Alvord Desert (Apr 2019)

April 25, 2019.

It'd been several weeks since my last trip and as usual that meant I had a bad case of the shakes. Spring is such a frustrating time from an adventure perspective - the weather seems so nice, and yet everywhere interesting is still covered in snow. And, the winter staple - the desert - is getting hot.

You can imagine my delight when a check of the weather showed that the Alvord Desert - a place we'd visited for the first time last October - was going to have weather in the mid-70's. From my perspective, we hadn't spent nearly enough time there exploring the roads; from @mrs.turbodb's point of view: we'd skipped all of the hot springs!

The horror, I know. It was time to go!

...I don't know if anyone actually remembers the last time we visited, but one of the most remarkable things about the Playa is the surreal experience you get when driving on it at high speed. It's so flat, and so vast, that objects in the distance appear stationary while the ground around the truck is flying by. The only reaction I've ever seen to this phenomenon is a big-old-smile, and that's what happened this time as well, as dust kicked up behind us, hanging in the still air - a Taco contrail.

Check out the story and all the photos: Alvord Desert - We Return to Explore (Apr 2019)

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Part 1: Alvord Desert - We Return to Explore (Apr 2019)​

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All your trip reports are killing me. Keep 'em coming @turbodb

 

...I started the engine. I was already in 4Lo, and I also engaged the front and rear lockers, hoping that the passenger tires which were on slightly firmer ground would be enough to pull the truck out.

Nope. More wheel spin. And more sinking. The front wheel was now up just above the center cap and the rear axle was just touching the water.

We were well past "sh*t" at this point on the cuss-o-meter, and the camera was long forgotten. Sorry.

Read and see it all. Find out if we survived in: Alvord Desert 2 - We Don't Want to Pull Anyone Out ​

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keep reading: Alvord Desert 2 - We Don't Want to Pull Anyone Out​

catch up on the whole story: [part 1] [part 2]​

 

...The last few miles passed quickly at this point - we could taste victory. @mrs.turbodb even looked over and said, "Well, it was nice that one of the routes worked out!" And then we crested the last rise. In front of us - we could clearly see - Flook Lake. And not just Flook Lake - we could also see our road disappear directly into the middle of the lake...

What would we do? Read it all in Alvord Desert 3 - Gun-Shy, We Head to Hart Mountain​

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Alvord Desert 3 - Gun-Shy, We Head to Hart Mountain​

catch up on the whole story: [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] ​

 

Rig Review: Alvord Desert - What worked and what didn't?

In this edition: Traction Boards (and other stuff).

Read the Rig Review now​

catch up on the whole story: [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [rig review]

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