23-Oct-2001 -- Do NOT approach this confluence from the West. You have been warned. Now if only WE had been warned...

On the morning of October 23^rd we left to run down to Michelle's borther Joel's place to pick up some stuff. On the way, maybe we could visit a confluence.

We should have seen it coming when the GPS died.

Putting new batteries in the GPS didn't help. So we stopped by to pick up a new GPS. On we forged.

Our first attempt involved leaving the highway at 42.09936°N 116.13034°W, which was DEFINITELY only navigable in a very high clearance vehicle. Alas, about the time we reached the first fence, the road deteriorated to the point that we decided to try another route.

Remembering that the maps showed another "road" taking off from behind the rodeo grounds, we found it (41.982°N 116.108°W) and headed up. Since this wasn't the planned route, we didn't have coordinates and directions of the intersections, so we had to navigate by memory and the seat of the pants. This road was also NOT for the faint-of-heart. After clawing our way over the mountain, we eventually conquered the confluence, at an elevation of 7421 feet (something like 2300 meters)!

Shortly before we got to the point, we saw a southbound road with culverts over a ditch. This indicated to us that it might be a better road. Again navigating by dead-reckoning, we came out at 41°55'N 116°03.58'W. This road is also not for normal passenger cars -- we crossed a creek a few times, and some impressive bumps, but it was MUCH better than our incoming roads.

Now that we were back to the highway, we were on our way... or so we thought. Getting the truck over 30 MPH revealed a rather disturbing development. Apparently at least one of the painful moments on the way up did some major damage underneath, including a bent driveshaft. So we limped about 90 miles into Elko, Nevada at 30 MPH. It turned out a few other parts failed after the beating that night, so it ended up taking about $500 in repairs to get us on the road again.

We never made it to Joel's, but we had a lot of fun on the mountain. Does that indicate mental problems?

Batteries for GPS:	$2.99
New GPS, when batteries don't help old one:	$103.00
New driveline:	$195.42
Driveline labor:	$45.00
New fuel pump:	$38.28
Fuel pump labor:	$80.00
New tire:	$113.00
Hotel while repairing truck:	$130.00
View from confluence:	Priceless