Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126607
been in severa l yea rs . At G ol er Wash we tu rned left an d head ed for its a lmos t hidden m outh. The road up th e wash is sti ll a p iece of cake to ride. T he trucks from th e Kevstone Mi ne have ta ken a ll th e fu n o u t of th e o ld road . Gone are th e rocks, the h ub deep sa nd a n d th e dry. steep , bik eea ti ng wa terfal l. After a few rides in here I'v e stopped la ki ng mi leages a nd j ust use la ndmar ks. A lilli e pas t the Keystone Mi n e look for a spring and a n o ld ba th tu b ; this is Sourdough Spring. We sto pped and found th e remains o f a large burro the coyotes had h ad a feast o n. We also discovered that th e road u p to th e Myers Ranch is no w gone a nd the route i mpassab le d ue to a nasty Mother Nat ure. We turn ed north a nd head ed for the Death Valley Monument bo undary. Just o u tside th e boundary yo u' ll find a grave wi th its im pressive marker. T h is is th e g ra ve of Ca rl Men gel , a n area m in er for almost 40 years . Back o n the bikes we co nt in ue d north a nd soo n dropped down int o Bulle Val ley . J u st a head is Anvi l Sp ri ng wi th its sto ne ca bin a nd single tr ee. Th e ca bin is sti ll in exce llent shape, but the roof is ge tting a lilli e th in. After a n ice co ffee break we head ed north agai n towards Striped BUlle. T he co lo rf u l butte, said to be of rock 180 10 500 yea rs old, ri ses so me 900 feet from th e va ll ey floo r. Along the way I de toured a li ttl e to the o ld stamp m ill I fo und several years ago ( Cy cle News, J ul y 23, 1980 ). The rui ns I'm h appy 10 say are still the same. We co ntinued towa rds the but te a nd near its base we turned wes t a nd entered Redl an ds Canyon . Afte r a m il e yo u cross an u nseen line and leave Death Va lley Mo nument. Co ntinue west a nd a t 3.6 mi les from Anvi l Sp rin g a side road turns up Woods Ca nyon a nd leads 10 a min e si te. We rode up 10 h ave a look. Men gel h ad a mine here a nd someo ne is still wo rk in g th e area. O nc e Men gel hit it big . findin g so me ore with a n assa y of $7 5,000 per IOn. T he amount was pi tyi ng ly small bu t it wa s th e talk of th e area for some ti m e. Back o n th e main road we ag ai n hea ded west down Redlan ds Canvo n. The two tra ck ver y rocky trai l 'gets worse as it descends bu t it's still fu n 10 ride. It wa s her e th is. writ er m isjudged th e slickn ess of th e ro cks whi le chan g in g lanes and slid into a large bo u lder , ripp in g o ff a foot peg. A well seasone d pi ece of puck er bush jammed between engine case and frame wa s a sa tisfac to ry rep lace me n t. We co nti n ue d a co u p le o f more m il es until a very steep, d ry. rocky wa terfall sto p ped us. One ad ven tu rous rider went do wn. It so u nded lik e a demo lition derby as he ba nged a nd bounced hi s wa y down th rough th e bou lders. H e reported th at arou n d the next turn was a seco nd fall , tw ice as bad . On hi s return it took the three of us , cussin g an d swea ti n g 10 get his big fo ur banger ba ck up the fall. All co nc u r it 's not wort h th e effort 10 go down a n y fu rt h er . On the wa y ba ck to Bulle Va ll ey, the peg breaker dem olished his cha in ten sioner . Same typ e bo u ld er. different location. The res t of th e trip' back 10 camp was thankfull y made wi thout in cident. . Back a t ca m p we became th e victims of a mock straffing ru n by o ne o f th e hot dog p ilo ts from nea rb y Chi na La ke Na val Air Sta tion . I'm used 10 the low -level hi gh speed runs and the dog figh ts th ese g uys p u t on o ver th e dry lak e. But th is hotsh o t p il o t was so lo w I co u ld have h it h im with a n ice cu be from my g im let. It reall y ra ll ied th e br idgework when he went by. . T he ne xt day was set aside to ride a nd ex p lo re as much of the o ld "S hotgu n Road " as we cou ld . Also pl an n ed w.a~ a side tri p fo r a.;e~isi I to "b.t.. ~~..r~ ~~ ~~ ~ • \) HI -PO INT " RED DOT" TIRE S A RE AVA ILABL E AT YOUR HI -POINT RACIN G PRODU CT S DEALER IHI-IJ()INYI I * IIACING * J HI-PO INT RA CIN G PR ODU CTS (East ) 37 09 West Er ie Aven ue. Lora in . Oh io 44053 (We st ) 9604 Oat es Dr ive. Sacr amento. California 95"827 No brag. Fact. 'The Best Go West' T-shirts say it al Please turn to our order blan in the Dealer Directory page and make your statement. (Cana da) Perf orman ce Cycl e & Snow. 91 Ma itland Terr ace. St ra t hroy . Ontar io ~ ~ C'.( 00 O"l ...... ...... C(") ..c u l-< ro ~