Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

This has nothing to do with DV but bear with me. lol

The largest natural noise I ever heard was in Feb 1 2004. My buddy and I where going to climb an ice climb called the Blue Room in Smugglers Notch, VT. It was Superbowl Sunday so the plan was to get up early, get it done, then watch the game. We ended up drinking a few too many the night before and got a later start then planned.

Temps that day where less then ideal for ice. It was way above freezing the previous few days and night temps where also near freezing. We decided to do it anyway because of the bravado of youth.

As we start the hike in from the parking lot the climb is out of view but you can see the slope below it. Just as we're about to round a corner that brings it into view we hear it. The loudest, deepest sound I've ever heard in nature and I've also witnessed several large rock falls. This sound made those trivial.

We stop and it keeps going for what seems like a minute. Then we see huge 100' high trees coming down the slope about 1/4 miles away. Then some snow and ice. It was crazy.

My first though was avalanche. We kept hiking a few hundred yards and saw the Blue Room was gone. There was bare rock where it usually is and the amount of ice at the base made it clear the whole formation collapsed. We stood there in awe for about 30 minutes. Then we headed back to the truck and the beer.

The craziest part is if we had gotten up at the time we planned we would have been either at the base or on the climb. Both certainly would have been fatal. It was the best hangover I ever had in my life.

 

Correcting an earlier post of mine…. Sounds like 190 to the east past Zabriske is just debris covered and should open in not too long though it lost shoulders in parts. The earlier NPS photo I posted that showed major road damage was from Mud Canyon.

 

The DV facebook page said they'd be well into next week before "opening" although they've implied they're working hard to get people out of the park.

 

Monsoonal weather in the deserts is awe-inspiring. Here's a shot from Utah the other week, and while this wasn't by any means a massive flood, I had driven across this dry wash some 30 minutes before, in mostly sunny weather, following the tire tracks of countless vehicles before me. The skies were gloomy in some directions, but there was scarcely any rain visible as far as the eye could see -- it had only just begun to sprinkle as we returned to the wash. What struck me wasn't necessarily that the wash had flooded with a foot-deep torrent, but that it had done so and drained completely within 30 minutes, while I was playing around nearby on its far side in blissful sun-drenched ignorance, confident that the rain had yet to arrive.



We got a better view of the distant rains when we got to camp...

 

Found two cool videos today. One about the aftermath on 190 and the other showing a crazy flood event from June in Capitol Reef.

https://youtu.be/Xe-B3zq-ydQ

https://youtu.be/FJOpZF_4b-w

 

From IG.

 

Seems pretty dopey to keep going downhill on a flooding road?

 

Is this a question or statement?
The egress route was down the canyon. Same path the water was going. I'm glad I wasn't there to experience the event or to decide what my best option would have been in that particular circumstance.

 

I dunno, looks like they did fine. Assuming you're talking about the DV video. I guess the risk would be hitting an impasse while a second wave of flooding arrived from behind. But that's a huge watershed with unrestricted visibility of the road and the weather, and with waters abating. I mean, they can see traffic progressing through the flood damage in both directions. I'd have driven through as well.

But for that Capitol Gorge flood, we can say in hindsight that the better option would be to drive to higher ground and ride it out -- I mean the guy himself called out all the better spots they passed on their way to getting stuck on a small island in growing floodwaters. Although from what I can tell from the video, they were trying to drive upstream, which seems reasonably instinctive for escaping a flood... with each tributary passed it would seem that the amount of water destined to pass your location should decrease. Of course in a canyon you have no idea how much water that is, have no visibility of what's ahead or where the rain is falling, and are at the mercy of the canyon topography, which in this case left them stranded in peril.

I'd like to think I'd have sheltered on high ground if I were there. That's written from the comfort of home, not panicking in a flood. I don't know that road, but I do know that if I were in Utah I'd be loaded out for camping for days on end if stranded. This poor guy looked to be on a day trip with his family. Like him, I would be overconfident in my vehicle and my driving abilities. Glad he made it out safe and gave us a cool video to watch. I'll definitely be thinking of it if I wind up in such a predicament, and perhaps might even make better decisions as a result.

 

I haven’t experienced that scale of flood water but I have learned over the years it’s probably better to seek refuge as high as possible. Only because I’d be unlikely to know what’s coming. Like the DV video, doesn’t look bad but a mile away, heavy water could be coming. Plus, driving on the asphalt might look ok until you find the undercut.

Lots to consider before deciding what the plan is.

 

Water is scary shit. If you're up high stay there and watch the show.

 

Just don't stand on a cutbank while doing it!

 

Actually the egress is back the way he came. Going downhill would put one in the floor of the valley. A similar flood occured just a few years ago as well that I believe resulted in a loss of life. That particular road is built in wash so this type of event is predictable to some extent. When it's all fixed go drive that portion and see if your yiew point perhaps changes.

 

You Sir have a PHD in Darwins theory.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3Cuzm7-3Pc&t=9s
Watch till the end to see the aftermath from the rain.

 

This just popped up in my feed:



I'm hoping that those people in passenger cars and rentals were heading out of the park...

 

I’ve never been close to getting caught in a flash flood and I live in a city but I still always carry a shovel in my truck. Though after watching the Capitol Gorge video I might throw in a longer-handled shovel.

 

It's crazy to see how fast conditions become impassible for most vehicles.

 

Trust me fate dictates that you will always have the wrong shovel. Common sense helps mitigate this issue.

 

I think when you talk about shovels in the context of flash floods, a Cat 349 isn't a big enough shovel