deaf valley march 21 - 26

[jb welda]

me and a couple buddys are going to deaf valley (WHATS THAT? I CANT HEAR YOU!!!) later this month. if anyone is in the area or planning on it let me know and maybe we can link up somewhere. the itinerary is loose but it looks like im going to visit my buddy who caretakes the mine in darwin one night or go to china garden springs as an alternative if hes not around, then maybe over to charlies cabin via goler wash and look for the legendary dune buggy graveyard (not to mention the hole to the center of the earth), then maybe striped butte or geologists cabin (anyone know of lesser known cabins in that area, more off the beaten track?), maybe over cerra gordo pass and to saline, maybe other places like echo canyon or somewhere. iterary is pretty loose; just depends on what we feel like doing at the time.

by the way how is that loop that runs out of pleasant canyon i think it is. still snowy and icy?

hope to run into some of you (not literally of course) out there at least on a day hike or something. any pointers or suggestions for out of the ordinary places to go, please throw them down!

oh yeah, 85 fj60, ome springs and lift, rear locker, winch, chevy small block, rock sliders but only 31" tires so somewhat limited as to where i can get. dont particularly like body damage either by the way.

im thinking its going to be beautiful out there...agreed?

one love
jah bill

 

[CaliCruiser]

If it was one week later it would match up with my spring break and I would love to go. Have fun, it should be nice down there.
Dylan

 

[Cruiserdrew]

JB-We're going to have a whole group there the same weekend.

The Pleasant Canyon/South Park loop is open usually. Snow can close it pretty easily. If there is snow, it's easier going up South Park and Down Pleasant. You can expect a lot of water at th botton of Pleasant.

We'll be camped up in Middle Park on Saturday night if you want to come up and join us.

 

[jb welda]

awrite drew, dont know where middle park is exactly but im sure i can find it on a map. may see you there.

if you see a silver 60 with a black roof rack, tinted windows, arb bumper with winch, and little bitty tires, that would probably be me. stop and put a note on my windshield if you do see it...if i see a group of cruisers on the road or parked along it i will attempt to get your attention.

ps: there is a bumper sticker for "KRCL Radio Free Utah" on the back...thats pretty easy to distinguish.

one love
jah bill

 

[surfpig]

awrite drew, dont know where middle park is exactly but im sure i can find it on a map. may see you there.

if you see a silver 60 with a black roof rack, tinted windows, arb bumper with winch, and little bitty tires, that would probably be me. stop and put a note on my windshield if you do see it...if i see a group of cruisers on the road or parked along it i will attempt to get your attention.

ps: there is a bumper sticker for "KRCL Radio Free Utah" on the back...thats pretty easy to distinguish.

one love
jah bill

Slap some 33s on that sucka!



I wish I could join you...

 

[Dave-T]

Make sure you visit Scotty's castle!

Have Fun.

 

[jb welda]

>Slap some 33s on that sucka!

that has indeed been the plan. unfortunately before this plan my plan was to buy a couple brand new spares...and i bought 31s! egad. so now a friend of mine might take the 31s off my hands for his nissan crackfinder...oops i mean pathfinder, then i will just be left with one other problem: my rig barely fits into my garage with 31s and the roof rack so it definately aint gonna fit with 33s!

its always something.

by the way, scottys castle, isnt that a major tourist trap with lots of people? im trying to avoid "making the scene" if you know what i mean. now if you know of some secret little hideaways up near there im all ears!

one love
jah bill

 

[jb welda]

drew:

i just read a couple trail reports on middle park and i was wondering if you could advise me on whether you think my rig, as described above:

>oh yeah, 85 fj60, ome springs and lift, rear locker, winch, chevy small block,
>rock sliders but only 31" tires so somewhat limited as to where i can get. dont
>particularly like body damage either by the way.

is going to be sufficient to get in and out of there. ive got a spotter if need be but my tires may be a limiting factor and i also realize that trails change over even one season so you may not be positive of the conditions, but in general am i in the ballpark to make it in and out of there?

one love
jah bill

 

[Cruiserdrew]

As long as you are with someone else, you will be fine. There is a hard spot just over the scary bridge that will make you wonder...! Do not attempt Rogers Pass if snowy.

 

[jb welda]

>As long as you are with someone else

there will be someone else in my vehicle but only one vehicle. is that what you mean is ok?

ive heard a lot about this scary bridge.

one love
jah bill

 

[Kofoed]

>As long as you are with someone else

there will be someone else in my vehicle but only one vehicle. is that what you mean is ok?

ive heard a lot about this scary bridge.

one love
jah bill

Be well prepared with your vehicle, provisions and equipment for the areas that you are traveling.

It is not the bridge that is scary, it is the "chicken rock" upslope of it. There is also a spring a little farther up the trail that gets frozen, and ices up the road. The springs in Pleasant CAnyon are at a lower elevation and have been thawed for some time.

Try here for more info:

http://death-valley.net/forum/

 

[Cruiserdrew]

There is a lot I could tell you about DV, but half the fun is figuring it out on your own. The 31 inch tires will NOT hold you back, but make sure you have a good spare and tire plugs. I have been there the last 4 years running and every year someone, or several someones, gets a flat.

If you are attempting the South Park trail alone on Saturday and you have problems, our group will be either just ahead of you or just behind. Give a shout on the radio if you have one, or if it's late and we are likely ahead, just walk the mile or so up into middle park and find someone to come help you out.

Here is the drill on the bridge-it looks worse than it is. Leading up to the bridge is an edgy spot, and just after is a tippy bouldery edgy spot. Everyone has always gone through clean, but it does help to have a spotter. If you do go there. it's at least 100 feet of freefall so be careful. If there is snow at the bridge, I would not do it without another truck with you. I have never seen snow there. Just below the bridge are a couple of really cool and well maintained cabins-you could stop there if needed.

One of my favorite loops is Eureka Dunes, Dedeckera Canyon, Steel Pass, Saline Hot Springs, Lippencott Grade, Teakettle, Hidden Valley, Hunter mountain, and back north up Saline Valley Road. There is enough terrain for several days, and it's all remote and lightly travelled. Hunter is open now, but closes with any significant weather.

On the West side (Panamint side) The South Park/Pleasant Loop is great with great views. Golar Wash is fun with the side trip to Barker Ranch, and Butte Valley/Warm Springs canyon is big desert country with very few people. Lots of nooks and cranies to visit and things to see.

Unfortunately, due to the people pressure, the worst part of Death Valley is the valley itself. I avoid Scotties Castle unless I need gas (though the gas pump there is broken right now.)

Have fun. Our group will be on CB 21, or 2 meter 146.460. Give us a shout on Saturday or if you hear chatter on the radio.

 

[jb welda]

thanks for the info drew; yeah ive been up in the panamints a half dozen times and on saline road and adjacent areas a couple too, so im pretty familiar with those areas; just have never been up south park or pleasant canyon or really any of those western panamint trails except goler wash through over mengel to butte canyon etc.

that lippencott mine road, a lot of people say its nasty but the two times ive gone up it i failed to see the problem other than its a bit narrow i guess...nothing scary though other than coming across two rattlers in the trail. maybe it was just graded or something but the only thing i really recall were a couple of step-like boulders that anything with a bit of clearance wouldnt have a problem with. dont remember really but i dont recall even putting it in 4wd last time i went up it (once at the top though i stopped for a drink and heard the ssssssssssssssssssssss of a nail in my tire! that was with crap tires though and those have long since been replaced...its scary to think i was out there with crap tires but there you have it).

i think we will try to make it over to middle park to meet up saturday night unless we end up way far away from there. so probably see you there...ive got three spares with my truck, one under in the stock position and two on the roof so i should be good with the tire situation. it may be that i will "chicken" out on that rock but we will see when we get to it if its not snowy. i believe there is supposed to be a weather system coming in to nor cal tuesday or wednesday but i doubt it will affect DV much...funny thing is every time ive been to dv its rained/drizzled at least one day. very nice if you ask me.

again thanks for the info and hope to see you there

one love
jah bill

 

[chicago]

There is a lot I could tell you about DV, but half the fun is figuring it out on your own. The 31 inch tires will NOT hold you back, but make sure you have a good spare and tire plugs. I have been there the last 4 years running and every year someone, or several someones, gets a flat.

If you are attempting the South Park trail alone on Saturday and you have problems, our group will be either just ahead of you or just behind. Give a shout on the radio if you have one, or if it's late and we are likely ahead, just walk the mile or so up into middle park and find someone to come help you out.

Here is the drill on the bridge-it looks worse than it is. Leading up to the bridge is an edgy spot, and just after is a tippy bouldery edgy spot. Everyone has always gone through clean, but it does help to have a spotter. If you do go there. it's at least 100 feet of freefall so be careful. If there is snow at the bridge, I would not do it without another truck with you. I have never seen snow there. Just below the bridge are a couple of really cool and well maintained cabins-you could stop there if needed.

One of my favorite loops is Eureka Dunes, Dedeckera Canyon, Steel Pass, Saline Hot Springs, Lippencott Grade, Teakettle, Hidden Valley, Hunter mountain, and back north up Saline Valley Road. There is enough terrain for several days, and it's all remote and lightly travelled. Hunter is open now, but closes with any significant weather.

On the West side (Panamint side) The South Park/Pleasant Loop is great with great views. Golar Wash is fun with the side trip to Barker Ranch, and Butte Valley/Warm Springs canyon is big desert country with very few people. Lots of nooks and cranies to visit and things to see.

Unfortunately, due to the people pressure, the worst part of Death Valley is the valley itself. I avoid Scotties Castle unless I need gas (though the gas pump there is broken right now.)

Have fun. Our group will be on CB 21, or 2 meter 146.460. Give us a shout on Saturday or if you hear chatter on the radio.

Here's a pic of the "scary bridge/ chicken rock" area!
Andy's not joking about the down hill side of the boulder section...NAST TUMBLE! Id have your passenger get out and spot you over that section just to be on the safe side!
The cabins andy was referring to are the Briggs mine cabins, and they are BITCHIN!
Ill be going in the end of April and cant wait to do so!

Chicago

 

[jb welda]

thanks for the pics chicago...i realize they can be misleading but it doesnt look all that bad to me. maybe i will find out different!

correct me if im wrong but those pics show you going downhill but going from south park to pleasant canyon i will be going uphill, right?

anyway i cant wait either and all this picture looking is making me just want to quit work right now and get on the road!

one love
jah bill

 

[Cruiserdrew]

You go up South Park Canyon. The entrance to the canyon was not marked the last time there.

The pic from Chicago is not the scary spot at all.

If you get to the cabins in SOuth Park Canyon, it looks like you are at the end of the trail. Go past the cabins to the back of the box canyon, look right. There is a narrow shelf road leading to "Chicken Corner" and the bridge. Just past the bridge is an off camber right turn. As you make the right turn, look left-that's 200 feet of air! Stay to the right!

The only rig I saw have trouble right there was a Land Rover.

At the top of SOuth Park Canyon is South Park. It's a big open high altitude valley. There is an old airstrip in the middle of it. Stay left of the airstrip and turn left toward the abandoned mine. Follow the road past the mine, then up and over a low saddle. The huge valley below you is Middle Park. As you traverse Middle Park, look high and left. You will see the scar of a road going up and through a gap. The frontal assault is doable, but there is a way to the left that is easy. We call that Rita's Pass. There is often snow on the Pleasant side of it since it is a north facing slope. At the top of this saddle go down hill into Pleasant Canyon. At the bottom of the saddle on the Pleasant side is Rita's Cabin. Go down the canyon for several miles to Ballarat. Near the bottom there is lots of overgrown trail and water you must drive through.

There is a video of our 2005 trip here done by Snook: http://www.snookoffroad.com/video_DV2005_high.htm

The funny stuff with the Rover stuck on the climb is South Park Canyon before the cabins and bridge. Sorry it's kind of long, but you will likely enjoy the footage.

 

[Kofoed]

You go up South Park Canyon. The entrance to the canyon was not marked the last time there.

The pic from Chicago is not the scary spot at all.

If you get to the cabins in SOuth Park Canyon, it looks like you are at the end of the trail. Go past the cabins to the back of the box canyon, look right. There is a narrow shelf road leading to "Chicken Corner" and the bridge. Just past the bridge is an off camber right turn. As you make the right turn, look left-that's 200 feet of air! Stay to the right!

Actually that picture by Chicago IS the chicken-corner, right turn you are taking about. It is that he is going downhill, so it is a left for him. here is a picture before the second repair was made. Almost the same vantage point as Chicago's

 

[jb welda]

kofoed...now *that* looks a bit more uh challenging!

anyway i think im convinced. see you at middle park saturday short of meeting some manson girls or something exciting like that...we may be at the cabins there by friday waiting for you and cooling our heels

(that part about the manson girls was a joke by the way...last time i stayed at barker the guy who was with me mentioned we might see charlies ghost. we both agreed it would be way more fun to see the manson girls ghosts, at least if we could ditch them after we were done! i think thats the part dennis wilson had problems with)

one love
jah bill

 

[jb welda]

ah hell now you made me watch that video and now i REALLY cant stand being at work right now!

one love
jah bill

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Yep-those pics do not show the side hill peril right at that spot. There is a long fall there, but the perspective makes it look flat.

Of the 4 times I have been to Barker Ranch, only once was it occupied and then by this very sketchy character that looked/acted like a Manson wanna-be. We got right back in the truck and left. I have heard from others that the cabin does attract the odd balls who still to this day, all these years later, have a thing for Charlie.