Yo! I ride through the valley in the shadow of death

Mon, 05 Jun 2000 19:00:00 +0000

At the top of Lippincott Mine Road, I encounter a warning sign. "CAUTION," it advises. "Not recommended for vehicle travel. Route not maintained. Washouts and cutbanks ahead. No tow services available. Experienced drivers using 4x4 high-clearance vehicles only."

Beneath these admonitions, independent travelers have scrawled their own impromptu commentary. "It's true," one confirmed the previous October. "Total washout 2.1 miles."

"Ford Explorer got stuck but our 4Runner pulled him out," another survivor reported in December. "One casualty."

"Death to Explorers," added another agitator in April. Then, to the point of my purpose: "A challenge to MTBs."

At the moment, I happen to be straddling an MTB -- a mountain bike that I intend to ride down Lippincott Mine Road.

Apparently I'm in a land of legend. Lippincott Mine Road connects the "Racetrack" -- a folklore-laden dry lake in Death Valley National Park -- with the floor of Saline Valley, an equally fabled desert basin in which nudist squatters rule the roost and people occasionally disappear. For years I've been curious about this route, which, in only three miles as the raven dives, descends 2,000 tortuous feet through a canyon rife with hairpins and drop-offs. It's not that I'm overly inclined toward daredevil comportment in my car, but I think it might be just the thing for a bike.

Salon.com > David Darlington

Yo! I ride through the valley in the shadow of death