Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

yes same, I play with ADA and a few others. Its fun, gives me something to do during the day. Most days I am bored out of my mind.

 

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I know that truck has been there for a while. Just don't understand why people do what they do.

 

So yesterday morning had me once again trying to drive up Mt. Patterson on what I thought was the last window of opportunity for the year. I was hoping to beat the snow predicted to start last night, and had heard from a knowledgeable source that it was drivable just two days prior. So I camped north of Bishop and headed north at sunrise, only to find 120 already gated for the season, then I hit pounding rain at Mammoth after backtracking around Crowley lake. Realizing the futility of pressing on, I headed over to DV instead, where the weather was FANTASTIC! I wanted to check out the north part of Saline Valley for the first time. But damn, I sure wish I had read up on this thread before heading out there… especially regarding Steel Pass to Eureka!


The first seeds of doubt...

Nice car, nice spot!




It looks like North Pass was recently regraded -- smooth sailing. Lots of traffic coming out of the valley, none going into it (except for me!)

Y’all’s infrared photography inspired me to try my hand at it this trip… I built a “camera” with a 2/3” CMOS sensor, a lens tube, and a 900 nm dielectric long-pass filter. Looks like I’m not very good at building cameras though… the filter is too small, and entirely too reflective! Still was fun though.



Finally made it to the salt lake, what a beautiful place!











Looking back to the north...



And a view of the next destination, the hot springs...

 

Drove by that back in November 2020. Was a 26,999 truck then, .

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Looks like you had a great time, sorry Mt. Patterson wasn't passable... again... (but, you had been warned ).

Can't wait to get down to DV this year. Fingers crossed, first fall visit in a couple weeks!

 

I was there the weekend it was abandoned. Apparently the owner was traced back to Utah and was rumored to be in contact with park officials. It's been moved a few times to where it sit now. Once it was off DVNP it became BLM jurisdiction

 

Ah the folks from Utah sure like to leave stuff in DV.

 

That's pretty crazy I know, and I mentioned that in light humor over at OverlandBound , that comment was deleted and the thread eventually locked

 

The same thread about the trailer in Dedeckera? Yeah they didn't like my comments either.

 

Ypu, that's the one..

 

I'd guess someone might have recently rekindled it then, it reeked of gasoline and fire! Funny to hear there's a backstory to this one too.

It's too bad this stuff happens, but it seems there's very little risk of penalty for those that do it. Drive out in the desert, drunkenly shoot at it until you're bored or out of ammo, smash it with rocks until you're tired... then douse it with gas, light it up, hoot and holler at it, drive home with a buddy, sleep off the hangover, and phone it in stolen. Oh, then call insurance for a check! So long as you're not dumb enough to do it in a national park of course.

Anyway...



I don't know much about burros, but this one appears to contain an additional, smaller burro.





On the way to the hot springs I stopped to help a guy with a tire issue, then I found a drive shaft in the middle of the road. How the heck do you drop a drive shaft and not notice? It had clearly fallen longitudinally to the road, still had a screw or two in the U-joint, and had fresh grease on the splines -- so I'd guess it had fallen from a vehicle in operation that day. Or maybe had been removed then bounced out of a truck bed and happened to land lengthwise in the middle of the road... I don't know, but I hope they found it!



It was neat to finally see the hot springs, but it was pretty packed. I'm not much of a clothing-optional kind of guy, and when a flock of nude children scampered by, this camera-toting tourist made a beeline back to the truck.


The only unoccupied pool I encountered...

Although I had started at sunrise, the days are getting pretty short, and I had wasted all morning encircling the tablelands and delusionally charging into the rain before turning back at Mammoth. But I was still hoping to make it to Eureka in time for sunset.



As I made my way up Steel Pass, I kind of zoned out in boredom and apprehension. The road just kept going and going. I've already punctured three tires this year, what the hell was I doing risking a fourth out here in the middle of nowhere?



Luckily the sunlight peaked through the clouds and I noticed some little wind caves across the way, reminding me why I so enjoy venturing out into the middles of nowheres. There's always some cool shit out there!



The bottom part of the trail was a lot more intimidating than I had expected. Of course, I had done zero research for this trip specifically, other than having read this thread over the past few years. But I guess I had a misinformed perception of Dedeckera Canyon as being... well, not nearly as intimidating as it was!



By then I was feeling pretty worn out, and still a bit bummed about botching most of the trip due to poor time management skills, so I didn't really take any good pictures. But there was lots of hopping in and out of the truck to figure out how to get down several gigantic steps without breaking anything. Fun in hindsight, but a bit nerve-wracking at the time. I'm glad there wasn't an impasse lurking at the end, it would have been a real pain in the ass to climb back up again.

 

Knowing you, I'm surprised you didn't drag that fucker out of the park yourself.

 

I passed it on Saturday morning. Was tempted to take a picture but felt sad. Or angry. Or both. I think I may have taken a pic before it burned.

 

The stuff you find in the desert is always surprising. I suppose stuff from the 40’s thru 60’s is sort of historical today or like the planes, difficult to remove. So it gets left.

 

EXCELLENT WORK 007! love it. do you have a flickr?

 

Nice report and photos. I've done those steps down with the FWC on the Tacoma and daylight running out. By the time I got to the dunes the very last part of a great sunset was almost over. I underestimated Dedeckera too.

Hilarious but relevant.

I have many photos of that truck in various states of disrepair.

 

@mk5 I left the Springs on Saturday, I was half wondering if any TW folks would be out there, though you may not have liked my attire at least in the pools. I didn’t notice any driveshaft in the road … but maybe I should go out and peek under my van and make sure it’s not mine. As for Dedeckera, I vowed on this trip that I will come back with the Tacoma and do that route, though I was thinking from north to south. I’m probably not as skilled or confident as most of you guys; is there a better direction for a stock truck (with sliders and decent tires), running solo, though hopefully I’d at least have a spotter with me.

 

Ive actually though about towing it to pavement thinking that if it's in a turnout, maybe Inyo Co. Sheriff or CalTrans would have to remove it..

 

I'll be at the springs in a couple weeks and most likely in a similar dress code.

Just leave it on the pavement...I can't imagine towing it all the wayout of the valley.