Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

Yes, and more than one photo of the pooch off leash around the park. And if I'm reading his report correctly he had friends go off road on KTMs to help look for the pooch. Sigh... Well they were probably pretty darn panicked and freaked out after a wreck like that. Really glad the pooch made it back on its own though!

Folks stealing their gear after the wreck was an incredibly low blow. Takes a certain kind of sleaze to do that. Nice to know that kind of sleaze is frequenting SV these days...

On the flip side was nice to see how many folks helped out without even being asked including righting the vehicle while they were off looking for the dog. And giving them a 55-mile tow over North Pass so they wouldn't need to Millers it at great expense! Some stand up folks out there.

Anyway, kudos to the guy for sharing the story. It takes guts to do that and be subject to all the Monday morning quarterbacking. Hopefully helps all of us learn or re-learn some important lessons. Nice to see the ih8mud members being supportive in the thread as well. Hope they are able to get back out there a bit wiser in the not too distant future.

 

Quite a story that ended well. Everyone including the dog okay. https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/trip-report-death-valley-and-a-wrecked-80.1033660/
The thing that stands out to me is the fiancee driving and over corrected the steering. Don't get me wrong most women are great drivers. I can sleep no problem with my wife at the wheel ON THE ROAD! The thing is most don't have much experience in a slide. For most guys at some point we purposely drift and slide our cars / trucks around for fun when we can so it becomes instinctual how to correct a slide. IDK I could be wrong and this could've happened to anyone at the wheel? Just sayin. Years ago I let my GF at the time drive my 5.0 Mustang which was tail happy in the dry if you pushed the skinny pedal too much. Anyway we are coming through the tract and there's water in the drainage channel as we round the corner just as she rolls on the throttle__ guess what instant 180 and were heading for the curb going backwards as she screams! I scream STOP and we stop 6" from backing into the curb. She wasn't allowed to drive that car anymore. ** I'm not bashing women drivers at all just stating a point as I read the story. Added : I let my wife drive off road sometimes just so she has some experience with it. Even in rocky terrain just in case she has to. BUT she keeps it slow and steady.

 

I was always curious about this....I am assuming the vehicles were left behind because they literally couldn't be taken out of there or it would be too costly to take them out, but if they leave them there would insurance still do their payouts? (if there is any). Seems pretty shitty to just abandon them but I guess some people feel it's less headache

 

I've actually offered to let my wife drive the truck off-road. She's all, "Nope." Even when we take her Pilot on the forest roads, she wants me to do the driving. I keep telling her that it's a skill she needs to learn, but she's just too nervous about it.

Edit: Oh, and I had to laugh at one point in that guy's story. 4Lo on Lippencott? When I drove down it (Racetrack to Saline) two years ago in the Tacoma I never even made it to 4Hi. There were a couple of washouts where I had to take it quick, but there wasn't anything that needed 4WD. It has seriously improved since we got stuck on it 30 years ago. But, yeah, my wife didn't let go of the chicken handle for seven miles. I think she left her fingerprints in it.

 

I hear ya, but I like to drift when I can. (Must shut the darn VSC off first ) Leave it 2wd and the tires at full pressure as long as I can see good and there's some runoff room - but I'm not top heavy in fact all added weight on my rig is down low on purpose. I'm only lifted 2" also. ** Having said that most times slow and steady with the family on board, especially when far from home! Those poor folks had everything working against them at the time. The good news is nobody got hurt.

 

So most don't actually get completely abandoned that I've seen. They just take a bit of time to get recovered on account of the remoteness. The just linked to story a rare case in which with help they managed to recover a totaled vehicle in less than 24 hrs without using Miller's towing! So when I said "left behind" I really just mean you see a lot more vehicles temporarily stranded indicating both increased traffic over all and a significant increase in folks not adequately prepared for the road such that they end up with a disabled vehicle.

This past month though there was a truly "abandoned" vehicle on the road. The vehicle burnt out and the owner had promised to have it removed. They never did and so the taxpayers got to pay for the removal for now with a bill sent to the owner...

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My brother learned to drive stick on a National Guard Jeep at the armory where my Dad worked. 3-speed, no synchro. When it came time for me to learn Dad had retired and we no longer had access to the Jeeps, so I was spared that agony. But I was put through my paces nonetheless.

My wife is actually, in some ways, a better driver than I am. She has far more experience driving in snow, since she went to college in Minnesota and did her PT residency in Northern California/Southern Oregon. But the whole off-road driving thing just freaks her out for some reason.

 

I drove a lifted 80 Series LC for years, and while at first it seemed like the perfect trail limo/racecar blend, compared to my previous Ranger, after I bought a Forester the LC felt downright scary at speed. The Forester with aftermarket skidplates front and rear (diff) was really the perfect car for most DV conditions. Mine was 2nd gen with LSD and viscous center diff but no electronics except ABS. The Tacoma, even when I had the RTT, seems more stable than the LC, perhaps due to its longer wheelbase, even before VSC kicks in. But I'm older now and just drive slower too.

 

Depends on skill, vehicle type, and weight. My tacoma is heavy with the camper and going down off-road grades like Lippincott I'm usually in 4Lo. Saves my brakes for when I really need them.

For the future of Saline I'm picturing Lees camp turned into a ranger station that is manned year round. Since the park is so big more than one ranger would be there at most times in order to patrol the northwest portions of the park. Something is gonna change. The place is being loved to death as they say.

 

On site ranger station would be great. Based on visitation though it could be seasonal I think and do its job. There is almost zero visitation out there in the summer and it is likely to stay that way.

Ideally they could have a ranger billet for Wildrose in the summer and the Hot Springs in winter adding up to one full time position (though not necessarily the same person). Based on experience to date I don't think a volunteer host is necessarily going to cut it and they need an actual ranger to get a handle on things. Getting some more patrolling of Eureka and Racetrack would be a potential great side benefit - especially Racetrack.

I hope they do something sensible and soon - that status quo that has managed to work for quite some time (a surprisingly long time actually) doesn't seem fated to work for much longer. Maybe they could bridge the gap with some more patrols and occasional overnights by a ranger on patrol. Was glad to hear they were out over the holiday and chasing an illegal drone operator!

 

Springs were mostly empty for NYE weekend, we were in the springs for most of the days and nights. Cool people came and went with good drinks and funny stories. Smoked some ribs that were delicious.

 

It is.
Works great

 

Nice pics. That sand color runner looks badass and those ribs make me hungry!

Thanks.

 

I'm surprised that DV has been as free as it has been for this long. It's one of the things that make it special and I'd hate to see that go, but obviously something has got to give.

 

They should put some more ads on that website.

 

Last week this Aggressor came out of Panamint Valley hauling over to Owens thru Rainbow Canyon......yeah that was a rush!

 

I recently spent four days in Saline. It was great but temps were a little cool. Saw F-18s, -16s, one F-35, and two Marine Corps helos, a Whiskey and Viper. They came in from the south near the peace sign and across the Black Hills to the north. Temps coming in on North Pass were lowest at 19 degrees with some snow on the ground.

While I have my camp setup pretty dialed in and things are basically in the same spot for most trips there is constant fine tuning. My awning system with a Kelty Noah 12 tarp got two adjustments this trip. Using s-hook adjustable rubber bungees part of the tarp was secured to my wind fairing out front. This provided shade to the cab of my truck the majority of the day. Death Valley winds are notorius. One of the people I met on this trip was there for the haboob that came in from Steel Pass during the Christmas holiday time frame. Apparently it was pretty crazy. So one needs to be weary of potential wind events. When my tarp was ballooning up and down with the gentle breezes I decided to try something. I used those same type bungees to secure the section by the vertical tent poles. Worked great and I could raise it up and down depending on time of day and how much shade was needed. The second change I did was to turn the tarp upside down to allow the loops on what would usually be the top to be on the underside. This allows for hanging objects such as lights. One was directly above my cooking area.

Talking with people at camp got me reading some of my books for a hike on the way out of the valley. Now I don't recommend hiking alone with no one knowing where you're going but that's what I did. It was chilly at noon and the canyon I was hiking didn't get much sun. Some snow was on the old two track road leading to some mine remnants. My goal was some cabins I'd read about. When the path was completely washed out, even with my goal in sight, I decided to come back another time. Safety and a time crunch were on my mind. I wanted to get to Bishop before some of my favorite food places closed. Only made one.

Every trip I've done to Death Valley has provided new finds. There's so much there to discover with the right frame of mind, resources, and time.

Some of the pics are crappy cell pics and a couple others had the incorrect ISO setting. None are post processed.

 

Kinda strange. Thought the aggressor squadrons used Soviet style red stars instead of US stars and bars. Maybe only Navy/USMC aggressors use the red star.

 

I've been wanting the inReach for several years. Not sure if I want the Garmin version or the old one. I know Garmin took over the company and relabeled it. Trust me, I was thinking about that while hiking the canyon. Let's just say I had some preparation for any hostile wildlife that should be in the area and I was checking my surroundings often. Going alone presents different pros and cons. It was a great experience going up that canyon for the hike. However since I hadn't told my friends who did have my itinerary that I'd be doing a hike for a specific region on the way out I played it safe and turned around.

I went out Saturday and came home Wednesday. It was a good amount of time. Even though I stayed in one spot my mind was all over thinking about potential options. I want to get down to the Owlsheads and explore that region. Another friend of mine will go from the San Fernando Valley to northwest DV for only one night. He has two jobs though and being able to get away for any amount of time is tough for him. I couldn't go for one night.