40th PVP Pre-Run Weekend

On Thursday afternoon, October 16, Jerry met George Graham & “Rusty” and By & Patty Self & “Bella” at 1:00pm headed to Panamint Valley to set up camp, meeting Bill Martin, who was already there. Wind = no campfire.

Friday, Jerry & Chad Marxsen ran the Defense & Lookout trails, while George, By & Patty, & Bill pre-ran Jail Canyon (a portion of Historic #2) and Defense Mine and Lookout City.

Meanwhile, meeting early, Bob McGowan, Dan Kus, & guest Pat Nelson drove over for the day and pre-ran the Historic #1 trail and the Thompson Canyon portion of the Historic #2. When Mary came into camp, a member of the High Desert 4Wheelers, Robert Wilcoxson & “Max” & “Roxie”, were setting up camp. I joined the afternoon cocktail group, which also included Chad.

Late afternoon, Dirk & Danette Starksen & “Max” from HD4W’s came in, and after dark, Russ Chung & “Lelo” of Jeep Expeditions came in. We had a beautiful day & equally nice evening, where we all gathered together & enjoyed a nice campfire and conversation.

Saturday morning, with the arrival of Stephen Farmer & Chad Marxsen, the group divided up and we pre-ran Pleasant to South Park, Fish & Coyote Canyons, & Upper Jackpot. Again we enjoyed our daily afternoon chats and later had another wonderful campfire.

Sunday morning, again, Chad drove over for the day, and the whole group headed down to Goler to check out the waterfall, which was in fine shape, and we drove on out over Mingle Pass to the Geologist’s Cabin, had lunch, then retraced our steps. We said goodbye to the Starksen’s as they boogied on back to camp ahead of us, to pack up and start their 4 hour trip home.

Leaving the mouth of Goler, the group, minus Russ, took trail around the west side of Panamint Dry Lake, which is now on our list of “Never Again”. We went on into camp, while Russ drove up to Centennial Flat, returning way after dark. The rest of us enjoyed another campfire, & were thrilled when we spotted Russ’s headlights. We packed up the next morning & headed home.