So, this morning, I got bogged down in a few things and didn't go for my early morning hike.
And then Linda got up, and had her two-hour coffee while checking out Facebook. She happened to see that Iain had commented on our prior Crater Lake post and mentioned something about the Sunstone Collection Area. Uh oh.
She quickly learned about sunstones and the Oregon Sunstone Public Collection Area. Since she has suddenly turned into a beachcomber and rockhound in the last few months, she couldn't resist the thought of digging in the desert at a place where we could boondock on BLM land for a couple nights for free.
Last night we had decided to stay at Annie Creek Sno-Park one more night, but around noon today Linda said "Let's go!!".
I plugged in the Oregon Sunstone area on my Google Maps and it said it was about 180 miles. It was east rather than south, so it was going to take us way out of our way, but Linda was pumped up.
The motorhome is so easy, we were ready to go in about ten minutes. I usually research these things thoroughly, but didn't this time. That's called foreshadowing. :)
We needed to get gas, and with our small fresh water tank and holding tanks, we needed to get water and dump. At 112 miles, we stopped at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeview, Oregon. It was right on the way, and they had an easy-access dump station where they charged $5 on the honor system to take on water and dump.
They also had a few water and electric sites for $25/night or you could dry camp on the premises for $5/night.
After that, we filled up the motorhome and the Jeep at the Chevron on the corner of OR 140 and U.S. 395 before turning left on U.S. 395.
While Linda drove, and we had a cell signal, I started digging around a bit to learn about where we were going. I found a website for a mine in the area - Spectrum Sunstone Mine - that allows the public to come and dig through their piles of ore. You get one day for free and can keep anything you find.
Reading through the directions to their place, I realized they recommended a different approach from the south than where Google Maps was taking us. But they offered directions from the north as well, and we were already well past the southern access point going through Plush, Oregon.
We went past the unusual Lake Abert, a remote salt lake that is drying up and scientists aren't sure why. There were lots of birds on the white-brimmed water as we drove by. Sorry about the photos through the bug-spattered windshield.
I kept telling Linda we were okay to come go in from the north, but I was getting a bad feeling.
We turned on Hogback road off of U.S. 395, and I realized the roads Google was trying to take us on didn't even exist. So, we would have to drive 19 miles of dusty gravel road to get to the intersection where the southern route would come in. Hogback road was washboard-y and rough, so we decided to unhitch the Jeep to keep it from getting pounded with rocks.
We had zero cell service, so we had to communicate using our walkie-talkies.
The road wasn't too bad, but we were only able to go 20 -30 mph. It took us an hour to go those 19 miles.
Oh, and a tall plastic glass filled with beach glass shook off of its museum gel base on the countertop and fell over spilling glass all down in our stairwell and nearly giving Linda a heart attack.
At an intersection, there was a large turnout, and I asked Linda if she wanted to call it quits and camp there or keep going. It was a beautiful night, so we kept going.
Ah, but the next road was much worse. We had about 15 miles to get to the BLM parking area, and we could only drive 5 - 10 mph to keep from shaking the motorhome apart. The sun set, it got dark, and Linda was done with that road, ... but there was no place to just pull over. Finally, a little over six miles in, there was a place to turn around at a cattle guard.
We decided we wouldn't put the motorhome through any more torture, and reversed course with the thought of just driving back with the Jeep the next day. We finally got back to the turnout we saw earlier, pulled in, parked, washed the dust off of us and went straight to bed exhausted.
At that point, we were both ready to cut our losses and forget the whole thing, but Linda optimistically thought it would be better in the morning. We certainly weren't going to take the rig back, but maybe we could park it in Plush, gather some more information and re-group.
Well, it got cold and we ran out of propane in the middle of the night. We're supposed to have an eighteen-gallon tank, but when we've gotten low and filled up, it only takes 7 - 8 gallons. So, we thought are gauges must be wrong and we still had plenty for another couple nights of running the furnace, refrigerator, and water heater. Nope.
Linda could hear the refrigerator trying to light without success, and we knew we were out of propane. Sheesh. Maybe Plush would have some.
By morning, it was about 40 degrees in the rig. I just wanted to get the heck out of there and go back to our original plans. We got up, and immediately started the drive toward Plush. We had five more miles of rough gravel road before we reached pavement - hallelujah!
I had seen references to a trading post or some kind of store/gas station in Plush and we hoped it was a decent-sized town. It wasn't. It certainly wasn't plush, and the store was closed and up for sale. There definitely was no propane.
Linda was really bummed. "How come everything I really want to do turns to crap!!" I knew how she felt. A couple months ago, I had booked an off-shore fishing trip and we planned our travels around it only to get the call the day before that it was canceled due to rough seas. I pouted for quite awhile over that, and Linda was feeling the same.
But we both agreed we were glad we came to our senses last night and didn't take the rig all the way back that horrible road. The dread of the return trip coupled with running out of propane may have just done us in.
So, we wasted a day and a lot of gas, but we learned another hard lesson about making sure we know what we're getting into with our home on wheels.
And we have yet another example - wow, there are so many - of what not to do that we can pass along.
We made our way back to Lakeview which bills itself as "The tallest town in Oregon" due to its elevation at 4800 feet. We stopped to fill up with propane, and once again, it only took 7.5 gallons. It should take at least 12 - 14 if it is truly an 18 gallon tank. What's up with that Winnebago? We know propane behaves differently at colder temperatures and elevation, and they only put in about 80% of capacity to allow for expansion, but we shouldn't be off by that much.
After getting propane, we went back to the Lake County Fairgrounds and just parked to gather ourselves for a little while. We hadn't eaten, so we had a late breakfast and Linda had her coffee time. Then we got showers and eventually got back on the road and headed south on U.S. 395 into California.
A week ago, we were just going to go down 395 and visit Death Valley National Park. But with five weeks before we were scheduled to settle in Benson, Arizona for the winter, we decided to go down the west side of the mountains and try to visit at least a couple of the four California National Parks we haven't been to yet and then stop by Death Valley.
So, in Alturas, CA, we picked up CA 299 and went southwest. Plan A was to stop and park at the Pit River Casino in Burney. People have parked in the parking lot in the past, but they have a small RV park now with full hook-ups for $25, so I didn't know if they would let us park out front for free. If they didn't, Plan B was to go another 50 miles to a Walmart on our route. Both these options had been better researched.
At the Pit River Casino, they had one spot left in the RV park, but we just wanted to dry camp. I spoke to the casino manager to see if we could park in the parking lot. He asked "Are you going to gamble or eat? If so, you can stay out there." I told him we probably wouldn't gamble because of the cigarette smoke, but we would definitely get something to eat. He was a good guy and gave us permission to boondock.
We were able to squeeze into center parking spaces without unhitching and parked next to a light pole which protected one of our slideouts. We left the other slide in.
It's just a little slot machine casino with a restaurant, but all the staff was very nice. We went in and had dinner since it was Taco Tuesday and they had tacos ranging from $1 to $2.50. They weren't the best we've ever had, but they exceeded our expectations and the salsa they served with the chips was quite good.
On the way out, Linda played slots for a little while and we ultimately "paid" for our camping. :)
On a sidenote, McArthur-Burney Falls State Park is in Burney and it's worth a visit. Back in 2009 when we were doing a workamping job on Lake Almanor for the summer, we came up and tent-camped for a night at the park. Here's a photo from back then.
There was a full moon and the parking lot lights were very bright, but we have good blackout shades and got it dark inside.
So, that ended our two days of a whim (a sunstone wild goose chase) and a prayer (actually more than one). But it all turned out okay and we're back to .... well, not the original plan, .... but the most recent pre-whim plan. :)
I think its great that you decided to go for it! Sorry it didn't work out but you have a story to tell which is always nice.
Posted by: Tracy Perkins | Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 03:13 PM
Next time propane tank is empty have it purged before filling. Purging is when they put propane gas in the tank instead of liquid...then they release the gas into the atmosphere and hopefully purge any contaminants.
It's not difficult to plumb in an external propane tank...I used an 11 gallon external tank on our Monaco...then you have a backup plan as long as you keep the internal tank full ;)
Posted by: Daniel Crooks | Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 10:27 PM