Went to Panoche today

[johnthomas]

My Son and I had never gone shooting at BLM land at Panoche. Coming from Salinas it is about 85 miles. It was well worth the trip. I imagine, this time of year is the best time to go. It was warm, not hot, roads wind all around the hills. Everything was green with yellow and purple flowers all over. No snakes or bugs. We shot for about 3 hours. It is out in the middle of no where and no cell phone signal. There is a bar about 15 miles from there, that is it, no gas stations, no 7-11 nothing. I would recommend an ice chest , sober driver and something to eat. The only thing we found in our area was a rusted shot up tin can which we brought out with us. It is nice to shoot at your own pace and practice whatever you want.
My only concern is safety. You get hurt, your on your own.
You break down, your on your own. There were other shooters a couple of hills over, Cars taking a tour.
All in all, a perfect day. JT

[Gio]

Good stuff, I drive about 120 miles to get there. Always worth the drive out there

-Gio

[gadjeep]

Good to hear. I'm heading down in the morning. Not sure if I'm going to go to Panoche or Tumey. Which entrance did you go in?

[johnthomas]

Is there camping there, I didn't notice any evidence of it.

[Gio]

Is there camping there, I didn't notice any evidence of it.

You can setup camp almost anywhere there. There are no real camping spots marked off like most parks, just have to stay away from the water and some of those marked off spots for the animal habitat safe zones or whatever. Remember to leave the place you shot at cleaner than when you got there

-Gio

[johnthomas]

Good to hear. I'm heading down in the morning. Not sure if I'm going to go to Panoche or Tumey. Which entrance did you go in?

The panoche one, I didn't know there was another. To tell you the truth, we kind of got lost. Now we know where it is, how far and the fact that there is no place to grab a snack, we will go more often. Not too often, ammo doesn't go far when you get to shoot as much and as fast as you want to with no restrictive range rules.

[GW]

Go in at Panoche Rd off of I-% Several gas and fast food stops there
Ah Panoche Hills, good weather and Tannerite
What a happy combination

[SJgunguy24]

Is there camping there, I didn't notice any evidence of it.

Yes and thats the way it's supposed to be. I've been going to Panoche for 15 or so years.
It's a great place but the lack of help if something happens has always concerned me. Thats one reason why Tumey is a great spot if there's a lot of people. There is a truck stop and I5 is only a couple miles down the road.

We were at Panoche in 98 and there was 6" of snow on the ground. You could hear the snow sizzle when it hit our guns.

Vid from a couple years ago, top of the hill.

[TonyM]

It is out in the middle of no where and no cell phone signal.

My only concern is safety. You get hurt, your on your own.
You break down, your on your own.

I find myself in this position more and more frequently. That's why I just recently ordered one of these and expect it to arrive this week:



Just need to know where you are going to be and program in the local Emergency response agency and LEO numbers.

[santacruzstefan]

Sat phone? How much does the service cost?

[elrcastor]

http://www.roadpost.com/iridium_prepaid_cards.aspx

http://www.roadpost.com/Iridium-Phone-Subscriptions-P705C280.aspx

[TonyM]

Sat phone? How much does the service cost?

There's an endless number of answers to this question.. The plans are defined by the reseller, not the carrier. Hunting around you can find so many plans that your head will spin, then you can look at the pre-paid SIM cards and really start thinking.

I know I will rarely use it, so I went with a 0 minute plan that costs me $25 a month, plus signed up for a $10 (plus per minute usage) a month direct dial number from my home area code for the phone. This save a lot of hassle as otherwise if someone does call you they have to dial an off-shore number and do a two stage dial.. The airtime on my plan is $1.85 per minute for Satellite to Landline/Cell/Satellite. Incoming SMS is free, outgoing is something like $.50 each..

The phone with activation and shipping was under $1400. I think you can find a plan with cheaper per minute usage with very similar base monthly, but I didn't like the looks of some of the companies, straight up Yahoo Stores, etc..

[Mendo223]

im headed to panoche soon...how far in do you guys normally go?

[xrMike]

My Son and I had never gone shooting at BLM land at Panoche. Coming from Salinas it is about 85 miles.

I assume from Salinas you went 101 to 156 to Hollister, then down 25 to Panoche Rd?

Another way to go, more scenic, probably about the same distance but a little longer time-wise, would be to go south on 101 to Gonzales, then take LaGloria Road (a very cool, scenic dirt road over the mountains) to HW25, go north to Panoche Rd, then it's the same way from there.

Right before you hit dirt on LaGloria you will pass the Swiss Rifle Club, founded in 1900 and one of the oldest surviving rifle clubs in the U.S. They still hold high power matches there.