Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

IIRC removing the cars and such was and is part of their 'plan' for some time. I think it's a crime and they should be prosecuted for taking historical relics - I think the time required is 25 years. Our country has gone from live-and-let-live to legislate-so-that-they-all-do-as-I-think-they-should. A true shame. Just one example of many as to why I limit my exposure to the National Park System and seek real treasures.

 

You know me far better than that.

 

How long before they fill the mines because it isnt natural.

 

That's why I have to get out more often before that happens too much more.

 

Yes I do.

 

I’m heading over to Saline Valley next weekend with a friend who has a 4wd F150. Plan was to go in by the south pass and out the north. Each of us has one pair of chains, but based on recent weather I’m wondering if a second pair is prudent? I have always carried chains but NEVER needed them on any 4wd I’ve owned, with a fair amount of time in pretty deep snow, and occasionally hard packed Sierra back roads, but I hear about ice there, and of course it’s pretty remote. Is it worth having a second pair? Unfortunately his truck has much bigger tires so we couldn’t chain up one truck with our two sets, and tow the other one. There are worse places to be snowed in but my wife does need to return to work at some point ... and no cell coverage to call in

By the way I’m assuming the south pass downhills will be ok heading north, I’m thinking about the climbs out to the north. So drive traction, not braking.

 

Why not go in North Pass? If you fuel up in Big Pine at the Mobil they charge the same cash or credit and are usually cheaper than the Shell and Chevron across the street. Coming in North Pass once you get to the top it is mostly downhill. There will be fresh snow right now but you will get to the springs with much more fuel than going south. However there is a recent report on another forum that south pass is snow/ice free currently. This is pretty amazing considering the amount of precipitation the area got yesterday. Telescope Peak and the Inyo Crest have fresh snow.

Either way, with two rigs and two sets of chains you should be ok. I've done North Pass several times in varying amounts of snow and have not needed chains.

 

Thanks, I picked the direction because we’d probably come over 178 from our side of the hill (we’re in Santa Cruz and going up to 88 or 50 to cross in winter is a long way), and up through Olancha (and fuel up there) to the Lee Flat side of things. But maybe the smoothness and downhill of North Pass warrants going up to Big Pine and back down, as it were. In NP and out SP is perhaps the way to do it, if NP looks like it would be sketchy going back up. I’m just being super-cautious because it’s my friends’ first real off-pavement excursion, and our wives are coming along. FYI on the Saline FB group someone mentioned chaining up all 4 on an F250 a few days ago to get up NP, so that triggered some doubt.

 

...another forum states the broken axle from this swap left the remains, i can't verify

 

Sad

 

Sad if it's the case. But if it can't be verified, why spread rumors?

 

Well, there is this photo of the abandoned axle taken two weeks ago:



So while no one can verify it is still there right this second it was still there a number of weeks after they did the axle swap.

 

Here's another pic of the axle housing swap that I haven't posted anywhere..

 

Perfect.

Please note that I'm not suggesting that leaving your shit behind is OK. Just don't like spreading rumors.

 

Well it’s pretty easy to track down whom the offending party is and report it to the parks department, whom can go recover the axle and send the offending party the bill.

 

utah plates and all

 

Maybe they are active at overlandbound, isn't that giant window sticker overlandbound's moto?

 

The license plate is viewable half the picis send it to parks with pics off the axle left in place and screenshot the threads where they posted it up/etc.

 

Report on shutdown effects:

https://thinkprogress.org/death-valley-national-park-shutdown-beeae102c9f1/amp/

 

Thanks for sharing. A lot to absorb here, but this quote puzzled me, regarding using entrance fees for cleanup:
“The controversial move was questioned by many, including some congressional Democrats who argue it may have been illegal given the fees are expressly designated to support visitor services, not basic maintenance. ”

I mean, isn’t basic maintenance a visitor service? Anyway, that’s kind of a nit, but perhaps the core problem is that maybe there are too many services in DV. I mean, I certainly use their dumpsters and toilets when available, but if not available or trash cans are full, I leave no trace, pack in/pack out etc. Always have, always will. Our local State Beaches have constantly overflowing trash bins with bagged (or loose) trash piled next to them (or just left on the sand) so the shutdown isn’t really the root cause of this behavior. Lots of BLM Land has no real services, and while some of it is trashed, many visitors there know what is expected.

Perhaps the NPS or the Furnace Creek Inn folks should have just left cases of trash bags and signs instructing folks to haul out their crap, and handled this as a teaching moment. I dunno ...