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The Dalton takes careful planning and shouldn't be traveled lightly. Ping me if you ever visit. I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
I may take you up on that. Getting local input and weather updates for a ride like that can be very valuable.
I appreciate the warning and have heard similar from many others. I have spent a good amount of time reading up on the Dalton and understand how important preparation and timing are up there.
The wife and I have seen a lot challenging off road from our R1200GS.
We have a list of other remote locations in mind once we are fully retired and can be away longer. We are attracted to challenges like the Dalton.
A couple of buddies and I a number of years ago were riding our dirt bikes in the Lake Tahoe area and decided to ride the Rubicon Jeep Trail from the top down.
After riding just a couple of miles we realized we had picked the wrong weekend to do so as the Rubicon Trail Jeep Jamboree was on. Lots of jeeps on the trail so we turned around and went back up.
Since then have seen more pictures of the trail and have no interest in doing it on my KTM, just too old and beat up at this point.
Dirt bikers get the rep of being crazy for the places we go but what you guys do with jeeps is a step beyond.
These are from our annual trip to the Nevada high desert.
Whereabouts in the Mojave are these ranges and trails? Such wonderful sights! I've been waiting on the day to take a vacation this year, and with my truck coming in later this year, this would look to be a beautiful road trip..!
I've been out to the Anza Borrego parks in CA, definitely had a great time hiking around and exploring!
Last edited by Ksmeyer18; Jun 13, 2018 at 07:50 PM.
Reason: Reword.
Whereabouts in the Mojave are these ranges and trails?
This is the playa and surrounding range of the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada.
I have been traveling to the Black Rock Playa yearly since 1994 with family and friends for off road motorcycling and exploration.
I could write a book on all the experiences we have had there but I think the one that would have the most meaning for those on this site would be the day the Land Speed Record was set in 1997.
My 2 sons and I were on the playa on Oct 11 and 12 (Sat & Sun) 1997 hoping to see an attempt on the record by either Thrust SSC with British Andy Green at the wheel or the Spirit of America with Craig Breedlove.
It was not to be as weather conditions with wind and humidity were not good.
Days later on Wednesday Oct 15, 1997 however it finally happened, the first land vehicle to surpass the sound barrier and set a new land speed record was Thrust SSC at over 763 MPH.
Unfortunately I had to be at work at my dental office that day but I had 2 friends that were able to take a day off work and witnessed this historic event.
The sonic boom created by breaking the sound barrier is reported by many. Both my friends present that day report hearing a double sonic boom, perhaps due to the 2 engines?
Here is a pic of the shock wave created in the weeks before at Mac 0.95 during a test run.
The Thrust SSC tent was not available for viewing but in the weeks before the record attempt my sons and I rode our motorcycles up to within a hundred yards of the Spirit of America tent to take pictures.
The guys in the tent waved us in and allowed us to view the car, ask questions, and take pictures. I have print pictures in my closet somewhere of my boys in the cockpit of the S of A! I'll see if I can dig those up and scan them to post here. I need to do so anyway to get copies to my boys, now in their mid-thirties.
A couple of buddies and I a number of years ago were riding our dirt bikes in the Lake Tahoe area and decided to ride the Rubicon Jeep Trail from the top down.
After riding just a couple of miles we realized we had picked the wrong weekend to do so as the Rubicon Trail Jeep Jamboree was on. Lots of jeeps on the trail so we turned around and went back up.
Since then have seen more pictures of the trail and have no interest in doing it on my KTM, just too old and beat up at this point.
Dirt bikers get the rep of being crazy for the places we go but what you guys do with jeeps is a step beyond.
You guys are nuts.
The rubicon is on my bucket list. It is a long tow though.
“The sonic boom created by breaking the sound barrier is reported by many. Both my friends present that day report hearing a double sonic boom, perhaps due to the 2 engines?”
Most people say one boom is from the nose breaking the sound barrier and the second from the tail.
In reality, shocks are generated off all sorts of surfaces, not just the nose. Often, the big ones swallow up the little ones, and you end up with one that appears to be from the nose, and one that appears to be from the tail.
“The sonic boom created by breaking the sound barrier is reported by many. Both my friends present that day report hearing a double sonic boom, perhaps due to the 2 engines?”
Most people say one boom is from the nose breaking the sound barrier and the second from the tail.
In reality, shocks are generated off all sorts of surfaces, not just the nose. Often, the big ones swallow up the little ones, and you end up with one that appears to be from the nose, and one that appears to be from the tail.
That makes way more sense than my 2 engine comment. Physics has never been a strong point for me but generating the energy needed by a surface is logical.
A few more pics of the event for those interested.
Note these pics are all downloaded from the internet years ago. I still need to dig out my personal photos to scan. Let's remember consumer digital photography had not happened yet in this era.
Thrust SSC....
The British kicked our butts on this one, the American car was never in the game.
The Spirit of America being delivered on site, this is the tent my boys and I visited....
Hey @f350ktm, nice to see another white king ranch without bed stickers. I removed mine too. I like the clean look.
You got it, I am not a sticker fan unless I choose to add them.
Stickers off....
Stickers on.
I defer to Jacque for sticker application. She was a quality assurance engineer in the day.
My personality traits of OCD and impatience make me a bad choice for the job!
