Meanwhile, back in Titus Canyon.... I didn't get many pictures from the later parts of Titus Cn. It's an amazing place that should not be missed. Rock walls almost straight up. It's very narrow, and one-way traffic from east to west. This is shot of a rock formation that looks like sideways terrazzo flooring on steroids. After the ride back to Stovepipe Wells, it was time for food and drink. Snore.... Day three involved packing up and moving to Furnace Creek Ranch where we staged for exploring the West Side Highway area. There are several canyons that lead off to the west from the "highway". The first one we tempted kicked our butts. After nine miles it was like riding in pea-gravel. Too much work, too little fun. We gave up with seven miles left on the route according to the Garmin. This is a shot from the easy part. The canyon in the background is where the tough stuff was. We passed several of the other canyons . Another trip will be required to fill in the blanks. The Queen of Sheba Mine Rd was the next side trip. It's six miles of 1st & 2nd gear riding. I had to stop in places to find the road. It looked more like river-bed than road in the good places. The mine itself has been abandoned for who-knows how long. It's a weird place. I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched. Keith said the same thing. I drew comfort from the 10mm Glock in my tool pack. This is some of the dilapidated equipment that is everywhere. And a view down the road that we came up. We next headed out to Badwater road and pointed north. A quick stop at Badwater to breath some high-density air and taste the salt. Yup, it's salty. Next stop was Dante's View for a different look at Badwater. It was warm at -282, but not so warm at 5,500 feet. The last few miles of the road to the top was damn cold. We zipped in the jacket liners and put on the cold-weather gloves. Problem solved. Amazingly, we had full strength cell service here. The nearest tower was 20 miles to the north at Furnace Creek. Go figure.... A moment to reflect... And that was it for day three. Back to Furnace Creek for a tasty salmon dinner and beers... And tequila. Snore.... Part 3/3 tomorrow.
What Husky are you riding? What size is the tank? Did you carry extra fuel in a can? A stock Husky isn't DV friendly.
Great shots of the view there .... ESP Dante's View and the walls in Titus Cn ... 5500 ft is pretty tall ...
The bike is an '08 TE510. The tank for the trip was the IMS 3 Gallon. I also strapped on an additional 1.85 Gal bottle on the back. I averaged 46MPG, so that gave me a calculated range of 220+ miles. The most we rode any one day was 185 miles, so I was comfortably within the limit. You can see the extra bottle in this pic. I bought these bottles over ten years ago from an on-line surplus place. Didn't use them until this trip.
You '08 TE 510 looks great. The TT light looks so much better then the BD light I have on mine. Fuel for all of us small tank riders, if you don't mind it on your back. I just saw this and had to share. Looks good to me. http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Accessories/escape-pak.html
The borax came from down in the valley floor. I think most of the mines in the hills were gold mines.
Scotty would be livid. After all that time lying to his benefactor about gold, only to have some hoodlum biker reach down and pick up a nugget. DV is such a cool place. I've yet to do any off road riding there, although I've been there twice for street rides. The right trip at the right time just hasn't happened yet. That might change next year. One can hope!
