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Author
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Topic: 536 Miles on Dirt...
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 21, 2013 08:11 PM
Over the weekend I took a little trip in the Jeep, with my partner Tim riding shotgun and another buddy Eric, in his Jeep.
We drove from Wendover, a small sore of a casino town straddling the Nevada/Utah border on interstate 80, to St. George in the SW corner of Utah, near the Arizona border. More specifically, we drove from Wendover to St. George on dirt.
I picked out a route to avoid a lot of the boring graded county dirt, sticking as much as possible, given we only had three days to do it, to the obscure, rougher, rarely travelled tracks.
Anyhow... Ended up being 536 miles of dirt in a single long weekend. I had actually driven most of this before, but not all of it, and definitely never all in one contiguous journey.
It wasn't until the middle of the third day and over 450 miles into the trip that we encountered a single other vehicle in our travels.
Saw a lot of neat country! Took a bunch of pictures, here are some of them.
Airing down the tires on the outskirts of Wendover at the start.
Near Little White Horse Pass
Rock art in a cave I found on a lunch stop in the Antelope range.
Blue Mass spring in the Kern Mountains.
Tungstonia ghost town.
Warm springs near Gandy - I peeled down and jumped in, will spare you the pictures of that ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) .
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 21, 2013 08:19 PM
Camp in the Snake range, at Mormon Jack Pass.
Crossing the Snake range, Mount Moriah snow capped in the distance.
Horse Canyon in the Snake Range.
Snake Creek Indian burial cave near Garrison.
Some rock art I found taking another lunch break on the south end of the Confusion range.
Western Diamondback near the rock art.
Crystal Peak on the north end of the Wah Wah's.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 21, 2013 08:26 PM
Deep into the Wah Wah's.
Coke ovens in the Wah Wah's.
Old watering trough near the coke ovens.
Crossing the Wah Wah's (again).
The Revenue Mine in Pine Grove Canyon and camp for the night.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 21, 2013 08:32 PM
Unmarked graves near the ghost town of Stateline. Would like to know the story of these, all that close together and the nearest one much smaller than the other two...
The ghost town of Stateine.
Feral nags near Modena Draw.
Recent grave in the mostly ancient Modena cemetery. Since I can't talk my family into feeding me to the coyotes, maybe I can get them to bury me like this...
Old hotel in Modena.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 21, 2013 08:37 PM
Crossing the Bull Valley Mountains.
Indian cave Tim spotted south of Motoqua.
Joshua tree forest west of Beaver Dam Mountains.
And the end, putting air back in the tires after 536 miles of good times...
Getting itchy to get out again already .
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Frank
CAN START A FIRE WITH A BUCK KNIFE AND A ROCK
Member # 6
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posted May 21, 2013 08:59 PM
Enjoy it while you can.
Here in California the Government has a policy of closing off as many dirt roads a possible.
Many, many of my favorite, scenic routes, kind of like what I see in your pictures, have been closed.
There have been so many road closures, especially in the Sierras, that I don't even try to get out anymore. I know, when I get there, the road will be closed.
The gates are so huge they are made from 12" dia pipe and kind of shaped like the number 4 but go across the road. The locks are enclosed in such a manner you can't shoot the locks off. Huge boulders surround the sides of the entrance so you can't even four wheel around them.
Every time I turn around there's another one of these gates up.
This is only one of a thousand freedoms California is taking away and most people don't even know it....too busy with their butt buddies in west Hollywood I guess.
[ May 21, 2013, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Frank ]
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"Truth is no prostitute, that throws herself away upon those who do not desire her; she is rather so coy a beauty that he who sacrifices everything to her cannot even then be sure of her favor".
Posts: 644 | From: North Dakota | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 21, 2013 09:09 PM
Great stuff, Dave! Brings back memories, can't say I've seen all of it but some, I have. It's what I always say, the sense of freedom is awesome, and the word is inadequate. No gas stations, right?
Thanks Dave.
Good hunting. El Bee
edit: about that grave. I have always felt that it would be fitting for coyotes to piss on my grave. Kind of like that scene at the end of OUT OF AFRICA. The lions are laying around on Redford's grave, choked me up, actually.
[ May 21, 2013, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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TOM64
Knows what it's all about
Member # 561
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posted May 21, 2013 09:56 PM
Awesome country!
Speaking of gas stations, how do you carry enough fuel?
Posts: 2283 | From: okieland | Registered: Feb 2005
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nd coyote killer
HUNTMASTER PRO STAFF
Member # 40
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posted May 21, 2013 10:01 PM
Way to cool man! Now that sounds like a good time!!!
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"Sure are cocky for a starving pilgrim" - Bear Claw
Posts: 385 | From: On a hill | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 04:09 AM
Tom, I have a custom welded aluminum 32 gallon tank in my Jeep. Couple jerry cans to top off for the really long stretches between pumps.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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the bearhunter
HM PROSTAFF & MIDWEST REGIONAL GURU VOTED MOST HANDSOME MINNESOTAN
Member # 3552
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posted May 22, 2013 04:41 AM
great pixs Dave. those old buildings, do you see much vandalism to them??. around here, every old building has been shot up/torn apart.
Posts: 1049 | From: minnifornia | Registered: Jan 2010
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Paul Melching
Radical Operator Forum "You won't get past the front gate"
Member # 885
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posted May 22, 2013 05:21 AM
Great pics ! looks like a lot of fun and very cool places to visit. I don't get a lot of chances to do long trips like that. I m lucky in that my wife likes to go exploring with me but prefers day trips. If I do a three day trip its usually coyotes on the agenda. Its good you can make time for this and send us all a photo journal of your adventure.
Thanks again for doing it well.
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Those who value security over liberty soon will have neither !
Posts: 4188 | From: The forest ! north of the dez. | Registered: Jul 2006
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jimanaz
2nd Place RICHARD FARNSWORTH LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST
Member # 3689
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posted May 22, 2013 05:45 AM
I enjoyed the trip....down the page. Thanks for taking me along, Dave.
Posts: 940 | From: AZ | Registered: Oct 2010
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Eddie
Knows what it's all about
Member # 4324
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posted May 22, 2013 05:47 AM
Nice pictures!! Is most of the land you drove by private or public?
Posts: 275 | From: Oklahoma | Registered: Feb 2013
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knockemdown
Our staff photo editing Guru, par excellence
Member # 3588
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posted May 22, 2013 06:21 AM
If I ever seen all that incredibly cool country and history in one weekend, I'd need bug netting for my yapper cuz my jaw would be on the friggin' floormat the entire journey!!!
Dave, I gotta ask, were any sections of the trip "Jeep only" terrain?
Any breaks in the drive for rock chucking?
Your photos are outstanding!!!
Posts: 2202 | From: behind fascist lines | Registered: Mar 2010
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted May 22, 2013 06:27 AM
As always, the pics were great and I enjoyed the descriptions.
Thanks for sharing the adventure.
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 07:15 AM
Eddie, 99% public.
Fred, very short section that was truly short wheelbase, high clearance, 4x4 only. Some fe dozen miles that required high clearance and 4x4 but a long wheelbase would have been fine. More miles that just required high clearance. That one small section could have been done in a stock Tacoma with only minimal body damage. The rest of it a stock Tacoma would have sailed through no problem.
And "yup", 'chuck blood was spilled on this trip .
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Lone Howl
Free Trial Platinum Member & part-time language police
Member # 29
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posted May 22, 2013 07:38 AM
Awsome stuff Dave!!
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When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.
Posts: 2083 | From: Texas | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 07:40 AM
Dave - no, very little vandalism. Some, here and there, but over all, not much at all. Mostly just young guys scratching "me + her" in a heart type stuff.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 22, 2013 12:26 PM
That's the thing, Eddie. It's probably good that people don't know that that area is BLM and some Nation Forest, but all public land, or as Dave said; 99% wide open is a pretty safe bet. That's the reason for my comment; the sense of freedom is AWESOME!
It's shrinking a bit, but there is still a lot of virtual wilderness in Nevada.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 12:44 PM
Sometimes, when you have been out there a few days without seeing another vehicle, let alone another person, you wake up on a cold frosty morning with the coyotes yapping all around...
Breathing the air is like gulping Freedom with every breath.
I know Leonard knows what I mean, I don't have the words to describe it. But it's real deal FREEDOM. And it's the most intoxicating aspect of these little trips I go on all the time.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 12:49 PM
P.S...
See my signature. First time I saw the movie and heard that line, I related with it on a very deep personal level. Having spent my entire life as a died in the wool non-conformist and fiercely protective of and agressively pursuing my individual liberty.
Most all the people I've ever met who had an instinctive negative and fearful reaction to my presence, have been the type who beat their chests and talk the loudest about "individual liberty".
That quote is the truth. Those loudmouths shit their pants when confronted with a free individual...
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted May 22, 2013 02:02 PM
Yes, and DAA ran that sig line for quite a few years without attribution, until "somebody" noticed that it was a line spoken by Jack Nickelson in EASY RIDER. And, suggested that he should identify the character that uttered those immortal words.
Good hunting. El Bee
PS, I have (pretty much) voluntarily given up eastern Nevada so the Utah boys have room to move around. But, they are s'posed to stay out of my half!
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32361 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted May 22, 2013 04:33 PM
I "pretty much" do. Stay out of your half that is. .
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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Okanagan
Budding Spin Doctor
Member # 870
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posted June 05, 2013 09:41 AM
Loved this thread! Would enjoy the trip you did. My sons and a few friends and I do that kind of roaming. Years ago, before the Coquilhalla Freeway pushed over a mountain pass in BC, our whole family drove the old abandoned railroad grade through those canyons, rock tunnels and some trestles, (and down through the creek below to bypass some trestles). Fun stuff.
AI have been AWOL for several weeks due to surgery on my arm that is healing very slowly, but healing.
Posts: 269 | From: 49th Parrallel | Registered: Jun 2006
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