{"id":25838,"date":"2024-04-21T00:01:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T07:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=25838"},"modified":"2024-04-01T19:32:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T02:32:29","slug":"a-recap-previous-death-valley-visits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/a-recap-previous-death-valley-visits\/","title":{"rendered":"A Recap: Previous Death Valley Visits"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

As I mentioned in a recent blog, Sue and I recently spent a couple of days in Death Valley.\u00a0 I love the place.\u00a0 I lived in California for 30+ years before I ever made the trip out there on my KLR 650, and since then, I’ve been back several times.\u00a0 Here’s a short recap of those previous visits.<\/p>\n

The Teutonic Twins Run<\/strong><\/p>\n

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My KLR in Death Valley on that first visit. I loved my KLR; it was a great motorcycle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Good buddy Dennis, who won the chili-eating contest at Brown’s BMW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That first ride on the KLR 650 didn’t just happen because I decided to finally get out there to see the hottest place on the planet.\u00a0 It came about because the guys at Brown BMW had a chili cookoff and eating contest followed by a two-day ride to Death Valley.\u00a0 If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have made it out there.\u00a0 I was the lone KLR rider; all the other guys were on big BMW twins.\u00a0 \u00a0I’d ridden with those guys before and they were too fast for me.\u00a0 Nope, I was happy as a clam poking along on my 650cc single.\u00a0 I left right after the chili cookoff because I planned to meander along through other parts of the Mojave before spending the night in Baker, which was to be our jumping off point the next morning.\u00a0 \u00a0It was fun, that ride out to Baker was.\u00a0 Just me and the KLR.\u00a0 \u00a0I explored the desert around Kelbaker (southeast of Baker) and the old train depot there.<\/p>\n

The next morning, we all had breakfast at the Mad Greek (a Baker and southern California icon), and then rolled out on California State Route 127 to the lower end of Death Valley.\u00a0 That’s a good highway that cuts through the desert.\u00a0 There’s nothing else out there, and the Teutonic twin crowd quickly left me in the dust.\u00a0 They were running well over 100 mph; the KLR might touch 100 on a good day.\u00a0 But I didn’t need to run at those speeds that day.\u00a0 I was enjoying the ride.<\/p>\n

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The charcoal kilns in Death Valley, I’m sure glad I didn’t skip seeing them on that first Death Valley foray.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I left Death Valley on that first trip, I left through the northwestern part to pick up the 395 back down to southern California.\u00a0 That was a good thing.\u00a0 I saw a sign for Wildrose Canyon Road and another sign for the charcoal kilns pointing down a dirt road.\u00a0 I was by myself and I was in no hurry.\u00a0 I didn’t have any idea what the charcoal kilns were all about, but I was interested in learning more.\u00a0 I took that road, and I’m glad I did.\u00a0 Every time I’ve been in Death Valley since that first trip, the road to the charcoal kilns was closed, including on this my recent trip.\u00a0 If you are ever out there and the road is open, you might consider seeing them.\u00a0 \u00a0The kilns are interesting, and Wildrose Canyon Road (as the name suggests) is a beautiful ride.<\/p>\n

The Hell’s Loop Endurance Run<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following Arlene and TK on 150cc California Scooters into Death Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another ride in was when good buddy TK, good buddy Arlene, and I rode in the Hell’s Loop endurance rally on the 150cc California Scooters.\u00a0 That was a challenging day.\u00a0 We rode 400 miles into and through Death Valley and then returned to Barstow.\u00a0 It was cold and the hardtail CSC 150 beat me up, but it was fun.\u00a0 That little 150 never missed a beat.<\/p>\n

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We had lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn, and shortly before turning off the road, we saw this guy. He is obviously well fed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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As soon as we sat down for lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn, this guy landed a couple feet away. We had just seen the coyote. I asked the roadrunner if he owned anything made by Acme, or if he was being chased by old Wiley. He responded with but two words: Beep Beep.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My next Death Valley adventure was a photo safari with Sue.\u00a0 We did that one in my Subie CrossTrek in a single day.\u00a0 It was a long day, but the photo ops did not disappoint.\u00a0 What was kind of cool about that trip is that when we rode through Badwater Basin, we saw a coyote loping along the road headed north, and a short while later when we stopped at the Furnace Creek Inn, a roadrunner landed right next to us as we enjoyed lunch on the patio.\u00a0 Was the roadrunner running from the coyote? Cue in the Warner Brothers: Beep beep!<\/p>\n

The Destinations Deal Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Destinations Deal crew overlooking Death Valley from Dante’s View. We covered a lot of territory on that trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few years ago we rode through Death Valley on RX3 motorcycles.\u00a0 That was part of a promotion we ran when I was working with CSC.\u00a0 We took a half dozen riders through a handful of southwestern states, and Death Valley was the last of several national park visits.\u00a0 It’s where I first met Orlando and his wife Velma.\u00a0 \u00a0Joe Gresh was on that ride, too.\u00a0 It was fun.<\/p>\n

The “My Sister Eileen” Trip<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A 20-mule-team borax train.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Just like the theatrical title: My sister Eileen. We had a great time on that trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the Destinations Deal run, Sue and I and my sister Eileen had a road trip through California and Nevada, with a run down the 395 through a major league snowstorm.\u00a0 We went through Death Valley the next day (the snowstorm had ended) and it was awesome.\u00a0 I didn’t do a blog on that Death Valley visit (I have no idea why), but trust me on this:\u00a0 Like all trips to and through Death Valley, it was awesome.<\/p>\n

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That gets me caught up on my prior Death Valley visits.\u00a0 \u00a0If you want to see more photos and read more about those earlier visits, here are the links:<\/p>\n