Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

I didn't

 

Weird, I didn't have to. Anyway, here's a free version:

https://web.archive.org/web/2025070...ey-national-park-car-fire-deaths-20421436.php

 

I want to say that SFGate lets your device (IP address?) read an article or two every month without hassling you.

 

• "Somewhere around Towne Pass, elevation 4,956 feet, the tractor trailer’s brakes started to squeal and sputter. Descending..."
• "By first light on June 19, the 18-wheeler was toast..."
• "Towne Pass, a crucial point along California State Route 190. The jutting roadway connects Stovepipe Wells (elevation: 10 feet) and Panamint Springs (1,926 feet), with a steep grade that often catches truckers and touring RV drivers off guard. The strenuous roads, combined with the already high temperatures, make brakes even more prone to overheating and fire than on average roads."
• "Many opt to try their luck on CA-190, like the unnamed driver on June 19 who was trying to get from Battle Mountain, Nevada to Long Beach."

Does this read to anyone else like the driver took a very ill-advised turn and drove up Emigrant Pass Road and caught fire around Nemo Canyon or heading back to 190 after turning around at Wood Canyon or Wildrose?

 

I installed a spam blocker long ago. But I did notice they ask for your email if you wanna subscribe to their notifications...just click on the X to get rid of it.

 

Not sure I see why this implies Emigrant Pass Road is involved? They only talk about the 190 and I think they are describing it correctly? Possible that just because I'm familiar with the place I'm making assumptions new readers might not. The phrasing is a bit confusing in that third bullet because it makes it sound like the grade is only 1,916 feet when of course it is the 4,956 feet of Towne Pass that is the real problem. Though of course they do mention Towne Pass's elevation earlier in the article.

The other thing a bit confusing is that the particular incident they are talking about happened in Panamint Valley, but still inside the National Park. So the truck was westbound and caught on fire near the bottom of the Towne Pass on the Panamint side. The photo in the article is of a truck in Panamint a bit before reaching the dry lake the 190 crosses at the bottom of the valley. Most of the rest of the incidents have been on the Stovepipe side of the pass (I think).

 

That post was 100% the result of me popping a couple of melatonin gummies last night and not drinking any caffeine this morning. I think that I somehow forgot where Towne Pass was, interpreted it as "that descent between Father Crowley Overlook and Panamint Springs," ignored the actual location and geography of the actual Towne Pass, and then thought "Father Crowley is below 5,000 feet and why would a semi going to Long Beach be descending towards Panamint?" Derp.

 

The big earthquake over in Eastern Russia caused some waves in Devil's Hole:

https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/news/devils-hole-2025-07-29.htm

 

The number of times this has happened makes you wonder how interconnected things are at depth. And maybe not directly but say pools of magma.

 

Sorry.

Nothing to add either, but to fill some space, I'm going to promote the Great Basin Astronomy Festival -- September 18-20. I'll be there!

This isn't Death Valley, so I hope y'all don't mind the plug. But if you like Death Valley then you'll probably like Great Basin. They are both spectacular and inhospitable landscapes, among the finest valleys and/or basins our nation has to offer. Hard to find darker skies in the continental US. Fingers crossed those skies won't be smoked out!

Oh, and if you like trains... you can ride a historical train in Ely nearby. I'll be there, too -- but on a different weekend. For the night stargazing trains.

Edit: I have to clarify, I'm actually not much of a basin expert, so I'm not sure if Great Basin ranks among the finest basins our nation has to offer. I mean... it seems like a great basin would be, like, a gigantic lake... capable of storing a great deal of water, right? Well, this place is actually a gigantic mountain... with only a handful of tiny lakes up near the top. Those little lakes are definitely very nice -- and much larger than the kind of basins you'd find in a kitchen sink. But they're hardly the centerpiece of the park, so I'm not sure why they're promoting the whole place as a basin in the first place. Really more of a mountain. Oh, and they named the mountain "Wheeler Peak," but it doesn't have any wheels, nor can you wheel upon it, so don't get your hopes up there either.

Edit 2: I didn't mean to undersell it though. It's actually a really great basin -- probably the greatest.

Edit 3: Here are some pictures from last year's festival at Great Basin:







See? Pretty great.

 

Great Basin NP is underrated but I miss the days where you could roll in and get a spot at the wheeler peak campground without a reservation.

FWIW, the Great Basin encompasses most of NV. The national park is just a speck in what is the largest area in North America where the watershed does not flow into an ocean. The basin includes Death Valley, along with hundreds of mountain ranges that make NV the most mountainous state in the US. Long story short, the Great Basin is rad and while most is desert and it is full of many valleys, it also contains the highest peak in the continental US and a lifetime worth of mountain ranges to explore.

Also, while the cave tour is highly suggested, don't be like me and MrsTaco and go on a cave tour after 3 weeks of camping with just an occasional dip in a stream, river, and/or lake to rinse because you'll find that you cannot escape your own funk when you're down in the cave.

 

One hundred percent underrated.

GB even has its own species of Bristlecone Pine!

 

Some of the darkest skies! What will you take? I just added a 76H⍺. Solar is pretty cool.

 

That GBNP cave tour is totally worth it. Wheeler is a nice, easy hike, too, from what I remember. I need to take the wife there the next time we're heading to or from Capitol Reef.

 

Not a lot of elevation gain, about 3k feet, but it starts at 10k.

 

I do the photography workshops... so I never get to look through the telescopes! I haven't bothered bringing my little telescope along on trips for several years now... and honestly if I was going to, I'd just buy a Seestar. Looks like I'll get to be an "astronomer" for the star trains in Ely next month, though.

Agreed -- hoping I can convince my wife to come along one of these years.

Another fun fact: Great Basin has, by far, the best concessionaire in the entire parks system. Seriously. I pray Aramark/Xantara never learn of this place.

 

Our club often has “public outreach” programs where you can volunteer to be the astronomer. It’s visual observation only and there’s literally no time for photo after “public” hours.

GBNP is a Delaware North park.

 

That feeling when a crazy once in a lifetime alignment of a distant B2 flyby with the full moon occurs and the longest focal length camera you have with you is your iPhone…

(Taken from Devil’s Cornfield at sunrise this morning)