Every truck needs a proving ground. Mine found it in Death Valley. I'd owned the 2017 Tacoma TRD Off-Road for about a month, stock everything except the tires, and this was its first real test. Three hours from Orange County, pulled over at the general store in Trona, stretching legs and topping off fuel, the desert already felt like a different planet.
North of Trona, the pavement gives way to dirt and the scenery shifts fast. Flat alkali desert scattered with volcanic rock, the Panamints rising in the distance like a wall. Somewhere between Isham Canyon and Manly Pass, we stopped to check maps and take in the silence. No cell signal, no traffic, just wind.
Just a little further in, the road turns super rough as you drive over tons of small volcanic rock. The going turned super slow here and it was not comfortable at all. At the end of Fish Canyon, we stay right (heading mostly south) to drive around the lake bed and then turn due east into Gohler Wash.
Between Newman's Cabin and Barker Ranch, we ran into a lot of wildlife. We saw a group of burros and a group of big horn sheep. I'd share a picture of either group of wildlife, but the truth is that both animals have an uncanny ability to blend into the environment, so my photos are almost worthless. Perhaps if I were a professional nature photographer, I'd have something worth sharing!
There isn't much left of Barker Ranch. A fire gutted the main cabin in 2009, leaving only the foundation and a few stone walls baking in the sun. I'd been binging the Young Charlie podcast by Hollywood & Crime the entire drive out, and standing on the same dirt where the story played out made the hair on my neck stand up a little. We spent a while trying to figure out which corner of the foundation used to be the bathroom, the one with the cabinet Manson was found hiding in. It's the kind of place where you're glad you have company.
After we got our fill walking around the barren ranch, we headed to Mengel Pass.
The road to this point was rough. My bone-stock Tacoma definitely put the skid plate to good use, and we made it through several rock gardens. Past the pile of rocks at the crest, we didn't know exactly what the road ahead looked like, but we knew there was a cabin down the other side and a cabin would be our preference for sleeping this first night. At first glance, the road looked passable, so I went for it.
Passable, maybe. But the further I crept around the bend, the less I liked what I was looking at. I radioed back that we probably didn't want to commit to this and started backing out. That's when it got interesting. The truck started listing to one side and I got very aware of how stock my suspension was. After some careful wheel placement and probably more luck than skill, I was back on solid ground and we all turned around towards the Lotus Mine.
Back at the Lotus Mine, we called it. The Jeeps tucked into their spots, drawers open, and I hunted for the next flattest patch of ground to throw up my tent. It had been a day spent almost entirely behind the wheel. Threading rock gardens, tiptoeing past drop-offs, watching the desert change from flat nothing to towering canyon walls. We ate dinner around a fire and talked until the cold won. Lucy curled up in her spot before any of us had the good sense to do the same.
