The racetrack was pretty cool, but we didn't really have much in the way of rocks. We walked around on the playa and took some pictures. It's really dead flat. There's a big rock "island" in the middle called The Grandstand. It's really a neat place. Apparently most of the rocks were way down at the south end so we started to saddle up to head down there. However, we discovered that Dave Enos's KLR was missing two frame bolts, and Grant's identical KLR was missing one. So those guys limped home with Mike Largent and Greg staying with them.
Dave and I could have ridden down to the end to see more rocks, but we elected to try for the Eureka Dunes. So it's 25 miles back to the Ubehebe Crater, then turning north on to Big Pine Death Valley road. We made 22 miles before we realized we'd really be pushing it to get to the dunes and back in daylight. So at Crankshaft Crossing, we turn around and headed for camp. The road is actually a pretty good road and we bombed along at 45-50mph. It has sand in places so I had to watch out a little bit, but the thing that really surprised me was the first few washouts that we came across.
They weren't huge, but I hit the skid plate a couple of times. At 45 miles an hour, it tends to get your attention.
Back on the pavement again, we stopped at the end of Titus Canyon so Dave could see it since he missed it on Monday. This of course just made him want to ride it all the more. The times we went back across this one stretch of highway I kept seeing this short dirt road head of near the sand dunes not too far from Stovepipe Wells. So this time I decided to try and go see what it goes to.
Turns out it's the actual Stovepipe Well that the area is named for. The name comes from the stovepipe that was stuck in the well so the people could find it again when the well got covered with sand.
When we got back to camp I did a celebratory back tire bury, just because it was fun! Dinner that night consisted fried pork strips with the rest of the mushrooms, garlic, potatoes, etc. While eating, Dave kept after me until I relented and agreed to postpone leaving the next day so that we could run Titus Canyon. The things I do for my brother!
Tom Clark
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Intellitect, living in Spokane, Washington. I also do a little development work on the side. And I love riding motorcycles all over the country with my friends.
