#Death approaches better skedaddle full

It connected the Mexico-California border to the northern end of Owens Valley, hugging Nevada and diving in and out of Death Valley National Park. When the route dropped last Fall, we were impressed. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but it really didn’t occur to me that a backcountry route could be assembled across this fine state. I heard word of legendary moto ranches dotting the inland empire and infamous desert races like the Mint 400 immortalized by Hunter S.

#Death approaches better skedaddle full

The California I knew was full of people, roads, cars, and governed by extremely strict land-use regulations. Knowing that great moto terrain and urban areas are usually inversely correlated, I was quite curious when our friends at Backcountry Discover Routes announced the Southern California BDR. We encountered more cows than people while crossing the whole darn country on the Transamerica Trail. We stood adopt the rim of the Grand Canyon with nary a tourist sullying our views. I crossed the majority of western Colorado with nothing but the hum of my engine to keep me company.

We found nothing but abandoned mines in the Jalisco hills. We crossed the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir mountains in Baja without encountering a soul. The Backcountry Discovery Route gets civilizedĬivilization as I define it has been largely absent from previous big moto trips.