By Jesse "Babyface" May

The trip started on Friday the 5th. The monster trailer and the little Jeep made it to the starting point that evening with the Delp's by the stated time of 7:00 p.m. at the Mobil station/Ralphs. A total of 4 vehicles which where

1) May's - Jeep and BIG trailer and the bird.
2) Delp's - Jeep and tent trailer.
3) Haywood's - sami, friend and the dog.
4) Lamont's - Truck and Jeep and dog.

The group left there about 7:15/7:20 and finally made it to McDonalds by 8:30 (and of course the BIG trailer was last). There we collected 3 more vehicles

5) Lesher's - Motor Home and Amigo
6) Shrock's - Jeep (me jeep) and tent trailer and the two dogs
7) Karp's - Jeep and tent trailer.

We left McDonalds about 8:45 and made it to the camp site about 12:00 a.m. where,

8) Scholer's - had started to set up camp with dog trying to help.

Morning came early - so after breakfast we headed to Ballarat for a very short break and then on to South Park canyon trail. This is where we had our first breakdown. Marla's vehicle would not go into 4 wheel drive. We tried several things but no avail. So they turned around and had their fun for the day somewhere else as the rest of the group charged on up the canyon. We made it to the mining camp at the east end of South Park and had lunch there.

After lunch we left there and headed for Middle Park and to the pass between Pleasant Canyon and Death Valley. During the crossing of Middle Park we warned the Lamont's about MASS amounts of dust and instructed them to make sure the windows are all zipped up, that still didn't help them... they were covered with LOTS of dust!!!

After a short visit at the pass we headed down Pleasant Canyon. About a mile before Clear Camp Robert S. felt something wrong with the front end of his vehicle. So we stopped and found out that he lost a nut from the axle sway/load bar. Tools and ingenuity came into play to find a way to stop the bolt from backing out of the hole. Note: Two hose clamps and A LOT of duct tape was the final resolution.

We made it all the way down to Ballarat for a short stop then back to camp. This is when we found out that the Haywood party had not returned to camp. So about 2 hours later we (Jesse and the Shrock's) decided to make sure the Haywood's were not still on the trail. So we made a mad dash to the South Park Canyon trail.

We made it to the turn around point and did not find them, so we at least know they were having fun somewhere else and not on the trail stuck!.

On the way out we (Jesse and Shrock's) stopped at the lookout area on the South Park trail looking at Panamint Valley and trying to find comp in the way beyond. That is when we found out that the Haywood party made it back at camp via CB. (Camp was 12 air miles away according to the GPS).

Not much of a camp fire, the wind was blowing.... Sunday morning rolled around early again. It was decided that the group wanted to go see the Manson hideout. I had a major concern about gas now. So thanks to Walt I got about 2 gallons of gas from his motor home before we headed out.

This time we had two groups the Haywood group and the rest. The rest went through Goller wash and tried to get lost trying to find Manson hideout. The only problem with Goller wash is they graveled the whole road. So the water falls at the entrance of the canyon where easy ramps of dirt and small rocks! The GPS unit and the map can get us close, but with the help from Gary, he showed us the correct way to the ranch. Gary also showed us a different route around the lake bed on the way back to camp.

Time to break camp and head home. The group let me go first due to my size and speed. When we finally hit the main road to Trona it started to rain on us and then I ran out of gas. With the help from Walt and Gary. Walt disconnected the Amigo and we headed into Trona with Gary's gas can. We returned, filled the Jeep, and the rest of the trip home was uneventful.

The trip was a blast... and Thanks again Walt and Gary!

Jesse E. May 

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