Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

I did Mengle pass to stripped butte and stayed at the cabin my first night. What an awesome place that is! Mengle was pretty chewed up but not too bad. The Race Track was a must-see for me and I had no intention of retracing my tracks on that washboard. We exited Lippencot, which was a piece of cake. That is unless you are driving a Rav4. We saved this kids life:

 

Another DERP'r heading up Lippencott in a not so suited vehicle. I saved a family of Asian's down near SVR/Lippencott intersection. They had already headed up and were following their park map going to the racetrack. Husband/wife/son with little water and street tires.

 

The park service should post some signage to scare away cars, and build a gate keeper obstacle to block them. lol

 

Same thing here. He said he was driving his car as far as he could then was going to hike to the racetrack. He definitely drove it "as far as he could."

 

at the risk of becoming a DERP'r with my lifted pre-runner... i have done palm springs to the dunes through steele pass on 2wd with out any issues (i would not try it the other way around due to the steps)..... is Lippencott doable coming down form the race track on 2wd? I know that going up is not recommended on 2wd..

 

I drove Lippencott from Racetrack to Saline back in March and I never put it into 4WD once. It's all downhill in that direction, it's much more about having clearance and being careful about choosing your approaches.

 

thats good to know.... i had read something similar but I just wanted to make sure... thank you.

 

Someone rolled a Jeep Patriot on Lippencott a few days ago, fortunately in one the few places that doesn't result in death. It was a rental of course, with street tires to boot. Assumption is they slid on a steep section. Happened 5/1 and driver OK apparently. Road not blocked.

 

Where did you hear this news? I would like to read more about it.

 

On other forums, I also think someone posted to the Death Valley Road Conditions Facebook page. Here's a link to one forum:

http://forum.salinepreservation.org/post/show_single_post?pid=1292141243&postcount=39&forum=162656

And one of the posts on Facebook: Not sure if vehicle still there at this point!

 

Wow! Thanks for the links.

 

Some pics from my last trip to DV.

 

https://archive.org/details/hoefler_death_valley_1950

 

That was a really cool video!

My folks spent some time in DV before I was born...early/mid 1960's.

Here's a little tid bit from their travels...

Front cover:


Centerfold map:


Back cover that describes "Mission 66", which was a program designed to "assure the maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, wilderness, and historical resources of the National Park System in such ways and by such means as will make them available for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations."




Sent from Cygnus X-1

 

Overnight at Trona Pinnacles.

 

Hunt for vandals accused of killing one of the rarest fish on earth during drunken rampage in Death Valley National Park

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Death-Valley-National-Park.html#ixzz48GESW900

 

Truly upsetting

 

Truth. I hope they get stomped. Repeatedly.

 

This. Ignorant fuck-ups.

 

I think they've been identified.