We left Bishop this morning, heading for Las Vegas. The route our trusted “computer trucker program” calculated for us was a bit different than what we would have selected BUT it said the roads were suitable for large vehicles. We made our way south on Highway 395 to Lone Pine where we picked up CA Highway 136. This wasn’t a bad road at all and it connected us to CA Highway 190. THIS is where the adventure began. As we turned onto Highway 190, we saw the sign – Death Valley, 104 Miles. We figured this would be a relatively easy journey through a part of the country we had never traveled before so there was a real sense of excitement in the truck. We all collected our cameras and videocameras so we could get some great images for our scapbooks.
Bishop was surrounded by some of the largest continguous mountains ranges on the continental U.S. The contrast between the valley and the snow-covered peaks was impressive. As we drove east on Highway 190 toward Death Valley, the scenery started to change dramatically as we climbed in elevation. Spectacular and breath-taking views too difficult to put into words, too grand to try and capture in a photograph, were sprawled out in front of us. We took advantage of every opportunity to pull over and take some pictures. We reached the summit where we made an extended stop to really try and take in our surroundings. And surrounded we were by some of the most majestic mountains we have ever seen!
What did not register in my mind was that we had just climbed many thousands of feet in elevation which means we must now DESCEND many thousands of feet! Death Valley is at 284 feet BELOW sea level! So we had a long drive down these mountains. I realize that some of you reading this are not very familiar with the logistics of driving a large vehicle like ours. We weight approximately 40,000 pounds. That’s a lot of weight pushing you down a mountain at a 8% grade! And the journey down that first mountain range was about 12 miles. I put the truck into a lower gear to help control the speed, especially since the steep road was accentuated by 20mph hairpin curves! About 2/3 of the way down the hill, the brakes on the truck were not working at their optimum potential – I was having a difficult time slowing us down. We pulled off the road (see the picture) and when I put on the emergency brake, it still didn’t hold. I had to put us in first gear and shut down the engine.
As we walked around to the back of the truck, the brakes were smoking! They were so hot which made them much less effective. If I had pushed it anymore, we might not have made that next 20mph curve. With less than four miles to go to reach the bottom of this incline, we were forced to stop for more than an hour to let the brakes cool down.
Several people stopped to make sure we were okay there in the middle of nowhere (cell service was not an option). I asked one couple what the roads ahead of me were like. They responded, “Well, you’ve still got some steep roads ahead of you and then it levels out for awhile…before you start up the next mountain.” One guy passed us and then turned around to come back to make sure we were okay. Turns out, he was an audio tech for Mark Kalin and Jinger, friends of ours who perform a great show in Reno, NV.
Another guy who stopped to check on us was driving a California snow plow – not to remove snow but to remove the boulders that could block the roads from the many rock slides they have out here. He was great and offered up some advice about getting down the next few miles.
When I felt confident that the brakes were going to work, I slowly and reluctantly released the emergency brake and we began the four mile trek to the bottom. I have to confess that I was scared to death! Knowing that the brakes had already given me some trouble and not knowing what was ahead of us made me very nervous. We took a moment, said a prayer and asked for safety and then we were on our way.
Those next four miles weren’t too bad and the brakes held very well. Then we started up the next HUGE mountain. There were all sorts of warning signs for cars like DO NOT OVERHEAT – TURN OFF YOUR AIR CONDITIONER. As we started up the 9% grade taking us to the summit of this mountain, I watched the temperature gague on the truck very closely. It started to rise about 1/2 way up but was still with in the safe zone. When we were less than 1/2 mile from the summit, every warning light on the panel of the truck started blinking and buzzing! Our temperature had risen too high and the oil pressure had dropped too low to maintain speed up the grade. Once again, we were forced to immediately pull as far off the road as possible (there was really no place to go) and secure the truck from rolling. I raised the hood and immediately noticed a problem – the oil pressure had blown the oil dip stick out. Then David called me from the other side of the truck to let me know that coolant was boiling over and out of the reservoir.
As we stood there, not really knowing what to do next, we heard the familiar loud noise of something coming up the mountain. As we turned to look, it was our California snow plow driver! He pulled over to make sure we were okay. I told him we were on our way to Vegas and he just shook his head. This was not the best route to take, which we had surmissed at this point. He told us we had no choice at this point but to continue to the summit – there was no other way to get to Vegas now but this one. He also told us what was ahead for us….this journey had just begun.