Stewie Gets Stuck and Recovered

Friday, May 12

Got word after 8PM from Chris Z.  He'd managed to back Stewie down a narrow forest and accidentally got the left rear tire to slide off the embankment.  There was a small creek with Spring runoff water coursing strongly which made things quite muddy.

Anyways, after many efforts to self-recover, Stewie was still stuck.  The main winch failed initially, Chris Z. would later take it apart and find it basically rust jammed.  Note: the winch was supposed to be sealed against the weather!

The rear winch worked but the synthetic rope broke!  

Chris and Lori couldn't safely use the habitat due to the lean angle of their Overlander; so they ended up sitting by a fire through the night!  The tow truck from Coachnet which had shown up at 1030 PM proved too small for the task.

Saturday, May 13

After getting details from Chris about a different tow truck company's planned arrival later this morning, I did a hasty displacement to their location to provide whatever support I could.  The towing crew (two tow trucks and a flatbed would eventually arrive shortly after Noon (their trailer carrying a skip loader had blown a tire on the way).

This is how things looked when I showed up.

The tow truck used to skip loader to clear away the large amounts of snow on the forest road so that the larger of the two tow truck's they'd brought could get into position.

As you'll see in the video below, attempt #1 failed when the winch cable broke!  Everyone was quite surprised but fortunately no injuries.

A bit later, after more snow clearing, both tow trucks were positioned to pull together for the second attempt.  As you'll see in the video, this time it worked!

Free!

Once free, and everything packed up, we adjourned to the nearby town of Cedarville where we'd spend the night.  Everyone of us was exhausted, the Z's more so after enduring the traumatic event and spending a night out in the open.

Quite disappointing an experience for the Z's.  All Chris' preparations and recovery equipment failed.  Sherpa Winch corroded, synthetic lines more than rated for Stewie's weight snapped even before the winch stalled....had the line held, Chris believes he could have self-recovered.

Uraling to Burning Man

The Burning Man site, that is!

This morning I drove Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol, to the site of the Burning Man Project.

The event is held on the Playa of the Black Rock Desert, where I'm presently boondocking.  Turns out, I'm camping just shy of 4 miles to the east of the site!

More info about Burning Man here:  https://burningman.org/

Obviously, the huge crowds that are drawn for this event later in the summer, would be a non-starter for me.  However, visiting the site to see what it looks like vs what it looks like when "Black Rock City" comes to life is quite acceptable.

The "city" actually showed up on Google Maps' Satellite View and I used it to steer Scarlett to the center of the city.  I wouldn't have found it otherwise, as presently there's no evidence of it having been there!  Kudos to the cleanup crews used by Burning Man organizers!

screenshot from my phone

using google maps

google sourced photo of the city

Scarlett, sitting right where the blue dot

shows the city center in the first pic

source: google

Lori and Chris Z. stopped by to drop off stuff and I fed them lunch before they continued on their way towards Crater Lake in Oregon.

I'll rejoin them again somewhere near Spokane, WA by the end of this month.

Yagi is Back! Now Boondocking on the Black Rock Desert's Playa

Wednesday, May 10

Well, the pickup of Yagi from the mechanic wasn't as smooth as I'd hoped.  Still, by 9AM I had possession once again, paid the bill and was headed towards Tonopah, NV to join up with Chris and Lori Z.

Yagi basically has a new top end for her engine.  Here's some pics of the old parts that were replaced:

You can see where the intake valve that broke off impacted on the piston's face several times and apparently holed it too.

The intake valve broke off from it's holder, basically looks like it sheared off!

The intake valve is well and truly jammed in the head.

I joined up with the Z's later in the afternoon and we had a few shots of Ensign Red Caramel Whiskey to soothe my sorrows.

Thursday, May 11

I woke early as usual, took Yagi for another test ride around the BLM area to the south of the town of Tonopah where I spent the night.  Yagi ran great!

Around 9AM I left the Z's to scout ahead to our next planned boondocking site.  It was in the "playa" or beach of the Black Rock Desert NCA (National Conservation Area).  Same area where the storied Burning Man Festival is hosted annually apparently.

I found the hot springs that had led me to pick this area but no camping allowed within 300 ft of them so I searched for some place nearby.

So I went down the Trego Beach Access road and after dithering for a bit as to whether Uma was too heavy for the sand or not; I did venture out onto the playa/beach and picked a spot close to the access road just in case.

Uma didn't sink too much so it's all good for now

Chris and Lori Z experienced some vibration issues with one of their Overlander's ties.  So they stopped while still in civilization to have it looked at.  Hopefully, it'll be something easy and simple and join me soon on the playa.

Tonight's sunset wasn't too bad:

Uraling in the Valley of Fire State Park

I rode Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig, the five miles or so to the western entrance to the Valley of Fire State Park.

I left the campsite by 7AM so I got to the place before it got crowded.  I still kept encountering the same people at each site but that's not unexpected.

Note to self, if there's ever a next time for this park, and you're there early enough, go to the Fire Wave first!  It's apparently quite popular so this way you beat the crowds.

Elephant Rock (meh) near the western entrance

The Seven Sisters, again meh, but worth a stop if you're picnic'ing I suppose.

Nice little access road crossing massive rock formations.  You take this road to get to Mouse's Tank:

Mouse's Tank, on the other hand, proved lacking.  It's apparently a .75 mile there and back trail, felt longer and the disappointing end didn't help.

Mouse's Tank

Across the highway from the stop for Mouse's Tank, there's some picnic benches.  I checked out the area behind the benches and found a neat rock formation which I'll call the Sunburst:

A view of rock formations from Parking Lot 1 enroute to Parking Lot #3 where one can begin the trail to the Fire Wave.  There is no stopping allowed for the four mile stretch before spot #1 and beyond spot #3.  Too bad.

From Parking Lot #3, you walk about .75 miles (1.5 mile there and back) to the Fire Wave.  The light of the nearly Noon sun had quite the flattening effect on the swirls of the rock that form the wave:

The Wave?

Near Rainbow Vista

I stopped at the sweeping curve near the Visitor Center (meh) and got a shot of their "Balancing Rock".  Perhaps I'm jaded from having seen other Balancing Rocks elsewhere...

There were many more cars and people than earlier so it was time for me to exit the park and return to the campsite.

I spent the afternoon reading a book outside the VRRV as the winds steadily became stronger and stronger.  I did go into town briefly to get gas for Scarlett and rubber seals to fix a slight leak in the kitchen faucets in the VRRV.

Got a call near 5PM, the mechanic said they're close to fixing up Yagi and should be done by 10AM tomorrow.  We shall see.  I'll probably displace to Henderson in the morning and prepare the VRRV for further travels as I await receipt of Yagi.

I doubt I'll return to this park.  It looked so promising but ... meh.