Part 3: Mengel Pass

20120320

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The Trip

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

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.

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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.