Titus Canyon and Trouble

Wow, can that wind blow. It was windy yesterday but had calmed down some during the evening. Then about midnight a HUGE gust of wind blew thru the valley, we suspect 40-50 mph, and kept us up most of the night. We eventually had to close all the windows to keep the dust out!

The clouds are thick all around us and the wind is blowing 35-40 mph but no rain so far. We checked at the ranger station about the rain and Titus Canyon and he didn't seem to think we would have much trouble this morning. The road thru Titus Canyon is a one-way road that is gravel, pretty narrow and very winding as well as high. It goes thru a 5250 foot pass.

The beginning of the canyon is across a flat plain then thru rocks that hold fossils and climbs pretty fast. As we are climbing the rain starts falling but not so hard that it causes problems. At times the canyon walls close in on us and then it widens out and opens up somewhat. There used to be a mining town called Leadfield where they mined lead for about 9 months and then it closed down. As we move down Titus Canyon to its eastern entrance, we keep searching for bighorn sheep but don't see any. We stopped for lunch when it started raining harder and then sleeting. We had to travel slower due to slick mud so John geared down the Jeep into low.

The last mile and half is when the canyon is the most narrow. At some points it is only 20 feet across. It is hard to explain how this feels and even harder to express in pictures but we tried.

At the end of the road is a rest area where we pulled off to use the potty. That is when trouble struck. This has been one of our better trips with little or no mechanical problems until now. John had the Jeep in 4-wheel drive low so he put the car in neutral to take it out of low and something snapped! The Jeep is now in neutral and will not go into any gear! We have no cell service, no internet, no nothing!

But luck is on our side. A group of motorcyclist informed us that due to the rain and sleet, a ranger was coming behind them to close down the canyon. When he showed up, he was able to radio another ranger and they called a tow truck for us. An hour and a half later we were being towed back to the RV and the Jeep was going to be towed to a Jeep dealer in Pahrump, Nevada and we were short $600 for the tow.

The wind had not stopped blowing all day. The dust flying up the valley, at times, obscured the mountains on the other side. The RV was one big dust ball and our mat and BBQ table were gone (a friendly neighbor caught them for us) when we returned. There is no way John can cook outside so we went across the street to the bar!