A Chevy and FWC make it over Mendel Pass

locrwln

Expedition Leader
As the title states, my wife and I made a little trip to Death Valley. We left Reno on Thursday afternoon and headed south. We traveled down US95 on the Nevada side. We made it to Armagossa Valley, south of Beatty and decided to call it a night. We turned right into the desert out toward the big sand dune and found a spot for the night.
Camp in the morning.


Friday morning, we continued down US95 and turned toward Pahrump. Topped off the fuel tank and from Pahrump, we turned west and headed to Shoshone and into the south side on the park. We hit the West Road (south) and aired down.


We headed north until we came to Warm Springs Canyon Road and turned west and up we went. The King shocks made a huge difference on rough washboard sections. Since we had camped at Warm Springs before, we kept on going toward Striped Butte Valley.


We crossed the valley and started up Mengel Pass. The going wasn't too bad until we came to this section.


I made an attempt, but just didn't have the clearance. I backed up and stacked a few rocks and had my wife guiding me. I apparently, didn't have enough clearance and hit the frame. I backed up and added a few more on the opposite side to keep the front up and over we went. The only carnage was one of the e-brake cable guides got bent back a little, but nothing a little bending won't fix.


I kept threading my way up until I came to another boulder section. I got out and looked over the situation. I threw a rock to two into place and had my wife drive while I guided her through all the way to the summit of Mengel Pass. Got a little tippy on the way up. She is a great driver in the technical stuff. The front locker made all the difference (for both of us), it just kept the front pulling over the uneven rocks and dirt.


We made it to the pass and took a look around.


I took back over the driving and headed down the pass to Goler Wash. There were a few areas that kept things interesting, but overall it went pretty smooth. We made it to the bottom and stopped for lunch. While we were sitting there, three motorcycles rolled up and asked if they were at the bottom of Goler Wash and I told them that they were. Their plan was to head over the pass and back into DV. I wished them good luck as they were riding a 1200GS, 650GS(?) and a KLR650. I warned them it would be a challenge, but hopefully they made it up and over with few problems. As we were finishing up, a 2d JK with trailer rolled up and seemed to be a little shocked that we made it over in the truck. They asked about the water falls and I told them if you didn't know where they were, you wouldn't even realize that they were there as they had been filled in.

From there we headed up to the pavement at Ballarat. We aired up and drove to the South Pass road for Saline Valley. Aired down once more and headed to the springs. We got to the springs around 6pm on Friday night. What a day.

Saturday morning was great, got a little walk, shower and soak in and then the wind began. We spent from about 1000am on inside the camper to avoid the wind and of course, this was a serious wind storm, so we just hunkered down. The camper did great and luckily we took some movies and books. The wind continued into the night and Sunday morning. We had a small lull on Sunday morning, but then it started all over, so we packed up and headed north out North Pass. We made it home yesterday afternoon. The wierd thing is that the wind stopped around Bishop, but south of there it was going gangbusters. Barely a breeze at all in Reno. Oh well. It was a great trip and a true test of the Kings.

Hope you enjoyed the ride, I know we did.

Jack
 
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wjb4000

Adventurer
Sounds like a good time! I'd love to take my wife out there sometime and do some exploring, but doubt that it will ever get to happen. Gotta live vicariously through all you guys, lol.
 

mkitchen

Explorer
Nice read

Thanks for the article and pictures. It is fun to be at the end of what some folks consider a rough route and be in a full size truck. Helps to put things in perspective.
Mikey
 

locrwln

Expedition Leader
Sounds like a good time! I'd love to take my wife out there sometime and do some exploring, but doubt that it will ever get to happen. Gotta live vicariously through all you guys, lol.

It was and I think you and your wife would really enjoy it. The topography is laid bare which gives it a whole new prospective and feeling of vastness.

Thanks for the write up, sounds like a great weekend!

Thank you, it was. Weather could have been a little better, but it is still February after all.

Thanks for the article and pictures. It is fun to be at the end of what some folks consider a rough route and be in a full size truck. Helps to put things in perspective.
Mikey

You are welcome and I agree, we got some looks on Fordyce last year, but on the flipside, I have been on a trail that I thought was "hardcore" and seen a crossover SUV driving down it. That's why I rarely tell someone they can't make or shouldn't do a certain road/trail, I have and seen it done on too many different vehicles. Skill or lack of caring can conquer many 'a road.

Jack
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
Sweet Comanche pickup!
Mendel%20Pass%2002_13%20004-L.jpg


Of course your truck is nice too! And so is the scenery! :)
Chris
 

locrwln

Expedition Leader
Thanks everyone, it was a good time and we really enjoyed Mengel Pass (Sorry about that DD, I kept looking at my title/story and couldn't figure out why it looked wrong). That's what happens when you go off of memory only for a story. I made the correction in the story, but can't figure out how to change the title.

Jack
 

xjaugie

Adventurer
Nice write up of the trip. longing for some desert sand under the tires stuck back here on the East coast...
 

BorregoWrangler

Rendezvous Conspiracy
Great write up! Looks like you guys had fun out there. Makes me realize how long its been since I've been out to the desert! I need to get out!
 

locrwln

Expedition Leader
Nice write up of the trip. longing for some desert sand under the tires stuck back here on the East coast...

Thank you and I bet you are. I grew up in Arkansas and I can't imagine not spending time in the desert. My wife likens it to spending time on the ocean, it has that same calming effect (without me getting seasick).

Great write up! Looks like you guys had fun out there. Makes me realize how long its been since I've been out to the desert! I need to get out!

Thank you and we did. It was short but still a great get away.

Jack
 

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