Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Yeah I have one but forgot to bring it. I need to put an extension on it so I don't have to move cans around too. I've only used it once so far and was surprised how well it worked and how quickly, definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a cheap easy siphon.

 

You noticed that too? When I drove through the main valley and tourist areas I told my wife there were more people than I had ever seen there. Every major parking area was overflowing and had people parking on the sides of the roads because ALL of the parking spots were taken.

 

Probably one of the main reasons most who appreciate the desert seek it out.

 

Yeah I definitely appreciated it, its been a long time since I was last camping and it was definitely needed. It was kind of surreal watching people travelling around Saline Valley under the twilight with their car lights twinkling along and not being able to hear anything, no birds, bugs, cars or other people.

I've still got a lot of places up my sleeve I like to go that I rarely ever see anyone, and those I do see are quiet and keep to themselves.

 

^^this. It sucks when you had a hidden gem trail/camp spot get blown up on IG with 20+ vehicle runs. Then everyone in that group geotagging the hell out of that location. Honestly, I feel like it will only get worst.

 

This day in age, if it's not on Google I'd say it's probably not a legal trail.

 

Social media is the bane of the civilized world for many reasons. Effing over the wilderness with too much "love" is just one aspect of it.

It is a machine designed to give users cheap thrills by making them feel their pathetic lives are special because they got ten likes from strangers. It is all remarkably effective as far as psychological exploitation goes.

The "pro" users go one step further and "monetize their life" willing to shill anything and exploit any special location they can find for a few extra pennies of revenue from a click through.

Honestly I don't mind seeing hoards in the valley and overflowing parking lots at Zabriske, Golden Canyon, Badwater and the like. Parks need use to garner further protection even if that use seems a threat in itself. Lack of use is an equal threat.

Problem is not all areas of a park or wilderness are amenable to high use and that's where social media is doing its damage. Worse still it attracts the utterly clueless to special places. Folks happy to blare their shitty music across the quiet desert. Folks happy to let their off leash dog piss all around the only water resource available to wildlife for miles. Folks who think that playa needs their tire tracks on it. Folks who are really only there to populate their "feed" with a contrived "experience" they hope will garner them a few more "likes" so their brain will drool out some endorphins when it hears their phone dinging notifications.

In the past most people didn't end up in such places until they had spent some time in the more heavily used areas - areas that include by design a lot of user education mechanisms like signage and rangers. Typically you had to pick up a book to discover these areas and the book also educated the user. Lastly authors are typically responsible folks who have discretion and common sense in what they do and do not include in a guide. Social media users have no such discretion and unconsciously merely see the landscape as something to exploit for thier addiction much like a heroin user only sees that unlocked bike as their next hit...

 

Also there is a need/duty to report to authorities perpetrators complete with date, time, photos and videos.

Rational explanations as to the damage being done and consequences (area closures) of their actions. Might work on a small group, not so much on larger groups.

 

How did those six heroin hits feel from people liking this social media posting? I'll give you one more just to help with the fix.

 

Can you imagine the irreparable harm @ChadsPride has been causing?

 

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First one's free....

 

Helped recover the second LC that rolled on Thursday with the help from the dude from 4x4 Labs.. both driver, passenger and pup were not injured. We got it on all 4's, pushed it off the road and changed out a tire and addes air to the others. We all also stayed to help look for thr pup that took off..

 

Nice job helping out @MonkeyProof - glad to hear occupants were OK. That crushed roof is scary looking for sure. Thanks for the additional photos.

Someone else posted a bit more info on ih8mud:

Elsewhere it was observed the vehicle was likely top heavy as well with a roof mounted spare and a bunch of other junk up there on the roof rack. Raising the CG just a bit dramatically increases the likelihood of a solo rollover. I'm acutely aware of that with my Flip-Pac and do everything I can to keep all other weight as low as possible in the vehicle.

 

Glad they are all ok and hope the missing pup turns up.

 

Girlfriend was driving, boyfriend was asleep when it happened. It was long striaght going into an slight left with a little riser in the apex of the turn, which unwieghted the suspension and being over wieghted on top like you mentioned.

 

The pup was found safe and unharmed later on in the night.

 

Ya, no fork in the road.. just driving too fast with aired-down tires and top heavy.

I couldn't believe they were all perfectly fine, when we rolled up on it we thought the worse.

All in all, they have their own and their dog's life and the new year.

 

I would have thought the aired down tires would help with stability?

Pretty sobering seeing these folks rolled over. I was out there routinely going 40-60mph seeing how the suspension felt even with my roof rack loaded up and jerry cans full. Only had 1 minor "Oh Shit" moment on the road back from Lee's Flat, put the truck into 2WD with all the broken pavement areas and had a little unintended slide coming over a hill and a sharp turn immediately afterwards. I never seem to have problems like that in 4WD.