Loaded my friend, both of our boys and another friend of theirs in my 1966 Kaiser-Jeep Deuce and Half truck (yes a real Army truck) and headed north. The boys rode in the back with the gear, which we seemed to have too much of since we were only going for about 40 hours. We headed north on the I15 until just past the I215 connector on the northern end. Stopped at McDonald's for breakfast (we left at 0430 so it was too early to eat) and to wait for my buddy and his friend in another deuce.
After eating some fine greasy food we loaded up and rolled north up the grade, splitting off on the 395. Tried to keep the speedo around 50-53 mph so the engine rpms would be below 2600. Redline is 2700 and they like to come apart once you get past that (which is why we travel in pairs).
An hour and half later we stopped to top off tanks. I won't scare you with my fuel bill, but I was hoping to pull 8 mpg and DIDN'T.
Wallet lighter we kept moving north on the 395 looking for those beef jerky signs. When we got to the 190 we turned right towards death valley. About 25 miles in I found the desert road I was looking for and we took the party off road.
When I was there a year ago with Tom G and another wreck chasing friend I remember having to be careful because of the rough road and rocks. This time we just drove over anything in the road that was in our way. No hassles at all.
Roads fork off to the left and right and I was under a lot of pressure not to screw this up. As the canyon narrowed and the road I had picked faded away I started to get worried. U turns require major real estate to pull off driving trucks that big, but luckily I found the right spot.
In as far as we could go we unloaded and grabbed the packs. Everyone was too excited for lunch so we skipped it and headed in on foot. Shortly the tail section of a crashed F4 Phantom was in plain sight. We hiked up to it and I let everyone check it out. Mike and I had been there last year (well 2008 - damn it's 2010 already?). Mike thought he knew where another kewl peice of wreckage was so he led the way up to the ridge. It was great seeing him take charge like that - even though he couldn't exactly remember the right spot.
After a 1/2 hour or so I regrouped everyone and hiked them back to the canyon floor and up higher onto the other side. The wing section needed checking out too. A few people were struggling a little bit so we didn't push on to some of the other goodies uphill. Insteaded we headed down and deeper into the canyon where the weapons pod and a horse skeleton waited.
Then it was back to the trucks - hiking was over for now. Somehow I got the big, no power steeering truck turned around and we headed into another canyon. At the end is a crappy rat infested cabin. The boys loved it, but no one wanted to sleep in it. After two fires (boys made one in the cabin fireplace, adults had a bigger one next to our outdoor BAR), steaks, stories, lies, tall tales and good laughs we stuffed 5 people into the back of my truck to sleep. My buddy and his friend slept in the other truck. Bedtime temps were about 20 degrees.
In the morning we loaded up and headed to an open spot in the desert to teach the boys how to drive a deuce. Wide open and nothing to hit. Of course I kept my hand on the transfer case shifter, ready to put it in nutrual if needed. The boys did great and no damage was done.
We missed our turn (no street signs in the dez) and nearly ran onto the base. A quick u turn got us on track and we soon were downtown Darwin, Ca. Freaksville USA. We checked out the scenery, the spooky (even in the daytime) cemetary and a couple of old mines. If you get the chance, do a drive by on this semi ghost town.
With everyone getting hungry we found the blacktop and stormed into Lone Pine for pizza. Two big Army trucks parked on the main road seem to get a lot of attention. Bellys full we made our way south with a quick stop in some one horse town to check out another deuce we saw. Running down the Cajon Pass was no fun with rain and dumbchit drivers.
Turned out to be nearly 500 miles total in those 40 hours. Exhaust is so loud you can't even talk to your passenger on the freeway. You get to see a lot more at 50 mph too. And think about a lot when your rolling that slow with no radio, cell phone etc.
Pics are here (I know they still need tags):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30467211@N04/sets/72157622980982011/