On 27 December
1997, 4 alumni of Gonzo Unicycle Madness made history by becoming the
first group of people to unicycle at Badwater, Death Valley, the
lowest above-ground location in the Western Hemisphere. Amelia & Jim
Frinier, Jennie Hango, and Cliff McCarthy also likely hold the record
for the lowest unicycle ride -- Badwater is 279 feet below sea
level.
The day started between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m. for the riders. Jim &
Amelia drove from Westwood to the North Orange County area to get
Jennie & Cliff. We were on the road for real by 7 a.m. We were well
stocked with munchies and music, and we listened to Erasure's
"Abba-esque" as we high-tailed it through Claremont on our way to the
high desert. About 2 hours later, we found ourselves at a rest stop
on I-15. We pulled out the unicycles for a little warm-up. We got
some strange looks from the other travellers, but at least no one
asked, "Where's your other wheel?" 
We piled back into the car, and soon arrived
in Baker, the Gateway to Death Valley, and "Home of the World's
Tallest Thermometer." We stopped to take some, uh, compromising
pictures, and also to get milkshakes at the Mad Greek. We drove
through the desert, alluvial fans, and mountains, and we finally made
our descent into Death Valley.
After about an hour of driving within the park boundaries, we reached
Badwater. A quick check of the regulatory signs revealed no unicycle
bans (bicycles were not banned either), so out came the unis. We
unicycled in the parking areas, setting a new "lowest elevation ride"
record that would be broken several more times in the next hour and a
half. We descended the stairs to the lake bed and posed for pictures
at the Badwater sign, which is incorrectly labeled at -282 feet; the
sign's elevation is actually -279 feet, and the lowest elevation is 3
or 4 miles out on the salt flat. 
Cliff, Jennie, and Jim started to ride out onto
the salt flat, and Amelia followed with a video camera. During the
ride, records were also set for the lowest uni tag game, uni frisbee
game, and unicycle dancing. 
We unicycled out as far as the most zealous of the
pedestrians tread, and we marvelled at the salt & the New Agers
communing with the Mu-Suvians (an ancient race of extra-terrestrials
whose main base on Earth is located beneath the Panamint Mountains in
Death Valley National Park). Cliff & Jim attempted to ride to the
other side of the salt flat, while Amelia & Jennie remained in the
vicinity and practiced more unicycling. 
The trans-salt flat attempt proved to
be more difficult and environmentally destructive than anticipated,
and Jim and Cliff returned after about 20 minutes. We then returned
to the parking lot, and Jim & Cliff attempted some mountain unicycling
at the base of a cliff across the road.
We got back into the car & spent the rest of the day sight-seeing.
Jim took his unicycle along on a short hike and unicycled the 3/4 mile
back to the car in rocky terrain. On the way back to L.A., we stopped
for dinner at the Baker Denny's, and then stargazed for a few minutes
on Zzyzx Road. We arrived back in Orange County around 10:30 p.m.,
about 16 hours after we'd started. It was quite a long day, but well
worth it. Next stop, the Dead Sea!