Death Valley Off-Road Adventures

BTW, the small visitor’s center at the park in Bishop has the very good Friends of Jawbone/CTUC Eastern Sierra and DV maps for free, though they’re tagged $3.00 each. There are 3, maybe 4, covering the whole 395 corridor with good DV and neighboring coverage. I left a donation anyway. They also have a map app that can be used offline. I found the maps.me app to have excellent trail detail everywhere I’ve been ... even in Baja.

 

So were you around for these asshats? From user XPBC over on the SPA forum:

I was there and saw everything these two jackasses did except for the glorious rollover. First they camped right on top of Trona Dave so close he had to move. Open doors with music blasting even when they were at the Wizard away from their camp. I confronted the father about the music to tell him everyone here has mentioned your loud music and your not even at your camp. He didn't care one bit about being a nuisance. All day long seemed to be trying to draw attention to themselves. Obviously both drunk starting a big stupid generator and air compressor many times. Even a chainsaw! The dad did the first round of doughnuts and when it was the drunk kids turn the dad was actually filming him. Came close to wiping out his own camp and the Wizard source. They finally passed out in the afternoon with the dad in the drivers seat and headlights on. Kid sprawled out in a chair head stretched out backwards with his feet in the fire. Believe me everyone there was happy to hear about the rollover.

Apparently the rollover happened on the 21st.

Sigh - I have the feeling that the springs are done with a capital D. The degradation of the place in the past two years has been astounding and seems to be getting worse at an exponential rate. The NPS "management plan" is OBE before it is even finalized. Time to park a LEO on top of the place and shut this crap down.

Anyway, sorry for the "get of my lawn" post. Hope your stay avoided these morons!

 

Link to the original post?

 

@DVexile as I approached the turnoff to Springs from the north, on Wednesday around mid-day I was surprised to see a CHP unit driving out, as is never seen CHP off pavement anywhere. About 15 minutes later I saw this Ford, though back on its wheels, no one around. As I was pulling into the Springs I got flagged down by a couple of guys who asked me if it was still there, and gave me a quick summary of what these yahoos had been doing. CHP and NPS rangers had taken statements from people and the rangers were in fact still there when I set up camp. Later I heard that the Ford owners were “in custody”. So, I missed the bad stuff and spent two pleasant, quiet days there ... just enough people to hang out and make some new friends (including a fellow 3rd gen owner/TW inmate and his wife), but not too crowded. I’ll be back, but continue to avoid weekends and holidays.

 

http://forum.salinepreservation.org/post/show_single_post?pid=1303359619&postcount=207&forum=162656

Further descriptions of the idiots follow below that post.

Ah, glad it was a good visit for you! I'm sure we've got a while where careful selection of visit times will still result in a pleasant time at the springs.

 

After reading the SPA Forum posts I’m wondering if the guys were in the back seat of the CHP unit I saw. It was a big Expedition, tinted windows, and it was on the 21st. BTW everyone I talked to at the Springs was happy with the law enforcement response.

 

Judging by what accounts there are, they were definitely not sober while driving that truck when it rolled and deserve every shitty thing that comes their way. I wonder if there are any extra laws broken when drunk driving in a national park.

 

People do some pretty dumb shit in the parks.

 

Justice was served!

 

That all depends on what one views as justice. Having a family member who is paralyzed due to a drunk driver I have no tolerance for this. If the father was driving drunk with his son in the truck it shows how much he values life. If the son were driving it is no better.

 

I got a ticket in DV over 30 years ago. It was right after the so-called “100 year flood” just before Thanksgiving, in 1984. Going through Titus Canyon, we passed a sign and small barricade that read “Washout Ahead”. We were on dual sport bikes and didn’t need to go off the road to get around, so continued. Met up with a Ranger in Leadfield who cited all of us and made us turn around. The ticket wasn’t cheap: a Federal offense, not Cal Vehicle Code. Arguing with the ranger that the sign did NOT say “Road Closed” only pissed him off more. I was young then ... probably wouldn’t do it now. Aside from everything else with this incident, there may be environmental cleanup costs in this Ford rollover, associated with the oil/fuel spills.

 

I get coverage with the SilverPeak repeater while near Eureka Sand Dunes and above Steele Pass. I also get coverage with the same repeater when going through the Pinion Forest on N.Saline Valley Road. It's also linked to the Mazourka Peak and Mammoth Lakes Repeater.

Mazourka Peak-W6TD 146.760000- CT 103.5
Silver Peak- W6IY 146.940000- CT 103.5
Mammoth Lakes- NW6C 146.730- CT 100

This one is Linked to Las Vegas
Silver Peak- K6BDI 420.950+ CT 192.8




Also when I was Stripped Butte Valley I was sending and receiving packets to a station in Good Springs, NV. with just a 5watt handlheld connected to a roof mounted antenna

 

Easier said than done, but would have been nice to see them tackled and hog-tied, throw a blanket on them, keep them hydrated, wait til they sobered up. Don't know if I would have done it. Anybody sees it they tend to tell the truth to Johnny Law, so the blanket party could be in the most trouble after all, despite if it was the best thing to do.

 

Blood pressure low is a good thing.

Half moon right now, still two planets visible in the southwest sky, I think it's Venus and Mars. Nice time to view out of city lights.

 

If there was a way to get away with it, would you attack?

 

I don't know what could happen. I've traded fists with another man that was throwing a pinecone for his dog to chase into my fishing spot. That didn't turn out well for either of us. Dog was fine. He got a good beating, but I got one also.

 

Yeah, I meant commit a crime if you get away with it. However, the crime you commit may be prevent some kind of crime that harms people down the road. Maybe the sheriff will let you get away.

 

C'mon man, there was no dog in the f-150 tale.

 

The dog was involved with the land cruiser rollover.

I think some tire karma when the drunks are passed out might suffice.

Had they made it to the highway drunk and tired the likelihood of harm to life and limb goes way up. Screw those fuckers.

 

What if it saves a life?