Re: Saline Valley from the South
Posted by No-Name Dick on October 09, 2003 at 16:52:34:
In Reply to: Saline Valley from the South posted by danamite on October 07, 2003 at 15:02:35:
On New Year's Eve in 1964, I entered Saline Valley for the first time to go to the springs, which I had never visited. Half-way along the Artesian Well road (now closed), I got stuck in mud all the way up to my axles. I mistook the dried top-layer of a mudhole for smooth pavement. I put up my tent, had dinner and went to bed. Around midnight a vehicle approached which turned out to be a AAA Jeep from the LA Office, driven by AAA employees, who were given permission to use the Jeep to go to the springs. They hauled me out. Being a AAA member I signed a form and thanked them profusely. Just think of the money I saved. I learned of a tow-job by Miller Towing in LOne Pine which cost $ 1,100.00. I was just very lucky indeed. A miracle, never to be repeated. At a minimum carry a shovel, and rope for towing so that others can help you. As a driver in the desert with some forty years experience I have learned that it pays to be very conservative and not to take chances. In an article published in the Butte Valley Bugle titled, "The Luck of the Dutch; Driving in the Desert," I relate other similar miraculous escapes. Incidentally, does anyone know what happened to the Butte Valley Bugle and its editor, "Wild Bill?" I haven't received a copy for some time now.