Death Valley Ride Report, Goler Wash and Pleasant Canyon

[2on2off]

On Thanksgiving weekend I hauled my XR650L out to Death Valley to connect up with some advrider.com riders I had never ridden with before. I have found out there are alot of good riders on that web site and they turned out to be great riders to go exploring Death Valley with.

I am still learning what Death Valley has to offer and appreciated riding with guys who are knowledgeable about the trails in Death Valley.

My mission was to ride "the diffecult section" of the Goler Wash on the Mengel Pass trail and make a determination of how difficult it is riding both east and west on this trail.

I drove to Ridgecrest 11/23/07 Friday night and stayed at what is becoming my favorite hotel, the Comfort Inn. The rooms are clean and nice and they have access to the web in your room, but only one computer at a time.

I am learning that my XR650L is a much better bike to explore Death Valley on than my R1200GSA BMW because it can handle all the rocks, gravel, deep sand and steep trails you will encounter when exploring trails you have never been on before. Once I have taken at least 3 or 4 more trips to Death Valley, I will have a very good idea where I would and wouldn't take my GSA out there.

It is about 210 miles from Reedley to Ridgecrest and takes just under 3 hours when driving via 99 south to 58 east to 14 north and 178 east.

It is about 49 miles to Ballarat from Ridgecrest and it is one of the more scenic drives in Death Valley. I had arranged to meet two riders at Ballarat at 9:00 a.m. and three riders showed up 10 minutes early. The other rider came later and caught up to us in Goler Wash.

You have to drive on a washboard dirt road into Ballerat from highway 178 that takes about 10 minutes and 40 mph seems about right on the washboard.

[2on2off]

There were five of us assembled for this ride. The bike were: Suzuki DR650, Honda XR650L, KTM 640 Adventure, KTM 400EXC dual sported and a Yamaha XR225. All very capable bikes and riders.

We rode 15 miles south on Wingate dirt Road to get to Goler Wash. Because it was a holiday weekend, we had to endure the dust from jeeps and other 4x4's to get to Goler Wash.

Once in Goler Wash, the road becomes a stream and there is lots of loose gravel to navigate which was no problem for any of the bikes or riders in this group.

Scruffy, the KTM 400EXC rider and I took a side road at one of the mines to the top of a ridge that had a great view of Panamint Valley.

It is only about 7 miles from where Goler Wash starts to the Carl Mengel Memorial. This memorial is about 1 or 2 miles past the Death Valley sign which also about the same distance from the Manson Cabin.

Goler Wash canyon is a very narrow canyon with steep walls on either side. The road at the first mine on the right is a worthwhile side trip and the view at the top is worth it.

[2on2off]

From the mine, we headed to Manson's Cabin to take a break. The riders I met had ridden from Panamint Springs so the rider on the KTM640 provided the rider on the KTM400EXC some gas from his huge fuel tank.

After the break, we rode only a few more miles to the Carl Mengel Memorial rock pile. There was a fun, but slippery, hill climb just to the south of the memorial. A few of us climbed it and a few fell down it. No worries though, all these guys are great riders.

A pickup tried to go up the hill but had to back down when he lost traction at the very top of the hill.

[2on2off]

From the top of Mengel Pass you can see Stripped Bute. It is a mountain with stripes. We didn't have time to ride to it but that is on my "to do" list for my next trip to DV.

The "difficult section" is just down the hill from the Carl Mengel Memorial. It is a steep decent with large bolders that are almost impossible to ride up unless you have the skills of a "trials rider", which Scuffy has as he rode his KTM 400EXE up it with no help from any of the other riders. The rest of us needed the help of two people pushing to make it up that section.

Mission accomplished!! I had come all this way to ride this particular section of Mengel Pass and I now knew this was a trail that I can ride west to east with no help but cannot ride without help going east to west.

I also learned that this is a trail I do not want to ride my R1200GSA on either. It was fun on the XR650L but would be nothing but work on the GSA because of the loose gravel, rocks and steep sections that require slipping the clutch in 1st gear.

[2on2off]

At this point in the ride, we turned around and headed back to Ballarat. Going west and then north is easier than riding the way in with the exception of "the difficult section" which I can only ride west to east without help.

We got back to Ballarat about 2:30 p.m. and the rest of the group was going to head to Aguereberry Point and Scruffy recommended Pleasant Canyon as a great place to explore, but he did say to be careful.

He had ridden it a about a year ago and said it was his favorite route in DV.

I said goodby to the rest of the group and headed to Pleasant Canyon solo.

Pleasant Canyon heads east from the Ballarat Store and begins to climb quickly and the road is full of rocks and gravel. I wasn't on the road very long before I found myself in 1st gear, which I stayed in for the next hour.

After one hour I had only gone about 11 miles and it was getting late in the day. I talked to some Jeepers about completing the loop through South Park Canyon and they said they had driven it about a year ago and there wasn't enough beer in California to get them to drive through South Park Canyon again.

Pleasant Canyon is very interesting. You go from dry desolate terrain to lush green streams from one turn to the next. The road turned into a 4" deep river in sections with plant growth that made the trail extremely narrow. At one point, I had to get as far off the trail as possible and lean my bike out of the way so a 4x4 coming down the trail could get by.

I don't know what they do when two 4x4 meet head on on this trail.

[2on2off]

Once I reached the mine, I was about 1/2 the way up the hill. As the road kept climbing I tried 1st and 2nd gear and found 1st worked better because I had to use all my concentration when riding over all the rocks and didn't want to take a fall since I was riding solo in an unfamiliar area.

If I had been on my R1200GSA, it would have been all work and no fun and the GSA just isn't geared low enough for this kind of riding. I had already geared down my XR650L and it wasn't too low for this trail.

Once I reached the pine trees at 6,200 ft. the temp dropped to about 45 degrees and it felt cold. I decided to turn around at this point because it was 3:30 and I was solo. I wanted to give myself plenty of margin to get back to my truck in case something unexpected happened and also because I hadn't seen anyone in over any hour.

On the way back down, I saw one of two cabins that are part of the "adopt a cabin" program in DV. It is a first come first serve basis to use the cabin. The ride back down was fun because I knew what to expect and the views were great.

I don't know what the grade was but I went from 1,000 ft elevation at Ballarat to 6200 ft where I turned around in about 10 miles. It took me about an hour to drive the 10 miles mostly in 1st gear.

[2on2off]

This is my third trip to Death Valley this winter and I feel as though I have just barely scratched the surface as to what there is to see and explore.

The riders I met and rode with from advrider.com were great and very capable.

I have another ride report posted on advrider.com at http://wwwadvrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286396 titled Maly Pass, Goler Wash & Mengle Pass. It is in the Regional section under the West section. Some of the riders have posted videos of us riding through "the difficult section" that give you a much better idea of the difficulty of that section of the trail.

There is such a variety of riding to be done in Death Valley that I may spend most of this winter discovering as much as I can. There are also organized rides as well that everyone is welcome to join in on.

[motorrad]

Originally Posted by 2on2off

I have another ride report posted on advrider.com at http://wwwadvrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286396 titled Maly Pass, Goler Wash & Mengle Pass. It is in the Regional section under the West section. Some of the riders have posted videos of us riding through "the difficult section" that give you a much better idea of the difficulty of that section of the trail.

There is such a variety of riding to be done in Death Valley that I may spend most of this winter discovering as much as I can. There are also organized rides as well that everyone is welcome to join in on.

Jim, another awesome ride, report, and pics. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you had a great group of accomplished riders and some challenging trails. That one rocky, step climb (or decent) section appears particularly, hmmm nasty.

I'll keep my eye out for an organized ride down there on ADV, entry level first to get a feel for the area. Wish I was closer, it's a haul to DV from the central CA coast.

[Bandit66]

Very interesting report and very nice pictures. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it down.
It seems more and more obvious to me that to make it through these trails, the only way is to have a lighter rugged bike. Forget the big DS. Just too heavy and too fragile.
=oSò
Eric

[98Virago1100]

Hi Jim,

I really enjoyed your Death Valley adventures and reports. Thanks so much for sharing with us your past adventures and hope you will to continue to provide us your future journey as well.

Thanks again,
Gery