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Author Topic: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015  (Read 25576 times)

PainRoller

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Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« on: October 01, 2015, 09:35:46 AM »
DEATH VALLEY CONVOY (aka Mr Toad's Wild Ride):

1. Joe and Bro - Trail Leader
2. PR and Fixitguy
3. Bromax
4. Steve C
5. Motorpig
6. Yota
7. KnightRider
8. Danny X (maybe)
9. Mark & Nia

Kramer Junction (intersection of Hwy 395 and Hwy 58) at 11:00 am on Friday with a fully belly and a full tank of gas - READY TO RIDE

We got a little convoy,
Ain't she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain't nothin' gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this X'ing' convoy
'Cross the U-S-A.
CONVOOOOOY!

« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 02:48:34 PM by PainRoller »

Ghost65

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2015, 09:41:14 AM »

Maybe a moderator could move these over to a new thread?  Startin' to feel the rumblings of a Threadjack




Boom.
KD6DCI

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Ghost65

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2015, 09:43:15 AM »
Don't forget Knightrider...his screen name belongs in a convoy...

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn224/tdfancharles/KnightRider/103_0609.jpg
Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
KD6DCI

Once again, I must state for the record: We are not a club, we are enablers for your addiction.

steve c

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2015, 09:59:23 AM »
Can you set a meet spot so we can coordinate commute times from San Diego/Oceanside/Hemet/Mira Mesa, etc.?

Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga?

It's on the way plus it's Bass Pro Shop.  
« Last Edit: October 01, 2015, 10:09:55 AM by steve c »
Steve - KK6OFL

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Ghost65

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2015, 10:14:35 AM »


It's on the way plus it's Bass Pro Shop.  

We might never make it to DV... ;)
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Celt

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2015, 10:21:52 AM »
DEATH VALLEY CONVOY

1. Joe and Bro
2. PR and Fixitguy
3. Bromax
4. Steve C (if he can keep up)
5. Motorpig
6. Yota

Meet up time: 9 am?

Meet up places:

Potential stops along the way: abandoned Boron State Prison, Trona Pinnacles

Maybe a moderator could move these over to a new thread?  Startin' to feel the rumblings of a Threadjack

Threadjack? Now who the heck gonna jack a thread round here?
Isaiah 6:8

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2015, 10:23:23 AM »
IN!!
Jordan - K6XTE
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Sage Bromax

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2015, 11:22:52 AM »
Good meeting spot.  See you there.
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

Ghost65

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2015, 12:22:05 PM »
Can we make the meet time flexible...say 9-9:30?

"Usually" takes about 2-2.5 hours with traffic from SD.


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PainRoller

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2015, 12:28:14 PM »
OP updated.  8)

DannyX

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2015, 07:12:34 PM »
I am possibly up for this as well. I'll check tomorrow if I can get that extra day.


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JFanaselle

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2015, 09:50:07 PM »
Depending on what everyone wants to do, I have a couple of ideas. I also hate to be the one guy who objects, but I'm just going to throw it out there that I'm not a fan of meeting at the Bass Pro Store, for a few reasons. For starters, it's not right off of the freeway and is inconvenient to access, especially re-accessing the 15 to head north when we leave (several intersections/left turns on signal lights which will most certainly break our group apart). Secondly, for anyone taking the 215 in the morning (which will be the least traffic route for the SD folks and will be the only route for Motorpig77 and myself), they'd have to backtrack on the 15 or cut across on the 210 to get there, and either option takes you about 10+ miles out of the way. Third, the Bass Pro Store is a place that any one of us (or all of us) can visit on any given weekend, just by deciding to go. Rather than spending hours diverting routes and shopping/wandering around the store (which will likely mean we don't actually get on the road until after lunch), my vote would be to get on the road sooner and spend that time exploring places we don't nomrally have an opportunity to visit. That being said, I understand why everyone loves the store (it is a big kids' playground, after all) so feel free to call me crazy. If I had my choice, I'd say we should meet up at one of the gas stations off of Hwy 138 and the 15 in the Cajon Pass. There are also several fast food restaruants here, in case anyone wants to have a late breakfast.

Here's a few potential destinations with travel times, just to help us decide what's best. These are just observations and suggestions - if anyone is more familiar with any of these areas and routes (especially the locations of gas stations and eateries), please chime in with suggestions!

1) From the Cajon Pass/Bass Pro Shop area to Boron Prison is about an hour and 20 minutes with no traffic. Not sure how much time we'll spend here, but it looks like the kind of place we could easily spend an hour or two, especially the photographers among the group. It's US government property and there might be no tresspassing signs all over. People who have visited the site recently said (via the interwebs) that there are cameras and other monitoring equipment, so we might not make access at all. A bunch of dirtbag copper thieves have vandalized the site over the past few years, so it looks like they're cracking down on visitors. I don't think there are any locked gates or anything, but I guess we'll find out when we get to the entrance and see how comfortable we feel to proceed.
2) From Boron Prison to the town of Randsburg is about 30 minutes. From what I can tell online, Randsburg has a Saloon, General Store, and quite a few little cool shops and museums. We could go here or we could skip it, doesn't really matter. Seems like a semi-popular destination (especially among the off-roading crowd), so it might be worth at least taking a peek.
3) The city of Ridgecrest is 25 minutes north of Randsburg and has tons of gas stations and eateries (both fast food and restaurants/diners). This is probably our best bet for lunch, but it would take us too far north to take the "fun" way to the Trona Pinnacles, and it's about 15 minutes off of the shortest route to Panamint Springs, so we'd essentially be diverting to "go into town." If we do head into Ridgecrest, we can still quickly get to the Trona Pinnacles by traveling east on Highway 178 for for about 20 minutes to the dirt access road.
4) An alternate plan, if we can manage to get gas and food somewhere near the area of Randsburgh or Johannesburg, would be to take the long and "fun" way to the Pinnacles by taking Trona Road to Teagle Wash Road (which is a long dirt road) and cut through the Spangler Hills OHV area. This would be about 15 miles of dirt road driving and could take a little while. But it does look like there is some mild to moderate wheeling involved, and even some old railroad buildings to explore along the way. We would arrive at the Pinnacles from the south and travel through them before eventually coming out at Highway 178.
5) Whether we head into the Pinnacles from the north (Ridgecrest/easier/less time way) or south (skip Ridgecrest/longer time/more challenging way), we basically take the same route from there to the Panamint Springs Resort. It's about an hour and 30 mins from the Pinnacles to the Panamint Springs Resort.
6) There are several defunct and abandoned (or partially abandoned) towns on the stretch of road between the Trona Pinnacles and Panamint Springs Resort that are also worthy of exploration/photography, including Westend, South Trona, Argus, Trona and Pioneer Point. I think we'd be pressed for time once we got to this area, but it's something to consider if we want to skip something else. It looks like there are also some scattered gas stations and diners/eateries in the area, but it would be AFTER the Trona Pinnacles on our journey. If we end up having to skip the prision for access/tresspassing reasons, this could be another option.


So... if our objective is to get to the resort around 6:00 pm, my proposal would be to meet in the Cajon Pass and depart no later than 10:00 am, making sure everyone is gassed up and has a full belly. We'd drive straight to Boron Prison and spend an hour or more there, before departing and heading north. From there, we'd either stop at Randsburg or head straight into Ridgecrest - we can make that decision based on how we're doing on time and how hungry everyone is getting. From Ridgecrest, we'd head east to the Trona Pinnacles (the easy way) and spend a little time exploring and taking cool photos of our trucks looking like they're on Mars. From there, we'd depart and if there's time, we can cruise through some of the weird little towns (we actually already drive through them on the main highway) and arrive in Panamint Springs by 6:00 pm with plenty of time to eat dinner and settle in for the evening with the rest of the group as they arrive.

If we want to skip Randsburg and Ridgecrest and do some wheeling instead, we can find somewhere to get gas around Johannasburg and can spend the afternoon taking the dirt route through the Spangler Hills OHV park to the Trona Pinnacles. We'd have to eat lunch on the trail this way. This way will yield a lot of remote desert exploring, but I'm not too sure there's a whole lot to see out there (since it's all an open OHV park) so it's really more about the wheeling.

What are everyone's thoughts?
« Last Edit: October 01, 2015, 10:09:32 PM by JFanaselle »

Motorpig77

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2015, 11:27:44 PM »
Joe, you havent failed to show us a great time yet, so I'm down for whatever you decide! Looking forward to it!

Sage Bromax

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #13 on: October 02, 2015, 05:46:23 AM »
Sounds like a pretty good itinerary, Joe.  I would suggest Kramer Junction as the rendezvous point.  There are three gas stations and a couple of restaurants there.  I was just there last weekend for another field trip (went to the Borax mine) and the restaurant/gas station/truck stop on the southeast corner has hearty breakfasts (brunch?) and fuel for reasonable prices.  It also only took me less than a half a tank of gas to get there from El Cajon (had to pick up my passenger).

The Boron Prison itself is abandoned, but the radar facility is still active and operated by the FAA, thus all the cameras.

Johannesburg/Randsburg area has a lot of old and active mining stuff and would be a good exploration area.

I say skip Ridgecrest and take the northeastern route toward the Pinnacles, Trona and Searles Valley.  As best I can tell, there are a couple of gas stations in the Argus/Trona area, but I haven't been through there since I was in college in the '70s.
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” ― Robert A. Heinlein

Ghost65

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Re: Death Valley SoCal Convoy - Nov 6, 2015
« Reply #14 on: October 02, 2015, 07:15:27 AM »
Joe, you havent failed to show us a great time yet, so I'm down for whatever you decide! Looking forward to it!

This.

Joe, just set it up and we will plan accordingly...you are the TL. 

I agree that while the Bass Pro Shop is cool, most of the meet spots should have quick access, parking, gas, ice, and food. 

Victoria Gardens is a nice area, but navigating the islands of concrete can get a bit crazy.
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Once again, I must state for the record: We are not a club, we are enablers for your addiction.

 


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