Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Don't forget the earthquake swarm in the Salton sea near the Salton Butte's a week or so ago

 

Ugh... That's in some of the nicest Joshua Tree country in the park. And getting close to a lot of historic mines as well. With increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation in the Mojave there's been real concern that Joshua Trees simply won't recover after fires. Sounds like it is believed to be lightning started so at least it is just mother nature at work and not some dumb ass. Sigh...

 

It's sad to see the devastation of all of those very old Joshua trees

 

Here's a picture from the news site, about the fire in the Mojave. Notice all of the grass. So with all the trees gone it'll probably just be more grass that grows back. I see this happening in parts of Anza-Borrego. The desert is slowly resetting back to grasslands, in certain places.

 

I couldn't remember what the life cycle of the tree was. But it's not likely many will grow back given they depend on germination happening at just the right time. I hope that means they're able to germinate and transplant them should the need arise.

 

The grasses are the problem, they are non-native and spread fire differently than the native species they have displaced. They cover what was previously mostly open ground with little fuel between native shrubs and now spread fire from shrub to shrub destroying large areas in a single event unlike fires of the past. Unlike forests fire doesn't actually play a beneficial role to the ecosystem.

 

Update on the "Dome fire" in the Mojave National Preserve is 43,248 acres and at 15% containment

 

Update on the "Dome Fire"

Now at 43 , 273 acres and at 74% containment


https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7000/

 

Wow this has already burned over both of my secret super awesome summer camp sites in the preserve.

God save Rainbow Wells... that place is magical!

Edit: Video from camp last month, now appears to be within the burn area



Edit 2: Here's the whole video montage from that trip. Sorry, this has nothing to do with death valley, but I hope some of you might at least enjoy the footage. Can't wait for things to cool down so I can get back out to the desert!

https://youtu.be/pTOVmKV0VlI

 

Looks like it burned over Kessler Peak which was a nice hike I finally got to just last year. Glad it sounds like containment is improving a lot but man that is a huge chunk of the preserve torched. Can only hope intense fire behavior wasn’t over all of it inside the containment lines. Appears they have managed to keep it contained away from many of the historic mines in the area so far.

 

Its really sad to see this area destroyed , especially all those Joshua Trees gone

 

Hey, that is quite an interesting and innovative video. Great job! You must have had a wonderful time.

 

Dramatic and nice footage. Please be mindful of drone regulations when in national parks.

 

I watched the death valley one on your channel, currently watching the other ones too. Great videos! If you put "toyota tacoma" in the title I bet you'd get a lot more views. Looks like you spent a lot of time making these videos. Definitely deserves more views!

 

Good point. Some of my earlier videos include aerial footage from areas I now know are off limits to drones. (Like Mojave Preserve, big whoops on that one last year!)

But I've gotten better about researching photo stops in advance and finding patches of USFS or BLM land, or private land. I definitely rely on high resolution maps and will fly right up to the borders though. I think all my videos this year are kosher.

I do wish they would grant exceptions for some of the huge national parks... (like Death Valley!)

 

Find the app B4UFly. It will tell you whether you can or cannot fly. Might not work so well outside of cell range but at least you can check when you are. For example, all the fire zones are marked "no fly". Just move the pin where you want to fly and it will give you "good to go" or "no fly" or "check restrictions"-the latter (for me at least) lists all the nearby airports (Levi Stadium, Santa Clara Towers, Kaiser Hospital, SJC,...). Worth it.

 

What do you guys think about prescribed burns in such areas?

 

I'm OK with it. Safety and sensitive plants being my primary concern.

 

Native flora and fauna should be able to survive periodic burns, done so for thousands of years.

 

^ ........... This !!!