It ain't Baja but.....

Well, I didn't make Baja last weekend but I did go to the next best thing. Thought I would post the pic's here since much of the terrain reminds me of down south.
http://www.willrobinson.web.com/

Bud

True. But then I've never been anywhere that can compare to Baja. Beleieve me, I was thinking of how far I could have gotten into Baja with the 6 hour trip it takes to get the DV.

Bud

Nice web site dude!

Great Jeep too!

Hey Baja Ken (Cooke), check it out!

Yeah I get the same feeling up there as I do in Baja. There are some terrific scenery up there. That's my buddies site BTW. The waggy is my Baja cruiser in the pic's. A lot of that area is like Baja minus the exellent beaches. A couple of those guys are also Baja nuts and we do many trips down there together. Been trying to do the entire coastal route' a little at a time. We've covered quite a bit of it already and work in the 500 & 1K races as much as we can.

Bud

Bud

Great Pic's, Bud...

We started out at the Balarat store. You can put a heck of a lot of off-road miles in that range without ever seeing pavement. We camped the first night at Suprize Canyon and went from there. Crossed over to the east side through south park. Then Guller wash. Thiose cabins are reclaimed by a few locals and you can hook up your 5 gal butane for lights etc or hookup your generator for a 3 day stay. Just raise the flag and it's yours for three days. If you take or need anything in the cabin just leave something in it's place for the next people to use them. It's BLM property for the most part. We ususally do 4 days up there and very seldom see anybody else. There's a lot of history up there.

Bud

Bud...

those are great shots,some of those pics remind me of when I used to live just up the road in Bishop...my neighbor used to call it "Gods Country",what an amazing place

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Originally posted by eetdrt88 those are great shots,some of those pics remind me of when I used to live just up the road in Bishop...my neighbor used to call it "Gods Country",what an amazing place

Yeah, that whole area is amazing. I've done a lot of fishing up towards Bishop. Walker river etc. It's a bit to cold for me up there most of the time however. heh heh! I live in El Cajon and am a lot closer to Baja.

Bud

Tomas:

You could do most of those long trails alone. Surprise Canyon is an 8 hour winch fest up and down, Happy Canyon is the same in places. south Park has 500 ft drop offs and I would not go there without 4x4. Guller wash will get you all the way over the top with not to much trouble. With a high clearance rig that is. You can get to the Hot tubs and mysterious moving rocks etc in two wheel if you careful and it isn't snowing in the high passes. A few of the short runs up to the mines are 4x4 only or a short walk in most cases.

My waggy is lifted and locked on both ends. My CJ is a rock crawler so no problem with those. Both rigs have a Ham, CB, GPSetc.
DV is definitely not a place
to break down when your alone however. I've never seen a Ranger up there and people can be far and few between. Cell phones work in certain areas but your in for a long walk in some areas for service. Winters are usually mild with snow in the upper levels. Summers are like 100/120 degree's almost every day. If your not used to these conditions, I would say go with someone that is and make sure your prepared. I carry enough parts with me to practically rebuild the rig with anything that beaks except for a piston through the block or a complete tranny failure. The weather year round can be very unpredictable. If your planning a trip there and are going to be doing the off-road thing...make sure you stop off at the Ranger station and get maps directions etc and let someone know where your going so they would know where to look if you don't show up when your suppose to. Like I said, it's a lot like Baja. But worth the trip.
Here is a clip of Suprise Canyon.....

http://www.dehesa4x4.com/buckup/movies/pnmntmnt.rm

Needless to say, you'd need 4x4 for that run.

Bud

[Edited on 3-3-2006 by Bud]

Wow, great web site - fantastic photos of your trips. Did you check out any cafe's in Amsterdam?

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Originally posted by Bob H Wow, great web site - fantastic photos of your trips. Did you check out any cafe's in Amsterdam?

Those pic's are a friend of mine. So is the site. I just used his pic's because they outshine mine by 100% Between his bike and Jeep he really gets around and has a fantastic album of the trips.

Bud

Surprise Canyon/Panamint City

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Originally posted by Barry A. Bud-------what an incredible "clip" of Surprise Canyon. Wonderful country. I notice that many that love Baja, also have spent lots of time in Death Valley, JR for instance. Last time I drove up Surprise Canyon to Panamint City was in about 1953, and we were in a 2 wheel drive Chev. pickup of about 1941 vintage. It was incredibly steep, but easily passable. I guess the flash floods have really changed things since then-----(duh). Panamint City was really amazing back then, with lots of bldgs. still intact. Berry: Yeah it was the big floods back in "80" I think that took the canyon out. Before that, you could drive up there in a 2 wheel drive no problem. There were 5K people in Panimint City and they had to hilo most of them out of there due to the flooding. I did the 7 falls three times befor they finally closed it. due to some frog that was supposed to go extinct at the bottom of the falls. It's pretty much grown in now but you can hike up there if your up to it. A few wheelers have baought property on top and hopefully they will have to open it agin one day. I've been to a few meetings on the subject but so far it remains closed. It was an interesting trail to say the least. And yes, I got up to PC all three times. Once on top of the falls, it's an easy trip. Bud Did you guys get to Panamint City??