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The next day (Saturday morning) I set out on an adventure ride through the Panamint Range and Death Valley to Beatty. It was a comfortable 50 F at 9:40 AM when I started out.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
The ride out traverses Spangler Hills, and there are many options. The easiest is a sandy two track, or you can pick and choose hills. I went over a few easy climbs on my way northeast to warm up.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
Since I was by myself and wouldn’t be slowing anyone down I decided to do a little exploring. The route to Death Valley goes through Goler Wash, but the route there from Spangler Hills has to skirt around a huge semi-dry lake via the Ballarat ghost town. I found there was a short cut through the Slate Range that cuts off 20 miles of tarmac and flat trails. However, the short cut uses the Isham Trail, which is a tough rock crawler route. I decided to check it out to see if it was possible on a dual sport.
Here is a pic of the Isham trail entrance in the Slate Range:
Rides: KLR650, KX250
The Isham Trail I would say qualifies as a hard enduro trail. After the first half mile or so there was an obstacle roughly every 50 yards. This is the first obstacle, which was the easiest:
Rides: KLR650, KX250
This is the view looking back after the second obstacle, which was tougher, with big rocks and loose sand:
Rides: KLR650, KX250
I didn’t count the number of obstacles I cleared on the Isham Trail, I think it was about 10. Then the trail won when I reached this obstacle. It was a near vertical rock wall with no run up – rocks were blocking the best lines up. I rode back down, backtracked to Trona to top off my tank, then took the long way around via Ballarat. I didn’t take any more pics on Saturday as the batteries died on my cheap camera.
The Isham Trail would be pretty fun to try with an enduro bike. There are plenty of YouTube videos of the Isham Trail with rock crawlers, here is one: Isham Trail Rock Crawlers
BTW: if you look at the 9:00 minute mark in the video above you can see a Jeep making it over the obstacle where I turned back. You get a better view of it in the video than from my picture.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
I stayed Saturday night at the luxurious El Portal in Beatty. Although it was about 15 degrees warmer where I was riding than in Reno, it was still in the mid-30s at night and not real comfortable sleeping in a tent. In the future for winter riding – even in SoCal – I think I will plan to spend the money and grab a hotel. When I got going on Sunday morning there was no frost on my bike and temps were in the high 40s.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
Since I was running out of daylight on Saturday after exploring the Isham Trail I did not have time to check out Chloride Canyon on my way to Beatty. I was planning to return to Death Valley via Titus Canyon, but I decided to check out the route back via Chloride Canyon instead. It took a little while to find the right trail; the one I had mapped had some gates and disused trail. I discovered the better way into Chloride Canyon was via a dirt road across the highway from the Rhyolite ghost town. This is the turnoff from Death Valley Road – that’s Rhyolite in the distance.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
Here is the road that connects to Chloride Canyon (I think it is called Well No. 4 Road):
Rides: KLR650, KX250
Well No. 4 Road connects to Chloride Cliff Road. Here is where Chloride Cliff Road enters DV:
Rides: KLR650, KX250
Chloride Cliff Road is great in DV – pretty smooth and fast. This is definitely a nice choice for getting into DV from Beatty. There is a mile or so of rocky trails near the summit that would be tough on an adventure bike, though.
Rides: KLR650, KX250
From the summit of Chloride Cliff Road you can get a good view of Telescope Peak on the other side of DV. I met a girl on a mountain bike who rode all the way up here from the CA side – love to see those adventurous ladies out on the trail!
Rides: KLR650, KX250
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