Message posted by Hank on June 07, 2006 at 15:56:16 PST:
On my way to Rachel on Monday I decided to do some exploring at the base of Bald Mountain. At mile marker 22 1/2 I turned south to go to Bald Mountain. About 3/4 of the way in I had to stop for some cows and steam was coming from under the hood.The lower radiator hose decided it didn't want to work anymore. Lucky I had a replacement and 8 gallons of water. As I was sitting there waiting for it to cool down so I could touch it I started to think if I had to hike out. (say 25 or more miles) what would i do. I had enough food and water for about three days but my concern was how do you carry enough water to walk 20 or more miles in the desert. I always have a small pack but not big enough to carry the required amount of water. Their is an item that you all may know about called a Camelback ( I knew about it but never owned one). Its a backpack that's made to carry water. Went to REI and now am the proud owner of a Camelback that carries 100 oz. of water. In the summer its questionable how much water an individual would need to cover 20 miles in the desert. I would think that for myself 100oz. wouldn't be enough but couple that with another pack with food and water it might be ok.
Just a suggestion.
After some repair work I continued on looking for the border and the possibility of finding a gate that is rumored to be in area. About 5 or 6 miles from where I blew the hose someone had taken an old pickup and removed the wheels and blocked the road (see pics).I don't know how long its been there or why. I talked to F150 in Rachel and he was on that road about two years ago and it wasn't there then. Ill try a different route next trip.
Yesterday I was at Nellis with Jim Bob taking pics of Weapons School Recovery. ( see pics ) Very active. If you can get to one of these its well worth the time. Very similar to Red Flag. To give you an idea of the liquid one consumes in the desert It was 107 in Vegas with no clouds and from about 1:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon I drank 5 16oz bottles of water and a 32oz. Gatorade.
The pics are in two seperate albums
Hank
http://community.webshots.com/user/hanks167
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