Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Eventually the coolness of overlanding will wear off and at least some of the over use and abuse will go away naturally.

We applied every month for 16 months in a row before we got a permit to hike the Wave in Arizona. In theory, I do like the idea behind permits and limitations but in practice it usually doesn't work out.

 

Yeah, the permitting process for the wave is bullshit, I still haven't got mine. They limit to 20 total people per day!

But I welcomed permitting for HD... I hiked it the year prior and spent 3+ hours stuck at the cables.

Although the system could be even better if they prohibited obese people with paralyzing fear of heights from even trying that trail. Dozens of these morons were clogging both lanes, and after standing in the sun for hours on end, most folks wound up climbing outside the cables. One guy slipped and could have died, but luckily he caught a ledge a few yards down. Jesus that was a clusterfuck.

 

Nah.

 

For places that become ludicrously overcrowded (e.g. Half Dome) or the experience would be utterly destroyed by a crowd (e.g. The Wave) then I completely support permits. Similarly some places are such a long drive that your really need permits/reservations for camp sites or else people will for sure set up illegal camps when they get there late and find sites full (e.g. Toroweap). Backpacking in the Sierra has fit these requirements for a long time but at least at most trailheads they hold back a portion of permits for release the day before entry which is a decent way to preserve spontaneity. I think the back-country permit system in the Sierras has been an amazing success over multiple decades now and demonstrates you can successfully implement such a system preserving the experience for all visitors rather than having everything turn into the hell that is Yosemite Valley.

Thankfully, so far, no place in DV really gets anywhere near the level requiring permits. There are a handful of resource protected areas that can only be entered with a ranger led tour which is totally fine with me. Otherwise it is an incredibly flexible place for a NP. I hope it stays that way.

Dumb-asses that drive off-road aren't the kind of folks to get permits in the first place. For this kind of thing I just think severe criminal penalties and public shaming are about the only thing to work with. The public shaming thing actually seems like a reasonable way to educate others via social media.

 

As someone who loves freedom, I have a knee-jerk aversion to the government “permitting” me to visit the people’s land. But I’ve come to the realization that it’s a necessary evil in many cases. There’s just too many people multiplied by too many idiots.

 

And far too many "notice me, notice me" morons on the internets...sad.

 

I’ve come to the same conclusion.

I think the Rubicon would benefit from this but I say this as someone who picks mid week off season to do it.

 

very few mentions of this spelling on tw

 

...with you on that, fer sure, the unit has passed the carrying capacity without any one noticing, now we'll have to sit back some more and observe with hindsight as the system attempts to reset...jeez too hot out there anyway

 

completed a 806 mile trip over three day with about two hours inside Death Valley National Park. see photo. Camped just outside the park boundary with gobs of available darkness and did observe NEOWISE.

 

By any chance did you pass through SVWS? Wondering if the pools are still dry. They removed the handles on the valves because of the wuflu.

 

Where abouts did you camp out, if you don't mind sharing? You may have been in my neck of the woods.

 

no. too hot to go there, maybe a couple months.

 

pretty ok spot. i'll send you a PM.

 

Cool!

 

I'm surprised you can't tell where that is--the sign is clearly shown in the picture!

 

You guys keep posting about these awesome spots with explicit directions how to get to them. Don't complain when they get crowded.

 

Never!!!

 

https://youtu.be/mRCS-0shLEQ