Over the Mtns to Death Valley

Adventures on Mountain Roads

I've been driving for a long time and have been up and down both the Rockies and the Appalachians several times without incident! Thinking about it though I've never really had the time to take the route much less traveled like I have on this trip!

Remember those signs you see on mountain roads that say Truckers use low gear? My reaction was always, "that's for the trucks." A closer examination of those signs often tells you to expect a 4% or 6% grade.

Now by this time I've been through about 6 or 8 mountain passes without a problem. I have absolutely mastered the art of getting the little red car up the steepest grade totally dependant on the 76 horses of the gas engine by the top. But I was always recharging on the way down and that additional drag made brake use, well...., just not a problem! Then along came CA 155 which goes over the Greenhorn Mountains and takes you down to the Isabella Reservoir.

This highway wound gradually to about 4500 feet but came down in a hurry. The grade was 11% but not for a very long time. I was able to do that with brakes and third gear. Almost immediately I was climbing again but carefully I conserved battery power, conserved it too much. It would have been better to have none because the downward grade after that was 14%! I crept over the precipice in second gear going 10 miles per hour! This hill was so long and so steep that the engine temperature started cooling down. At my fastest I was going 70 miles per hour in second gear and still couldn't keep the car from going faster. The engine was literally turning at near maximum speed of 6000 rpm's. I applied brakes, had too, and continued to pump them trying to bring my speed down to a safe 60 at which point I could smell brakes and more importantly I could feel that they were, hot, soft and not doing what is critically important that they do! I'm smart enough to know that these are all very bad signs! So I used what brakes I had to get off the road and get the car stopped. Obviously I was successful! I got out of the car to immediately check the rear wheels to insure that the emergency brake would hold the car from falling off the mountain. They were very warm but not too hot. Good! The front brakes were so hot you couldn't touch the wheel without instantly pulling your hand away! I sat for an hour to let things cool off, pulled off a wheel to physically inspect and decided that there is still adequate brake pad left to continue. I scared the crap out of myself to be sure!

What I learned here is that when you get that first whiff of chemical smell it's time to stop and cool your brakes. You literally have very little time left after you get the brake smell! All you need to do at that point is, stop, take some time, and let things cool a bit.

They Don't Call it Death Valley for Nothing!

Between Sequoia and Las Vegas it no longer feels like California. It's very poor country and everything around you seems poor. By sundown I'm tired from today's adventures and I'm looking for the Hilton. Not only is there no Hilton there not even a Hilton wannabee nor even a Days Inn wannabee. There is, however, the RanchOlancha Motel in Olancha, California. Now you can't tell that from the road because the sign is lit but only the letters "tel" still remain. For only $60 you get a room, the carpet is stained but in truth it didn't seem real dirty but who wanted to look further! The mattress was one of those you can't fall off but you can't get out of the middle either. The central heat comes in the form of a space heater in the very center of the room. I slept in my sleeping with the addition of my fleece liner in place. It was cold but at least I was in doors. It got down to 24 that night. Central heating is a wonderful thing!

Sequioa

There really is a magnificence to these trees that it's difficult to capture with a camera. The tree behind me, in the picture above, is the General Sherman(a maniac made famous by legal war crimes in the south) The Sherman is the largest tree, "in the world" by volume. It's probably 2,000 years old! It has withstood countless fires! The truth is though that the largest trees were cut about a hundred years ago when the ravaging of this continent was at it's worst. That was the same period when Wisconsin and Michigan were deforested.

One of the things I've noticed about these forests is a striking lack of four-legged critters. With all of the conifer cones you would at least expect the park to be crawling with squirrels but there are very few animals about. Perhaps it's the beginning of winter? The rangers are constantly reminding people about bears but I was able to successfully convince a young mom at the hotel that she could take her two overly energetic children for a walk around Grant's Cove without fear of them being eaten! My intention was merely to see the little darlings burn off a little excess energy!

I did see a pretty interesting car accident. A vehicle rolled over and laying on it's side. One apparent injury but not serious from the look of it. Everyone was sitting up. The vehicle, of course, was an SUV, a giant Chevrolet Suburban. It was an unfortunate end to their day!

From here I'm off, over the mountains, and into Death Valley.

Yellowstone Adventures

Yellowstone Monday , Tuesday and Wednesday November 3, 4 and 5.

About 1:45 PM I rolled up to the little house where they take the money with $80 in my hot little hand! Ranger Susan promptly informs me that the park closed this morning at 8AM. Well "open the damned thing back up, I've driven 3,000 miles to get here." Ranger Susan complains that everyone has been blaming her for closing the park. In fact the park is always open, they just closed 80% of the roads for the winter.

Yellowstone National Park is a spectacular place even though most of it is in Wyoming(home of the that Rat Bastard....you know who I mean!) Even with most of it closed the views and the critters are spectacular. My first hour I met a real live Elk-American which I thought(this will make me seem dull-witted) was stuffed and on display outside the Visitor Center. When it seemed to move it's head I got suspicious! When it moved it's ears, I was convinced! I came through about 200 0f them Tuesday evening as I was leaving the park.

The Bison Americans are even more ubiquitous!(75cent word!) Some guy actually came around a corner on a remote trail and pardoned himself for disrupting a bison grazing.

THE GREAT BISON/INSIGHT RACE

Please examine closely, the top right picture above. Off in the mist you see the hind quarters of the instigator of the great race. Driving down the only road in the park that's open I came upon 3 Bison-Americans walking down the road in my direction. Since the big guy that you see weighs almost twice my car, I decided to yield the right of way. I sat in the middle of the road for a few minutes while they meandered when an SUV passed me quickly. In a few seconds the SUV driver realized what was about! He/she got up to the bison and when it looked like they were making way they would move back in front of him. They did this three times to my delight. Another car passed successfully so I decided it was now my turn. I got up to the bull, the only bison then on the road and he was snorting with irritation. I decide it prudent to get by quickly. As I passed I glanced to the side and saw that the gang of three was back on the road and they were racing the little red bison!

As you would expect I won the race and made my opponents eat grass.

Kings Canyon/Sequoia

This real time now. It is December 1. I am sitting in a roon at the John Muir Lodge and it's quite comfortable and a real bargain for a pensioner, probably not expensive enough for you people with real jobs. The fog seems to be moving in but more importantly the promised snow did not materialize.

This is a beautiful park. Many Californian(for what it's worth!) consider it there favorite. I've taken some pictures but they don't capture the enormity of this place. Grant has a tree, California has one. The Dick Cates tree is farther back and will visit it today probably. Staying two days and more to come.

I'm amazed how all of the National Parks I've been in are so empty. Nobody on the trails and last night the dining room had about 6 tables full!

The Road UP to Yellowstone

Monday morning November 5, 2007

I was up early, sort of pumped to actually get somewhere and get out of the little red car for a while. I get on the road early, up to Red Lodge, Montana and then over Beartooth Pass into Yellowstone! Exciting stuff after being blown all over North Dakota!

Half way to Red Lodge I notice ice on the limbs. Better test for ice on the road. Oops pretty damn slippery! Thank Mohammad for that fine Japanese technology! Hundred yards farther and there's a truck in the barbed wire! That can't be right... but at least that's not me!! 45 minutes later I'm in Red Lodge and stopping at the only gas station that seems to be open. I have plenty of time here since I want to let the ice melt a little in the sun. I'm at about 4,000 feet and Beartooth Pass is 10,500. Being a prudent sailor and an even more prudent driver I will check with the locals for information about the Pass.

It seems that Beartooth Pass is closed, the whole damn road is closed. Neither the state of Montana nor the state of Wyoming(home to Dick Cheney!) don't see the benefit to keeping in open after the first of September.

So back down the mountain to the west side of the park(By the way, I have not idea why this is in italics but I can't seem to turn it off) About 1 PM I'm standing just inside the Roosevelt Arch taking the picture above.

Change in Plans

On Sunday November 4, after a night in Minot, I decided that I should head for Yellowstone first and then to Glacier. This decision puts me on Montana State Highway 16 heading southwest to I94 toward Billings. The immediate benefit of this change is the availability of a Honda dealer in Billings in case the car does need service.

The wind is down and the car seems to be fine. Montana 16 makes US2 look busy! It's literally me and nobody else after Sidney. The Yellowstone River is now my constant companion and will be until after I leave Yellowstone. The car is fine and must be in the process of fixing itself because by Monday, when I COULD get it serviced, the "check engine" light is out.

This day is an easy drive. Even I94 out here is only busy around towns. I decide to stop for the night in Billings and plan the route into the park tomorrow.

Heading West

Up early Saturday November 3 I was anxious to start heading west. The day started out perfectly. I left in the early morning predawn just as the gray eastern sky was starting to lighten. US2 was, of course, empty! I had braced myself with motel room coffee so I hoped to be good until Grand Rapids, Minnesota where I hoped to find breakfast. The very first living thing I saw that day was a bald eagle. It was one of 6 I would see in Minnesota. It promised to be a very good day.

There are thousands of lakes in northeastern Minnesota. You see several around every curve. Ducks, cranes and maybe a loon seem to be on every lake. The deer had gone into hiding. I saw a few hunters but only a few, their presence was mainly known by pickup trucks along the road.

The quaint little diner had I had hoped to find eluded me in Grand Rapids and I had to settle for Burger King in Bemidji. But now had coffee so how bad could things be!!

Bemidji ends was the lakes district in Minnesota. I'm now on the great corn prairie of the country. I'm not sure the few people I see are even Lutherans! It's big sky and looks what I imagined the Dakotas to be!

By noon the wind is up, and I mean really up. I am into the teeth of 25 to 40 mile per hour winds. I notice about 2 pm that my fuel economy is down to 45 miles per gallon, 10 miles less than every before.

The countryside has a nice open feel but it's mind numbingly boring. It's changed only by the occasional grain elevator. But I'm still on my own private highway and can go as fast as I want.

About 2:30 I see what looks to be a huge storm front on the horizon but we push on. The weather is not that of summer storms and tornadoes. The temperature is in the low 50's and the wind makes it feel cold.

At 3 pm it's dark! Dark as night but why? I realize that I am in a dust storm and I only see the car lights coming at me when they are right up to me. The dust lasts about 15 minutes and then clears completely. The sun is out but the wind persists.

I'm through Minot, ND and starting to climb some hills into the wind. The little red car is laboring but the wind is fierce and now I'm climbing. I look down to notice the "check engine" light is on!

I'm pretty sure you can get get your GMC Triton V12 serviced about anywhere in ND but I'm not sure about a Honda Insight! I pulled off to a rest stop to check things out and the engine didn't stop like it's supposed to. It seemed to be running a little rough. In truth the check engine light came on within 300 miles of driving this car out of the showroom. That was a software problem and I'm hoping that this is too but in those cases the car ran as normal and it may be my imagination but something seems to be wrong.

Fifteen minutes later the decision is made to go back to Minot where I know there's a dealer. Back on the road I decide to again check the mileage....75 to the gallon! Looks like software to me but the prudent thing seems to be get it checked out so I spend the night in Minot with an option to check out on Monday after the dealer opens.

Getting Underway

On Thursday afternoon Sparkey was off to the farm and I was ready to finish packing. By this time list after list had been made to try and anticipate every possible requirement. On Friday morning I had finished everything that I needed to do prior to leaving Madison and began gathering everything going into the Insight. Tent, Sleeping bag, backpack, two knives(I don't know why!) a new camera with Vista compatible software(damn Microsoft!), bear spray, water bottle, underwear, really cool, being in the woods, shirts, my Maui Jims etc etc etc. I have plenty of room and maximum visability..no small feat!!





About 2pm, Friday November 2, 2007, I was finally on my way around the city and up 94 to US53 just east of Eau Claire. It was good to finally be away. I relished the daylight drive on this day. It was easy over a road I had been on many times before. I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. The first of, hopefully, many to take place during my retirment.



About 9 PM I was on my road west. US2 and heading west out of Duluth. Nothing like Northern Minnesota in the dark! Especially in November! By 9:30 having missed my second 4 hooved critter I decided it was time to stop! Apparently they're all trying to commit suicide before all the gun racks with optional pickup truck attached shed thier rifles the following morning. Yup it's dear season in Minnesota and I'm not on the Interstate! The StarDust Motel beckoned! Run by a German ex-pat who insisted a room was "worth $60 because it was clean." No pets! I don't take pets, thrice! It was clean, criminally clean and frankly worth 60 bucks because I was tired! I wanted to go back to the office and ask if she knew Pope Benedict in the Hitler Youth but fatigue won out..thankfully! End of the first day and a good start.