mccoyoffroad

May 20, 2022May 27, 2022

Bolting for Utah

Welcome Back,

What a refreshing soak in Shepherds Hot Springs, near Mammoth Lake California. After that beautiful sunrise, we take our time packing up, we let our bathing suits dry, make a hot breakfast and sit in the sun reading our current book; John Does at the End, by David Wong. We are enthralled with the adventure and madness of the story, quirky and off-kilter, we just laugh at all of the goings on. The plan is to head over to Benton Hot Springs Campground, where, you get your own Hot Spring tub with each site. Yes, that is right, your own private Hot Spring, check in is at 3pm and check out is 11am. Doing that math, you can soak and soak and soak until you cannot get anymore pruny. I am super excited about it, and Kyle is very happy that the Hot Spring is private.

Shepherd Hot Springs, morning soak lighting up the landscape.

Benton Hot Springs is only a 45 minute drive from Shepherd Hot Springs, so we have lots of sunshine time to kill. Plus, bonus we have cell service. I haven’t touched on the access to/or lack there of, but with all travel there are dead spots. We are venturing more into those dead zones and have up to this point been pleasantly surprised at how much service we have access to. I check email, talk to my parents, post on Instagram, catch-up on texts, the usual phone stuff. We are packed up, and heading on our way to the next Hot Springs, joy in our hearts and as we roll back across the graded gravel road, we think, man, this doesn’t look the same, I think that spur right there was our turn. We stop, turn around and take the right onto the spur road, just a little down this track, we are confronted with a Dodge Ram pick-up in the middle of the road, looking to hook-up his 5th Wheel RV hitch. (In Val speak, that is the one in the bed of the truck, I call it the horsey hitch, as most Horse Trailers I know are secured by the hitch in the center of the truck bed, not the ball hitch off the back bumper.)

We are like, whoops, this isn’t right either, guess we really are supposed to be on the first road. As we turnaround, my backpack falls out of it’s secured location and we stop to put it back in place, silly backpack, you ride on the top of the drawer system, not behind the passenger seat. While we are getting re-situated the Dodge driver saunters up to Kyle and asks “can you give me a push?”

Kyle: I can see if I can help, but I may end up messing up your bumper.

Dodge Dude: I don’t care about my bumper, I cannot get my truck to hitch the trailer.

Kyle: Okay, we will see what we can do.

We swing back around, let me set the scene.

Dirt road, Dodge 2 wheel drive pick-up blocking the whole road, large boulders up the right embankment (the exact place we would need to be to position ourselves to “push” the truck anywhere). As fate would have it, there were large enough spaces between two sets of boulders for us to 1. Get up the embankment and 2. To push the truck

As Kyle is swinging the Jeep around, so he can back us up the embankment, a Rav4 arrives, parks right in-between us and the trailer, we are trying to line up with to thread ourselves between the boulders, out of the drivers seat bobs a chick who doesn’t even take a glance in our direction, we start backing up, she just walks right behind us, not thinking a thing about it, towards the stuck truck. Kyle slams on the breaks, not to hit her, the Dodge Dude starts to tell the chick (whom I guess is his girlfriend) that we are going to help him get hooked up. Oh, she looks up and then says Okay, again, walks behind us, then goes into the RV and closes the door. While that is happening, 3 other cars arrive, since we are now blocking the road, trying to back-up the embankment, they all park next to the girlfriend, like a parking lot and get out of their cars. Kyle and I are now positioned to start to descend the embankment and try to make gentle contact with Dodge Dudes bumper, the carloads of people, walk between us and the truck, looking around talking to each other, but not saying a word to us or Dodge Dude. Once the gaggle of people have cleared, we are set to kiss his front bumper, but because of our higher angle of approach, we are riding a bit above the actual bumper. Dodge Dude gives the thumbs-up, Kyle in gear, Rorie begins to push. Dodge’s hood, does a little tweak, but all is moving, we hear a loud click, we stop. Thinking, we have secured the hitch, nope. Signal from Dodge Dude, give it one more heave ho. Okay. Kyle sets Rorie back in gear and gives her the gas. Crunch, pop. I think we killed something and Dodge Due is all smiles, giving the thumbs up and yells we are good. Whew. Now the dismount, because we are not on his bumper, Kyle places Rorie in reverse and gently eases backwards, with a slide and a clink, we are released. Dodge Dude jumps out and is all grins, thanks us so much for our help.

Me: did we hurt your bumper, that didn’t sound good.

Dodge Dude: I don’t care, it could be hanging on the ground and I would be grateful, there was no way I was ever going to get that hitched without you.

Kyle: Okay, glad we could help.

Dodge Dude: You guys are awesome, thanks again.

Tires headed back to the road and we are off, thinking how cool is that, we got to help someone and our Rorie girl did great.

All the way to Benton Hot Springs we chat about how cool that was and wondered how long he would have been there is no one else offered to help.

After checking in, we find our camp spot. We lucked out and got a group spot, so our Hot Spring Tub is huge, like party tub – eww la la.

Sunset at our campsite in Benton Hot Springs, CA.

We make dinner and wait for the sun to go down before we sink into the tub. Watch the sunset and the stars emerge as we float and chat while dusk turns to night. Tomorrow we are getting up again and soaking before we have to leave, because, if you have it, what else should you do but soak.

Since our plans have changed a little, basically not the plans but the timing of the plans, we are heading our way to Tahoe, where we secured a Hotel for several days. Which we are going to fix our water pump (still not working), do laundry and other housekeeping items. Plus, we will explore Tahoe a little. We drive in, hit the Carson City Walmart, then make our way to Tahoe. I don’t remember Tahoe, but my parents say (Hi Mom, Hi Dad) that we had been there before. As Kyle and I drive in, we climb up hill to wrap down around the mountain into Tahoe, as we turn, there is still snow in the shady areas, along the roadsides and covering the mountain tops. We are early for Tahoe too. But, we have a warm place to sleep, out of the wind and will be able to get many items taken care of. Here are some shots of Lake Tahoe from our room. We have one day to explore and drive around the lake. We are off, we want to see Vikingsholm and the surrounding park, stop at the parking area, closed: opens Early April. We snap a few photos, here we are.

Back on the scenic drive, we circle into southern Lake Tahoe, a beach: closed. State park with great views: open but $20 for day pass (which we are not going to be there all day). We continue on and getting hungry. We find this gem of a pizza place called Blue Dog Gourmet Pizza and boy are we happy. They have Gluten Free crusts and Vegan Cheese, plus all kinds of choices for toppings. We get there right when it opens and are ready for pizza. Yay!

After lunch we rejoin the lake loop road and head back north towards the hotel and on the way we are going to drive through the Lake Tahoe tunnel – aka. Cave Rock Tunnel. I love tunnels and this shouldn’t be such a thrill, but it is. Here are some photos of the tunnel. Wha Hoo.

Since we drove north, we didn’t drive through the “rock” side, so if you drive south, you get the actual “rock” tunnel.

After the tunnel we make it back to our Hotel, where there is a sandy beach with epic lake views, so we park, cross the street and go for a little walk around where we have stayed for the past 3 days.

We scamper across rocks and wet sand, check out the boat pier and park. Views are amazing, and we are lucky to have caught this place in off season. As we leave to begin our two day drive to Utah we cannot believe the beauty encompassed in the greater 48.

Our path to Sandy Utah, is a direct one, Tahoe is to get more snow tomorrow, we have to be off the mountain and nearing Southern Utah quickly. We drive the 80 east out of Tahoe through Reno, through most of Nevada on the 50 east stopping only for gas. Plans on seeing the Great Basin National Park, foiled as they don’t open for the season until mid-April.

We keep driving, it is open and flat, lots of dust storms, some so bad that we cannot even see the road, but we make it, to our wild camp destination Ely, Nevada. Just outside of town, across the road from a Mine, we find a nice spot in Juniper Pines, with some protection from the wind and not too chilly at night.

Sleepy Rorie and Kyle after crossing two states in a day’s drive. Level and ready to relax.

Here we will rest, tomorrow we will drive into Sandy Utah and visit with family. Talk next week, when we are refreshed and back on the road, starting our Utah adventures.

See you then.

May 13, 2022May 27, 2022

HWY 395 – Speed Round

Hello There,

Hope you had a restful evening, as we sure did, tucked back against the Alabama Hills, in Inyo County, California. Woke up to views like this, wind in my hair and sunshine on our face. To think less than 3 months ago, we didn’t even know a place like this existed.

Moon setting while we are waking up, such a wonder it all is.

After a quick breakfast (protein bars and apple, who says Jeep Life isn’t luxurious), we are headed back into Lone Pine to map out our next week or so at the Visitors Center. If you are not aware, as we weren’t prior to plotting our current adventure, I did all of the planning, research and mapping for all of our trips (off-road Kyle picked the trail and I handled the pavement portions) you know, team work. But (and that is a very large but here) with a venture the scope of what we are traversing, there is no possible way I could have done my usual insane amount of research and planning. I confess, I like to plan, I like to know where I am sleeping, I like a schedule, I like to know where the gas is, where the food we can eat is, where the exits are incase of emergency (they are here, here, here and here – direct quote from Aladdin’s Genie). With that said, my confession is, I am in a huge personal learning curve to let go and let it happen (You know the song, Let it Go from Frozen, my new mantra, which is hilarious, because in my mind I am so flexible, reality has a way of showing you your true self). Okay – back to it, blah blah blah – self growth update complete.

Now, we had a list (cough, correction – I had a list), of all the places and things we were going to do along California’s Scenic Highway 395. There are hikes, and waterfalls, lakes, hot springs, mining towns, geothermal sites, more hikes, gondola rides to the top of snowcapped peaks all while skirting the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Sounds epic right? Right.

Those were the “plans”, reality set in about 45 seconding into speaking with the Ranger manning the Lone Pine Visitor Centers desk.

Hikes, yup you can do that, trail opens in June.

Mining Town, yup, you can do that, road opens in mid-April.

Geothermal Sites, sure thing, those are great, wouldn’t want to miss them, closed now, but come on back near the end of April, closer to May and you will have more things to see than you have time to see them.

Whaaaaaat? But, I looked this all up, this is the actual part of the trip that I researched, like I knew what we were doing and where we were going and it is all – closed.

No, no, don’t panic said Ranger Guy, You can drive the June Lake Loop, that road opened two days ago, you can visit Mono Lake and see the Tufa’s, and Hot Springs, you can visit those, the roads are mostly open, so you should be okay.

I venture the question, I researched all of this and the internet said these are all usually open in early March, did I plan our trip all wrong? (See the part of me needing to grow here was fighting our new reality- just saying).

Ranger Guy, kind smile on his face that reached all the way to his grey/blue eyes, said, no this year we are having a much colder spring and it just isn’t going to arrive until next month or so.

We leave with very nice maps and an extremely truncated scenic itinerary. Our list of 25 down to 4 (I am not joking – snip snip – chop chop).

With this we return to Alabama Hills, Ranger Guy set us off with a mission to see Cyclops Rock, which takes us a bit farther back within the area and will afford us a more private camp for the night. There we (meaning me) can regroup as HWY 395 was to take us a week (or more) to explore and now we can do the whole thing in a days short drive (25 to 4 cuts out a lot of travel time).

We head back and are blown away at the rounded rock formations seated beneath the jagged peaks of Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada’s. There is a driving tour where you can explore old film sites, I cannot recommend this area enough, I mean, look at these views?

Cyclops Rock, Sierra Nevada’s in the distance, pure beauty.

After checking out Cyclops Rock, we settle in for night two and the wind is a whipping. Seated in the Jeep, we map out the next few days.

This is going to seem like a whirlwind, but here we go. The scenic drive starts in Bishop, which while cruising through town we discover that being from Phoenix, we have no coats that cut the wind chill AND provide warmth, we have warm coats, and then wind breakers, but we need that magic unicorn layer, called the puffy jacket. Yes, we thought we were fine without a puffy, but we were not. Well I had a puffy, but my puffy didn’t keep the wind out, you were nice and warm, until a gust of pure ice cold wind cut round and poof, it seemed you had no jacket on at all. We stop off at Mammoth Mountaineering Supply & Gear Exchange, which is located in an old bank building. Now, as a reference, people who live in Bishop and the surrounding area and wearing shorts, t-shirts, sandals and sunglasses. We are in jeans, socks, layers of shirts and the equivalent of Arizona winter jackets.

HWY 395, north towards Bodie, fingers crossed we can see the sites.

Here is Kyle styling in his new puffy. I am going to try to tuff it out with my puffy, this wind cannot last forever.

So, stylin’ in the newly acquired puffy.

Now, that we are properly outfitted, back on the road. First stop Bodie, a Historic Mining Town located in the northern part of HWY 395, we are heading up, then going to drive south seeing the sites. It is a lovely road and the views of both the Sierra Nevadas and the surrounding areas are sites we have never seen. We are chatting about where the turn off’s are for the things we are going to stop at on the way back down. Now, the Ranger said, Bodie was closed, BUT, the internet said Bodie was open, so we are going to see if we can get in, because that place, looks amazing to walk around, and if we can go there, that would be truly wonderful. Signs on the turn-off don’t say closed, we are hopeful, round a bend, gate; locked and closed. Ranger Guy 1 – Internet 0.

The sun is shining and it is lunch time, so we decide to picnic near the gate, there is a large flat area that will work just perfectly. While making sandwiches, a guy with a huge work truck lumbers up to the gate, gets out, unlocks it, then drives through, locks it up and is on his way. Bet next week that place will be open. We eat our lunch and while we are driving out, coming at a good clip up the road, is a Sherif, hauling booty towards the area we just left. Sherif cranes his neck as we drive out and we both go, bet you he was coming to shoo us away. Ha, the worker guy called the Sherif on us. Shame on those lunch eaters, and at a rest area with a bench and everything. Oh how we laughed. Now heading out the way we came, southbound on HWY 395, we stop at the Mono Lake overlook. Here is the view.

Mono Lake, nestled in the valley beneath the snowcapped peaks.

We take the gravel road to the South Tufa Area, where you park and then can walk to see the most amazing things; Tufa’s. What is a Tufa, well we didn’t know either. Tufa’s are a chemical reaction underwater, when calcium-rich freshwater springs seep up into the lake that is rich in carbonates (like baking soda), resulting in calcium carbonate or limestone! Isn’t that cool, they blinded me with science. Like seriously, why don’t kids build that in a fish tank over the paper mache volcano’s. Way cooler. Here they are, the ones visible above the water level are due to the water level decreasing, but have no fear, that Mono Lake is still happily at it, making new Tufa’s all the time.

After Mono Lake, we scoot a little north, take a left and are able to drive the June Lake Loop, which also just opened a few days before. June Lake is a whole recreation area, for all seasons, the entire loop road does close due to snow, etc, but I can only imagine how busy and popular this area is during high season. It has 3 bodies of water, Skiing, horseback riding, hiking and mountain biking trails. A destination all unto itself, we here are not going to do it any true justice for all June Lake has to offer, we are simply able to drive the scenic road and see what we can see. Boy were we in for a treat.

First you travel along and the terrain is similar to high desert, sandy mountainsides with small scrub brush and rolling hills, that as you climb lead to Great Lake Reservoir.You just turn a corner in the road and there to the left, is this beautiful blue reservoir banked against sand and sunshine. There was no overlook to grab a photo, and it snuck up on us, water level seemed low, but the couple who hiked down the closed road to bathe in the sunshine appeared to be having an early summer day in March. The road follows the reservoir up, and as you climb the terrain changes, not even 10 minutes from the bright banks of Great Lake Reservoir, you are among Aspen trees and snow.

Thats right, you didn’t read that wrong, we didn’t see it wrong either. Snow. I say at the next turn-off lets stop and look around, as timing would have it, that was the Silver Lake parking lot. Why did we stop? Because in the 10 minutes, besides snow, Silver Lake was still frozen, like skate on it, throw a rock and it won’t sink or even dent the ice, frozen. Here it is, we were flabbergasted, to say the least. How is the reservoir low and Silver Lake frozen? California, you are bonkers.

Kyle on the path to Silver Lake, frozen and magical.

After wondering at Silver Lake’s wintery hold out against pending spring, we are back on June Lake Loop, heading towards its namesake. Driving through the Aspen, now turning more into Pine trees, climbing even higher in elevation, we round a corner and there is a Ski Area, June Mountain Ski Area to be specific.

Me: Is that a Ski Lodge?

Kyle: Looks like it.

Me: Did we know this was here?

Kyle: Nope, but we didn’t really look at that map.

Me: Let me get this straight, we have hot reservoir, frozen lake and now a skiing?

Kyle: Guess so.

Me: California is funny, how do they do all that not even 15 minutes from each other?

But wait, as we are ogling the ski area, it’s lifts and happy patrons, we round the corner and peeking through the tree line is June Lake, with a sandy beach! Yes, that is right. Sandy Beach, people in bathing suits, paddle boarders, swimmers (not many, but people were in that water), floating inter tubes, beach. We scooted through town, which looked quaint and friendly, didn’t see the turn-off to get to June Lake (sorry no picture of that either, I am sure if goggled it will show a much better view than I could have caught). Then, as swiftly as we entered the Loop, we were queuing up to return onto HWY 395.

We drove past Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and Mammoth Lakes, and turned on Benton Crossing, as we had a date with a wild Hot Spring. After being so cold and windy, we were looking for a soak and Ranger Guy, told us of a great local spot called Shepherd Hot Springs. It wasn’t supposed to be as busy as the many others which would give us the best chance of having to share with only a few instead of the masses.

Driving east, it is a flat grassland, with little vegetation, we turn onto the dirt road, graded and a little bumpy, follow the gps and after climbing a small hill, we descend towards the spring. There are people already there, a tent camper and a couple of Van’s but we find a back in parking spot and are all set. After dinner, we take out our propane fire pit, because it is cold, the low tonight is going to be 20 degrees.

Amy can Fire Pit in action. Working like a dream to keep us warm.

After heating up a little and enjoying Kyle’s fire pit craftsmanship, yes he built that Ammo Can Fire Pit himself (what a guy I tell ya, I am a spoiled girl), we snuggle into the tent with plans for a sunrise soak.

Morning is breaking, we are all set in our swimsuits, slippers on, towels in hand, we make it to the spring, steam is rising from the small tub, and as the other campers leave, we are given the gift of the hot spring all to ourselves. Watching the sunrise across the field and bask in the wonder of our new lives. Today we begin to travel north east to Tahoe, where we will strategize the next leg of our adventures.

Sun cresting the horizon, while we percolate in Shepherd Hot Springs.

See you all next week.

May 6, 2022May 12, 2022

Deep in Death Valley

Welcome back – are you all buckled in and ready for a trail day?

Boy we sure are – we are topped off with our water – plenty of fuel and excited for the trails we have read about and cannot wait to see the northern remote part of the park.

DV Road to Dunes 1 — Road towards the remote area of Death Valley National Park.

We are starting off driving past Ubehebe Crater, and instead of taking a left – to visit this massive crater, we are taking the dirt road north titled Big Pine/Death Valley road. This is a graded dirt road that if you so desire will skirt you up into Big Pine, California, off HWY 395.

There is only one other car on the road as we start our day trip. We skirt high desert and lovely views abound crossing this section of the trail. Stopping at Crankshaft Junction – which is littered with old crankshafts, as this route is remote and vehicles in the past were known for breaking down in this remote area. The Junction pays homage to those who have not faired as well taking the road less travelled north through the unforgiving desert.

At this point, there is an option to meander up into Last Chance Mountain, we are not taking that offer and staying the course, continuing on Big Pine Road, northwest. We pass by a Mines and meet the Eureka Dunes Dry Camp turnoff. Real subtle like, we turn left and are heading south towards Eureka Dunes. This is one of the least visited areas of the park and it is truly a sight to see. I simply had no idea, the beauty ( I mean sand dunes, they can’t be THAT great can they?). These dunes can, as they tower at more than 680 feet above a dry lake bed, which lies in the remote Eureka Valley at a 3000 foot elevation. The dunes are 1 mile wide and 3 miles long, which doesn’t seem impressive, like I was all (oh they are cute so only a few miles, baby dunes), but they are massive in height and as the wind shifts, it reminds you of scenes in epic movies with white glistening dunes, waves of sand dancing in the breeze.

Eureka Stand Dunes DV — View of Eureka Sand Dunes, Death Valley, California

Our trail begin’s here? Oh goodness.

It finally sinks in, we really are off the regular map aren’t we?

Yes, yes we are, and it is exhilarating and honestly a little terrifying (me, not Kyle, he is loving this, like perm-a grin on his face, he is in his element).

We follow the trail around the back of Eureka Dunes (you are not allowed to drive on the dunes, up the dunes or any shenanigans like that; you wouldn’t want to, the pure incline of the dune is such you wouldn’t get far). We begin the climb up the side of the valley basin, towards Dedeckera Canyon. Good thing Kyle is navigating, because all roads look like a trail to me, I would get us L O S T in 3.2 seconds, I swear.

Wind is blustering and we are just grinning from ear to ear, as we travel along the trail. Out of the dunes and up into the canyon the landscape completely changing. We are soon rounding on our first obstacles – rock waterfalls. Normally the trail is run south to north, but with our new plan, that is not how this train is a rolling – so we are charging up these rock waterfalls (Eeeeeee! This is our first ever real off-road challenge with our our Sleeping Beauty Jeep, please house don’t break- fingers crossed, because we are doing this).

Now if you don’t off-road or vehicle rock climb, there is a spotter (hi, my name is Mrs. McCoy and I will be your spotter for this portion of trail) and there is a driver (please let me introduce Mr. McCoy, he will be the expert driver for this part of your journey). I step out into the whipping wind and with Kyle’s window down, we begin to line up our plan of ascent. It is a little tight and the rock waterfalls have ledges that our Jeep will have to scurry up, they are big and jagged, Kyle had slipped into 4Low and here we go!!!

Here are the photos, I tried to video it, but being a spotter; saying wheels driver, then passenger – that is instead of left or right to help the driver place their tires in the correct area to ensue proper grip on the trail (I learned from YouTube, felt very professional) I kept moving the recording hand in the same direction I was saying to put the tires – Hilarious, epic documentation fail – but the half video we have, we are proud of anyway.

Dedeckera Entry DV — Dedeckera Canyon, waterfall entry point of view.

Dedeckera Canyon Step 1 — Rorie, beginning the climb up rock waterfall.

Dedeckera Canyon Step 2 — Triumphant Assent, Rorie the climbing Jeep!

Bump, engine roar, tires engage, more engine roar, squeak, crunch of gravel, pop up of the front part of the Jeep, oh my we are doing this! More jumping, more engine roars and hop hop, jump, roar, we are up! Oh my. Kyle stops, I run up to the drivers door and say how was that because it looked so cool (like Fonz cool – sew-per cool). Eyes sparkling, smirk plastered on his lips, words were, that was awesome – we need more of that in our life. Oh the bug has bit. I climb back into the passenger seat and we are shaking up the trail, weaving through rocks, curving with the terrain and following the slow incline over the mountains. Once we reach the top, we find a small turn out and make lunch, here is our view. Not too shabby for a lunch break, eh?

Mountaintop Lunch DV — Top of the Mountain Cafe, open for Lunch, view seating of your choice. Serving picnic sandwiches since the dawn of time.

From here we will be navigating our way down the mountains, through some additional valleys and come into Saline Valley Warm Springs, where the Park Ranger said, is a good place to camp, BUT warned people like to soak in their birthday suits. Nakie people, people. We get into Saline Warm Springs, and it is windy, gusts and blowing, tents are flapping, palm trees (think traditional cartoon oasis, it is what it looks like) swaying, blue pools beckoning. Quick scope of the area, Kyle has identified 3 naked people all in one pool and there is one pool open, no one is there.

The question is out in the air.

Kyle: Are we stopping?

Me: Is there water?

Kyle: Yes

Me: Park and let’s get in that water!

Kyle: Bathing Suits, right?

Me: Yup, we got to change fast before that open pool loses what little shade it has.

We are parked, towels out, changing in our suits and flops, padding our way to the open pool. It was warm (not too hot, not too cold, I am saying Goldilocks approved).

Warm Springs DV — Saline Valley, Warm Springs, oasis in the desert, clothes optional soaking pool.

Me: Ahhhhhhhh

Kyle: Not too bad

Me: Ahhhhhhhhh

10 minutes later (I have my glasses off, I am blind, the world is fuzzy).

Kyle: Uhm, we are going to have to get out, now.

Me: Why? It is so nice, we just got in.

Kyle: Dust Storm, Haboob style, rolling right at us.

One….Two….Three…. We are slammed with sand, flip flops try to run for cover without us, dripping wet and trying to use the wind to help us wrap our towels around our bodies, we scurry back to our Jeep for cover.

Kyle gets his shirt on, I get my sundress and we fire up the Jeep. Bye Saline Warm Springs, our 10 minutes of bliss was wonderful.

Saline Valley Dust Road DV — Warm Springs Road, slipping away in the wind gusts.

We now take the road out of Warm Springs to junction with the Saline Road, which looked on our map to be a paved road that travels north and south around this portion towards Big Pine. The wind is so strong that we can barely make out the road to follow. Please see picture below. Now imagine, wind howling and gusts rocking you as you drive, who needs carnival rides when Mother Nature decides to throw a wind party?

We make it to the junction, wait, what? Where is the paved road? Nope, it is a non-improved road (meaning dirt, rutted and rough) for the next 36 miles.

You hear stories of people who have broken down in Death Valley, had to roll into a town or the park with help from others, and I naively thought, not these days, all of our cars have such great gas mileage people make it out just fine. Right?

Well, nope. Driving along the Saline Road, BAM right there smack dab in the middle of it, is a Toyota 4Runner, their A-Arm (the bar that goes from the frame to the wheel hub, if you didn’t know, like me, all I saw was a wheel all popped out funky and an empty SUV) dead. We pull up slowly, to see if anyone in inside, it was empty, so whomever the owner was had secured help. Somehow, because there was no cell service, and no one else anywhere on any-road that we had seen for over 2 hours. Regular maintenance and service on your vehicles, it matters.

The sun is lowering in the sky and we reach pavement, I have never been so happy in my life – emerging from the dust storms, with 50 miles of fuel left in the tank, we will make it to Lone Pine. Whew.

Saline Rd Jct DV — Pavement, glorious pavement. Follow the yellow lines to civilization.

Chevron, we salute you and your chosen location for fueling on the outskirts of Lone Pine. With cell service and fuel, we find a wild camp in the Alabama Hills for the night, trying to find some sort of relief from the wind. Camp is set-up, dinner is made (gourmet PB&J anyone)? Snuggling into our Ursa Minor Tent for a little book reading and much needed rest, we close our eyes to the rustle of our tent walls in the wind. Grateful for emerging, triumphant for the capabilities of our Jeep and exhausted from the long day on all of the roads and completely blissful in the adventures our new life is bringing us.

Alabama Hills Camp 1 — Alabama Hills, BLM Wild Camp, hiding from the Wind never looked so good.

Alabama Hills Camp 2 — Kyle, setting up our Ursa Minor Tent.

Alabama Hills Camp 3 — Peek-a-boo Jeep, who is that sleeping around? Rorie, that’s who.

In the morning we will figure out what we do next, because it seems that nature has a different trip itinerary that what was originally thought.

Talk next week, where we follow California Highway 395, North.

April 29, 2022May 12, 2022

Into California through Death Valley

Long time no write, where have you been?

Oh wait – that was me.

MIA in Death Valley – ha

Nice to see you on the other side (Hello there – beaming smile).

What have you missed? What happened in that Valley of Heat and below sea level desert valleys? Famous for their high temperatures and extreme landscapes.

I will tell ya – lets get to it.

We woke up early, after the great burro boot caper was foiled (forever vigilant, I swear). Packed up our shoes, Kyle put our tent away (a release thingy here, a push down doo-dad there, click click and done, loving it). We were off, to Henderson Nevada, a city outside of Las Vegas. We are stopping there to pick up our newly Amazon ordered 5 lb. Propane tank, top off our groceries and pop by Camperland RV Store to obtain a food safe water fill hose (because garden hose water doesn’t taste as refreshing as you remember from when you were a kid and hot in the summer running around the backyard – plastic and rubber – not so yum).

Kingmans Wash Exit — Kingman’s Wash, outside Boulder, Nevada.

We arrive at the Amazon lockbox – getting very excited to try this out, as we have seen people use them on YouTube, and heard how easy – but it is our first time, so we are going to figure it out.

Drive to the Safeway, with the lock-box outside- no email with zippy unlock code. Hmmmmm

Double check email – yup confirmed delivered yesterday. (We have 72 hours to pick up before instant return – we are 30 hours in – not the issue). Check email again – nothing. Check Amazon Account – nothing. Okay – we decide to go to Camperland and do that errand first. Get the water hose, dump our super plastic tasting water and Camperland is so awesome – they let us fill our sweet little 10 gallon tank onsite (big shout out to Camperland RV Store, Henderson – you guys are doing it right in all the best ways). We grab a bite of lunch – found a Mexican food place near the Amazon box and thought Tacos. Now we are fed and watered (HA- see what I did there – ba doomp chink). Back to Safeway for a hopeful drop box update. Shop at Safeway, grab the essentials (aka. Gluten Free Oreo’s – I mean we bought more but who cares if you have those delightful Oreo’s).

Still no delivery – and now the account says – package delayed.Well humph – we are on a schedule here; we have places to see, roads to drive and things to tourist the heck out of. It is 3 in the afternoon and we got there at 8 am – we can wait no more. Abandon our hope for our little propane buddy and off towards Death Valley we go.

Road to Death Valley — Moonrise over Mountain Pass, Near Death Valley National Park

Zip along – through the desert and over some mountains, we are cruising down into Death Valley talking of all the trails we will take now we are set-up for the portions of the park we couldn’t do before. This is a return trip as we visited last year in early February. We check in at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, talk to the ranger on duty and get road/trail conditions – all green for go – along with the warnings – have lots of water, make sure you have enough petrol ( I have the humor of a 12 year old boy so if you say Gas I giggle because – well toots- hahahahahaha).

Beatty Night Nite — BLM Wild Camp outside Beatty, Nevada

We have decided to stay the night outside of the park, just outside the town of Beatty, NV close to the historic site of Rhyolite. We find our spot while the sun is setting and get ourselves situated under the cover of night and blanketed in stars (not too shabby for day 3 of our new life). Tomorrow we will enter back into the park via Titus Canyon. Morning arrives and we are go to use our newly tasty water from our tank and grum bum, no water will come out?

What??? It was working yesterday – click click

Check the fuse thing, the pump – is it getting juice? Yup

Is water leaking inside and not making into the hose? Nope

Oh man – we are going to be rolling around backcountry roads in Death Valley and we have no onboard water?

Okay, we can do this, we were going to start the day topping off our petrol in Beatty, grab Kyle a soda and begin. We will just grab some water bottles and a gallon jug or two and we can figure out our pump issue later, nothing we can do on the side of a mountain. Off to Beatty and then to explore Rhyolite Ghost Town along with some very cool art installations. (I could go all travel agent here and give you all kinds of history and information, but there are tons of people who have written, blogged and explored all of this in-depth than anything that I could provide, so we will stick with the highlights. Ready – cool art – Ghost Town – look at the pictures we took – ewwww – ahhhh).

Plaster Last Supper — Last Supper, Rhyolite Art Installation, Nevada

Mosaic Couch, Rhyolite Art Installation, Nevada

Rhyolite Ghost Town 1 — Entering Rhyolite Ghost Town, checking out the local Bank.

Rhyolite Caboose — Rhyolite Rail Road, Caboose, left where the track through town would lead to Las Vegas, Nevada

Now off to Titus Canyon for Closed Mines, dirt roads and some switchbacks up and then down mountains. We check the weather one last time before we head out of service range and find we are due for a huge wind storm for the next 4 days within Death Valley. Roof top tent, gale force winds- blowing dust and no terrain for wind breaks – okay – what do we do?

I look online (good old google to the rescue again), find that Mesquite Campground within Death Valley has some cover and is a 1st come 1st served campground. If we make it there, we can hopefully ride out the night with some protection, and potable water to refill – praise the Lord.

Plan in place we are finally on our way to Titus Canyon. This Canyon is a 4×4 rated gravel road that traverses steep inclines up a mountain side, switchback curves decent into a canyon and when you are all done, you find yourself emerging from steep Rock walls into a overlook of Death Valley. Truly beautiful and here are just a few pictures.

Titus Canyon 1 — Entry to Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California

Titus Canyon 2 — Driving Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California

Beefy Jeep Titus Canyon 3 — Rorie, looking sweet rolling through Titus Canyon, Death Valley, California

Oh they have old abandoned mines, lots of interesting history about the area – some of which is a bit scandalous. Involving fraud, a mining town that didn’t last 2 years and a railroad built to sell shares to unassuming investors taken for a very expensive lunch and pocket money fleecing.

Once we emerged on the other side of Titus Canyon, we revel in the expanse of Death Valley and the variation of the terrain laying before our eyes.

Death Valley Overlook — Overlooking Death Valley National Park, from the Titus Canyon exit.

To Mesquite Campground for, fingers crossed a spot to sleep. This campground is tucked into a little wash basin that in good times has access to some water – hence the small vegetation that we are hoping will provide some relief against the oncoming wind storm. We find a spot and tuck in. Close to the rest rooms and luck has it – upwind – which unless you didn’t know – matters a lot. (We found that out the hard way this one time in Sedona – ahh perfume a la outhouse). We had a lovely sunset and are counting our blessings as we revisit our 4 day itinerary for the rest of our time here. What we were going to do in 2 nights 3 days will now be a truncated version, drop a trail and hit: Eureka Sand Dunes, up Dedeckera Canyon, up Steel Pass rolling into Saline Hot Springs, out Saline Valley Road to Lone Pine, California. We calculate our petrol and the mileage like – 5 times and we can do it all in a day but we have to make it out to Lone Pine for camping otherwise we will be sleeping in storm winds rolling sand everywhere. I am thinking maybe we could stop in Saline Hot Springs, but Kyle isn’t so sure he is up for naked people in Hot Springs. Such a gentleman my man.

Death Valley Camp 1 — Mesquite Campground, Death Valley, hiding from the wind and eating dinner.

Sunrise finds us after a very windy night a-top our Jeep. But we didn’t blow away nor did we have any tent failures, we were safe and sound (loud gusty sounds, but sound).

Top off our water stores and trash in the dumpster – we are off. Let’s off-road this park. Two days of trail in one day – here we come.

April 22, 2022April 22, 2022

Final Pack/Adventure Begins

Hi,

Wow what a day Monday was am I right? Broken Windshield, stuff just not going our way. Shakedown to say the least. But that can’t keep us down, no sir.

We booked it back down to our house, I started to refine the packing situation, big bulky queen sized sleeping bag, ba bye, little bitty camping pillow for Kyle, ha nice try dude – not making the trip (man needs a real person sized pillow). Streamline and cut weight, while I did that Kyle was finishing up the build of the Jeep. I mean tweaking the added 10 gallon under mounted water tanks, testing the water pump, wrapping up the electrical system and all the do-dads and make the “juice” go hickies (I am not versed in how the electrical magic works, I am just blessed to use it- beaming smile).

Wednesday morning, last day in our house – we showered in our shower, ate breakfast at our table and then hit the ground running with final packing. Estate Sale team arriving at 9 am, Windshield replacement appointment set for 9:30 am, had a box to send via USPS to Hawaii as all of the European River Cruise clothes did not make it into the Jeep as originally planned (Oh, did I NOT tell you that in the middle of our road trip, we are going for a 10 day river cruise from Budapest to Munich? YAY – we are traveling now people), 9:45 am (walking the streets of Phoenix hauling a box in the morning). Ah the joys of moving your whole life into 96 square feet.

Are we crazy???

Maybe.

Man, things got done, that day and we made our way to our very 1st -official – wild camp- Kingman’s Wash with views of upper Lake Mead, right before the Hoover Dam byway crossing.

Lunch and a Mountain View in Kingman’s Wash, NV.

So, we are all settled into our spot and are dipping our toes into our new lifestyle and I have to say, it was eye opening. Not because we are sleeping in a tent on top of our Jeep, nor that everything we own and are taking with us for the next 10 months is packed in same said rig. No, it was the Van Lifer’s.

Did you know that they circle up with each other like Old Pioneers? Do they know each other, nope, but they saddle next to each and then hang out. Like a little community, wherever you park. Amazing.

Now if you are unaware, Lake Mead has wild burro’s in the area, aka donkey’s. Burro’s like to drink water and they just roam around anywhere they want, I mean really we are parked in their yard, so who is to say anything. So, these 3 Burro’s (Daddy Burro, Mommie Burro and Baby Burro – no joke), trot into the Van circle, dogs go bonkers, Burro’s get skittish and gallop away, Van Lifer’s emerge staring at the Burro’s (I giggle). Burro family trots around and finds another route to the lake for a drink. La la la – happy day for all.

Wild Burro’s – wandering toward Lake Mead, NV.

Now nature is a funny thing, and I, newbie to overloading, haven’t gotten used to the sounds and ways of said nature. See, serves ME right for giggling. Kyle and I are cozy sleeping in our lofty bed, snuggly and snoring, when out of a deep sleep I hear that snuffle sound, not sure what it is called so snuffling it will be, that horse rumble when they are eating and rummaging. Well, there it was, the snuffling – and it was LOUD. I mean like right by my head loud and I bolt awake – yell out – Don’t eat those Boots! I unzip the tent window ready to throw and scrap with anything because we left our shoes outside and Kyle’s brand new boots were not in the “safe” basket. Now I don’t have my glasses on, or contacts in, I cannot “see” anything, nor did I startle any Burro’s. Calmly, from inside the tent, this is what transpires:

Kyle in a calm and quiet voice – what are you doing?

Me, heart beating and ready to pounce – saving your boots

Kyle – who is after my boots?

Me – the Burro’s – they take boots

Kyle, laughing – Burro’s want my boots? What are they going to do take them for a walk? More laughter.

Me – they don’t eat leather?

Kyle – nope – they like bushes the boots are safe.

So, now, just in case you didn’t know – Burro’s eat Boots and I will save them for you.

Val the new boots savior of Lake Mead.

Off to Death Valley to do a few trails we always wanted to drive.

See you all next week.

March 17, 2022April 22, 2022

The Shakedown Run

Captian’s Log: (in the voice of Caption Kirk from Star Trek) we are now embarking on a journey into unknown territory (for us), a world where Val doesn’t wear a watch, no alarms are set to 4 am and the need to run out the door by a certain time is dissolved.

A world outside, no house to return to, only the items packed within the confines of our Jeep will accompany us. Welcome to the first post of McCoy Off-road.

(beep beep) Captian Out.

Hi, It’s Val. Kyle and I have left the driveway of our home, which is going up for sale as I am typing this – whew. Our bags packed the Jeep is topped off and we are on our way too (wait for it) – pick up a 5lb propane tank. Don’t let anyone fool you, all exits are not riding off into the sunset. Some are full of last minute hugs to loved ones and errands that need to be done before you leave town. Like making sure Cox Cable doesn’t charge you for that modem you have had for the last 4 years (ha ha).

3 hours later (lots of hugs and stops, ah lovelies – squish squish hug sounds – what can we say last minute is when stuff gets done, that and a tacos for lunch).

We are leaving Phoenix, via Interstate 17, north to Prescott Valley. Merge onto the Freeway and all is rolling well. Traffic in mid morning is like rush hour used to be 5 years ago, (if you are not sure what my level traffic is like, think movies in LA in the 80’s – HA). Man this city has grown and Kyle and I are laughing how we won’t have to drive this road for almost a year (insert car chair dance here). There is our exit, Cordes Junction, traveling west to Prescott Valley, and what is in the lane in front of us? A huge double trailer hauling rocks – and spilling them ALL over. Now if you are a car owner, you groan, IF you are a Jeep owner you CRINGE. Rocks mean windshield murder for Jeeps – ding, crack…ding, crack…ding, crack…ding, crack…Yup, we got 5 dings in less than an hour out of town on our epic road trip. Silly Truck, cover was on, bottom dump gate wasn’t closed all the way and BAM, we are injured. Sailor words of frustration falling out of our mouths. Sigh. Guess we cannot take a windshield like that to Alaska – no way, no how! Going to have to get that fixed and fast. But we have a date with Prescott Valley’s Alliance Home Improvement Center, to see about some last items we need for the Jeep.

Once in Prescott Valley, we roll into the parking lot, stroll into the store and start to shop. On the list: 5lb propane tank, fill propane tanks, air compressor hose and some other hardware items (aka. man stuff, Kyle knows and I nod and say okay, where does that go again?). We find out, no propane tank, no worries though because we got all our other items. Yay success. Talking to our friend at the store (HI PAMM), the place we wanted to camp was closed, not open for public until April 1st (snow and cold weather).

Today’s word was Pivot. Yell it out Ross, nice and loud so all can hear, PIVOT!

Google and internet help solve all today’s issues. We order a propane tank to be delivered to an Amazon lock box in Henderson, Nevada estimated arrival 4 days, (1st time ever doing that, we cross our fingers and say, we saw people on YouTube do it, we can too, right?). We call Capital Window Tinting, they get us an appointment for windshield replacement and tint for Wednesday and we grab the very last open campsite in BLM (Bureau of Land Management) near where we wanted to camp, and settle in (time is now 5 pm). Feeling exhausted and defeated just a smidge, we settle in for our first ever night in our new home on wheels. Man I panic packed a lot of stuff. Not as streamlined as I wanted, but that is okay.

Bing Ting – Text arrives 7:45pm, Estate Sale people didn’t need us out of the house today at all, they are not going to start prepping for our Sale until Wednesday (relief washes over us). We get to go home, what a silent win (I guess I wasn’t THAT ready to leave yet, LOL), we can sort though the packing, take a shower in a real bathroom and sleep one more night in a bed that isn’t assembled in order to sleep (how quickly we find small luxuries we never knew we had).

The Shakedown run we didn’t know we were getting, was a gift we didn’t realize we needed so badly.

Wednesday, we will be more prepared we said as drove home.

March 16, 2022April 22, 2022

Welcome…

Hi there, thanks for checking us out.

We are Kyle and Val, first time bloggers and outdoor lovers. Was that too cheesy to start off with? Hmm. Technically I will be your blogging host (Val) Hi (insert hand wave here).

Kyle and I are a huge family of two (I speak fluent sarcasm, just an FYI), that is right, just the two of us, no kids, no animals, just us. We sold our home in Phoenix, Arizona where we both held full time day jobs; Kyle as an electrician and I as an Accounts Payable Manager for a Lumber company. We married in March of 2014, just a little over a year after meeting, which by today’s standards is quick, I guess. But we knew, we knew we were meant to be together. We are best friends, and I don’t mean like old married people friends, I mean snort laughing, inside jokes, hand holding, perm-a-grin, unconditional acceptance and love, best friends. You go, I go type bond.

Kyle has always been a off-roader, when I met him he had two huge blazers for what he called romping. He downsized to one 1989 Blazer, named Betsy. Also affectionateIy referred to as The Girlfriend. Mostly because she was Kyle’s other love. He loved working on her, fixing her, planning on what he is going to upgrade her too for better off-roading performance. The list is long, but she was a ton of fun to take out and over trails. Betsy was sold, which was sad, but she found a great home with a family that is going to restore her in all her glory. We have a Jeep Wrangler JK Sport, daily driver and trail runner when Betsy was moody. Jeeps just plain ROCK, like how fun are they to drive? She got named Rockie. Uhm, I have a confession, I name things. (blush) Last but by no means least we have a Jeep Wrangler 4 Door JL Sport. Which we have converted into an overloading beastie, she is named Aurora (Sleeping Beauty, you get it right?) Rorie for short, who is our new home on wheels.

Kyle wasn’t much of a camper, he did it, Eagle Scout and all, he’s was mostly more of an out and back trail guy. I am versed in camping (since I was little with my family, actually it seems we always camped), hiking (nothing too intense, just get out into nature, away from the bustle) and travel, oh how I love to see and do new things, and talk Kyle into doing such things (hee hee). Basically, I have no shame in being a tourist in our home state, or any state for that matter. I like to seek out fun offbeat things to do and see. Wrap this all up together in a cuddly blankie and we have created a happy lifestyle, taking the roads less traveled.

Now if you read this far, you might be thinking what is this blog going to do for me, let’s get down to it.

In this little space on the big wild web, I am carving out a place to provide inspiration to live a life off-road. To inspire you to get out, take a trail, plan a vacation, seek out adventure, wherever you are. To have fun, daily. I want to share the strategies, tips and shortcuts I use to get us out there, seeing all of the things, driving the places and experiencing the stuff. I want to share what we find, where we go and what we do when we get there. Ultimately I am going to take you along in the jump seat for our 10 month adventure from Phoenix to Alaska and then back. Yuppers, we are off the urban life and on the move. Go ahead, poke around at what we are up to. Peek into the possibilities. Let the fun begin, Welcome to McCoy Offroad.