Almost Didn't Make It Back, Part 1

We had planned to visit family in Colorado and Kansas, so we decided to make an expedition trip out of it, trying to camp and visit as many new places as possible along the way.  A month prior, I had sold my FJ40 Land Cruiser and I bought an 80-series ’97 Land Cruiser that would better fit our family that was already built from someone in Colorado, and added a Serengeti Roof Top Tent, ARB shade awning, and built some homemade drawers for the cargo area. From our home in San Diego, our plan was to take the southern route through Arizona and New Mexico, visit and stay with family in Colorado Springs and Kansas, and then come back through Colorado, Utah, and then home through Nevada. We loaded up the Cruiser with all the gear to spend over two weeks on the road with myself and my wife, and our two kids, ages 6 and 2.

It was an epic trip…..somehow, we made it back home safely, miraculously…..unfortunately, the Cruiser did not…..here is our trip report:

Day One:  Sedona, AZ

We had done the Grand Canyon on a previous trip, so we wanted to do another area we hadn’t done before. Sedona was the easy choice. We had heard so much about it from here on this site, as well as from other people. We ended up staying in Sedona for two nights, but we can’t wait to go back, as there is so much to see and explore there, it was absolutely beautiful there. After leaving San Diego early and driving for quite a while to get to Sedona, we decided everyone need to stretch their legs for a bit, so we stopped into the downtown area to check everything out and find out about where we would be approved for backcountry camping. We knew we wanted to check out some of the ruins sites, so we ended up finding a place to camp out near Honanki Ruins. We set up camp, which was a bit of an adventure deploying the RTT and awning for the first time in the field just as a quick rainstorm started dumping on us. Naturally it let up just as we finished setting up camp. Pizza was on the menu for dinner….it turned out great. As for the first night in the new RTT, it was brutal as our 2 year old daughter refused to sleep since she so excited she had three other roommates she usually doesn’t have (even though we did a 6 day camping trip in Death Valley earlier this year).

Day Two:  Sedona, AZ

After a nice relaxing night of full rest (well….not entirely accurate), it was time to explore Sedona. After breakfast, we packed up and headed over to the Honanki Ruins. It was awesome that we got to actually got to see these ruins where ancestors of the Hopi lived and thrived in the hot Arizona sun. The ruins were at the base of this sheer cliff that shaded them from the heat, and where everything else was blazing hot, it was actually cool and comfortable in the shade protection of the cliff. Plus there were some great petroglyphs.

As we headed away from the ruins, we wanted to see some of the famous landmarks of Sedona. We went up to the Chapel of the Holy Cross since we knew the view over Sedona would be spectacular, and it didn’t disappoint. The views were amazing and breathtaking. It’s a popular tourist spot, so we didn’t stick around for long, and headed over to Cathedral Rock. With the two little ones, and the temps approaching 100, we didn’t hike much of it, but we plan on doing it in the future when the kids are older.

One of the things I wanted to do while in Sedona was a little wheeling with the new Cruiser, so Broken Arrow was on my must-do list. We headed over to the trailhead and started airing down, just as a couple of the Pink Jeep tours came by, asking if we were going to “come out and play?” The Cruiser performed great. We got out and walked around on Submarine Rock. And then checked out the awesome view at Chicken Point. Heading out via the Devil’s Staircase was a good time too. Such a fun and scenic trail.

Our plan was to head out for New Mexico early the next morning, so we wanted to make camp on the outskirts of Sedona. I had heard Schnebly Hill Road was very scenic as you got out above Sedona, so we headed up there to camp for the night. We actually met up with another Expedition Portal member (SilverBullet) on the drive up at one of the overlooks. We continued on, and ended up finding a great spot in the woods that was much cooler than the previous night, and everyone got a better night’s sleep.

Day Three: Petrified Forest / Painted Desert, AZ

Our destination the next day was Chaco Canyon, but we needed to stretch our legs along the way. When we were planning it out, the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest was a logical rest stop. It was a great quick stop, the colors in the Painted Desert were spectacular.

Day Three: Chaco Canyon, NM

Visiting family in Colorado Springs was our destination, so that was where we were on our way to. We had done Mesa Grande on a previous trip, so we wanted to find something new on a different route. And then from research on Expedition Portal, I read about this little known, off the beaten track treasure known as Chaco Canyon. The few posts I had read about raved about Chaco Canyon, and it looked very interesting from my research, and it did not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of the trip. One of the most impressive things I have seen. First of all, it is in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. We entered the park via an endless dirt road and were greeted by some locals (cattle ranging free on the road). Once in the historical park, we were blown away by the ruins. These ruins were over 1000 years old and they allow you to walk in them and explore them. It was amazing to think that this architecture from more than 1000 years ago was so advanced and well constructed that it is still standing. Even the outlay of these great houses were so well planned out, you can’t be anything but impressed and in awe. I was so glad that we made this a part of our trip, I would recommend Chaco Canyon to anyone. Amazing.

We ended up camping in the park’s campground, which was great because there is a ruin right there, along with some petroglyphs. It was awesome. On the menu for dinner was some Caesar salad and breadsticks. The kids had fun watching the bats fly around camp at dusk, and we had some Jiffy Pop popcorn from the fire in the evening, which is always a fun treat when camping.

Day Four thru Ten:

We packed up in the morning in Chaco, and were treated to a spectacular rainbow over the horizon as we broke camp. We headed up into Colorado through the gorgeous Santa Fe National Forest, which made the long drive very nice and scenic. We arrived into Colorado Springs, where we stayed with family for several days, and then onto Kansas to see more family.

Part 2 continues the journey.

Death Valley

Our first overland trip was to Death Valley.  We had never been, but our neighbors at Surf 'n Turf invited us to join them and their family as they were going to spend close to a week in the largest National Park in the lower 48.  There was no way all four of us and our gear were going to all fit into the FJ40 Land Cruiser comfortably, so we decided to take Kristina's 4Runner.  We met up with our friends coming down from the north in Olancha on the 395, just south of Bishop and Mammoth.  There were four vehicles in our group, our 4Runner and three 100-series Land Cruisers (2 LC's and 1 LX).

Day One:

Once we departed our meeting point in Olancha after making introductions and fueling up, we headed into the Park and started looking for a spot to set up camp since it was already late in the day.  We came upon the Lee Flat area just inside Park lines and found a spot for all of us, at the base of Hunter Mtn.  The only thing around were some rock hills, which our son and the other kids on the trip absolutely loved climbing and exploring.

We learned that night that we were definitely unprepared for camping in the wilderness.  We spent the night on the ground in our borrowed Cabela's tent on air mattresses, and had a miserable first night.  Our two year old daughter didn't sleep, and couldn't stay warm, and we learned just how an air mattress will suck the heat out of you and will absorb the cold from the ground, so we ended up freezing that night.  Not the best start to the trip....

Day Two:

The next morning, our friends definitely could tell it was a rough night for us.  They gave us a wool comforter to borrow, and explained its always good to insulate an air mattress on the cold ground.  Note definitely taken.  We packed up camp and were ready to go start touring the Park.  Our plan had been to go to Hunter Mtn., but the pass was closed due to heavy snow, even though it was April.  With overlanding, you must remain flexible due to things occurring out of your control, so our backup plan was to head up the famous "Racetrack."  We bypassed Hunter Mtn. and ran along the Nelson Range until we came upon the road up the Lippincott Grade.  We climbed the grade in low-range 4WD up the narrow single-lane switchback shelf road, stopping every once in a while for a breathtaking view back down the mountain.  Everyone made it up safely, although one of the Land Cruisers bottomed out going up the grade, but the only damage was a slightly bent trailer hitch, which acted as trail armor. 

At the summit, lies the "Racetrack", a dry lake bed that features large rocks that appears to move on their own.  There are multiple theories here, but the most likely is that once this dry lake bed does actually get rain, the mud becomes very thick and extremely slippery, and as it begins to dry back out, the strong winds will actually push the large rocks along the slick surface mud, and as the mud quickly dries, the wind-blown sliding rock tracks will dry in that manner, giving the appearance that the large rocks are moving on their own.  It is a very bizarre phenomenon.  After driving off-road for most of the morning, it was a great break to get out an hike out on the dry lake bed.

After a late lunch, we set out to continue to find our next camp.  We headed out from the Racetrack on one of the worst washboard roads I have been on.  Everyone I have talked to says this stretch of road is the worst they have ever driven as well, just no good line at all.  Finally we reached Teakettle Junction, which the sign is decorated by probably more than 50 different teakettles left from previous travelers.  Pretty clever.  We headed east looking for a place to camp, and ended up settling for a spot near Hidden Valley and White Top Mtns.  The area we chose was not protected from the winds, and the wind storm we endured that night made some of the strong offshore winds we had at the last couple Surf 'n Turf events seem like a gentle breeze.  The good news was that somehow, the tent survived the night, but that bad news was that this was the second straight night with almost no sleep.

Day Three:

After two straight rough nights to start the trip, there definitely some unhappy campers.  The bitterly cold and windy nights were not playing well with some on the trip and some of the ladies were ready to call it quits, so we decided it would be better to head for lower elevation with warmer temps and less wind.  On the way down, we stopped to check out the Lost Burrow Mine.  As we were checking out the abandoned mine, we got lightly snowed on, which the kids thought was pretty cool.  We continued along the valley between Dry and Tin Mtns. to Ubehebe Crater.  This volcanic crater was very surreal to see in the middle of Death Valley.

We ended up continuing down to Stovepipe Wells, and with the weather being drastically warmer (mid 80's), we ended up staying there for two nights.

Day Four:

We base camped this day, which was a nice break from packing up and moving along like a band of gypsies. Our day trip involved driving out to Furnace Creek, and then onto the Devil's Golf Course, which is this large salt pan that has such a rough surface that "only the devil could play golf" on it, and then to what I thought was the highlight of the trip, which was Titus Canyon. It is a one-way trail that is just spectacular as it winds through the Red Pass, down past an old ghost town, and then into the Canyon where you are driving through these sheer rock wall slot canyon on either side that are over one hundred feet up. It was absolutely beautiful (the kids obviously shared my enthusiasm, as they both fell asleep). On the way back to camp, we stopped and checked out the Mesquite Sand Dunes just before sundown.

Day Five:

All packed up again, we ended up meeting up with friends of our friends that were there in DV as well, and went on a fun and scenic hike through Mosaic Canyon. We parted with the big group, and continued on to Panamint Springs. After stopping for the most expensive milkshake we have ever gotten ($10 is highway robbery, but we paid it, and it was good), we found a place to camp in the Panamint Range Valley near Lake Hill for the last night. It was a great spot, with our camp facing the beautiful mountain range, and we were in the flight path of the fighter jets from the China Lake Naval Base.  They came low over our camp a couple times, and it was awesome. For our last exploration trip, we took one of the Land Cruisers and went to check out an old abandoned mine up near the Panamint Dunes.

Day Six:

Everyone broke down camp one last time, and we headed out of the park. We found a few old cars that looked like they had been there for quite a while (if they would have been Land Cruisers, they never would have gotten stuck out there). As we were driving out, we also saw the Trona Pinnacles, where the original Planet of the Apes and some other movies have filmed scenes.

It was a great trip and we had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. They were a few really nice families, and treated us like family as well, so we were very fortunate, and it made for a very nice time. I definitely would like to go back to Death Valley, as there is so much to see and explore. We were there almost a week, and saw a lot, but I feel we just touched on what the Park has to offer.

It really makes me want to do more of these types of trips.