Think we're joking about the cold? Check this: It froze in the cab of the Jeep while we were driving with the heat on full blast.
And explain this! This was a new sixer stashed legally in the bed during the trip. When we pulled it out at a hotel (sorry, no camping this night) we found two of 'em frozen near solid and the other four not frozen, but mighty refreshing.
In Wyoming we drove several hours into desolation and snow-covered roads in the quest for a cliff face that had been researched in the '50s by Dr. Troy Pewe in his studies of permafrost. Chances are we never hit the exact spot, but in our minds, the tribute was there.
Across the Nevada border we came to a T in the road and an abandoned hot springs resort steaming in the snow. A little pioneering led us to an even cooler gully of abandoned cars, not one of 'em newer than '57. Pillage? Never.
Here's the reason to take the backroads and byways everywhere: just plain neat old stuff. And we mean the real backroads, not lame touristy stuff like Route 66. Just take the side roads through the little towns instead of the main drag. If you can't be on dirt you might as well be having fun anyway.
We were saved from ourselves a half hour later by the speck of a beautiful long-lost town of Modena, Utah, and a sole gas pump. It was founded in 1899, and so were the guys at the counter of the post office and social center who never flinched as we bought a few gallons of liquid gold and took in the ambiance.
Passing into Utah's forgotten byroads, we sought the most desolate gas station and the crustiest local on hand and pimped him for directions to anywhere south or west on dirt, and lots of it, thanks. "Ya better have some vehicle to get past those mud holes...," but he set us straight. A hundred miles later, at the halfway point between near death and true death, we found this evidence of man. But the tank was on empty.
Finally it was back to our homelands at Johnson Valley, where we found a new trail and some killer obstacles. Finally some warmth, but not too much. Our Swampers were worn, we had two tickets to show for it, and we'd blown about $200 at pawn shops and managed to blow out a second front U-joint. Whatever. It's better than working.