Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Posted this over on Dezert Rangers and Expedition Portal, but thought it'd be fitting here as well.




Full Album https://www.flickr.com/photos/125556024@N05/sets/72157650507638850/


It started sometime last year, the idea of venturing north and out of our typical Southern California back-country. The talk of a new frontier, new sights and wonder whats around the next corner. Anza-Borrego to the High Desert is our "go-to", and while there's still more to see, we've explored much of it and know nearly every mile by heart. It was time to get away from getting away. We set our sights on Death Valley, due to the sheer amount of area to cover both on and off-road it was the perfect candidate. Couple weeks of discussing with the group, planning routes, way-points, camping spots, where to grab fuel and we were on our way...


2 dogs. 3 vehicles. 4 days. 6 people. 1200+ miles.


Perfect.


Closed up the shop early, loaded up the last minute items and headed over to my parents house to grab some firewood and use their property as the randevu point. Waited for everyone to trickle in, double checked what we had and anxiously awaited the drive and adventure to come.








Finally, time to hit the road. Seems like the minutes are hours when you have somewhere to be, and this was no exception. Not only anxious, but hunger was starting to kick in. And what's any High Desert road trip without a stop to Barstow Del Taco?!?





Bellies full, and a large cup full of root beer (for me anyways) and it was off to Baker for our last fuel stop before hitting our camp around Saratoga Wash. Found a good spot, got setup for the night, lit off the camp stove and had a few beverages to celebrate arrival to the first stage of our adventure.











As much as it's a bummer to arrive late and tired, the plus side is waking up to see your new surroundings in the morning. And what a view it was.











In our neck of the woods, we use these for outdoor warmth. Whether it's around the house, or out in the desert, these are the king of pumping out heat. We call them "log hogs", nothing more then a outdoor barrel stove. Work great, lots of heat, no smoke, can cook your food on it and contains all the ashes when you're done.





Can't start the day without a complete breakfast. Thankfully we have some awesome better halves that put up with all our adventures and feed us along the way.








Full from eggs, hashbrowns and bacon, it was time to hit the road. With the trusty tablet and Backcountry Navigator loaded up with the routes I planned out, time to head into Death Valley via Saratoga Springs Rd.








Stopped at Badwater Rd. to wait for the group before heading to the Ashford Mill Ruins, then West Side Rd.










As much fun as the wife is (haha), the Tacoma takes the win on trips like this. TC upper arm and Fox front and rear, it gets it just enough to be fun in the dirt, but comfy on the road.










From West Side Rd, we backtracked to Artist Canyon Drive, then dropped into Furnace Creek for fuel and to take advantage of reliable cell service.








Checked out the Ranger Station as well as picked up our passes. Very excited going into this trip knowing it was recently rewarded a Dark Sky award. Wish it was summer months though for that Milky Way view!

 

Dantes View did not disappoint. If there is one thing to take away from any of these photos, it's that they don't do Death Valley any justice. It's one of those places that has to be seen and be apart of to understand how massive and beautiful the place is.











In route to Stovepipe Wells we checked out the dunes. Couldn't help but wish they were open like Glamis so we could continue our route in the sand.











Camp was to be up in Cottonwood Canyon. A bit past the 8 mile mark we found a spot that was perfect.
















Log Hog cookin'!

 

Woke early on Saturday, knowing that we had a full day ahead of us.








Packed up camp and drove into Beatty for gas and supplies.





The command center





Ryholite and the art museum




















And off to Titan Canyon


























Quick stop by Scotty's Castle, then Ubehebe Crater before finally getting out of the rat race.








Even though the road from Ubehebe to the race track is brutal in areas, it was nice to be in the dirt again and offers great views.










Stopped at Teakettle Junction to add our own, have lunch and relax a few after a long and brutal drive to keep within our time frame. Goal was to make it down Lippincott before the sunset.

 

The view dropping into the Racetrack was awesome. Been to quite a few dry lake beds, but not one this pristine and with a "grandstand" within.



















Chris wondering why we came all this way to look at rocks.








And off to Lippincott. Normally this wouldn't be any kind of a worry, but we were unsure of the wheelbase on the Superduty combined with some of the tighter sections. We put my Tacoma in front, and the Bronco in the back in the event we needed to use straps or things got sketchy. Turns out, it did just fine with room to spare. The road was in good shape considering it isn't maintained. What a fun drive and epic views into Saline Valley!

























Perfect timing! Dropping into the valley floor as the sun set. Destination for tonight's camp was the Hot Springs.








Heading down Saline Valley we saw a van on the side of the road. Stopped to make sure everyone was ok and if they needed anything. Ended picking up a nail and had a flat. Let them use our patch kit and air compressor, and about 15 minutes later they were back in business. Leaving the springs Sunday morning, we saw the van again, this time with what looked like a busted ball-joint. Made sure they were ok and had help coming before continuing on our way. Why someone would be this far out, on these kind of roads without a spare or tools in a inadequate vehicle is beyond me.

 

We arrived at the hot springs a little after dark. The road leading into the place was a piece of paradise after miles of washboard and rock sections. Sandy wash with small, nicely spaced whoops made for a killer way to end the days journey. Driving into the springs at night was a bit confusing, it took us a while to decide what to do and where to camp, it was after all Valentines weekend at a clothing optional retreat. There was an abundance of dicks, butts, boobs and vagina. Nothing says you've made it to the hippy hole like a group jumping out of the bushes in front of your vehicle to show full spread of things you don't entirely want to see.

We were tired. Set up camp, the girls made a killer dinner, and we wasted away around log hog while staring off into the stars. Bed was calling.











GOOD MORNING!!! I think we all slept pretty good once the rave music quit. Woke up to yet another epic scenic landscape. Thankfully, nudity was reserved during the day. Packed up camp for the last time this trip and heading down to the springs during the day to check them out. Obviously, cameras are frowned upon, and didn't realize that until I received a couple "what the fuck are you doing" looks. Haha.





Airstrip for people to fly in, soak and take back to the skies. This sparked a flame for working on my pilots license...





The hotsprings has also became home to a family of "dunkies". Around the area you'll see them just hanging out in people camps, and guess they've recently had some little jackass'.



"We can't stop here, this is bat country"







Near these dunes was a tramway in the early 1900's they used to haul salt over the mountain range with cable cars. Some of the wooden structures are still there and amazing to think how much work went into it, even with today's technology.





Heading out of Saline Valley, up into Lee Flatts.





Lippincott Pass, where we came down from the night prior.





Gaining some elevation, quick style.







Then ended up at this epicness.

 

Stopped to take another break and take in the view, some more then others....



W.H.Y.L.H.B.L?









Time to carry on into Lee Flats







Dat road. Much fun was had here with a view to boot.





Coming up to the highway, we saw a set of cabins and mine structure in the distance. Decided to check it out. As we got closer to the cabins, saw people starting to move rapidly, it almost appeared they were either living there, or using it as a grow/lab spot. They offered us a tour, but we decided to GTFO.











Hit the highway and back to Panamint Springs for food, a beer and to top off with some cheap gas.



How we all felt at this point...








After our stop, it was off to check out Arguereberry Camp and the Eureka mine.







Someone had removed one of the barrier bars, better go check it out!

 

After this stop, it was time to head back to reality. Route from this point changed a bit, and decided to backtrack into Baker.















You can't just drive by it.....



Awesome time. Had a desert hangover all week. Thankfully we have some more goodness coming up.

Until next time!

 

Holy picture dump Thanks for sharing, makes me want to get outside for sure!

 

how long did it take you to do Titus canyon?

 

Couple of hours, we took our time and stopped here and there for a break.

 

thanks. trying to decide what is worth fitting in and what is not for a 3 day trip. Definitely want to see Eureka dunes, and go to the hot springs, and all the tourist stuff like race track, crater, devil's golf course, badwater basin, and mosiac canyon. Just cant decide if hitting one of the ghost towns is worth skipping one of the about due to time, or doing titus canyon is worth scrapping one of the above due to time.

 

Awesome photos and I use the tent on the back of my shell work great, nice to see it works on the soft topper as well!

 

This^^^

The entrance to Titus is just south of Rhyolite. or just take the road to Titus, it goes through a small ghost town (Leadfield) But Rhyolite is worth the time.

 

Can we camp in/near/around Rhyolite?

 

We camped in the hills next to rhyolite, but nothing is developed. It is outside the park.

 

bailey hot springs looks like a cool place to camp, just a little bit father up north from Rhyolite.

 

Anyone have any recent info on the condition of Mengel Pass?

 

We were there in October, it was a lot rockier then the past few trips but nothing difficult. We cancelled a trip a couple of weeks ago because they were expecting rain/snow in the mountains.

 

This might help.. hopefully someone will have more current route conditions soon.

http://www.deathvalley.com/dvtalk/messages/711569.shtml

I was just in DV but did not do the Mengel Pass. I was unable to get any current conditions reports regarding Mengel Pass so decided to postpone that route into Butte Valley for safety concerns as my truck is not much of a crawler crawler and it was just too darn hot to risk.

Conditions in North DV (Eureka Dunes-Racetrack-North Saline Valley Road) were hot and dusty. The DV weather reports predicted a high of 80 but it was hitting 90 with a dose of sand blasting desert winds in the afternoon. I'm heading back out to Saline Valley in a 10 days, before it gets even hotter !

desert rats might enjoy the following link as well.. there is a nice audio story on the Racetrack Rocks in the list of programs available to listen to (free stuff).

http://dezertmagazine.com/past-programs/

 

Awesome, thanks for the info! We aren't removing it from our options list yet, but we'll see what we're feeling like when we get there. I think we can definitely do it if we feel like heading down that way.