We spent the night at
a place called Willow Springs. There was really nothing
there of interest, but there was flat ground which is a plus when
you are camping. We considered staying at one of the
prospector cabins in the area, but when we got there, it was
occupied so we went to Willow Springs instead. It was cold
overnight, I measured 32 degrees inside the camper when we got
up. After breakfast, we broke camp and headed out over
Mengel Pass. We got some surprises.
The photos below are what we saw.
Early in the pass
trail, there were some tight spots that forced careful driving.
Careful driving, but
not careful enough: we tagged this rock and it leftt a beauty mark
on my rear tool box.
This obstacle was
steep, rocky and narrow.
Thor is a very capable
truck. But, the one thing that causes me nightmares is the
scenario where we get miles into a trail and discover that the
truck is too big to physically fit. This section of the
trail was not really that narrow, but I could not help but think
about my scenario.
Thor's longer turning
radius required careful planning when turning was required.
Looking ahead the large boulder on the right could be a challenge.
The initial squeeze
was not a problem, but it did require careful tire placement.
I chose an alternate
line further to the left. The roll of the truck did not
become a problem in this case, but we were only able to do this
line because of my large tire diameter.
A close-up shows the
real story.
When we were
constructing the camper frame, we gave very careful attention to
the handling of articulation. Note the angle between the cab
of the truck and the camper.
Roberto's 1450 had no
problems with any obstacle thus far due to slightly narrower width
and minimal differential bulge.
From the top of the
pass, we could see the trail that we took yesterday to get into
Butte Valley. The trail is visible in the upper right of of
the photo above.
There is a monument to
Mr. Mengel at the top of the pass.
Kathleen stopped to
get a photo or two of Butte Valley.
The next obstacle
required some recon to insure that we did not get into trouble
The larger wheels on
Thor made most of this pretty easy.
Remarkably, obstacles
like the one above were more challenging since I could not change
the turning radius or the width of the truck.
Roberto had minimal
issues which is why I really did not recall our last trip through
Mengle Pass with our 1300. The reason was that it did not
present a sufficient challenge to imprint hard in my memory.
My theory is that "there is no learning without either pain or
money" and these criteria were not met.
On a small obstacle,
we encountered some Land Rover mats that apparently been left
there by a Land Rover owner who used them to prevent wheel
slip. This was not much of a challenge, but the Rover had a
hard time.
There were plenty of
tight spots on the trail that did not seem like much of a
challenge, but required careful attention to wheel placement.
Even with careful
wheel placement, some of the obstacles required full "engagement"
to pass.
This obstacle did not
seem like much, but actually was one of the more time
consuming places for Thor. It took several attempts to pass
without damage, although we did smash the differential cover into
one of the boulders.
Roberto's shorter
wheelbase served him well. What took me 15 minutes of
careful positioning was a no-brainer for hime.
We reached a saddle in
the trail that went into a deep canyon with tight turns. I
had to walk the trail to insure we were not getting into something
that was irreversible.
Our inspection showed
that there would be no problem. The grade of the trail was
not an issue, but width and turning are always a consideration.
After the saddle, we
dropped into Goler Wash. There was a small spring in the
wash and the flow traveled in one of the wheel ruts.
Goler Wash Canyon had heavily mineralized outcropping.
Mengel Pass was more difficult than I remembered. Thor did well, but it did require careful wheel placement to pass the obstacles. We did a bit of damage, but nothing of substance. Next: Goler Canyon and on to Stovepipe Wells.Previous Adventure | ||
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Photos
and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.