Pictures from "StratoFox 2" trip to Black Rock

Friday, August 22, 2003 - Traveling to Black Rock

On Friday, August 22, we started before sunrise from the Bay Area. Weather was a concern this day but was forecasted to clear out in the afternoon. We saw lightning in the distance all the way from San Jose to our first planned stop in Cordelia. There we put a tarp over the back of my truck since it looked like we'd run into storms before we reached Sacramento. It was thunder and rain all the way over the Sierras, with some heavy hail on the east side of Truckee. Then it stopped raining (or more likely, we left the area where the terrain was enhancing the rain) when we got to Reno. We filled up our tanks in Reno and topped off in Empire.

We encountered some traffic related to the Burning Man event that was setting up over the weekend for a Monday opening. (We planned to be leave Sunday by back roads which wouldn't expose us to risk of head-on collisions with Burning Man attendees trying to pass in their own incoming traffic jam.)

We were finally in the deserted wilderness we came to visit once we got past the 8-mile entrance where the Burning Man people turned off the highway. We entered the playa at the 12-mile entrance and continued north toward Black Rock Point. After 4 attempts to exit the playa at Black Rock Point were thwarted by mud, we gave up on that route and took a different way.

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(1536x1024 2104K) (500x333 31K) Justin Rocha KG6SGU (left) and Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO (right) are the two college students in the group. In this view, they're at the gas station in Reno where we're filling up before entering the deep desert. This picture was one of the first views of the vehicles with the new Stratofox magnetic signs.

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(1536x1024 1853K) (500x333 21K) Approaching the Black Rock Desert playa (lakebed), the setup for the Burning Man event is visible ahead. They're at the 8-mile entrance, which we'll pass by. We'll use the 12-mile entrance to get to our planned camping area far to the north. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)

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(1536x1024 1924K) (500x333 22K) Another drive-by picture of setup for Burning Man. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)

(1536x1024 1730K) (500x333 20K) Another drive-by picture of setup for Burning Man. We're coming for a visit to the wilderness but this event builds a camp (which they call a city) for 30,000 people. Bryan leaned a little further in the window for this shot and got himself in the rear view mirror. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)

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(1536x1024 1904K) (500x333 24K) This our first stop on the playa. This was a chance for Justin and Rafael, who had never been to Black Rock before, to take a look at the flat lakebed. It was also a chance for me to snap a picture.

(1536x1024 2026K) (500x333 26K) Black Rock Point is visible behind us after some failed attempts to reach it have been thwarted by mud. We're considering our next move. The rains have just ended and the path to Black Rock Point is looking like it isn't open right now. Bryan (the navigator and alternate driver in my vehicle) stands outside while everyone else has just stopped and haven't gotten out of their vehicles yet.

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(1536x1024 1874K) (500x333 26K) The mud on my tires in this view is just a sign of things to come.

(1536x1024 1955K) (500x333 22K) Black Rock Point and our muddy tracks from our most recent attempt to get to it.

(1536x1024 2050K) (500x333 28K) The group stops after the nearly-disastrous fourth attempt to find a path to Black Rock Point. We had made it to within 3/4 mile of the playa exit's GPS coordinates. But all of us nearly got stuck in deep mud and standing water at that point. Bryan looks through the binoculars but can't see any open route through the mud. The sky has cleared recently and as the Sun heats the ground, the increasing mirage is obscuring any view if a route is open. People in the picture from left to right are Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO, Sean Lynch KG6CVV, Justin Rocha KG6SGU, Dave Masten KG6FNL and Rafael Skodlar KC6LBJ.

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(1536x1024 2056K) (500x333 28K) We've given up on exiting the playa at Black Rock Point, which would have been our most direct route to were we planned to camp. At this point, we're going to try getting off the playa at Double Hot Springs and taking the Lassen-Applegate pioneer wagon trail (now used as a 4x4 trail) back to Black Rock Point. We've picked up a 4th vehicle in our convoy, a father/son duo from Walnut Creek, CA (coincidentally where Justin is also from) who were also trying to reach Black Rock Point and were turned away by the mud.

Back: Stratofox 2 Up: StratoFox 2 Next: Detour on the Old Lassen-Applegate Trail

(1536x1024 2104K) (500x333 31K)	Justin Rocha KG6SGU (left) and Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO (right) are the two college students in the group. In this view, they're at the gas station in Reno where we're filling up before entering the deep desert. This picture was one of the first views of the vehicles with the new Stratofox magnetic signs.
(1536x1024 1853K) (500x333 21K)	Approaching the Black Rock Desert playa (lakebed), the setup for the Burning Man event is visible ahead. They're at the 8-mile entrance, which we'll pass by. We'll use the 12-mile entrance to get to our planned camping area far to the north. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)
(1536x1024 1924K) (500x333 22K)	Another drive-by picture of setup for Burning Man. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)
(1536x1024 1730K) (500x333 20K)	Another drive-by picture of setup for Burning Man. We're coming for a visit to the wilderness but this event builds a camp (which they call a city) for 30,000 people. Bryan leaned a little further in the window for this shot and got himself in the rear view mirror. (photo by Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO)
(1536x1024 1904K) (500x333 24K)	This our first stop on the playa. This was a chance for Justin and Rafael, who had never been to Black Rock before, to take a look at the flat lakebed. It was also a chance for me to snap a picture.
(1536x1024 2026K) (500x333 26K)	Black Rock Point is visible behind us after some failed attempts to reach it have been thwarted by mud. We're considering our next move. The rains have just ended and the path to Black Rock Point is looking like it isn't open right now. Bryan (the navigator and alternate driver in my vehicle) stands outside while everyone else has just stopped and haven't gotten out of their vehicles yet.
(1536x1024 1874K) (500x333 26K)	The mud on my tires in this view is just a sign of things to come.
(1536x1024 1955K) (500x333 22K)	Black Rock Point and our muddy tracks from our most recent attempt to get to it.
(1536x1024 2050K) (500x333 28K)	The group stops after the nearly-disastrous fourth attempt to find a path to Black Rock Point. We had made it to within 3/4 mile of the playa exit's GPS coordinates. But all of us nearly got stuck in deep mud and standing water at that point. Bryan looks through the binoculars but can't see any open route through the mud. The sky has cleared recently and as the Sun heats the ground, the increasing mirage is obscuring any view if a route is open. People in the picture from left to right are Bryan Klofas KF6ZEO, Sean Lynch KG6CVV, Justin Rocha KG6SGU, Dave Masten KG6FNL and Rafael Skodlar KC6LBJ.
(1536x1024 2056K) (500x333 28K)	We've given up on exiting the playa at Black Rock Point, which would have been our most direct route to were we planned to camp. At this point, we're going to try getting off the playa at Double Hot Springs and taking the Lassen-Applegate pioneer wagon trail (now used as a 4x4 trail) back to Black Rock Point. We've picked up a 4th vehicle in our convoy, a father/son duo from Walnut Creek, CA (coincidentally where Justin is also from) who were also trying to reach Black Rock Point and were turned away by the mud.