I'd go that way because it's beautiful. I never have worried about water and
never ran short. Well except for the summer I spent on a hot asphalt project
in Death Valley.

Mike

On 4/19/07 6:26 PM, "Robert Fisher" <refisher@MCHSI.COM> wrote:

> --snip--
>> But this summer I'm planning a trip up 395 along the east side of the
>> Sierra Nevada mountains. That's desert country because the Sierra scrape
>> water out of the air as it passes over them.
> --snip--
>
> Right- and since it is you should probably carry 50%-100% more water than
> you think you'll need just to be approaching the safe side. If the Westy
> tank holds 13 gallons I'd go ahead and fill it (probably somewhere after
> Cajon pass, tho- from what part of sillyville are you coming that you'd go
> that way instead of up the 14?)  I don't have a Westy and I probably carry
> that weight in liquids on trips out of town anyway- you should have enough
> coolant to fully replenish the system one time (which is almost 5 gallons
> right there), plus 2X the human/animal requirement and so on if you're going
> to be doing any extended desert driving.
> If your cooling system is well-maintained and you don't overtax your engine
> I don't really see how that stretch of road is that big of an issue outside
> of a couple of specific areas.
> Having said that, for camping I'd probably take both the water and the means
> to 'make' more. I don't know about your Goldberg device tho... when we want
> water we just carry it, the old fashioned way. Now you're probably gonna
> call me a purist again.
> Anyway, most people that come up here don't seem to understand what an
> average 10% humidity or less can mean to the human body, and proximity to a
> lake or stream doesn't really make any practical difference. One may need to
> consciously make an effort to drink enough liquids to stay hydrated, and as
> they say, if you're getting thirsty you've already let it go too far.
> As for those little towns along the way, many people are surprised when the
> locals want them to pay for water. It isn't the cheap/take it for granted
> commodity in some of those places that it is elsewhere- in fact, when
> California made it a law that filling stations had to provide water to
> paying gas customers I know that several of those remote stations eventually
> closed down because of the cost of compliance.
> I can see wanting to trim weight as general procedure but I think I'd try to
> do it out of optional items rather than out of necessities. Anyway 110
> pounds is a pretty small amount- you could easily get that in variance in
> passenger's body weights, for instance.
>
> Cya,
> Robert