Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

FYI, the Dark Sky Festival is this weekend.

 

How were the deep sand sections?
Thanks for the update!

 

Good to go. There's the usual ruts, but everything was pretty firm, and we came through late afternoon.

 

Photo of the "rescue" of a woman in Mosaic Canyon.

I can't take my eyes off the Starbucks latte

 

I cannot get over all the neon.

Latte Lady is probably the PIO.

 

Anyone been through Titus Canyon recently? Trying to plan one last trip before winter is over, and curious why NPS says it's closed. NPS also says Steel Pass is closed, but like I was saying, it was perfectly fine. I'm guessing it's good to go, but figure I'd ask around.

 

When Titus is listed as closed that means it is gated at both ends and you will be cited if you attempt to go around.

 

Yes, that happened to me almost 40 years ago on a motorcycle, in the National Monument days. It wasn’t really gated, just a small barricade, easy to get around on a bike, and the sign didn’t say closed, just “washed out”, but the Ranger and the ticket were not debatable. He made us turn around and go back from Leadfield. I shoulda saved the “Federal Citation” as a souvenir.

 

Those suck because if you want to fight them, you have to go to a federal courthouse. Usually in some place like Fresno.

 

About 4 years later I got a ticket for going 60 mph on an empty Golden Gate Bridge at about 7AM on a Sunday morning. I didn’t even think I was speeding so wasn’t paying much attention behind me (I was also on a motorcycle), but I guess the speed limit was 50. The CHP wrote up the citation and told me to wait for a ticket in the mail. Even though there is a standalone Golden Gate Bridge District, I in fact got another Federal ticket in the mail. But I was able to go to traffic school in Palo Alto. That was in 1988, my last moving violation

 

I got a speeding ticket back in the 90's in Kings Canyon (the speed limit on the valley floor is quite low, probably for good reason) and was going to have to go to Fresno if I wanted to fight it. I called to find out what my options were and the lady on the phone asked, "why do you want to fight this, it is only $60?" I said, "well I don't want it on my record to raise my insurance and I don't see traffic school options." She said, "we don't report Federal tickets to anyone, it never shows up on your driving record." I said, "well heck, if you wanted $60 for the National Parks you didn't even need to write me a ticket!" Mailed off my check with glee. I suspect they are reported these days, but fortunately have not had a reason to find out.

 

Mine was a dog ticket. The ranger was a complete prick, and out of uniform, threatening and refusing to identify himself. No badge, no ID, no business card. Definitely not the kind of person NPS represents. So I walked away and told him to fuck off. I had to go to SF to fight the ticket and I only got that by asking for a change of venue. When I explained what happened, the ticket it was summarily dismissed and the ranger admonished (as in formally and by the judge) for his conduct. I'm guessing he took the plate and wrote the ticket.

 

I was in J-Tree years ago. I had a yellow lab that I adopted when I was down in Portrero Chico a few months before. He was a street dog that just started following me around. After a few days of him not leaving my side I decided to keep him. I named him Arturro and I got super lucky. He didn't bark, didn't piss or shit on trail or in my van, he was super mellow and never aggressive, and wouldn't go more then 100 feet from me. Ever.

I get too J-Tree and a buddy I know wants to go climbing. We head over to Illusion Dweller in Real Hidden Valley. Arturro follows us to the cliff and finds a nice shady, sanded spot to lie down. We climb for a few hours and head back to the car. About 1/2 way back to the parking area a ranger spots us.

He looks at me and my buddy. Then he sees the dog. He starts to follow us and quickly closes the gap for the confrontation.

Right away I get the "Who's dog is this?" Now, Arturro was new to the states and didn't have a collar much less dog tags. I played dumb which comes naturally to me. "No idea man. Cool dog though" was my response. I keep walking and so does the dog. The ranger follows us all the way back to parking.

Now Arturro knows and loves my van. It's basically his giant dog house on wheels. I know as soon as I open the slider or back hatch he's gonna jump right in. The ranger then decides to try and get Arturro to go with him so he can bring this "unclaimed" (his words) dog to the pound. FML.

I open the rear hatch and he jumps right in. The ranger decides that's enough proof that I am the owner of the dog. I keep playing dumb and tell the guy that I might just adopt him right here in the parking lot and save the ranger the trouble of having to take him to the pound. I keep explaining that since the dog has zero ID there's no way to prove he's mine and a judge would most likely thank me for adopting this poor stray.

The ranger gives me that look. The look of someone who knows that he's been beat. I get a very stern verbal warning that if he sees me and my newly adopted dog off-trail again I'm getting a ticket. We part ways and my buddy and I are still laughing 10 minutes later as we pull into Hidden Valley campground and the cooler full of beer.

That night we tell the story around the campfire. From what I'm told that story still gets told around campfires to this day. lol

 

How well-defined was the road up through Steel on the Saline Valley side? I'd heard (from this thread, I think) a trip report where the road was indistinguishable from the wash, hence the closure. Would be great to hear that it's no longer that way! (And someone should let NPS know, so they can get it updated on the Road Conditions page).

So, I read this as I was waiting for my flight home last night from another couple days in the park (By the way Ken, OMG this is the best way to visit ever!), and I'm curious if there's a difference with Steel and Titus as far as closures/citations go. Obviously there's no gate on Steel, so is the idea that you just plead ignorance?

Of course, the likelihood of running into a park ranger out there is low even when it's open... but I like to do the "rule-follower" thing as much as I can.

 

Backcountry usage has always been on the honor system. When it fails, restrictions come.

 

Interested in what @wildland89 has to report as well. From other forums it sounded like the route has been marked by some users such that a sensible and attentive driver could likely follow it without going astray. When in doubt, get out and walk the route. Also, typically going up from the springs to the pass is easier to follow than coming down. The Park clearly states routes like Racetrack and Steel are closed because of route finding issues and the desire to not have users stray across the landscape until a defined route can be graded or otherwise marked by the NPS. It isn't due to them being impassible, the concern is visitor impact. As far as I know one group that traversed and marked the route was in some communication with the NPS so presumably they've decided to keep it marked closed even with that knowledge.

Yeah, not starting a trip with 20 hours of driving makes for an improved experience. I did just have to cancel my trip for this coming week, but it was looking to be extremely windy anyway. Been a thin season for trips for me... will just have to make up for it next year!

As far as rules go I believe "closed" means "closed" for both routes so likely same situation for citation. As far as weaseling out of the citation it is hard to argue about having driven around a big steel gate on Titus. As Ian said, break enough rules (especially if you cause impact) and eventually draconian restrictions follow.

Each person will need to make the decision for themselves. In my book, going around a gate at Titus or Racetrack would be a dumb-ass move. Doing Steel and carefully following the route, no matter how much walking the route that means, could fall into the "morally acceptable" domain, but you would be going down a closed route, definitely not following the NPS rules and rationalizing why you are special to not have to follow said rules. Doing Steel on a dirt bike at 40 mph and getting off route would fall into "dumb-ass" regardless of the route being open or closed (and I watched a group do this when the route was far better defined a few years ago, they ended up a good 1/4 mile southeast of the springs in the wash).

Hope you had a fun trip!

 

Two topics:

1. Trip report
2. Mystery

Trip Report - Just wrapped up posting of a trip to DV this morning. Was hoping to tick off all the (drivable) canyons along West Side Road a few weeks ago (actually, the same weekend that Mike @mk5 was there), but ended up only getting to half of them, and only half-heartedly at that. Still, as always, a great time and so many things to see. Please enjoy (if you've not already).

Keane Wonder Mine | Left Behind #1
The Trail Canyon Canyon Trail | Left Behind #2
Rainy Day | Left Behind #3

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Mystery - In an attempt to finish the final few canyons along West Side Road, we returned for a few days, ending yesterday (to much better weather). Finally got to see Hungry Bill's Ranch, which I've been itching to get to since hiking to Panamint City last year. Anyway, as we were driving Galena Canyon (and then for a ways north on West Side Road), we ran across a bunch of these markers. Anyone know the history of them? Are they new? (they look new) Couldn't really find anything online for them (which doesn't mean there isn't anything), but did come across the "Escape Trail" which at least matches the lettering, and could make sense, given that Galena Canyon works its way up to Butte Valley and Rogers Pass.

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That doesn't look like a park service marker. And if it was, you'd expect to find some kind of mention on the DVNP website.
I found reference to an "escape trail conference". Nothing in images either.

edit:

This mystery is fascinating. Well, I've found a bunch of interesting things--like how the USGS monuments are made, that you can plant or remove those plastic trail signs with a $400 tool How to get to Hungry Bill's...

What I did find is a link to an event Cal4Wheel held in November called...Escape from Death Valley. One of the signs along the trail from Fish Canyon looks like this:



Given the condition of the markers and their brevity, do you think perhaps Cal4Wheel set some number of temporary markers for guests to follow? Gotta say that if that's the case, I'm terribly disappointed they didn't clean up.

Since I found the trip log, I emailed the organizer and asked if they had set markers.

 

The road up through the wash from Warm Springs wasn't terribly difficult to follow- there were a couple of times I would stop to double check, but I thought it was pretty well beaten in. There definitely are multiple braids in some places, but that isn't exactly new. The wash is tedious, but over soon enough. Everything after the wash up to the pass is very well defined. Oddly enough, we did find a Toyota CV axle in the middle of the trail at the first tight obstacle after the wash climbing up to the pass, but no tracks through the snow on the plateau up top.

Good to know about the gates at Titus Canyon. It's been on the list for a while, but I never find myself coming from the Nevada side. I'll steer clear while it's closed. If you do call NPS, what they'll tell you about conditions/closures is also somewhat different from what's posted online.

 

Definitely part of the same system, I'd say. Bummer that they left them there, unless there's a plan to re-run the trail this spring or something.

I have to say - Galena and Johnson canyon were both quite interesting. Very different from each other.

• Galena is all about the talc mines. A density of them similar to those in Ibex. Some cool structures remaining (though, not a ton), a few neat adits and shafts (some inclined, some vertical), and three big strip mined areas. The history on them is interesting as well - much of the work being relatively recent (1980s). Mostly driving.
• Johnson is about getting to Hungry Bill's and will appeal to history buffs, given the history of farming (Hungry Bill, William Johnson) up the canyon, and the hike up through the canyon is pretty cool. Not the as nice a hike as Trail Canyon (IMO), but there's plenty to keep your attention along the way. I was worried (from Digonnet) that the trail would be hard to follow, but Steve Hall suggested exactly the opposite. Steve was closer - the trail was reasonably easy to follow, at least at this time of year.

Definitely worth a visit for anyone who hasn't been. Photos soon, but here are a few teasers.

Pre-sunrise at the head of Johnson Canyon, with Telescope looking a little chilly.


Apparently this is the guy that stopped calling it car camping.


Perfectly level. This totally didn't take a frustrating 25 minutes to get setup in the dark.
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