Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

I did that about a month and a half ago

 

This route is on my short list or trails to do.

 

Have you been up that way lately? It's pretty rough and I only recommend it to people I know have truly capable rigs. When folks get stuck around here I'm the one that gets called in for the rescue. lol

Both of you guys should look for the Warren Bench on the map. It starts out of Big Pine and takes you up behind Sugarloaf. It's the real deal. Lockers and 33s for a minimum. Also, I'm generally only available for recoveries Saturday and Sunday. lol

 

This sounds like "PM" material to me.....

 

Not really. Most guys will make it about halfway up the bench before they turn around. There's a very steep, very loose uphill section that has a large buried rock step. It's off camber and super easy too roll in that section. And that's the easy part. Lol

 

I like the way you think. Don’t have lockers yet but working on it.

 

Removed Alabama Hills and added a blank line. IG influencers have ruined so many good areas in the last few years it makes me sick.

 

Truth be told, many of the places IG crowd goes are already ruined. Years ago, I hiked up to Mesa Arch to see the sunrise...with 30 or more of my new best friends who came up after I did. The row of photographers was insane with people jockeying for position. Horseshoe Bend is the same way.

AH is relatively easy to get to and popular with the climbing community-which seems to be undergoing a growth spurt. Alabama Hills, J-Tree, parts of Truckee, are all seeing way more usage-not just climbers. Heck, just a few posts ago, someone alluded to the crowds at J-Tree.

I 100% love seeing the places people go but also understand the need to keep wild places wild. Changes are coming and the days of pulling off the road to AH are probably over.

 

I probably last camped at A Hills two years ago, and didn’t find it crowded but there was trash. My experiences there, Saline Valley, Hills off 168 east of Bishop, Panamint Valley etc have actually been pretty good. OTOH I stopped going to Yosemite Valley years ago, actually decades.

 

I have a few very favorite places around the Eastern Sierra and beyond, but I'll be damned if I will ever post one word on social media regarding these places.

 

Exactly. That's why we herd them all up into Coyote Flat. Keep the IGers in one or two places. Then they're way less likely to accidentally find the other places.

 

That's actually a good idea. If it's too late to turn around that tide, might as well work it.

 

Any idea of what some of the proposals maybe be? I couldn't find anything significant.

 

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front...dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=200008409

There are PDFs of the presentations to download. Not really at the proposals stage yet.

 

I read these and didn’t feel there was much to comment on. The only thing I took away was that motor vehicle use would be limited to designated roads, but there are many spurs and access routes to camp spots that seem reasonable for motor vehicle use; would that still be allowed? On the other hand I have seen tire tracks blazing new trails which of course is not good, but I worry that suitably dispersed camping would become limited if existing two-track use trails were closed off.

 

Anyone know if Titus Canyon is open right now?
The website says closed but that was last updated on the 7th. Facebook says it is open since the 15th. Tried calling the visitor center but nobody picked up. I'm not sure if it has been raining there or not.

 

The DV road conditions page has the most recent info.

 

That's what I thought too but it says last updated December 7th. Titus canyon opened again on the 15th and they didn't update the page.

 

I meant the Facebook page...

 

I'm assuming that means it's open since there have been no posts about it since the 15th.
Thanks, it rained a good amount in socal yesterday so I wasn't sure if it rained there or not.