STF GTG-Elko to Bodie Adventure October 6-10 2016

[takotruckin]

I was riding with patrick when that guy waved us down. He pulled out his wallet and flashed a card, not a badge, said he was going to get his ticket book if we didnt slow down. I dont know what he was, but that is as close as we got to seeing anyone of authority.

How fast were you guys going at that point?

[JUSSUMGUY]

We were third in line if i remember correctly. This was thru some whoops and some washouts along a fence line..Elko ed and tim with kyle were ahead of us. Dont know how fast they were going as i couldnt see them. Just a faint dust trail.
Shorty and i werent going that fast. We slowed down as we were approaching the ranch area as we always do when approaching a ranch. The rancher motioned us and shorty rolled down his window. He asked" are you with those other 2 guys". Shorty answered yes. Thats when he pulled out his wallet and was threatening to get his ticket book.
Along the fence line I'm sure everyone was going at a good clip:) He probably saw our dust trails as we were approaching.
Since i rode most of the trip with ed, i feel confident in saying I'm pretty sure he was hammering it along the fence line. His car handled very well!

[TimS]

Did you say, "good luck! We have been trying to catch them for four days already."

[no1clyde]

Did you say, "good luck! We have been trying to catch them for four days already."

That was funny

Ed

[kyle_pc_75]

DAY 3

We woke up this morning to a new adventure. Elko Ed had a graveyard to visit just above Pinegrove and we were all eager to see more cool old artefacts. We climbed up the hill above “town” not sure if we were really going in the right direction, but we eventually made it. There were many newer looking gravestones, but as we picked around, we also found many somewhat creepy sunken gravesites, some with very weathered grave markers. I, for one, tiptoed.

From Pinegrove, Ed had planned a side route up through Pine Grove. It was a little bit more than we had expected, a bit of rockcrawling (good for the Jeeps), a beautiful scene at the top and then a trip down the other side. Rattlesnake had some steering issues down the other side, but after a few beers (apparently tools were used, but not by me) we were back on the road.

The road down the pass was a bit rough and thouroughly challenging. Tim’s buggy wasn’t designed for this but it handled it very well. There were a lot of washouts, a few cool old buildings, but it was generally slow and somewhat torturous. We were at the back so we just took our time.

After we got down from the pass, Tim and I heard some chatter over Weatherman about some race truck testing, but we never saw any other dust or heard any names. Tim’s pretty sure it was RG. I mean, why not?

The bulk of the day was planned to just beat it to Bodie to meet up with Dusty and Gary and explore the town, but our slow start meant that we would arrive about 2 hours later than initially planned. I got to say hi to Dusty, and Tim and I talked for a bit to Gary about the possibility of racing NORRA again with him and his nephew Ricko in 2017. Elko Ed? Well, he just lost his voice. I’m pretty sure he spent the entire afternoon talking Dusty’s ear off, until Dusty’s wife was finally ready to go home.

Bodie. Bodie is an amazing place, and was the real destination for this trip. It was a boom town in the late 1800’s, but like so many mining towns, eventually collapsed. The amazing thing is that one forward thinking entrepreneur purchased many of the declining properties in the early to mid 1900’s with the intent of preserving a piece of history, and hired armed guards to protect and preserve the existing structures. The state of California eventually purchased it and turned it into a State Park, with the intent of preserving, but not restoring the town. It is a fascinating place to explore, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys exploring the history of the Old West.

We bid our farewells to Gary and Dusty. Tim, at this point, extremely satisfied with the new front end on his car, considered reaching Bodie a victory. Now was the time to push the car, and I don’t mean by standing at the rear cage. Tim’s mindset was “Hammer down, Kyle call the turns, we’re going fast!”. The ride back out of the canyon into Nevada was a blast. The car felt great and we were loving it.

Reaching the end of the canyon, I started imagining our campsite. As with many things, I had seen it on Google Earth, but you never quite know what you’re going to find when you get there. As we got closer, we saw a grove of trees huddled by a low point at the end of the canyon where the little river settled into the lowlands. This was better than any of us ever expected to find in the Nevada desert.

Tim and I pulled into an amazing oasis. Bubba had taken a shower, everyone was getting camp set up, and for the first time on this trip, the sun was still up. We got settled in, had a nice fire and dinner, and went to bed pretty early. What a great day.

[TimS]

Good times. Great story. I"m glad you are continuing the written version.

[dustymojave]

Well, he just lost his voice. I’m pretty sure he spent the entire afternoon talking Dusty’s ear off, until Dusty’s wife was finally ready to go home.

I find this amusing...

Pat & I hadn't been to Bodie since 1983. The town itself hasn't changed much. In fact, I found it amazing how well it had been preserved since then. Last time there were no government personnel to collect fees or otherwise. Now there's a shack at the edge of town to collect fees, nice restrooms, a few signs to tell about the town and such, a museum in the Miner's Union hall. You can buy T shirts or bottled water (at a surprisingly reasonable price)there. VISUALLY, the town is very similar to how it was 33 years ago. There were Park Service people there trimming the sage brush. Had a small tractor they brought out of an old stable. I don't know what they were doing with that. A few houses had recently been re-shingled. They ARE doing work to maintain a state of “arrested decay”. There are a couple or 3 vehicles around town that have been restored. It was free last time we went there, but I can't complain about the fees now.

[JUSSUMGUY]

Elko Ed, Dusty and Tim at Bodie

[Leatherneck]

You guys had some pretty steep terrain to handle.

[JUSSUMGUY]

First pic i have been able to post from my phone. Need to figure out what i need to do to get the pic orientation correct.

[TimS]

First pic i have been able to post from my phone. Need to figure out what i need to do to get the pic orientation correct.

Congratulations! We need more pics on this thread. I didn't take many.

[JUSSUMGUY]

I have a bunch of pics to go with your awesome video. Im trying to figure out the easiest way to post them so they show up correctly. The pic posted above was a test picture. Have more work to do..

[no1clyde]

I don't have many pics either . The pic I took of Tim inside Dirty Dicks the sun light from the door made it no good

Ed

[dustymojave]

How did you post that pic Richard?

[dustymojave]

I've been trying to upload my pictures to a new album in my Photobucket account to share them with you guys. But Photobucket is not cooperating.