The Road to Death Valley and Back

[TomInPA]

I'm going to start a ride report here for the weekend Death Valley Gathering. So far we have the trip to Lone Pine from the Northern California group, but we will add as things get more interesting.

The NorCal contingent ready to ride at the crack of 10:00 AM (Thursday 3/10//11)

Dog gone it its winter up here

Into warmer elevations past Mammoth, and the ride is much less windy here. After being hammered by head and cross-winds over 30 MPH whipping spindrift off the peaks, this was welcome relief.

Mr. & Mrs Bluestreak

Sam as the shadows get longer.

Madmike2 being passed (just sayin')

Approaching Lone Pine.

TomInCA won today's performance award while leading the group, and received a congratulatory handshake but no certificate of achievement. :yahoo:

 

[Bugnatr]

2 days and no report, not even a word from Beemerdons.

humm... are they smoking the Death Valley wild flowers??

 

[TomInPA]

I have lots of pics from days 2 and 3, but won't have time to upload until tomorrow evening. Its been a great gathering.

Madmike2 is safely back in Lone Pine after losing his stator in Death Valley. Wait until you see a FJR with a marine/RV battery fastened onboard.

 

[puppychow]

Holy Crap! What happened? Was he running one of those high output stator's? Hope everything panned out all right....

 

[madmike2]

Holy Crap! What happened? Was he running one of those high output stator's? Hope everything panned out all right....

Yup! 60K miles and sudden epic failure....I think. I'll probably not have time to check it for a couple of weeks. I AM home safe.

 

[TomInPA]

Day 2 and we head for Death Valley on Hwy 190. The route from Lone Pine climbs from Owens Lake towards Darwin, and descends into Panamint Valley before climbing the pass and twisting down to Stovepipe Wells. Here we are dropping into the Panamint Valley at a safe and prudent speed consistent with the high traffic here.

After shedding cold weather gear at Stovepipe Wells, we head North to the Ubeeheebee Crater.

Mike contemplates the depth of the crater and concludes he is not hiking down there.

Ray stuck a red BMW among an otherwise perfect collection of FJRs. The Devil made him do it. :angry2:

I was told by Ron that other than having a weird color and wrong year, nothing was wrong with the wineberry FJR. :lol:

Heading out to Scotties Castle.

For some people, 10:00 is too early to get up.

Truth be told, it was a real treat to ride with the Bluestreaks and I look forward to doing it again soon.

 

[TomInPA]

There are about 80 pictures from Day 2 posted on Photobucket,but we'll keep it down to about 10 here. If anyone wants a high resolution picture to photoshop one of the contestants, just ask, and you shall receive. I did well at staying on the right side of the camera. :clapping:

The road to Beatty was a blur. Any reports of an FJR (or 5 or 6) exceeding 130 MPH on NV hwy 267 are unfounded and should be ignored. :assassin:

After lunch at the Subway in Beatty Mike lead us to the ruins of Ryolite.

Where we finally slowed down enough to see our first flowers. Rain was not abundant in DV this year, and you had to look hard

I got in front of the camera once as Madmike2 snapped a souvenir shot.

Madmike leads us back toward Furnace creek and back out to Longstreet the long way.

The rooms at Longstreet were a great value and comfortable. Not a bad view. Thanks to Don for making arrangements on the group rate. The view out my back door.

 

[TomInPA]

Too many pics to show, so check out the Day 3-4 on Photobucket.

The whole group rode out to Dante's View.

Hell of view

MEM and Sam were having a face-off.

Oh my! What is it about this place. :dribble:

Pick your favorite

The trip down from Dante's was lead by Madmike2. Mike is a mellow, humble and kind man, but Madmike is a total nut case. Its hard to take pictures while moving at Jet speed on twisties, but it turns out we were going straight to Furnace Creek where Mike's bike was in cardiac arrest.

While the bike got a power transplant, MEM found a new friend.

This Roadrunner had a lizard, and was looking to impress his mate.

After the excitement of the battery transplant, Mike headed back to Lone Pine, and I figured to go look for these elusive wildflowers we allegedly came here for.

They became very easy to find when speeds dropped below 100 mph

While I was groveling on the ground, some riders came by. I don't know who they are.

Desert Ghost Flower

Would have been better with a FJR going by.

Artist Drive used to be unpaved. Now its a fun scenic road with new pavement.

If you are willing to drive on a dirt road, you can vist Salt Creek. This area has a large population of Death Valley Pupfish.

Leaving Death Valley, the shadows were making the Dunes look more interesting than under mid-day sun.

 

[TomInPA]

Sunday March 13 is the first day of Daylight Savings Time. We had to beat a storm, or get stranded on the east side of the Sierra. Today's ride takes us over five passes up to 8300 foot elevation, with freezing temperatures down to 4000 feet. It was cold, but again the new Warm and Safe jacket liner did the job and kept me toasty warm, in spite of the cold and wind.

I don't see dawn very often, but today was different. In Lone Pine, we are right below the tallest peak in the continental U.S. Mount Whitney. Here is the mountain getting the first light of a new day.

And the sun finally reaches the Valley floor, as clouds loom on the Western horizon..

On the road in Bishop. You can see Mike (on the left) is burning only one headlight to conserve power.

Steve and Cindy heading north before we reach the snow.

Over 200 miles into the trip, and the clouds look threatening on the Sierra. We have already crossed three passes and still have to go over Luther Pass and Echo Summit.

We beat the storm, and jocky past the weekend traffic to arrive safely.

I hit a few showers finishing out the trip home, and the rain really delivered this afternoon. 1143 miles and four great days with friends.

 

[Big-D]

Great photography! Definitely Old Michael quality. You really captured the scenery at the right time! :yahoo:

 

[beemerdons]

Great photography! Definitely Old Michael quality. You really captured the scenery at the right time! :yahoo:

+1, Gunny; Great Ride Report Tom, Thank You!

 

[puppychow]

Great pictures Tom. The Sand Dunes look great. As does Mt Whitney in morning light..

Great candid people shots also!

 

[wheatonFJR]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing... :clapping:

 

[Niehart]

Good stuff Tom.

Not sure how you got Steve to smile in that picture but I liked it.

Thanks for taking us along!

 

[Panman]

Great report, looks like another ride to put on the bucket list. Thanks for sharing.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Great report Tom. Looks like a good time was had by all!

--G

 

[Tyler]

Great pics, Tom!

Great pics, Tom!

 

[TomInPA]

Great pics, Tom!

Great pics, Tom!

You seem to be repeating yourself.

Case of double vision?

.

BTW, how about a tour of Mt Hamilton some time?

 

[BrettB]

Very nice pics and report!

Wow, so much blue