The dry lake run that didn't happen . . .

[C9]

El Dorado Dry Lake S/E of Las Vegas on Hwy 95.

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Turned out to be an interesting day.

Maybe I got there too early . . . hit the lake about 1100 figuring I was late.
Some of the off-road troops I talked to hadn't seen any car's running

Locally, if you don't get your dry lake stuff in early, generally speaking you'll get blown off the lake.

Along those same lines, I drove the "road" across and part way down the lake and saw that most of the lake was way too rough and rocky to run most any car.
Driving the lake was an exercize in patience, idling along in low was almost too fast.

Quite a few erosion ditches criss-cross the lake so all in all my opinion is that this is not a good place to run a fast car at any speed.

What it does need is some rain and flooding of the lake to bring it up to smooth and reasonable.

I'd look around for another dry lake that's a way's out of town.
The 25-30 mile trip to our big dry lake keeps many from getting out there and raising too much hell.

A few pics.
These first two of the 32 on the lake near the north end.



The lake looks smoother than it is by a long way.

A through the windshield view heading down the hill from Boulder City to the dam.
The lake is really low as is the river.


A couple of views of the dam area and turbine intakes.



You can see the construction for the bridge dam bypass in the 2nd pic.
When completed it will be the highest bridge in the US at 1040' above the river.

These last two pics taken at the upper view site on the way home.
Take note of the vehicle on the road.



Fun day.
One of those spur of the moment trips.
Checked the oil in the 32 and took off.

Nice and cool in the morning requiring jacket and gloves.
First stop at the dam, got rid of the jacket & gloves.

Warmer at the dry lake, got rid of the sweatshirt.

After the dam view site stop on the way home, pulled into Rosie's Cafe - a somewhat famous place on Hwy 93 at Mile Marker 28.
Great cheeseburger and cold root beer.

Running home was quick.
Sunday traffic can get to rocking along pretty good on the long desert highways.
Ran 80-85 on the way home and still getting passed.
I did pace one new Vette that was clicking off 90 after he slowed down.
Probably doing a hundred when he went by me.

Ran 70-75 on the way out and got just under 17 mpg.

Not sure what the mileage was on the way home.
I keep track of the mileage out of curiosity on the 32, but on the other cars it's an easy way to tell if the car is running ok.
Drop a few miles per gallon on those and there's usually a probem.

Put about 220 miles on the roadster.
Fun trip.
Solo all the way, but sometimes you just gotta get behind the wheel of a roadster, point er north and take off....

[Bugpac]

Sounds like a lot of fun to me....Excellent pictures and write up...

[Crosley.In.AZ]

sounds good C9.

thanks for the photos.

I put 230 miles on a 1.8 liter flat 6 cylinder today for breakfast.  A good day for me too... 64 to 91 degrees F here

[UGLY OLDS]

Neat photos...Are they putting the bypass south of the dam?? If so, how far south ??

[river1]

Neat photos...Are they putting the bypass south of the dam?? If so, how far south ??

about 1500 feet south of the dam



more info at http://www.hooverdambypass.org/Const_PhotoAlbum.htm

later jim

[UGLY OLDS]

YIKES :!:  :!:  :!:   That bridge is gonna be aways up there       What a place for a flat tire or plugged fuel filter..

[Dave]

Im thinking a couple years and am makin a bike trip there.. Ya ..Sweeeeet. I love high places and to ride the hog over that..
Dave