Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Someone get a racetrack crew lined up for October. Im eager to go back!

 

How many of your teeth rattled out?

 

That ^^ totally not worth it. I'll come in from Lippencott or Hidden Valley if I want to go to Racetrack.

 

My Racetrack experience.

 

Well done. Use, abuse and replace.

 

Record high for that specific day?
The highest recorded temp on earth is at Furnace Creek at 134F.

 

Looks familiar. Melted plastic shrouds are a sign of maturity.

 

Boy I sure hope they take their time fixing Racetrack. Poor place needs a break from the masses.

FB says report on Lippincott was a major washout near the top “impassible to all vehicles”. Could be true, there are spots near the top where that could happen. Could be not as bad as that either of course. Gear Grinders or some other group will probably fix it in the fall I’d expect.

Come on weather, take out North Pass and Grapevine in a major way! Would like to get another peaceful Saline visit in! The last time that happened the springs were blissful for a few months.

 

Is North Pass even accessible from Big Pine now? I think the 168 closure is east of the DV Rd turnoff, but I thought there’s another closure on DV Rd in that area.

 

I saw on another forum last week that NP was rough but fine for a SUV if you drove around the closure. That probably means it will filter out the Prius and BMW drivers but most soakers will press on as everyone knows to ignore Inyo County closure signs. Bat Rock had mudflows across it in spots so as usual the last few miles are probably the real barrier at the moment. That was a week ago and of course there has been more storms wandering around since then!

I’m hoping for another 40 foot wide, 15 feet deep washout as has happened a few times in the recent past. That keeps most everyone out when paired with a good wash through Grapevine below SP.

What I really, really hope is that Inyo has realized the folly of grading that dang road and will leave well enough alone for a good year or so. No reason for Inyo taxpayers to first pay to grade a road none of the locals use and then pay for emergency services for the asshats that roll themselves on the nice smooth go-fast road.

Anyway, a guy can dream...

 

Inyo Co. graded Waucoba Saline Road at least 3 times last year all to way down to Turtle Jims..

 

..all I know is that got stuck behind the grader one of the times right after the Pinion Forest going into the slot canyon, the dude had nowhere to pull over.

 

Not sure the exact reason, however I think they had better budget for 17-18. They also restored a position that was vacant, supervisor of road maintenance.

The budget is 713 pages,

https://www.inyocounty.us/Budget/2017-2018/Documents/Searchable.pdf

 

After reading the SVWS Management Plan, over 300 pages, one thing of particular interest is the County of Inyo improving OHV trails. Inyo noted OHV tourism driving their hope that the NPS would keep Inyo County involved with the management plan. Part of this may have something to do with the increased budget noted above. Some of those trails border Death Valley where it meets the Inyo Mountains. I worry about seeing non-plated vehicles venturing into DVNP, i.e. razrs on the Saline Valley Dunes.

 

At the Bishop meeting on the SVWS management plan the Inyo roads supervisor was there and he mentioned they were reconsidering their maintenance plan for Saline Valley Road after all the accidents this past winter. I guess we will wait and see what happens.

 

That's it. It was a new record for the day.

 

There was a giant group of side by sides at Mengal pass last spring. They were inside the park by many miles. When I mentioned it to them they just kinda shrugged.

 

I was at the visitor center when the temp sign read 136°. Holy crap, it was a hot day. Even the air conditioned center didn’t feel cool.

 

This happened to my buddy about 15 years ago. Here in northern NV most aren't marked or fenced off. They stopped in the desert, both dogs ran off and jumped in the water, started boiling, girl jumped in to get them out, she started cooking too. My buddy jumped in to save her. Couldn't get out due to the slick clay/mud sides. Second dude pulled them all out after a few minutes. Dogs had to be euthanized, girl died, my buddy was in the hospital for months but lived. F'n beast of an individual. A lot of tears shed that day.

 

Yep. Truth.