Independence, CA
After loading
Sophia early in the AM I headed down to the local café/Lounge for
breakfast. There were only 6 folks in
there, and two of them were the waitress and cook. Everyone kinda gave me the once-look-over as
I picked a booth at the window giving me an unobstructed view of Sophia and all
my gear, With the CA and NV maps laid out on the table top, I began tracing the
route for today’s run from Caliente to Mammoth Lakes.
The waitress
came over and welcomed me to their restaurant with a smile, greeting, and
menu. Without looking at the menu I
ordered my favorite breakfast. I asked
for coffee, water, 2 eggs over medium, ham and hash browns with sourdough
toast. I was hungry from only eating a chicken
sandwich for dinner last night. The
waitress was a real sweetheart….the water and coffee appeared within 60 seconds
My original
plan was to depart Caliente for Tonopah via US-93 then head west on NV-375 to
Warm Springs where I connect onto US-6 towards Tonopah. From Tonopah I’ll continue on US-6 to Mammoth
Lakes where I will visit the Devil’s Postpile for another stamp on my CA Parks
Adventure Passport. This will be Nat’l
Park #7 for me with the goal to visit all 24 NPs in CA to meet the SCMA’s requirements. Then, after spending the night at Mammoth, I
would head south on US-395 to Manzanar NHS (location of the infamous Japanese
Internment) then further south and east into Death Valley NP. If time permitted I would then retrace my
route to Mammoth and spend another night there or camp the night in Death
Valley and head for San Jose the next day via Tioga Pass through Yosemite. It seemed like a good plan, but I was not
completely sold on it. Curiosity of an
alternate route was nagging me in the back of my pea brain.
The meal was
absolutely delicious and the coffee was good.
Three local gents, retiree’s, came in and sat at the counter to
socialize with the waitress and start their day with a good breakfast. While refilling my coffee cup the waitress
asked me if I finally figured out my route.
I expressed my lack of confidence in my route and how I was giving it
new thought. That seemed to open my eyes
a little and I reconsidered the sequence.
What if I were to head south on US93 into northern Vegas, skirt around
it and enter CA just south of Death Valley?
From there I could then head east into Lone Pine and spend the night
there before visiting Manzanar and the Postpile. The more I looked at the map, the more it
seemed to be of lesser mileage than the original plan. When I got up from the table the waitress
looked at me from behind the counter where she was chatting with the 3 gents
and asked, “ya got it now??” My
affirmative was followed with a description of the route and an invitation to
the three gents for their opinion. We
soon all became buddies conferring on the days ride.
We all agreed
that none of us liked Vegas and that it was a good idea to skirt around it on
the north and that Death Valley was going to be hot! With that reassurance of a challenging day I
mounted my trusty iron lady and rode out of Caliente on US-93 heading west,
then south, for Vegas. US-93 actually
runs from Phoenix AZ north through NV, ID and MT into Canada. I have been on this road from Vegas south to
AZ running through Hoover Dam, Kingman to where it terminates in
Wickenburg. In the north I have been on
this road from Whitefish MT south to Missoula where I connected on US12 Lolo
Pass. And I rode on it a few days ago
when I passed through Ely NV while riding US-50. 50 and 93 share the same asphalt east from Ely
and then go their separate ways about 25 miles later when 93 turns south to
Caliente.
The day was
perfect…temperature just right on the morning ride…..until I dropped down to
Vegas altitude and the sun got well up in the sky. I tanked up at a Flying J at the junction
with I-15, briefly chatted with a trike rider, then skirted around Sin City on
215 to US95. Once away from the suburban
bustle and safely on 95, it was an open road to the NV-374 connection where I
would head east into CA on CA-127. Before
that I tanked up again at Indian Springs not being sure of fuel availability
out on these desert highways. It was a
good thing that I did because gas is pretty expensive in the Valley….and
scarce. I reached the junction where
CA190 t-boned into CA127 and saw a café/motel nearby so continued on 127
expecting to find a gas station around the bend. Oops….the little town ended around the
bend…..I had to u-turn and decided to go into the café for a soft drink and
fueling advice. The waitress there was a
sweetheart and served me an ice cold coke and encouragement that there was a
gas station in Furnace Creek and it was only 30 or so miles away. I had nothing to worry as I had about 120
miles in the tank so I felt a lot better as I headed east on 190 to Furnace
Creek.
Riding
through Death Valley was completely different from all the deserts that I have
been through previously. There is some
vegetation, but not a whole lot…nowhere near what is in Utah or Arizona or
Texas/New Mexico. Very unique geology
also became evident. The road started
out as straight through desert, then it began running thru low lands lined by
desolate rocky hills. The ride seemed
longer than 30 miles, but I finally came over a hill and upon some buildings
that I thought were the Visitor’s Center.
But it turned out to be a Resort Hotel/Spa of sorts. Eventually I did find the Visitor’s Center
and this is where Snoopy took over. He
is such a demanding mutt! I had to take
photo’s of him both inside the Center and out in front of the building.
Once inside, the Park Ranger gave me some
directions to the lowest point and also advised the evening was going to be
very warm if I decided to camp there. He
also advised me there was another gas station at Stovepipe Wells where gas
would be much less than what it was in Furnace Creek and it was only 25 miles
away. Badwater is only 18 miles away so
the total distance to badwater the back to Stovepipe is like 61 miles…..I have
plenty of gas to make it! And then Snoopy disappeared only to be found scampering amongst the displays!
Once I got Snoopy under contorl, and with the Ranger's
info, Snoopy and I headed to Badwater, the lowest point in Death Valley. And the mongrel did it again. Photo’s had to be taken of him posing
everywhere.
And then, further feeding
his ego, the visitors there all wanted to pose with the mutt and have their
pics taken. Many of the visitors were
from Germany so Snoopy suggested that on the next trip we should be a little
more fluent in that language. I
suggested he woof off cuz we were going to learn to speak Spanish.
Out in the Badwater parking lot, just as I
got on Sophia, one of the German tourists called to me and pointed up the
hillside. I looked and found a sign
denoting sea level! Wow, 282 feet below
sea level is quite a distance!
We then
hauled butt up to the sign for the Devil’s Golf Course but didn’t visit it as
we had to get over the Sierra’s and into Lone Pine. Little did I know that it was going to be a
very long day!
We passed
thru Furnace Creek again and marveled at the diversity of the landscape. We seemed to be below sea level all the way
to Stovepipe Wells where my observation was verified.
And this is
where I encountered two minor problems.
First, the gas station only had 87 octane, and second, I was dehydrated
and tired. Both were easily solved. I estimated the mileage to Lone Pine using
the Garmin at 81 miles and tanked up just that amount needed to reach there
when added to the fuel remaining in the tank.
Then I went and bought a large fountain coke with ice and sat in the
shade sipping it until I felt ready to resume the ride. This was a good thing health wise, but a bad
thing for timing….it was getting late….the sun was setting. Finally I got on the road.
It was a long
climb out of the Valley, and I only stopped once to put on my leathers since it
was getting chilly. The sun settled as I
was still working my way to the Sierra foothills and it was completed dark when
I started the climb over the mountain and hit the twisty turnies. Damn!!
I didn’t get any views of the surrounding mountains or back looks at the
Valley. This means I will have to
revisit this ride again in March or so when the temps are still cool and
there’s no hint of rain J. But that was the least of my worries. The ride at this point was tenuous,
strained. Often I found myself taking
dark turns at 35mph or less completely enveloped by darkness. I thought the ride would never end. Finally, I topped out on a plateau of sorts,
or low hills and passed through a small town.
The first sign of humanity since leaving Stovepipe.
Finally
CA-190 ended at US-395 and there was a Chevron Station nearby. I pulled in to but the gas price was way too
high. Back on the road heading into town
I came across the first motel, a Best Western, with a large marquee announcing,
“Welcome Film Festival Attendees”!
Oh
Crap!!! A film festival is in
progress?? There goes the motel
rooms. And sure enough. Every motel had a “NO vacancy” neon lit
up. But I was optimistic. I knew there was another town to the north of
Manzanar and I figured I could get a room there. NOPE.
There were 3 (or maybe 4) motels in the small town of Independence, but
they were all full up. Looks like I’ll
be camping, but where?
I pulled into
the local gas station and asked the young lady behind the counter if she was
aware of any nearby campgrounds. “Yes”,
she said, “turn left at the post office and go ½ mile up the road and it will
be on my right! Wow! Is this too good to be true! Off I went, and indeed it was only a half
mile away and practically empty with only one RV in it. As I pulled into the 2nd site from
the entrance and backed Sophia into the slot, another car entered the grounds. The car stopped where I was at then slowly
moved down the dirt road to the other end of the grounds. Then it turned around and came back to where
I was at. Two guys were in the car. Hmm, what gives here? Thinking the worse scenario that could
happen, I opened the duffle bag containing all my camping gear and extracted my
hatchet and survival blade. Then went
over to the picnic table and sat there to observe the two yoyo’s. When the car got back to the entrance it did
another u-turn and slowly rode along each site.
Then it made a right turn and ended up on the other side of the tree
line that bordered the dirt road. I
could see the headlights thru the tree line strand, roaming in the darkness,
then the lights turned back and came back over to the dirt road side of the
woods, came halfway down the dirt road and pulled into a slot, right next to
the blockhouse toilets. Weird! I kept an eye on them while I began unloading
my gear.
I decided
that I would sleep on top of the picnic table since I had no plans on making a
fire and having a picnic. Dinner would
be a can of cold chili and beans from the food supply in the saddlebag washed
down with the big can of beer I bought at the gas station.
Ahhhh, life is good!
A view into the greying sky revealed the moon rising.
Ahhhh, life is good!
A view into the greying sky revealed the moon rising.
As I was
getting the sleeping bag arranged and camp gear tidyied up I heard pounding
over where the two bozos were….tent pegs.
Then a camp light came on and I could see that they were actually
setting up a camp and not planning on bothering anyone. Still, I decided to keep my defense tools
nearby while I slept. With my dinner
consumed, trash disposed, yadayada, I crawled into my sleeping bag and called
it a night.
About a half
hour later the full moon broke over the tree under which I was sleeping. Damn!
It was like a 60 watt lightbulb hanging over my face! I pulled the cover of the bag over my head
and down over my eyes. Ahhhh, much
better, total darkness. I began to
relax, letting the muscles settle, listening to the sounds of the night. My method is to become familiar with the
standard sounds as I dozed off but would awake upon hearing anything that was
not standard for the little world around my site, i.e., footsteps, etc.
It was then
that I became aware of the light gurgling and splashing of water. Well I’ll be!
There was a stream in the line of woods on the other side of the dirt
road. Not more than 30 feet
away…..cool! My cover moved off my eyes
and the brightness of the moon disturbed my nodding off. I covered my eyes again. I began to nod off, listening to the quiet,
the wind, my breathing, distant sounds of the occasional vehicles slowly riding
through town ½ mile away. All was
good. The air was at least 70 degrees,
perfect for a good sleep. I dozed…..
Snap!
I was
instantly awake without moving.
WTH was
that???
I slipped
each hand under the bedding and pulled out the hatchet with my right hand and
blade with my left.
I
listened. Only the standard sounds could
be heard. Resting the blade on my chest
I brought my hand up to remove the cover from my eyes and recovering the blade
in my hand, slowly turned on my side and scanned the area.
Nothing, just
a full moon.
Crap!!! A
full moon!
This is
freaking werewolf night!
Aww man, now
I’ll never get to sleep! I’m gonna
become a bloody meal for some Werewolf that roams the Sierras feasting on
sheep, cattle, and the occasional Harley rider camping in Independence!
This is gonna
be a long night. My blade is steel, the
hatchet is steel, and I didn’t bring any silver bullets. I think I’m in deep
doo doo.
Why does this
always happen to me?
C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter:
@GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell:
949-433-0761
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