Trip Report - Desert Running and Wheeling to the Newfoundland Range

"PilotMan" (Pilotman)
09/17/2014 at 16:07 • Filed to: None

The west side of the Great Salt Lake is an ancient horrible place. At the bottom of the Great Basin you’ll find geography dominated by salt, mud, and abandoned enterprises. If you enjoy abandoned vehicles and machinery, it is the place for you. The area is dominated by military proving grounds, full of craters, burned out tanks, trucks, mines, and abandoned vehicles that were not worth getting unstuck out of the mud. The area is scary as hell if you stop to think about what can happen three hours and a couple hundred miles away from help. It’s a whole lot like death valley but without the heat or a highway running through it.

I took our new/used Ram 1500 and loaded it up with gear, tools, tire kits, and a lot of water. I told a few friends where I would be going and told them when to send help. I loaded up the kids and my wife and we set out.

Everything went great without any issues. The truck performed very well compared to a couple XJs I’ve owned. The truck was fast with 400 ft-Ib of torque while the multilink coil spring rear suspension kept the power on the dirt and the trail. I was even surprised at how much travel I had with the stock front independent suspension. The truck was smooth through all of it, only hitting the bump stop once. A Raptor wouldn’t have been any different other than getting a whole lot more desert pin stripping. The truck ended up climbing through some really bad, washed-out desert washes and mountain trails filled with sand and boulders. The truck did surprisingly great for a stock vehicle. Here are some of the cool things I took pics of.

DISCUSSION (15)

Brian, The Life of > PilotMan
09/17/2014 at 16:14

Kinja'd!!!

Not SOON :(

PilotMan > Brian, The Life of
09/17/2014 at 16:19

poor van, someone needs to rescue it but I have not idea how you would get it out of there. The road had washed out decades before.

Brian, The Life of > PilotMan
09/17/2014 at 16:23

Maybe they shouldn't? In a lot of ways it's good that this slowly oxidizing collection is where it is. They are a visual treat for those who go see them or those of us who get to see their photos. This lede image and the dump truck are both amazing :)