The following morning we suited up again and rode back thru the Valley to Lone Pine, CA to use as our staging town for the next two nights. Because this is the most desirable time of year for tourist to visit Death Valley, accommodations in the Valley itself were impossible to get! However, riding into the Valley, thru it, and out of it every day certainly contributed to the number of scenic miles we rode over those three days, 830 miles to be exact! Very enjoyable miles they were indeed, every single one of ‘em.

As an example, this is on the approach to the Valley from the Beatty eastern - side. I was riding last in the group so when I saw this scene I just stopped, parked the bike, got out my camera, and took this shot. I knew the other guys were going to be stopping at an intersection a few miles down the road and I could catch up with them there.

At that intersection, we turned north and went up to Scotty’s Castle, and therein lays a tale. Mark Twain defined a gold mine as a hole in the ground with a liar at the top, and he could easily have been talking about Death Valley Scotty. Scotty’s favorite game was finding wealthy backers for his “secret gold mine” in the Valley, and he hooked a live one, in the 1920’s, in Albert Johnson, a Chicago insurance magnate. Johnson built the castle, but, being a quiet man, let Scotty go his flamboyant way and claim the castle was his own. Scotty always claimed the money to build it came from his secret gold mine and in a way, it did.

Back to the second picture. Of the five riders, three had strictly street bikes and two of us had machines capable of some good-to-poor gravel road riding. Bob and I split off from the other three and took a 20-mile trail that went thru and around the semi-ghost town of Darwin. I unfortunately failed to write down statistics from a descriptive plaque near this site, but from the 1870’s until the 1970’s the area produced thousands of oz’s of silver and MILLIONS of pounds of lead and zinc. Notice the odd, twisted rock formations in the background, evidence of earthquake activity and uplifting. Those nearly vertical rock layers were once horizontal undersea sediment and volcanic ash and lava.

This leads me nicely into the this picture of two of our riders, the aforementioned Bob on the right, and Paul, a very experienced road racer on the left. We are at 5,475’ Dante’s View overlooking the Valley. The plaque there said that the mountains visible across the Valley, the Panamint Mountain Range are slowing tilting in this direction, causing the valley between them and the mountains, we are viewing from to drop, and that is what caused Death Valley. Earthquakes are common here. The lowest point in the United States is just about directly below this viewpoint: Badwater, at 282’ below sea level.  Summer temperatures there are in the 130-degree range. Unbelievably, larvae insects, algae, and tiny water beetles live in that “badwater”; life is definitely tenacious and determined.

Incidentally, the highest point in the contiguous 48 states, 14,494’ Mt. Whitney, is just out of sight behind the Panamint Range. Therefore, the highest and the lowest points in the 48 states are about 75 miles apart. California unquestionably has some fascinating geologic features and attractions.  

An interesting bit of personal information on the two riders pictured: Bob is from Michigan, spent four years in the USAF, works in a high-tech industry, and has crashed his Ducati road-race motorcycle, on tracks, at least twice, at over 100 miles an hour and escaped serious injury both times. Then, a couple years ago, he crashed hard on a twisty mountain road near Santa Rosa, CA and broke his collarbone so bad they had to put in a long, stainless steel pin to hold it together while it mended. Paul, from Ohio, is an ex-marine who served as an artillery FO in Vietnam and likes track days and speed. He crashed hard, also a couple of years ago and on a public road, and broke his ankle, wrist, and parts of his knee. He had gone fast into a blind curve and then could not avoid a big pothole in his line. He told me, “one second I was riding the motorcycle and the next second it was riding me.”

My knowledge of their “need for speed” and how these guys ride is the reason I used one of those gadgets that prints on a strip of plastic tape and made a little sign to put over the speedometer of my bike.  It reads, “THERE IS NO HURRY!!” At my age, I do not bounce anymore; I just go “splat!”

Nevertheless, even with that sage advice, on the return from the castle, we took roads out of, and around the north of, the Park.  Hwy’s 266 and 168, totaling about 85 miles, go over three passes at 7,400’, 6,374’, and 7,271’ and are so little used it was as if they were reserved that day for our personal riding pleasure. They are very curvy for long stretches, with great scenery and rolling dips that we could almost get airborne over. I had my BMW F650cc Dakar at 90mph several sustained times, the fastest I’ve ever ridden that bike, and it performed beautifully. OK, OK, so occasionally there IS a hurry, or “need for speed!”

This picture is along a very colorful loop called, “Artists Drive” just north of the Badwater site. This area is primarily old lakebeds, alluvial fans, lava flows, and volcanic ash deposits that have weathered and eroded the landscape.  Actually, there are so many colorful places along this three or 4-mile drive that it was a difficult task trying to decide which of the pictures to include in this story.

This picture was taken just outside of the Artist Drive loop at an unusual rock. If you look closely, you will see my old, gray head perched on top of the rock.

OK, pardon me for rambling on and on but this was a memorable ride, in perfect weather, with fine companions, and my enthusiasm is impossible to contain so I will not even try!

I sincerely wish you similar trips on 2Wheels with good friends.

Wayne Bonkosky

2WheelTimes.com wants to spend a big "Thank You" out to Wayne for this fine story about Death Valley Dual Sporting! Thanks again Wayne and we look forward to your next story... Editor