Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Yes. There's 3 ways into Coyote Flat. Only two are legal. Bishop and Big Pine. Most people come in and out via Bishop. It's chill and any stock 4WD rig can make it. People with more built rigs can make it a loop and use Big Pine as an entrance or exit. Coming in Big Pine is harder then exiting it. A locker, 33's and some good driving skills will get you through just fine. I first ran it as an entrance when I was open/open. I wouldn't recommend that. lol

 

That place is great!

 

Just got back from six days in Saline. Came in last Friday afternoon/evening. Saw @CVYota Saturday on his way leading a group of three into Eureka Valley. The last guy didn't have a radio and unable to communicate who I was. Hope to get in touch next time.

It was a great six days. Only explored a little bit of Saline on one day. I went to just the beginning of McElvoy Canyon and then over to Beverage. I drove the old Artisan Road and will never do that again. Pure fluffy silt that dusted the entire valley. Not worth it. By the time I had enough I saw my track from the morning where I turned around from the other side of the road. From that point I just kept going. Once back at camp I was told by the old camp host that Lee, the long time current camp host, sometimes chastises those who drive the road. I waited for The rest was spent relaxing and soaking.

One major observation which astounded me was spotting a ringtail cat/miners cat descending a palm and going back up another palm and going all the way to the top to the dismay of two ravens. I know they exist in the Panamints but even the long term Saliners had never seen one at the springs. Maybe the burro removal project is helping native fauna return to their normal course of action.

On the way home I finally checked out a spot outside DVNP that I've been wanting to take a look at for years. I will return.

 

Sorry I missed you, drove right by you but I was too busy talking to my navagator. By the time we stopped we were at the upper spring, with the weather rolling up the valley I didn't want to backtrack.

I led 3 people up over fish and manly, where we lost the first jeep to mechanical 4wd failures


Then we had to rescue a stock tacoma off of a rock and help them down to striped butte. The road down has gotten really bad, but I had fun.
We drove to a new place for me, Echo canyon, saw Inyo Mine and headed towards Beatty. Where I almost killed the second jeep.
It was an easy road until we hit this
https://youtu.be/6sd4HvphrcA

Sorry for the poor quality.
I was the only one that made it up. The Cherokee lost the rear swaybar and steering stabilizer


The others doubled back to furnace creek and I continued to Beatty, saw some big horn but otherwise it was uneventful. We met back up in Rholyte.

Did the Titus canyon thing again and camped in Panamint Springs.

The next day we went through saline, saw the lake and hot springs, up through Steel pass to Eureka dunes. Lots of silt and blowing dust


We camped down the road, 28° but we didn't get snow.

Next day we found the reward mine and drove in it before going home.

 

Yeah, don't do that. The Artisan Road is not open to the springs and is not cherry stemmed through the wilderness area. The wilderness area starts two miles along it starting from Saline Valley Road.

Cool!

 

Isn't there a barrier there? I remember coming in around 2 or 3 one morning and my GPS was telling me to do that. Then I noticed a marker saying it was a Wilderness Area. My friend that was with me, still messes with me when I started repeating, "This is not cool. We need to get out of here!" lol

 

8 or 9 years ago, my better half and I - and I mean, WAY better - went to SE AZ for a week-long camping trip over Christmas break. We called it, SEAZ the Holidays. We saw a whole family of what looked like ringtails walking through a meadow. They were so cool.

Another part of that trip was going to the Biosphere. When we got there they said they were closed. I asked in my best Eddie Haskel voice, "If we could get in, how would we do that?" The guard laughed and got on the radio and got us in to get a private tour with some grad students. Here we are walking through the place with no one else other than security and a newspaper reporter.

 

LOL, it is actually "Biosphere 2" and you missed the very best part of the place since you didn't get to go up to the information desk and ask "Where is Biosphere 1?". Watching the volunteer die a little bit inside as this question is asked minute after minute all day and have to patiently give the answer knowing that the visitor will stare back at them incredulously at the answer is the highlight of the place to be honest.

Oh - that and the monkey story. The monkeys encapsulate all that was wrong and utterly stupid about the whole thing...

 

I know this might not be the place for this but I am working on my memoir. Today, you guys inspired me to write this story towards that end...

SEAZ the Holidays 2010 - SORRY WE'RE CLOSED

Some of you know me as a guy that likes to seek adventure. About 10 years ago, Zoom and I started to seek contrarian Christmas break vacations. Both of our businesses are typically very calm or even asleep during the Christmas week but we would rather not fight crowds of typical Hawaii or other Christmas vacations.

This all started when I bought my first truck in more than 25 years and started to enjoy 'car' camping again. Now remember, we are camping in a tent in weather that has been in the teens, twenties and thirties.

The first trip we took was to Death Valley. I told her that we would get a hotel room and go out on day trips.

Her response was PRICELESS! "You may want one but we are not getting a hotel room."

I insisted it was way too cold to camp - it looked like it would be in the 30s at night. She said, "That's your problem. If we get a room, we'll spend way too much time in the room and won't see nearly as much as we will when we camp in the Roof Top Tent."

She is a TROOPER!!!

So, in 2010 after spending a great Christmas day with her very large family - the dinner table makes the one in the Last Supper look like a French Dinette set in the streets of Paris - we pushed off to Arizona.

One of the highlights we were planning on was to visit the Biosphere II. Biosphere II was a social and scientific experiment where people were put in this huge human terrarium - a closed off environment where you could not have ANY connection with the environment outside of this building. No connection at all. The oxygen in the air was produced by the plants. The carbon dioxide for the plants were produced by the humans. The food they ate was grown inside. THE WHOLE PLACE WAS SEALED up for something like 2 years with people living inside.

So, one of the last days of the trip, while it was snowing, we went to the Biosphere II. When we got there there was a guard that said, "We're sorry, due to the snow, we are closed."

I felt like Clark Griswold going to Wally World.

Failure to get in was NOT an option!!!

So, I asked in my best Eddie Haskel voice, "Thank you ma'am. We've come all the way from California and this was the pinnacle part of our winter camping trip and I don't want to disappoint my sweetheart. If we could get in today, how would we go about that?"

She started to laugh and got on her radio and asked her boss if this 'sweet couple' could join the Grad Students on a tour. He checked and then someone came out to get us!!!

It was truly one of the best parts of that trip! They gave us a very special and detailed tour and then allowed us to walk the grounds. There, apparently we were photographed by a journalist that later came up to us and asked our names.

This is one my favorite pics of us since it reminds me of how I have the absolute finest partner in my life that not only appreciates me and my sense of adventure but pushes us both to new heights and new adventures.

Then and now, I will never let one of life's storms get in the way of my love and friendship with this beautiful woman!

I hope your day is filled with happiness, excitement, adventure! and most of all, love.

 

The marker at SVR says road ends in one mile but there is no barrier. You can drive a fair distance but I didn't measure it. My GPS only shows national park and not wilderness but that doesn't excuse anything. It isn't worth doing it to say you did it even if it was legal. I can't imagine what it is like after a rain. Pure sticky mud. Kinda looks like the photo CVYota shows behind Eureka Dunes. I do see the area on my map here at home.

A couple things do concern me. The cabin/homestead in Waucoba/Marble Canyon is in far worse shape than my first trips to DV. There is political spray paint at Beverage now but that cabin is still in about the same condition. Maybe because it isn't on the main road and takes some effort to get to it. Also someone has torn down the new signage at North Pass for SVR. Also at north pass I noted numerous shit ribbons (toilet paper) on the north side of the pavement. I hope I'm never surprised with human lack of intelligence. It is a great place to relieve oneself but wish people knew how to take care of it.

Here are a few cell pics from my trip. I'll post some from the PnS afterwards. If you see that piece of wood West of SVR please don't burn or damage it. It is from an old aircraft nicknamed the Bamboo Bomber https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_AT-17_Bobcat. It shows up and disappears due to storms. I hadn't seen it for a few years but it has returned. Another neat piece of Saline history.

 

Here are a few from the point and shoot. I didn't take the SLR out of the bag. Should have of course. The old VW carcas was supposedly recently dragged down a canyon near the road. Only a matter of time now until some do-gooder outdoor group decides it isn't relevant and removes it.

 

Ah found the before and after pics.

 

These are/were new signs which hadn't been in place for even one year. They are all over the park. Hopefully the government didn't blow money on crappy stuff but we all know the contracts go to the lowest bidder or those who have connections. I say it was a two legged animal. Either didn't want the public to know about the road and history or wanted it for themselves.

 

Yeah I did the same thing, enter and exit via bishop. I was told i could get through to Big pine, but since I was travelling alone i just went out the same way I came in. But damn, getting to Funnel lake was bumpy as hell lol.

 

Death Valley Slot Canyon Extravaganza!

Posted both parts of a trip report for my early December trip. Three days of slot canyon hikes.

Part 1 & Part 2

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Monica

 

Now I really know I screwed up as I thought I was putting this in the camping picture thread. Ooops

 

Did someone cover it with paint?

 

Completely removed.

 

Wow - Can't say I blame them. I still want the Road Closed sign back!