I am a ghost, this is a dream, something is here...it calls to me.

[SlowRide13]

[agplant]

A bit unusual to have the motel suggest pulling th e bike in rather than having to pull it in later. Better to beg forgivness than ask permission.

[larryboy]

On the move again, it's Sunday morning. "Some people go to church on Sundays, others they pray at home." Me? I'll be in Death Valley...




I'm going to take the Escape Route over the Slate Range.




Brand new front tire. What the heck, we'll take the single track route.









Gulp.




This is a little too much trail for the load and gearing. There isn't a chance in hell that I can make it back up what I've slid down...I had better be able to slide to the valley floor without any trouble.




One hillclimb that I chose over a sidehill section and it's looking good.







I'm really glad that's over.

[redpillar]

Wow!! Glad I didn't see this till now, I hate waiting fro installments.
The usual fantastic writeup and lyrics.
Good photos and lots of desert characters! I luv it!
Thanks again Larryboy.

[rednax]

wow ! Thats some report ! Havn´t read your other ones, so judging from this one I´m in for some nice timepassing in the near future...great !!

[larryboy]

Thanks for reading!!!













I headed north up the west side of the dry lake.






I stopped in at Ballarat to visit with Rocky. He said that George is having trouble getting around due to a knee that he dislocated when he was about 30, not to mention that he is well over 80 years old.




Pot Licker didn't bite me this time.




I had chatted with this group when I was at the hot springs. They had bicycled from Stovepipe Wells, down West Side Road, up Warm Springs, down Goler and out to here. They're shooting for Stovepipe today, their second day out on the bikes.




It's about noon and I move on. I really want to hike up to Panamint City, but I think it's too much to do by myself.




I stopped at Panamint Springs for fuel. I think I lost a day somewhere and find out that today is actually Saturday, not Sunday like I thought...cool, I have more time than I thought!! I take the old toll road heading for the town of Darwin.






I took the side trip to China Gardens.






I really like it here.




I think we'll camp here with the Willys next year.

[Second chance]

Excellent!

[BigNastybrp]

very nice LarryBoy, that trail in post #123. that ia why i go down there. I have done it going down and up with a full load and that was no joke a work out. thank you for taking us on this fun ride. B

[Fredfredburger]

Outstanding!

And the snow and cold with no electrics...

cheers

[T O Double D]

Hell yeah that single track is awesome! I went up it loaded once and gone down many a time on my dirtbike... You've got skills my friend... That isn't easy, especialy that sqeeze rock you pictured. One wrong move and your day is ruined. Most of the people I've gone down that with had troubles on unloaded dirtbikes.

[2on2off]

Great report Rob.

I see you found the single track over the Escape Route. Riding that trail once was enough for me.

Are you using the Tom Harrison map of Death Valley? I've got one and I'm trying to follow along with everywhere you are riding.

I stopped by Desert Sports Center in Ridgecrest the weekend before you started your ride and told Greg, the owner, to be watching for you.

You haven't talked about Pleasant Canyon or South Park Canyon so I'm wondering if you were able to ride there after all the snow started falling.

This looks like the longest ride anyone has done on a dual sport in Death Valley.

You have talked about selling the XRR. What are you thinking your next bike might be? After a year with my DRZ400S, it has become my all time favorite dual sport bike. For the kind of dual sport riding I do, I have found I don't need any more power than the DRZ has and the small displacement makes it easier and less tiring to ride off road. I have had a dual sported Yamaha WR450F and two XR650L's and also spent 8 months riding a dual sported KTM 525EXC and of all these bikes the DRZ is my favorite.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your report. Thanks for spending all the time to write it as I know it is alot of work to complete.

[larryboy]

Thanks guys.

Yeah, that trail is pretty high risk once you start the steep stuff. One wrong move and you can spend all day trying to recover back to the trail. In the vids you'll notice that I'm clutch in for most of it, with 14/45 gearing I'll be honest and say that I couldn't have made it back up.

Most of the map pics that I'm showing is the Nat Geo DV map. It's a little more optimistic than the Harrison map, the Harrison is probably better for what roads actually exist today. I had both with me, mainly just to find new places since I know my way around already.

I'm thinking of selling the XRR because I don't really have any long dirt rides planned and this type of bike just sits until the big rides come along. I like to say that I only rode my 610 six times.

I'm keeping my eyes open for a KTM 300 with a plate or a KDX. I'd consider a plated DRZ400E too, my buddy had one and it was every bit as fast as my 610.


Is Pleasant Canyon really pleasant? Is South Park a walk in the park? Stay tuned....

[Moraflex]

Originally Posted by 2on2off

Great report Rob.

I see you found the single track over the Escape Route. Riding that trail once was enough for me.

Where is this single track?

[larryboy]

Originally Posted by Moraflex

Where is this single track?

It's a right turn off the Escape Route, after the major left and before you can see the valley floor..heading east of course. It's a little harder to find from the valley side, it's south of the standard Escape Trail...easier to see if you're moving north, pretty easy to ride right past heading south.

[larryboy]

One time my buddy Joe mailed a postcard home from Darwin and I thought it was such a great idea that I do the same thing now. I figured I'd be a smart ass and send the postcard to my dog, Louie...little did I know that he got sick and had to go see the doctor while I was gone..the postcard was said to have cheered him up.




I had met Piano Joe at Panamint Springs the other day and he told me the full story of why Turtle Jim had suddenly died. Piano Joe had invited me to come to a little house concert on Sunday evening, but I was feeling like being alone and this was Saturday.




I went across Centennial Flat.




Crossing the highway near the Talc City Mines, it's just us today.






Cerro Gordo left, Death Valley right.




I'm looking for the backdoor to the Swansea Grade and the Burgess Mine.






I'm pretty sure that this is the trail, but it looks pretty nasty after this corner. You can see that two Jeeps were here during the snowstorm last week.




I'd better figure out a camping spot.




Cool old truck.




There is another storm blowing in and there is ice spitting out of the sky. As I go lower in elevation it turns to rain. I'd rather brush off snow than get soaked and not be able to get dry, so I headed back up until I was back in the snow. I found a wind break for the tent.




I don't think I've eaten today? Let's get dinner started.








Man, that was tasty!! I had to keep putting my butter back on the stove since it wouldn't stay melted for more than a few seconds.






I'm glad I found this spot, the wind blew really hard all night. I woke up once to see how bad things were looking.