Tacoma's to the rescue in Saline Valley!

Two weeks ago, two friends and I ventured into the Saline Valley in my friends 2021 Subaru Outback. For those of you unfamiliar with the Saline Valley, it's part of the Death Valley National Park wilderness area. Beautiful place that I had not visited in over 20 years and the desert was in full bloom.

We came in from Big Pine, CA and I had forgotten how long it takes to actually get on to the valley floor. As we were not prepared for an overnight trip, we stopped, got the camp chairs out and just enjoyed the view for a while.

Long story short, the battery died on the Subaru. The car has had electrical issues in the past and apparently due to the driver leaving the vehicle in drive, rather than park when he turned it off, all electrical systems remained on, draining the battery. The attempts to use a portable battery "brick" failed and we were stuck in the desert for all intents and purposes.

About an hour later, a convoy of four Tacoma's came through and saved our asses. If you are reading this and were one of the four vehicles...THANK YOU!!

As a bonus for reading this, we stumbled on a herd of about 100 wild horses near Mono Lake the day before. If you have a California Gazetteer, find Adobe Lake, generally southeast of Mono Lake and that's where they were. One of the highlights of the trip was watching the herd for an hour or so.

I know some people love them, but after this experience and other issues with the Subaru, I wouldn't touch one with a ten-foot pole.

 

That's not somewhere you want to be stuck. Obviously most everyone here is going to agree Toyota>Subaru, but this sounds like an operator issue leaving the car in drive...
Mistakes can happen to anyone though. It's important to bring enough water for everyone to hike out. That's my rule of thumb when traveling alone. I have to have enough supplies to be able to walk back to civilization from wherever I am.

I'm glad it worked out and y'all made it out!

 

Good to hear that you got out of there!

For those that don't know, Saline Valley is exceptionally remote. It could be as much as a 40-mile hike (with elevation gains of 5000' or more) to any paved road from the middle of the valley (though there is also a Hot Springs there, which there's usually someone around that might be able to help, such as offering a jump-start in this case).

I try never to go alone (in one vehicle) to far-remote places like that. You just can't know what will happen. Could be two flat tires (with only one spare), mechanical failure or breakage, a rodent chewing critical wiring, or (as experienced here) a battery dying. Always be prepared! Have a good means of communication if you do go alone/one vehicle (preferably like a satellite phone or In-Reach, but 2-way radios that can access the ham bands are good too).

FWIW, my dad has a Forester... Other than an exceptionally laggy throttle response (and a washer fluid sensor that always seems to think it's empty), it's been a good car.

 

"FWIW, my dad has a Forester... Other than an exceptionally laggy throttle response (and a washer fluid sensor that always seems to think it's empty), it's been a good car."

A lot of people love their Subaru's, and this is the first one that has made me question their products. This particular vehicle turns itself off at a stop light which would drive me crazy, has some sort of a "clunk" in the transmission that the local Subaru dealer either can't or won't diagnose and repair and has had electrical issues since day one of ownership for my friend. There is supposed to be a class action lawsuit against Subaru for this particular model years electrical system.

Below is a photo of Saline Valley for those who have never been. It's worth the effort!

 

I'd be figuring out why the jump battery didn't work too, sounds like that's a required carry for your friend.

If he needs to buy a new one, Noco is like the gold standard.

 

Yep. That's what the Tacoma rescuers had.

 

Glad it didn't turn out into something worse for you and your friends!

I have a similar story, but with a different ending. I drove into Saline Valley from the south in my 99 Taco. Stopped at a trail head on the valley floor for a backpack trip. When I returned, some electrical would come on, but the engine wouldn't crank. "Ah, f*ck me" I muttered as my high from the last couple days evaporated. I popped the hood and wiggled the battery cables. Luckily, the truck started up.

It may not seem like too big a deal, but every couple years someone dies from exposure in the park because their vehicle broke down. In 2021, on the other side of the park, two people also in a Forester interestingly enough got in trouble and their ordeal ended with a fatality. I don't know why, but this story has stuck in my brain.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...escued-death-valley-national-park/7166812002/

 

Yea, it's an extreme area and per the article, they were in the National Park portion of the area which generally gets more visitors. We were in the designated Wilderness Area where, as you likely know, visitors are fewer. We had extra food and water and the vehicle to shelter in. We would have been cold overnight but would not have frozen to death. Lessons learned for sure. I had traveled into Saline Valley solo several times in the past, before it was designated the Death Valley Wilderness Area, not sure I will do that again though.

 

Thanks for posting up your experience- definitely a sobering thought and reminder to be FULLY prepared when traveling to remote locations.
In my experience- murphy is always waiting for his chance

 

Yeah, it's a funny feeling standing there and realizing just how incredibly remote you are, especially when you need help. Kind of cool to think though that places like this still exist in California.

 

The phrase "country mile" takes on a new meaning in Death Valley.