Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Thanks for the thread bump - I enjoyed filpping through those pix. ETAV8R, you have a nice eye!

 

Hey thanks,

forgot about this thread. I did another trip to DV this past Halloween. Pics and trip report here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51599

 

Found an old but interesting site with some good info:
http://silgro.com/DeathValley-hikes.htm

 

That's a nice list of opportunities.

 

such awesome pics!

 

It is a little dated and as things change so may some of those opportunities. I know for sure that the Keane Wonder Mine site is closed due to safety concerns. The NPS may try to make it safer. Cool info anyway even if it is to get some bearings and compare things today to only a few years ago.

 

I ran Saline Valley on August 6th. Entered from CA-168, traversed the valley and made it up Hunter Mountain and took the pass (scary section of shelf road). I camped in the pine trees before making the last 20 miles to pavement. I have always wanted to make it through all of Saline Valley and now I have. I suffered a tire puncture near Turtle Jim's which I repaired with a plug kit. I think I clocked 86 miles off-road on this side trip. It was an awesome adventure coming from the White Mountains while visiting the Ancient Great Basin Bristle Cone Pine trees in the Inyo Nat'l forest.










Abandoned mining complex just outside the park boundary in Inyo Nat'l Forest


A very long stretch of rough road: Waucoba / Saline Rd.


Turtle Jims


Poked a hole in my Duratrac but plugged it




Sand dunes in Saline Valley






Disabled Suburban 40+ miles from pavement. Looks like they had a radiator issue.

Water coming from Hunter Mountain Canyon

Looking at the Panamint Sand Dune complex from Hunter Mountain Pass

 

Keep the photos coming Crom! Really nice...

Last time I was in Death Valley was in 1980 for a college Geography & Geology Class field trip!

 

Good post and pics. What was the condition of Saline Valley Road down in the valley?
How did you puncture your tire? Where is Turtle Jims?
Be mindful of bears up in Hunter Mountain. I was there a few months ago and saw bear scat right near a secluded campsite...a lot of scat.
Are you sure those aren't the Panamint Dunes? Eureka isn't visible from Hunter Mountain.

 

How was the weather? I always wanted to go to DV but I have been afraid to go in the summer.

 

Well tourist season runs from mid-fall till mid-spring, hottest recorded temp in DV and a good argument for the entire world is 134 degrees in badwater,


meat begins to cook at 144!

 

These two pictures made me lol. Its like they found every small rock on the trail and filled in the ledges.

 

Thanks. It's a wonderful place with lots of trails to explore. And it is a premiere attraction for geologists. I have photos from other trips where, while hiking I discovered fossils of the creatures of the ancient lake Manly.

The road down in the valley was mostly okay but it had some sketchy sections due to rain that was received earlier in the year. Some parts the road disappeared into sand and if not for my GPS I would have done a WTF? Near the salt marshes it was very rough; there were a number of washouts--one of which made me get out and inspect, and recheck the best approach to pass.

But Hunter Mountain had some real rough patches--again due to rain. Ruts, softball sized rocks in lots of places. There were 2 water crossings, maybe a third (can't remember). I pretty much kept the transfer case in 4LO for Hunter Mountain. The temperatures dropped pretty quickly as the sun was setting and I was gaining elevation.

I do not believe there are bears at Hunter mountain. There are in fact wild asses though. Heard them while I was eating dinner, and the next day while doing some photography.

Yes I misspoke; it was the Panamint Dunes I saw. I'll correct my original post.

See this thread for my tire puncture write up.

See this map of my route which marks Turtle Jims. Switching the map to terrain view helps.

DV is enormous it is also a place of extremes. Within the park you have Telescope peak which is 11,043 ft tall in the Panamint mountains, and just below in Badwater Basin the elevation is −282.2 ft. DV Proper is where Badwater Basin is located. Saline Valley which is where I was, at it's lowest is 1,500' elevation, so it's not has hot as DV proper. I surmise that there is a 10° difference in temperate between the two valleys.

Saline Valley was about 105° in the afternoon, at it's hottest my temp gauge read 110°. After I traversed through SV and made Hunter Mountain pass, I camped in the pines at 6,000' where at 7 pm the weather was a nice 74°

I do not recommend anyone go DV in the summer unless it is to the higher elevations. It's just too dangerous. Of course I make an exception for myself as I have done this many times before and I am fully prepared for it. I do possess the ability to communicate via satellite which are used strictly for emergency rescue situations.

 

Good info Crom.
I didn't think there were bears there either but the crap didn't look like it came from the local burros. There was a park wildlife photographer documenting some plant fungus/parasite and I asked him about the scat. He said he would check it out and it may be possible it came from a bear.
Last spring we did the south pass out of SV and there were three cars on the trail heading north. I'm talking cars like crown vics. Stupid people. They had already made it through two water crossings and still thought it was ok to continue.

 

Just WOW. People driving to meet their doom? Unbelievable!

 

I almost wanted to turn around and follow them to see how far they could make it. We needed to get to PSR for fuel though.

 

Two weeks ago...October 2011





























More pics and a trip report can be found in the following link but you must be a registered member to view that particular area of the site:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/69289-Death-Valley-October-22nd-25th-2011

 

Nice pix!

 

I'm really interested in going on a death valley trip, do any of you have any suggestions of where to go?

 

Man.

When I was growing up we went there a lot of times on vacation, my father was very into history so we went to a ton of old ghost towns, mining towns etc.

Some are MILES from anywhere and they hauled literally TONS of steel and equipment on mules into those mountains.

Seeing these pictures brings back a lot of memories.

We had a '78 Ford 3.4 ton pick-up, 2WD. It is amazing how just poking along and stay on the road, even abandoned ones, how far you can get and access some pretty amazing places.

I know we carrier A LOT of extra water, shovel, gas, etc.. (this was before cell phones but I can't see them working out there anyways).

My father always got information from the local ranger stations and we were even given keys to some gates to go up to some old towns.

I remember one place we went far up into the mountains came around a corner and it was like someones summer home.

Spring fed water reservoir, large house in decent shape and even a swimming pool full of water so clear. It was awesome. No one around for miles.

More pictures!