Panamint Valley Days

[Rocksurfer]

Who here is going to PMVD.? My club does  this run every year, not the extreme runs but for those that have moderate rigs (like mine) you should think about going. Maybe we could hook up and do some of the runs. Even beyond the event my club knows the area very well and we usually do some solo runs without the event.


Here's a link to the event:


http://www.cal4wheel.com/

[Rocksurfer]

I will be out there Thurs. evening until Sun. We usually camp just north-east of the event area on the right-hand side.


You can't miss this thing......

[Rocksurfer]

A few Panamint pics, I only went out on Sat. and just went with my club I guess we did Pleasant Canyon. Not a very difficult trail but we had fun and the views were great. There was no air show so that was a disappointment, plus Big Mike posted up that he and Marlin were heading up only after I had left for the weekend or I would have searched you guys out and said hey.

[Rocksurfer]

A few more with my club members........

[BigMike]

Dude! RS! What's up? Also, it's too bad that I didn't see this post, or I would have looked for you!

Well, we had both our trucks parked right in front of the main area at the begining of Dinner Sat. night, but we did not stay for the raffle.

We left Fresno at 5pm Friday night and got to camp by 11pm. Then we left with our club, the Bakersfield Trail Blazers, and ran the Defense Mine trail, which Marlin has done for the past couple of years ever since Suprise Canyon got shut down..

Marlin was really tired, so Dean tagged along to keep Marlin company, and a good friend of the shop's, Holly, who is 16 and has been wheeling a custom Toy Truggy for years and is an amazing driver, rode shot gun for me.

Here we are getting gas on the east side of Bakersfield, on Weedpatch Hwy & HWY58, before heading up into Tehachapi..

[BigMike]

We got safety'ed by about 11:30pm and hit the sacks.

In the morning, we met up with our club, and found out that the run leader had to take his wife into town for an emergency hospital visit (hope she is ok? ), so Marlin filled in as the run leader...

Here are some shots from the line up of the (eventual) 12 rigs that went on the early (Express) Defense Mine run.

The weather was very beautiful, and surprisingly not too cold. I only needed my Turtle Hoodie and I was set. It had rained two days prior, so the dust was also down to an all time low

ps. I am the first only because I needed some air from Marlin because I let out too much air in one of my tires, but it sure made for a great picture  lol

[BigMike]

This was the "Express" run, meaning that we will bypass the two lower canyons, and just make for the Defense Mine.

Needless to say, being an "SUV recommend with 33' tires" run, I only shifted into 4WD for two obstacles Yes, Really. However, on the way out, I got high centered in 2WD on my front axle, and then after shifting into 4WD, I still couldn't get out so I had Rod (from the Trail Blazers) pull my out with his Jeep Sorry, I didn't get a pic of the Jeep pulling my Toyota out But it was cool, they are the coolest guys and I love wheeling with any one, any rig, any where, even with Isuzu's on the Rubicon (FFC ) haha

So, being an Express run, we promptly made it to the Defense Mine by 9am!! And thus, I didn't take many pictures at all, being uneventfull and all.... So here are some that I took of Marlin's and my rig at the end of the trail, at the mine...

[BigMike]

The Defense Mine is a mine that was used during WWII. I believe they were mining for Tungsten or something? I am not sure, but it is by far the largest networked-mine that I've ever been in. This is my 2nd visit to the Defense Mine, as I came here about 3 yrs ago.

The mine is comprised of three different levels, that are interconnected with multiple ladder chutes and countless connecting tunnels and caverens inside, the 3rd level being the most diverse.

[BigMike]

I really should have taken more pics from the inside, but like the last time, I was too busy exploring and didn't take many pictures inside at all.........

[BigMike]

[BigMike]

And on the way out, we ran into these two quad riders who had some very cute passengers that I thought was worth mentioning Trail Dogs are cool!

[BigMike]

            

[BigMike]

Yes my Friends, that is the gate a couple of mines into Suprise Canyon, the run that started all of Panamint back in the early 90s I believe.....


I have wheeled Suprise Canyon with Marlin about 8 times in the past, and this is my first time visiting the Canyon since before it closed down back in 2001.

Four Wheeling for Marlin and myself has forever been changed when they closed this trail down. Wheeling in Suprise Canyon was the main primary reason that Marlin continued to keep Marlin Crawler operating through all of the tough years in the past when he wanted to shut it down.. It was because of how much he Loved this trail that he continued to provide his services for everyone, and I think that without the Love that Marlin had for Suprise Canyon, working in the past would have drove him crazy.....

This was a very emotional time for me. I have not been here for at least 6 years, and to experience that it was closed for myself in reality, was truely a sad event... I still hope that trail will get opened someday. Until then, Wheeling will never be the same as it was for so many of us.......

To the 10+ years I lived and loved Suprise Canyon:     

[BigMike]

Take a moment and look at these pics...... Play the background music to a funeral.......................................

[BigMike]

 


Note: It's hard to see, but the 4th pic here is of a 10' DROP. That is Water fall #6, aka "Marlin's Mogul". A long time ago, before Mother Nature released her furry on Suprise Canyon, and back in a time when this land was being cared for by humans, in JUST ONLY 3 YEARS Mother Nature has completely erroded and washed out all of these falls, and Marlin was once able to wheel his 1,047:1 Longbed Yota up that Waterfall without the aid of a winch. Thus the name "Marlin's Mogul".

Now, I am sure that even the most wicked Prorocks/URock/etc buggy, this side of 90" tires, can't even make it without aid....

[BigMike]

Mother nature has really had her way with this place. Huge rocks from way up high have somehow washed out all the way down far past Waterfall 1.

Trees and plants are overgrown all over the place, and it must be chaos for even the miners who still live in Panamint City, to have to make their way through the thicket and small foot trails that have been carved through the deep brush of what is supposed to be a "Public Access Road in OUR Federal Lands"

Sure, what ever, complete :bull crap: This Canyon has been the home to a ROAD for more than a century, and now it is closed, even when many of the Bakersfield Trail Blazers club members own land in Panamint City at the end of this Canyon, including Marlin, and yet the BLM is somehow able to deny us access to our own Land by closing down a Public Road, the only way to access our own land.

Absolute :bull crap:

Some more pics......

[BigMike]

Here is a tree that has grown right in the middle of a public road, and shows just how tall Waterfall #2 has become. That area around the tree used to be a complete wash out with water covering 90% of the flat area there, but now a huge 2+ foot deep rutt has erroded from massive floods in the past...... really really sad.

This place has been a road for more than a century, and then in just 4 years of it being closed and no longer maintained by humans, now it becomes a huge mess.

Yes, I am sure that we are more destructive than Mother Nature.               

The last pic of this post here shows where the road used to be. Un-freak'n-believable.

[BigMike]

And that concluded our stay at the 20th Annual Panamint Valley Days.

I am sure that we will be at the next year's event, so I encourage more people to come and support this run and it's impressive list of trails that it has to offer. Who knows, maybe we will be wheeling together someday

Here is a pic of a mill at the mouth of Suprise (on private land) and also "Mr. Beefy"

Looking forward to next year,
BigMike

[Rocksurfer]

So did you climb to the top of Defense? Pretty impressive view from the top. We did Full Defense last year and my son and I climbed to the top and out the upper opening. Climbing around that mine is just unbelievable and once you make it to the top and come out just makes it all that more impressive........ then there's getting down.


Surprise just sucks plain and simple, maybe one day we will be able to drive up to Panamint City again, but that just doesn't seem likely right now. 


I wish I'd have known you guys were going not only just to wheel with some fellow 1st gens. but I have a video of you and your dad at TDS in like 96 or 97 that I'm sure you would love to see. I keep meaning to just send it to the shop but then an event comes along and I take it with me and never see anyone. I told Marlin about it at TDS when he was checking out my new truck, if an 80 Toy is new, and he wanted to see it. I'm really bad about getting things done but now that I wouldn't see you guys till TDS maybe I'll drop it in the mail.


It's good to hear that Surprise had served a purpose when it was open to keep your dad motivated and working on the crawlers, because look at what you are on the cusp of, great things may be in the future.


Funny thing I did have a few people bring up the quote, "I hear Marlin is selling out", I set 'em straight on what is really happening as much as I know about the partnership. It's amazing how people think you are selling out just because you make moves to better the future.

[vikingsven]

Wow! Great pics Mike!

It truely is sad how a century old PUBLIC trail/road can get shut down to "preserve" it only to have mother nature erode and totally erase it in a few years.  It doesn't make sense. I can see the same approach being taken on the 'Con. With as much "damage" as we wheelers may cause, it is nothing compared to nature. Are we going to sue and hold mother nature accountable for errosion and other types of "destruction" next? Unbelievable is right!!        

[Rocksurfer]

Here's a couple pics of our camp, the first one is of my 84 yr. old mother-in-law on her 1st real camping trip ever......... no T.V. and the second is my co-pilot on his favorite new toy. I would say it was his fault I didn't see that you guys were there, the wifey made me hang around camp and watch him ride instead of making the rounds.

[Rocksurfer]

We went to Clair's Camp Mine and then on to lookout point, we came back through South Park    which has suffered quite a bit of water erosion, the bridge is always a favorite thrill since it is dug into the side of the mountain and hangs over the side.

[Rocksurfer]

Yes it does say Cyanide

[Rocksurfer]

A couple more overlooking Death Valley from the top of the Panamint Mountain Range......

[Rocksurfer]

Oh, I did bury the motorhome trying to get to our campsite and used my Toyota to pull it out, gotta love those low gears.

[cruzila]

RS ask Marlin about my Dad coming with me a couple years ago LOL He'll be 75 this year and he outclimbed Marlin up those ladders.

[Rocksurfer]

.....and some of those ladders

[BigMike]

Hey guys,

Yeah it's really a waste of everyone's time and money to play politics with that Canyon when it is getting destroyed naturally anyways.

We figure that once the ROAD is opened back up to provide access to OUR PROPERTY up in the City, that it will take a group of 10 rigs 5 trips JUST to get to the First Waterfall. There is that much brush and rocks that have fallen down from the canyon walls that will need to be pulled out of the way just to get to the beginning of the "trail". Also, there are multiple new Waterfalls that may require winching that have come from no where. I guess all of the sand got washed out and now the quarts rocks are barren and some are very tall, like 8'. So they would become like Waterfall #0 and #00 and #000, depending on how many we discover once the foliage is cleared from the Public Access Road.

And you know, one of the cool things about Canyons like this, is that every year, Mother Nature would rearrange things a bit, drop some more huge boulders from the canyon walls, and make it that more challenging for our rigs to get up. Some years it would become easier, and some years it would become so hard, we wouldn't get to the top of Waterfall #7 until night fall.

Here are some pics from Marlin's Camera that I copied to my computer this morning. Enjoy

According to the dates on the pics, we left Fresno at 6:13pm and had camp set up by 12:08am. And that included a stop in Kingsburg to pick up Dean. I remember how in the past, it took us nearly 7 hours, and that was making good time.
What a difference the 3RZs make.
Traveling at 80 MPH, I did most of the wind breaking for Marlin, who has 37s (vs. my 35s) and hence has *just* slightly less power than me. We both had it in 5th doing 70, and we both plastered the skinny pedal down, and I would just start walking away from Marlin like nobody's business. My 35s measure 33.25" and his 37s measure 36.5". Plus I must be a good 1,000 lbs lighter, and all that makes a huge difference-

BTW, we both averaged 14 - 15 MPG. And the cool thing is that, with the old carb'ed engine, Marlin would get about 13 MPG, but of course only averaging 65 MPH on the flats and maybe 50 MPH in the mountains. Well, now, not only are we making about 2 more miles per gallon, but that is coming at running 80 on the flats and Marlin never even used 3rd gear. I could pull most of the mountains in 5th, but I did use 4th a couple of times. Marlin, with the better gearing to tire size ratio, 4th gear is much more practical for him in the hills, so that's what he used. The steepest grade in Tehachapi, he got down to 63 MPH in 4th gear at the top. Then it's back up to 80.

So I would say that we averaged 80 MPH in the flats and 70 MPH in the mountains, and yet we still made better gas mileage then the old setup. That is so incredible. It's like, "here, drive faster and harder, get to camp sooner and get to sleep sooner, oh and btw, here's some free gas too"
The first pic is Holly and I leaving Fresno, and the third pic is Dean and I next to my tent.

[BigMike]

Here we are at the Defense Mine, heh, again 

[BigMike]

Marlin took some cool pics from inside the mine. Those ladder chutes are like 4 ladders in a row, with small area to rest in between each run, and the total vertical distance I would say is a good 100 feet if not more.

There are about 4 ladder chutes like this.

So who's going up first? hehehe