Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

It’s a pretty fun project! Jeff, the archaeologist there, has been trying to restore a lot of the features at the site and it’s a great opportunity to be involved with it. Hope to see some of you guys out there this year!
-Anthony

 

Copied from my build thread...

Another, albeit short, trip to Saline Valley happened. This Fri-Sun trip involved nothing much other than soaking, star gazing, and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Saturday was pool cleaning day and the Wizard Pool got a thorough cleaning. The flow seemed a bit slow on Friday Night so some friends and I did our best to clean the filters at the source pools which did improve the flow a little bit. I'm sure the piping needs to be flushed with high compression air to remove buildup inside the piping. When the Wizard pool fills up after cleaning it is very hot for a while and it is amusing to watch people attempt to soak. They usually come out looking like lobsters.

After leaving I took a random road which I'd probably driven by many times and wondered where it went. I took it and discovered a new to me campsite which will be nice to use in warmer weather to get some altitude, solitude, and great views.

One of my favorite spots in Owens Valley...the turn off for HWY 168


Pool cleaning commences


Another sunset soak




The springs just how I like them...fairly void of campers.


Lingering dust in the valley from vehicular travel on South Pass




Washboard anyone? This was fairly prevalent on the uphill sections of North Pass. It may have been graded by now though.

 

I'm gonna go to Manzanar in March for the work party. Trying to decide whether I will bring observing tools...for stargazing.

 

I bet 70 or 80 would have been pretty smooth, but I don't trust myself to drive that fast off pavement. Plus... is there like... a speed limit up there? Genuinely curious.

And genuinely glad for the grading. Rough roads keep crowds down, yes, but washboarding alone is just obnoxious. It was a lot worse than it had been in December, and didn't seem to be much of a deterrent for folks visiting the springs in droves.

Well you still beat me to posting this one...



Nice seeing you!

I was surprised by the temperature variations within the valley. I was keeping an eye on it while I drove to camp, and after getting down from South Pass, I saw it ranging as high as 42 and as low as 28. And not really correlated with elevation changes either, it just seemed like pockets of warmer and cooler air with rather abrupt changes in calm air as I drove along. Near one of the lower readings, I started to wonder if my thermometer was misbehaving, so I hopped out. It did really feel that cold!

Oh and regarding traffic, most folks seemed pretty nice, but there were definitely some complete asses on the road. The worst are those slowpokes that just won't just pull over to let you pass!



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I hope it doesn't look like I'm terrorizing these guys here, they were already travelling at a good clip as they came into view a few hundred yards back, and continued even after I stopped a few times to give them space, so eventually I just paced them and pulled out the camera. They exited left along a well-established mule trail a half mile or so up the road.


And now... a few more random pictures:


Some sort of, um, plant? I was intrigued by its highly regular branching structure, as if trained by an espalier. I'm pretty sure I could look up what it is, but what fun would that be when I could ask y'all instead, what is this thing?


From a prior trip, the snow-laden Panamints tower above the funerals during a gloomy sunset, framed by hills of the Nopah Range.


A particularly difficult-to-reach vehicle decaying near the end of seemingly forgotten now dead-end road. Less vandalized than most in the park... Has anyone else here run across it?

 

Wife and I were discussing the March event last night.

 

I will me adding Tecopa Hot Springs to my list! thanks!

 

Gettin my first trip to DV in over presidents weekend

 

There will be a group of us from NorCal headed down there as well. Maybe we will bump into each other.

 

dude that looks good.

 

Do you have an itinerary picked yet? Entering the park on asphalt (190) or dirt (Goler wash/Titus canyon)?

 

We are headed down Fri and coming in on 190. Sat and Sun are big driving days, there's a few peeps that are first timers and want to see it all . A few are going to split off Sun/Mon for other adventures. It should be a constantly evolving group and drive e.g. a shit ton of fun.

 

Please ensure your group size is within park regs...
https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/management/rules-and-regulations.htm

 

We're good to go on that end.

 

We split up if >4 trucks and camp more than a mile apart. Rotate the groups and everyone gets to enjoy hearing me snore.

 

Any specific spots you will be at? I mean if I see a group of tacomas Id have to assume its you gents

 

Spotting a group of Taco's in DV is like spotting a Joshua Tree in Joshua Tree. lol

 

...just with more dust and more donuts :|

 

Found a couple cool mine sits - of various vintages - nestled into the Panamint Mountains.

Change of Plans - Lipstick #1
(and maybe easier to read due to portrait image sizing, here)

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Change of Plans - Lipstick #1
(and maybe easier to read due to portrait image sizing, here)

 

Mengel Pass and the long trail into Death Valley ahead.