Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Death Valley
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 10:49 am
The sign to Death Valley registered 113* in the shade at 2:20 PM, which means that I was gyped this year, a veritable cold front, icy gales of desert dust devils:
Not one to complain, I soldiered bravely onwards to the sign promising something more to my liking, Furnace Creek, only 53 miles:
This is as low as you can get on the Panamint Valley floor, we're looking east up the hill:
Looking back:
Looking further up the hill:
Looking back further up the hill, yes, but look at how gorgeous it is above the outside rear view mirror:
You can see the road that leads up to Father Crowley Viewpoint where I photographed both the BobD and Chloe on the edge of the world. This year I came in pretty much in the middle of the sandy floor where the sign said 53 miles outta here whichever way you choose:
I don't know about you, but a view such as this, makes me think of exhaust valves . . . not. The engine had a fine day of puttering around:
Here's the Uphill Clip:
Every time I pass through Death Valley, some new spot goes all other-worldly on me and makes me giddy where I want to hug all of the planets:
You must remember to congratulate me for providing you nice pictures of what looks like barren beauty, because today's Death Valley traverse actually landed on some international race where there were cooling stops and support cars and an endless parade of walkers, joggers, and umbrellas and water bottles. I won't tell you that I was non-plussed or anything so crass in the great beauty surrounding me, but I sure was pissed off:
At Towne Pass
(4956 ft from 238 below seal level for a total climb of 5,194 feet), I dodged the traffic to go check temperatures back at the engine. Everything was FINE:
Heat riser :
(now you know why they have those silly gaskets and covers at the tins)
Left valve cover:
Distributor:
Favorite Spot On The Crankcase For Oil Temp Estimation:
Tires were 137* front and 143* rear, these Eureka Maxxis tires had no idea what was coming . . .
Here, we are descending into the real Death Valley.
The uh-oh Downhill Clip
It warmed up, barely, to a punk 115* in the shade, but the pavement was a more respectable 149 1/2 degrees farenheit:
The 2015 It Actually Is Kinda Hot shot at 3:56 PM, just after I bailed off CA 190 and slow-tailed up the hill towards Beatty NV to escape the traffic, carscarscars, the walking, jogging, chatting, wandering-onto-the-pavement packs o'people, the stupid big ugly Ford Transit vans stopped in every pull-out that was worth a photograph, me cranky:
As I left the hordes of humans, I regained the day. Chloe hit 407* max this year, did most of the hills at 403* and I must say, the engine compartment was as hot as I have ever felt:
Death Valley
Not one to complain, I soldiered bravely onwards to the sign promising something more to my liking, Furnace Creek, only 53 miles:
This is as low as you can get on the Panamint Valley floor, we're looking east up the hill:
Looking back:
Looking further up the hill:
Looking back further up the hill, yes, but look at how gorgeous it is above the outside rear view mirror:
You can see the road that leads up to Father Crowley Viewpoint where I photographed both the BobD and Chloe on the edge of the world. This year I came in pretty much in the middle of the sandy floor where the sign said 53 miles outta here whichever way you choose:
I don't know about you, but a view such as this, makes me think of exhaust valves . . . not. The engine had a fine day of puttering around:
Here's the Uphill Clip:
Every time I pass through Death Valley, some new spot goes all other-worldly on me and makes me giddy where I want to hug all of the planets:
You must remember to congratulate me for providing you nice pictures of what looks like barren beauty, because today's Death Valley traverse actually landed on some international race where there were cooling stops and support cars and an endless parade of walkers, joggers, and umbrellas and water bottles. I won't tell you that I was non-plussed or anything so crass in the great beauty surrounding me, but I sure was pissed off:
At Towne Pass
(4956 ft from 238 below seal level for a total climb of 5,194 feet), I dodged the traffic to go check temperatures back at the engine. Everything was FINE:
Heat riser :
(now you know why they have those silly gaskets and covers at the tins)
Left valve cover:
Distributor:
Favorite Spot On The Crankcase For Oil Temp Estimation:
Tires were 137* front and 143* rear, these Eureka Maxxis tires had no idea what was coming . . .
Here, we are descending into the real Death Valley.
The uh-oh Downhill Clip
It warmed up, barely, to a punk 115* in the shade, but the pavement was a more respectable 149 1/2 degrees farenheit:
The 2015 It Actually Is Kinda Hot shot at 3:56 PM, just after I bailed off CA 190 and slow-tailed up the hill towards Beatty NV to escape the traffic, carscarscars, the walking, jogging, chatting, wandering-onto-the-pavement packs o'people, the stupid big ugly Ford Transit vans stopped in every pull-out that was worth a photograph, me cranky:
As I left the hordes of humans, I regained the day. Chloe hit 407* max this year, did most of the hills at 403* and I must say, the engine compartment was as hot as I have ever felt:
Death Valley
