Death Valley 2014

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Amskeptic
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Death Valley 2014

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:14 am

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Am I the only human who looks at this view and says, I gotta get down there into the heat?

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The sand dunes at the bottom of the valley were a perfect match to a rumpled Mastiff's forehead:

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It was about 112* here, still a thousand feet above the valley floor. Do note that my EZ Share camera has never been able to hit the true clarity and colors:

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Temperatures ratcheted up some more as I got down to the valley floor. The colors were glorious, the topography was glorious, the heat was gloroppressive:

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This shot was a perfect surreal composition that the camera managed to blunt. The tumbled rocks were glowing with a coppery sheen. I missed the lighting that compelled me to pull over because the clouds were playing:

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You can see how weather takes down the mountains. The rock fields spreading out in huge deltas from the gulches in the mountains were far more vast than my little camera could capture. The clouds added great drama to the colors of this year's traverse:

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The BobD gave me very easy CHTs on the downhill portion. I had the AFM spring dialed up so tight that it was shutting off the fuel on the downhills:

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Uphills were a bit more problematic, but even then, I was not perturbed. Ran great, oil temps were 244* measured at the lower left of the crankcase:

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Think . . . barely-cooled lava. Pavement temperature in the sun was 155* Pavement in the shade was 141*, the north wall of a stone building was 121* and I estimated air temps at 117*

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The below shot in real life was achingly beautiful. My camera took one look at it and said "no memory left". Ohmanohman. Fired up the laptop. Plugged in the camera to upload. Half way through, the laptop's chip monitor said "CPU too hot." "So am I!" says I. Now I have to drive away from this beautiful shot to keep some hot desert air flowing over the laptop jiggling on the passenger seat with the vent window opened as the camera tries to upload.

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The next shot I had to get, the camera took one look and said, "low battery". I could not imagine not taking any more pictures. So I pulled over, got the Chitwnvw Commemorative Voltage Inverter out, plugged it into the spades on the battery posts, and plugged the camera battery charger into the inverter.
It is HOT. No breeze. Against the berm on the side of the road, the heat is coming through my New Balance soles, the engine is frying the inverter which is squeaking like a little mouse, and the camera battery charger is wobbling in the plug.

"Everything OK?" from a passing air-conditioned Prius.
"Sure, I am just charging my camera battery."
"You are?"
"Yeah, this is how we did it in 1978."

"Broke down? I have a phone." from a Ford Focus.
"Nah, I'm good. I am charging my camera battery."
"Is that thing good in the heat?"
"The camera, no. The car, yes, it is air-cooled."

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Saw a road meander off towards the hill:

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View from the top:

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As I came back down to the paved road, a Chrysler 300 came up behind me, we were but mere yards from the stop sign for us, and it just had to pass me. He just had to pass me to get to the stop sign before me. He had to accelerate to get ahead of me in time to skid to a stop! He had to shower the front of the BobD with gravel and crack the last perfect German Hella turn indicator lens.
And I had to get gas, a tank of which could pay for two new old stock German Hella turn indicator lenses:

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This is the view from where I normally enter Death Valley. This time it was my departing shot, but either way, I find it amazingly gorgeous:

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The view on my way to Beatty NV. There are more pictures to come . . . . :

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

Jivermo
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by Jivermo » Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:35 am

Wow! Thanks for the pics...really enjoyed looking at this.

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busboytom
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by busboytom » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:57 am

Incredibly beautiful. Wish I were riding shotgun...heck, I'd even ride along quietly in the back seat. I'd even get out and push if you needed it. I admire your.....well, almost everything you are and are doing. Will admire you even more after our first IAC meeting in Aug. Safe and happy trails to you.
busboytom
71 Squareback
77 Westfalia
68 Westfalia
Sears Allstate trailer
Appleby popup camper

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Xelmon
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by Xelmon » Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:37 pm

Colin wrote:Pavement temperature in the sun was 155*
That's a wee-bit on the hot side.
Nice pics, would definitely be rather there than here. =)

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glasseye
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by glasseye » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:58 pm

Awesome, as always. =D>
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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airkooledchris
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by airkooledchris » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:27 pm

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excellent shot and editing. most necessary information readily available.
1979 California Transporter

Lanval
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by Lanval » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:43 pm

airkooledchris wrote:Image

excellent shot and editing. most necessary information readily available.
I take exception, however, to the egregious abuse of an original Volvo tachometer; we here at Volvo central do not approve of such licentious behaviour! Clean it, forthwith, I say!

Otherwise, carry on, well done, pip-pip and all that.

Good day, sir.

ML

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Amskeptic
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Re: Death Valley 2014

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 19, 2014 7:59 am

Did a valve check yesterday morning on CA 299 at 3,900 elevation on a power line trail (well, now you know where, OK??)

Lost barely an hour of adjustment on exhaust #3 and intake #4. Everybody else was fine. Then I dusted the Lanval Commemorative Volvo 264 Tachometer.

Here's a Death Valley clip (low res for Photobucket):

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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