Major WWWobbles trip report with pictures…
Pictures from Marc, Dan, and Carl
Which bike is going to Death Valley?
This will be home
Need tarp
The neighbors
Beer time
Gimlet
Saturday morning
Ready for coffee
Dante’s view
Panamint Springs breakfast
San Luis Obispo
SLO, again
Waiting for dinner in SLO
Still waiting
Worth the wait
Big Sky Cafe beignets
Big Sky Cafe cakes
Panoramas from Carl and Marc
Almost sunset at Stovepipe Wells
Panorama 1
Panorama 2
Dinner in SLO
Video of getting to Death Valley via Wildrose
My favorite route to Death Valley in the spring is through the Panamint Valley then staying on Wildrose instead of turning left toward Panamint Springs. This trip I had the video camera running to document that portion of the ride.
Pictures taken in Rhyolite by Marc on Saturday
Welcome to Rhyolite
Faded colors
Not exactly a thriving metropolis
Sky over Rhyolite
Ruins
Best kept building?
More ruins
Brothel interior
Iron bars and steel doors
A mine entrance
Isabel Haskins
Died 1908
Last Supper in Rhyolite
Left side last supper
Right side last supper
Rhyolite’s guardian?
Bike rider
Major WWWobble writes:
The club motto of SMBC reads, “When you ride with us, you ride alone.” Knowing this WWWobble departs a day early to begin his run to Death Valley
First break, Hwy 132 heading for Coulterville on Hwy 49. This is a small park on the Tuolumne River, under the new bridge, near the old bridge.
South of Coulterville, Hwy 49 is a magnificent ride as it snakes up and down mountainsides. Excellent pavement, little traffic, a good way to Death Valley…
…but not a direct way. I’m now on Italian Bar Road winding around somewhere East of Fresno. Bass Lake is about an hour behind me. I’m not making good time.
Italian Bar follows Redinger Lake toward the mountains which I cannot cross over. But I see a bridge crossing, I do need to be on the other side, maybe that’s the road.
Ah. the bridge is the road, so I begin my cross to the south side of Redinger, and hope the road begins to head west. I don’t want to be in this canyon after dark….
…and I didn’t get into Bakersfield until nearly 8pm. These roads are the reason why it takes WWWobble two days to get where most can get to in a few hours.
I’m now on my way to Death Valley. Except, this is the middle of the Mojave Desert, which is south of of DV. And empty. Just me and the wide open spaces. Freedom.
But what is this doing in the MIDDLE of the Mojave? It’s Kelso Station, and inside the history is written for all to read. And one of these days I’ll go inside and read it.
Ah. Almost at Stovepipe Wells. A pleasant 97F shows on the JetBlu instrument cluster.
Here’s the view from my chair in the “Dunes View” room at Stovepipe.
Carl, Randy and I met some fellow Bay Area riders at Dante’s View parking lot. The fellow in red, Roger, is enjoying his first long ride on a new MultiStrada. Lotsa Ducks.
Carl’s new 90th Anniversary R1200RT elegant in the background.
Looking south from Dante’s View
Looking north from Dante’s View, elevation 5,475 feet.
On the ground, lowest elevation in the continental U.S. Badwater -282 feet.
These birds are quite happy with the fake processed cheese WWWobble bought.
Meanwhile, Randy and WWWobble plot our next adventures…
….while Dan puzzles out the RT’s headlamp adjusters.
Pancakes? This place got pancakes? Pancakes at Panamint? Who knows…..?
Then, after a good pancake breakfast, maybe an ok pancake breakfast, we depart the desert for San Luis Obispo. A typically windy ride along Lake Isabella, good conditions along Hwy 58, into the Peach Tree Inn. A fabulous dinner at Big Sky, then home next day.
Good ride, good companionship, no crashes, no mechanicals, a little wind, but no real heat or rain.
WWWobble
April 2013