As we were nearing camp on our way back from the warm springs at the wildlife refuge, we saw a bunch of glistening vehicles in the distance. I was bumming and thinking the worst, that a bunch of RV's had pulled in with a ton of people to ruin our desert solitude (and put the kibosh on soaking au natural
) Well, that was not the case. As we neared camp, we realized it was a row of really nice small planes that had somehow gotten into the area we were camped in. A few of them had tents set up under the wings. We realized the next morning, when a few planes came buzzing the camp, that they were coming in and landing on the dirt road not too far from where we were camped! It was fun watching them doing low-altitude fly-bys to check the place out, and then line up with the road and gracefully touch down. They kicked up a ton of dust taxiing to their campspot, but it was so much fun watching them that I decided to let them live. Most folks don't know it but I was destined for a flying career until I failed the FAA physical (deaf in one ear) and was told I'd never hold a commercial license. I'd still like to have a license some day so I can fly Eric into places like this on a regular basis. I'd need a plane big enough to carry a few bikes and some gas cans, though
This is a 1947 Cessna flown by a woman...
They buzzed us a few times after taking off, much to the delight of those on the ground. Eric took these
without the zoom lens...
A fellow ADV rider on a GS got a really nice photo of the planes lined up.
He gave me permission to use it so here it is...Thanks, Hootowl
We had a big ride planned on this day, fully loaded up with camping gear and a few extra gallons of gas. We were going down to the Black Rock Desert, and wanted to make it through the mountains to Soldier Meadows. About 20 miles into the ride, Eric comes to a screeching halt, and as I pull up to him I hear his motor revving to the moon. His fuel screw had fallen out. There was no way we were going to find it in the fuel-screw-colored rocks and gravel and it wasn't sitting precariously on top of the motor anywhere, so our only alternative was to head back to camp and cannibalize my 450 that we'd brought for a spare. My 450 saved our ride last May when we were in central NV and Eric broke an oil line bolt, and it came galloping to the rescue once again. We got back to camp, Eric started pulling the 450 and his 640 apart while I drained the fuel from the 450's 3.2gal tank. We quickly realized our day was shot so we changed our clothes and settled into a very relaxing day. It started raining pretty good, with major thunder and lightening up the valley where we were going to be riding anyway, so it all worked out. We started drinking wine in the afternoon and soaking in the hot springs while the rain fell, all the while plotting the next day's ride.
We ditched the idea of camping, as this was going to be our last day here, but that just meant that we could carry more fuel. We got up before sunrise and pulled out of camp very early, me with 1.5 gals of extra fuel and Eric with 2.5gals. We wanted to make it down to the Black Rock, and we weren't sure if our route through the Black Rock Range was going to be open so we had to be prepared for some re-routing and extra mileage. It was cold that early in the morning but the pelicans didn't mind...
That was a dry lake bed the day before, by the way.
Now the ride gets interesting as we head through the southern end of the Pine Forest Range...
Water is everywhere in Nevada, it just doesn't appear in vast amounts. There was a spring right across the road that was ringed by cows. It was big enough to swim laps in...
Lo! What's this? More hot water? Yep!
Apparently, it's
really hot water...
This was a pool downstream from the bubbling source. Our digital thermometer told us it was 108 degrees...totally soakable but we had a big day ahead of us...
This little guy wasn't afraid of the heat...
The water at the source looked like a giant aquamarine glistening in the intense desert sun...
I took a video of the water bubbling but after the last video debacle I was gun-shy and it only lasted about 2 seconds
Anyway, we had lunch here (dry salami, cheddar with horseradish, crackers, semi-frozen 100% Juice Capri Sun) and motored on up the road to see what we could see...
Mostly what we saw were WSA markers standing in our way...
We moseyed on down the western edge of the extreme northern portion of the Black Rock Desert, in search of Lassen's grave and our route through the Black Rock Range. We found a neat accessory for the 610, and I remembered Rajo's words about my 610 looking like it could eat the world...
This whole portion of the Black Rock is mostly wilderness, so we didn't get to venture too far out onto it, but we did get to see some neat stuff. This is a spring that was filled with flowers. This wild rose smelled heavenly...
This corral must have taken a lot of effort to build...
More to come...
WoodsChick
I'm jealous...
