Winter #1 - With winter wearing on here in the gloomy pacific northwest, I suggested to @mrs.turbodb that perhaps we should take after the school system and celebrate our own Mid-Winter Break. Somewhere with sun, preferably. Honestly, I was a little surprised at how open to that idea she was, and quickly realized…
Area 51 | Mid-Winter #2 - Things don't always go as expected, and sometimes that is a good thing. It sure was this morning as I woke up and climbed down out of the tent to a dry day - none of the predicted snow or rain having materialized during the night! Silly Mt. Irish weather…
Multi-Colored Pictographs and a Bowl of Fire | Mid-Winter #3 - I think we left off with our adrenaline pumping and three trucks parked right outside our tent, one of the occupants having just said, "What the f*@# is going on here?" Climbing down out of the tent, I walked over to the guys - all still clustered around their vehicles…
From Fire, to Gold (Butte) | Mid-Winter #4 - The winds tore through our camp as ferociously as ever the entire night. Even with 35lbs of water weighing down the ladder of the tent to keep that side from folding up on us, there were several points at which I was sure we were going to be the middle…
Camping on a Cliff | Mid-Winter #5 - Sleeping in our own little private wash was magical. If there was a lick of wind, it went right over our heads and at one of our lower elevations for the trip, it was reasonably warm as well. I think we'd gone to bed exhausted around 9:00pm, and when I…
Into the Snow at Snow Canyon | Mid-Winter #6 - We didn't know it when we woke up, but today would be our last day of the trip. But, I'm obviously getting significantly ahead of myself, so let's take a step - or three - back. Our amazing spot on the edge of the Grand Canyon, overlooking the Colorado River…
Rig Review: What worked and what didn't - winter 2021? - March 8, 2021. Over the course of the winter, the truck has performed well. Four (!) trips down to the desert to stay warm have put a bunch of miles on the odometer and resulted in only a few little tweaks to the set up. But any tweak is worth…