The Long Range Desert Group I.

Owners of Land-Rovers, old and new, ran a trip to the Panamint Valley in the Southern California Desert. The next valley east of Panamint is the well-known Death Valley. Most of the valley floors are old lake beds. The vegetation is principally desert scrub brush, although as you get up into the canyons, where there is water, the vegetation becomes greener. Small trees and bushes exist in the canyons. To give you an idea of how dry it is, there has been 0.03" of rain since July. 100 years ago the area was full of small silver and gold mining towns. So you run into a lot of abandoned structures, some wood and some stone.

Indian Wells Valley, Sierra Nevada Mts in the background.

Randy R., 1957 Series I 107" Station Wagon
TerriAnn W., 1960 SII 109" 2 Door Hardtop
Eric and Brigid C., "Tipper" (1967 SIIA NADA 109" Station Wagon)
Ben S., "Dora" (1972 SIII 88" Hardtop)
Kelly M., 1973 SIII 88" Hardtop
Frank Y., 1993 NAS Defender 110
Bruce B. and Stephanie C., "Spot" (1994 NAS Defender 90)
Rick L., 1994 NAS Defender 90
Brian and Stacy F., 1995 Discovery
Tom W. and Sara S., 1995 Discovery

[ed: nice to see a 38 year old vehicle being used as intended.]

I spent Friday trying to get things in order. The grand signs that I planned to paint ended up being "Mendo Recce Land Rovors" stenciled on white poster board. (And yes I did make that spelling error as almost everyone pointed out.) Somehow the day passed incredibly quickly so I decided to ignore packing the Rover and to get the signs up (where we were camping looked like any other chunk of desert and so I figured that it would be best of I got there first.

So off I went and started putting up signs. Just as I finished putting up the 3rd of 4 signs I looked to the North and saw an approaching dust cloud. I managed to get the 4th sign up before Bruce, Stephanie and Spot showed up. Not too long after that Tom and Sara arrived. Then I headed home to load the Rover (a sleeping bag and some beer would be nice...) On the way home I encountered Randy and his 107" on the way in (those SI headlights are really distinctive). As the night drew on more people came in. We drank beer, looked at the almost full moon, pondered if those that hadn't shown up were really coming and talked into the wee hours of the morn'. OK, Stephanie and I talked into the the wee hours while everyone else went to sleep.

Saturday dawned and plans were made. After a quick regrouping at the local Walmart parking lot (so that some could get gas and other supplies) we were on the road (about 11am). I was tail-end-charlie and had a great view of 9 Rovers in front of me on the road. We drove over towards Trona and Sears Dry Lake Bed (where we paused for a few moments so that Randy could attend to a leaking radiator). Off again for some more pavement miles (making more people kinda stir crazy for the dirt). Eventually, we passed over into Panamint Valley and turned off onto a dirt road headed for the ghost town of Ballarat. (Ballarat isn't really a ghost town anymore, due to the construction of various structures and a general store.)

From there we headed up into Pleasant Canyon. The trail wound around. Soon we pushed through what seemed to be a jungle like setting. The small green trees pressed in from both sides and a shallow stream of water used the gravelly road as a stream bed. It looked like anything but what you would expect in a desert. This lush growth by the road went on for a few hundred feet, scraping the sides of the Rovers and being pushed aside by the top of my roof rack.

Soon we broke for lunch at an abandoned mine about halfway up the canyon - lots of abandoned buildings. People explored the buildings and machinery (sadly, most had been shot up). We ate lunch on the concrete floor of one of the larger buildings. After lunch we continued on. The road continued to be rocky and rough. Then Eric called over the radio, "TerriAnn, stop. Your rear spring looks funny." We all stopped and called the convoy leaders to come back while we surveyed the damage.

The U-bolts and mounting plate for the right rear spring were completely missing. The right corner hung down, resting on the bump stops while brake fluid dripped off the brake drum. Everyone started spouting ideas of how to fix the problem. Eric and someone else walked down the trail to find the missing pieces. A high lift jack appears and the wheel was removed. Eric came back with the missing parts. The U-bolts were both missing a nut and were more or less straight. Well, at least we had the mounting plate. My spares box yielded two used U-bolts (one long and one short). Various people contributed nuts and tools. In fact whenever TerriAnn needed something it appeared. It was an interesting sight to see. Everyone broke out chairs and watched (if TerriAnn had asked, she would have gotten lots of help). Eric smoked a cigar and drank wine. One of the U-bolts fitted. TerriAnn rebent one of the straightened ones and refiled the threads. A few turns on the brake line screw resealed the brake lines. Then were were on our way back up the trail.

We continued up and encountered a steep loose rocky uphill section that required 1st gear low and the Rovers seemed to be clawing their way up. The top was a the saddle of a ridgeline with a view into Death Valley. Here were stopped and talked.

Kelley mentioned that if we continued on the trail would require driving on some trails with steep dropoffs. TerriAnn decided that she wanted to go back the way we came. Frank volunteered to escort her back with his D110. The rest of us continued up along the ridgeline. More first gear low crawling over loose rocks. The Rovers clawing their way to the top with a most spectacular view of Death Valley on our left. The trail continued on and then turned down via a steep, packed dirt, track with a gully in the middle. I think either the Randy in the 107" or Eric and Brigid in Tipper managed to raise a wheel or two. Since my Rover was kicking out of low range while engine braking I wented down using one hand to steer and one to hold the high-low lever (and ended up in the center gully at least once). The downhill track down a hillside covered with low alpine pines and opened up into a flat grassy valley. The road consisted of a fine, talc-like dust which made large dust clouds as we drove by. The trail crossed this flat valley, crossed a low saddle and entered the next valley. Here the trail turned back to the west (the direction that we wanted) and the setting sun. We crossed this grassy, dusty valley and dropped into (I think) South Park Canyon.

The canyon walls grew around us and thick vegetation appeared. In one place we were hard against the right wall of the canyon with the road leaning to the left and an unknown drop off into the small trees. Spot went first. Then Bruce came up to give advice to Eric. Tipper raised a wheel but made it successfully. Then it was my turn. Bruce said no matter what I did, not to stop because you will slide. Off I went in first gear low holding the high-low lever in low. I was going much faster than I liked so I started pumping the brakes lightly like an ABS. The steering got out of control and I chose to stop. True to Bruce's word, I slid sideways a bit. I didn't think it was all that bad. Bruce said that at least one of my wheels came off the ground. He, unbeknownst to me jumped on back and added weight. I continued on without further events. Brian Foster came down right behind me with no problems. I assume that the others had no problems, but I don't know because I pressed on with the front of the convoy.

The trail then descended though pollen laden bushes with lots of yellow flowers. The Rovers had to push the edges of the bushes out of the way as we passed. It was an impressive sight in the late afternoon sun. Then the hard part started.

By now the trail was on the left side of the canyon. The canyon floor dropped steeply away on our right. Stephanie had stopped Spot at a turn and waited for the group to catch up. The turn was a nasty one. A left turn with a tilt away from the canyon wall. The inside of the turn was bedrock. The outside had a top layer of chainlink fence holding in some smaller rocks. It was about a foot or two wider than a Rover and the drop off was about 100 feet straight down. Just to add a little excitement we knew that a few hundred yards ahead was a bridge that had been built because some drug runners had tried to blow the road. And in the valley below us, some yahoo was shooting at something with what sounded to be a large caliber revolver. None of the rounds came in our direction, but it did add a little uncertainty to the atmosphere.

First up was Spot with Bruce directing and Stephanie driving. There was a little bit of jerking (which made us all the more nervous) from the slop in Spots driveline but Stephanie negotiated the obstacle successfully. (If that doesn't graduate Stephanie to gonzo driver status, I don't know what does). Next up was Eric in Tipper (Brigid chose to watch, in fact I think all of the passengers chose to watch). The turn was tight enough that Eric had to back up once to get a better line. But he got through successfully. Then it was my turn.

Now just to paint a little bit of the picture, I have weak rear springs that cause me to lean more than I should, no axle straps, dubious brakes and I had a bunch of firewood and steel sand mats in the roofrack. So I probably had the greatest odds of going over into the canyon. Now I won't kid anyone who wasn't there. I personally don't think that any occupant of any Rover had much chance of surviving that fall. So I had this huge pit of anxiety in my stomach and a bloodstream full of adrenaline when I started out. I pulled up and looked at Bruce's hands for direction. I eased up on the inner side rock and went for the brakes and clutch so that I could ease my way down the bedrock as I went around the turn. My left foot slid off the clutch and ended up with only my heel holding the clutch down. After a moments pause to make sure that my heart was still beating, I repositioned my foot and finished the problem. I then drove down the trail and over the bridge to where the lead vehicles were waiting. I didn't see up close the others going around that bend but all made it safely under Bruce's guidance. On the part just after the bridge I did get to suck in my breath as Tom Walsh took a turn in his green Disco and I saw the right tyre come within 6 inches to a foot of the edge.

We continued on with no other problems. When we got down the switch-backs of this part of the canyon where the person who was shooting was, he was kind enough to stop while we passed him. The sun set, light left us and we exited the canyon. The decent of the canyon's alluvial fan was down many switch-backs in the dark with headlights on. We rejoined TerriAnn and Frank at Ballarat.

After deciding not to drive 45 more minutes in the dark just to get the the hot springs, we followed Rick's lead a few miles to a nearby campsite. Here Frank decided that it was time to head back to civilization. After the goodbyes we settled down for the night. Much talking, eating and beer drinking ensued until the wee hours of the night. (Ok I talked until the wee hours but you all know me by now).

The next morning dawned and we set about making a plan. The consensus was to drive up Surprise Canyon until the first waterfall (which must be winched up). TerriAnn left her 109 in Ballarat (logically not wanting to stress those U-bolts) and rode with Rick in his D90. I ended leading the convoy up a ways. But I was having so much fun driving the graded dirt road that I missed the turn off into the canyon floor, so Randy took the lead in his 107"

Two of the obstacles on this trail stand out in my mind. The first was a short section where the stream cut a narrow 1+ foot deep channel in the trail so that you had to place one wheel in the stream bed and one on top. I think Tipper was a little light on the upper side so some human ballast was added (photo Bruce Bonar). We all successfully negotiated the problem but it was a fun one. The next one was about a quarter mile before the first waterfall. It was two foot or so chunk of bedrock that had to be climbed.

Rick went first with his ABR lockers and got up without too much trouble. Then Randy made his attempts with his 107" Bruce was guiding and a lot of us were spotting his undercarriage. When he began to scrape his fuel tank we stopped him. Rick positioned his D90 and we winched Randy and the 107" up. I volunteered to go next.

My first attempt was unnerving. Despite going slowly, the front end leaped in the air (some say I lifted the whole front axle) and I banged my left front bumper again. I made a couple more attempts (it was hard to see Bruce's hands despite them being above his head). Eventually, I too was winched, but I stopped the whole process when I heard the frame drag. A few back and forths and I then drove out with some light scraping.

Next up was Bruce and Spot. Bruce made a couple attempts all with his lower (right front) wheel spinning as his left side was lifted. So I added ballast on the lower side (in hind sight not the most brilliant of ideas) and Spot climbed his way up.

So the D90s made it up under their own power and the the Series needed to get winched. The Discos, Kelly and Eric chose not to attempt the problem. I guess seeing me smack my bumper was a bit much for the Discos.

It was only about a 1/4 mile to the waterfalls (which would be a long nasty winching session). While some walked up the falls some started down the Canyon (being that it was near 2pm on Sunday and they had a long drive ahead of them). Those of us that had climbed up the rocks had no problem going down and soon all were on their way down.

Back in Panamint Valley most said their goodbyes and took off. Kelly, Bruce, Stephanie and I headed back towards Ridgecrest and had lunch near Trona. On Monday Bruce, Stephanie, and I explored the area near the Cerro Gordo Mine - some challenging trails, but that's another story.

For those of you that are still reading this missive. There is talk of another desert run come Spring, Long Range Desert Group II...

- Ben Smith
Benj@min bens archimedes.vislab.navy.mil --> 10/'95

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