Death Valley 2019 Trip Link at Spotwalla
(written 2/13/19 AM)
This get-together started on a small motorcycle Internet forum 13 years ago when a handful of riders from Arizona and Nevada joined up with an individual from southern California that was headed to Death Valley National Park to camp for the President's Day weekend.
One of the early comments made in some of the pre-ride on-line discussion for that initial gathering by one of those first participants was if there was a general plan for the event. The originator (okay, maybe instigator) of this replied with a line taken from a movie:
"Plan? There ain't no plan!" - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, 1985 - Movie metaphor for a "We're just making it up as we go!" situation.
Thus, one of the running jokes of the weekend was derived.
I wrote about our first trip up here: Beatty, Nevada - Feb. 2009
Our gear situation was not great, my wife was cold, and although the riding in the park was a bit nicer (temperature-wise), I really had no idea what to expect. You can search for my other blog entries for additional details from previous trips.
So, as you read this first part of the story today, I am enroute once again to the "Kingdom of Nye" for the tenth time. The on-line repartee of those who are coming (some from great distances...) and those that are NOT has probably slowed or ended. It's now time to see who shows up. I have a feeling I know who will get there first - it won't be me! 😃 The last founding member of this event showed up for the final time in 2016. My, how time flies!
You can find my link on the homepage of this very blog for my Spotwalla track page for this event. For fun, as I did with my 48 state ride, the area around Death Valley I have drawn some red lines that will show up on the map. Now, these are simply some of the route possibilities we have for the two days we're here. For those that know this ride, yes, I may have omitted one or two locations, and I may have drawn route lines that we may NOT partake this year. Waypoints along the weekend route opportunities are shown for routing purposes only; all have a meaning of one sort or another for the ride.
I'm intending to update this post as the weekend progresses, along with a final update and maybe some photos when I get home.
(written 2/13/19 PM)
I learned earlier today that a new rider will be joining our little get together this year from Florida. Now, that's nothing new...we'll have a couple of returning riders from Florida joining us as well. Additionally, new riders are from other states as well...glad all made it safe, despite the less-than-stellar winter desert weather we've had this go-round.
This particular rider? An interesting individual...glad I'll finally have a chance to meet him in person.
He's a little shy... 😃 Thus, one of the running jokes of the weekend was derived.
I wrote about our first trip up here: Beatty, Nevada - Feb. 2009
Our gear situation was not great, my wife was cold, and although the riding in the park was a bit nicer (temperature-wise), I really had no idea what to expect. You can search for my other blog entries for additional details from previous trips.
So, as you read this first part of the story today, I am enroute once again to the "Kingdom of Nye" for the tenth time. The on-line repartee of those who are coming (some from great distances...) and those that are NOT has probably slowed or ended. It's now time to see who shows up. I have a feeling I know who will get there first - it won't be me! 😃 The last founding member of this event showed up for the final time in 2016. My, how time flies!
You can find my link on the homepage of this very blog for my Spotwalla track page for this event. For fun, as I did with my 48 state ride, the area around Death Valley I have drawn some red lines that will show up on the map. Now, these are simply some of the route possibilities we have for the two days we're here. For those that know this ride, yes, I may have omitted one or two locations, and I may have drawn route lines that we may NOT partake this year. Waypoints along the weekend route opportunities are shown for routing purposes only; all have a meaning of one sort or another for the ride.
I'm intending to update this post as the weekend progresses, along with a final update and maybe some photos when I get home.
(written 2/13/19 PM)
I learned earlier today that a new rider will be joining our little get together this year from Florida. Now, that's nothing new...we'll have a couple of returning riders from Florida joining us as well. Additionally, new riders are from other states as well...glad all made it safe, despite the less-than-stellar winter desert weather we've had this go-round.
This particular rider? An interesting individual...glad I'll finally have a chance to meet him in person.
http://wingworldmag.com/road-trips/its-never-too-far/
Fri. evening...
Road conditions for one of the loops...not good:
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| Now, there's been snow up here in the past, but the road still has sand on it. |
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| Best if we do this loop another year. I have no idea how bad the pass to the west of us is; I'm not going to find out! |
Not great road surface conditions, sadly.
675 miles for the day...time for bed.
Sat Morning...
Already did the bike census (13? 14?) and have had breakfast. Some of this crew gets moving early...and some don't.
Temperature outside at daybreak here is hovering around freezing;15 degrees warmer just 20 miles or so to the south.
Barring any unknown road issues, today will be the typical Sat ride through the park.
Sat evening...
Good riding day today; weather was good. Tomorrow, it will be hard to know details of where the route will be. I think I did good on the video (I didn't look at it it yet...), and I did get a few snapshots. I will post tomorrow - maybe.
We did have a few discussions about a 'plan' and the plan is....
"We ain't got no plan!"
I'm off to bed - hoping to get more than a few hours of sleep tonight.
Sun morning...
A good night of sleep helps. A lot.
Interesting...weather looks like it might be delayed a bit arriving in the southern end of the Owens Valley. Option 2 is to wander the other roads in the park...I think the others may be a bit conservative with this, we find out in a bit.
The video came out good, in briefly looking at it while I transferred it to my laptop. Card is erased; more can be filmed today!
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| Returning to Death Valley...those sure look like snow clouds!! |
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| A light drizzle as we rocket back toward Beatty. Precipitation in the valley - a first for me! |
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| Entry to Beatty - the mountains are obscured by a light snowfall. |
Sun night...
A few left early today, there is some potential for less-than-optimum weather on the way home. I will understand more in a few hours, as clearing is happening rapidly...
A photo from just a couple of hours ago:
Mon morning...early
Can't sleep, so a bit of viewing from the video I captured yesterday. More data transfers as well.
A final update on this blog post in a few days - I have another family trip and won't have time to mess with this.
Epilogue
The ride home was fun - a bit of wintery conditions made it an entertaining morning. When my riding companion (Lanny) and I made the fuel stop in Kingman, I noted the decaying conditions and made the decision to go into "Go Home!" mode.
A couple of hours later, the Florida gang ran across some really nasty stuff, as the front continued to hit the Kingman area.
I made it home right at the eight hour mark and 560 miles. A bit over 1700 total for the weekend.
Not yet certain what the next ride is...or, maybe I do know.
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