Death Valley Days 2/12-2/15

Saddletramp · Feb 16, 2016

Followed by "it may seem small but it'll feel huge when it's up you A$$". Or something like that

Chaos55 · Feb 16, 2016

My unedited photos Death Valley Feb 2016

Otter · Feb 16, 2016

Saddletramp said:
Followed by "it may seem small but it'll feel huge when it's up you A$$". Or something like that

Close enough :clap:

brices123 · Feb 16, 2016

Saddletramp said:
Followed by "it may seem small but it'll feel huge when it's up you A$$". Or something like that

Since @Otter is not going to correct you, Tina says it was "It may be small, but it will feel big in your ass!" --- mic drop

Otter · Feb 16, 2016

Well done, Tina.

In other news:
"Death Valley may be about to see a rare wildflower super bloom. "

Saddletramp · Feb 16, 2016

I stand corrected

murf · Feb 16, 2016

Good thing Tina and Erin were there to keep things from spinning out of control :flush:

LongDuck · Feb 16, 2016

First off - GREAT TRIP! and a huge Thank You to our trip organizers Steve and Brice. This long, multi-day adventure would not have gone so smoothly without your prior planning and research, and it made all the difference for the rest of us tagging along. The group managed to help a number of people on the various trails, and I think we should be slapping 'CSC' stickers on every one of them from now on for good karma. I'm looking forward to this Friday night's club meeting to catch up, share a few stories, and hear about the other side of the trip home for some.

Since I was still sight-seeing on Monday, I peeled off at Furnace Creek and headed down to Badwater Basin & The Devil's Golf Course. Ron and family were headed that way, too - but somehow we got separated between groups, then I saw them in Pahrump and lost them, and then saw each other again North of Wickenburg (with Rudster & Pete). It all worked out in the end, and that's what counts.

I checked out others pictures and only wanted to add a few of mine that others may not have gotten;

Titus Canyon - our Engineer/Mechanic watching Saddletramp's trailer hitch trail fix:

Teakettle Junction - our CSC addition:

Lost Burro Mine - complete with Hantavirus, but cool collection of mining artifacts:

Valentine's Day at the Racetrack - what a cute couple making memories:

(*continued in Post#2 - 4 picture limit!)

LongDuck · Feb 16, 2016

Headed from higher elevation (and snow & ice) down to Stovepipe Wells for the night (*gratuitous FZJ80 shot):

Badwater Basin - lowest point in BOTH America's at -282ft below Sea Level:

Badwater Basin - showing Sea Level marker on the valley wall:

I'm glad I took the time to head down to Badwater Basin, as you never know when you'll be back, and it's a long way to go and not see something so unique as that. It cost me some time, but my excursion only put me slightly behind the group, and I managed to catch up by the end of the day - and even make it home earlier than others. I did have to put 22gal of fuel in at Kingman, however - which was 3gal remaining - and 2gal into the 'Low Fuel Light' being on. I was dead-reckoning the whole distance and knew it would be close, but very glad that I fueled up back in Furnace Creek, which carried me through Vegas, Boulder City, and down to Kingman. Total trip mileage was a bit over 1100mi (accounting for tire/gearing), and no problems encountered along the way - except for that section going to Racetrack that felt like it was graded by precision mortar fire. I thought parts were going to fall off... me and my LandCruiser!

Saw some amazing things, met some really cool people, and got to hang out with a bunch of Cruiser heads for the long weekend; what could possibly top that? Not much that I can imagine.

Thanks to everyone for their generosity and hospitality - you all made it a great trip, and I'm looking forward to the next one,

Saddletramp · Feb 17, 2016

CSC should be proud of this groups representation in Death Valley. Our own casualties included a water spigot, broken trailer, melted Trasheroo, intermittent power loss on one vehicle and a broken water line in a trailer after the overnight freeze. We saved one family by turning them around in their Lexus es350 when they tried to go over Lippencott Road, changed a flat tire for two women. Made an emergency repair on a broken strut for two young men, the driver had just recently graduated Law school, who were stranded in their Subaru WRX.

Despite the delays we encountered along the way, we still managed to see almost all of our intended trails and sights. Each of us has seen the others camping equipment and made our shopping list for future adventures, I'm sure that besides too many hack saws next time we will also have more portable campfire rings and packing blankets.

I know we all had a great time, the people made the trip fun and everyone felt at ease to just be themselves. A special thanks to Liz, Erin and Tina who made the trip on Valentine's Day (a made up Holiday according to Richard) keeping all of us just a bit on our best behavior. Rierdon brought the average age down and completed a long run on the Racetrack. Eric stopped in Lake Havasu to pick up his dad Bill. Drove all night, after a long business trip that had Eric landing back in Phoenix late Friday night, to join the CSC crew.

Thanks to all of you for your friendship, I'm sure a great time was had by all and the adventure Death Valley Days will always linger in our memories.

msahr · Feb 17, 2016

Wow great pics. I miss this place a lot. I knew Lippincott would be great, it's on my list for next time. Glad you all had fun, DV is a special place. No mention of any military training flights or flying saucers? Or maybe the flying saucers showed up after the Fireball Whiskey was gone.

Dimples · Feb 17, 2016

Thankfully not prophetic

Cruzrmama · Feb 17, 2016

msahr said:
Wow great pics. I miss this place a lot. I knew Lippincott would be great, it's on my list for next time. Glad you all had fun, DV is a special place. No mention of any military training flights or flying saucers? Or maybe the flying saucers showed up after the Fireball Whiskey was gone.

Funny you should say that...flashing lights did appear in the sky on the night of Fireball. Not growing larger or emitting any strange noises, we deemed them a non-threat...and carried on with our warming system.

Glenn-BJ74 · Feb 17, 2016

Next time check out the marble bath near Steel Pass. It is hard and easy to find about 400 feet off the road and you can look right down on it from closed road that branches off at the summit, into the Last Chance Range. We found it by accident during a bio break.

verruckt1 · Feb 17, 2016

Folks - I agree with all that has been said already. I have not camped in 20+ years and spending the long weekend with this group in one of the most beautiful places on earth was an experience that I will never forget. I am so looking forward to the next camping adventure and I hope that one day soon, we all will be heading back to DVNP as I am sure that we have only seen a very, very small part of that most wonderful place. Brice, Steve and the rest of the CSC DVNP Road Trip Team, thanks for a very memorable time. Your hospitality and company could not be beat! I am working on my flickr page and will post pictures as soon as I get them uploaded. I also have pictures of the "Beatty fountain" in my other camera at home and I will get them uploaded as soon I return to PHX from PDX.

verruckt1 · Feb 17, 2016

Having trouble with a slow internet connection and flickr so I will just post a few pictures that may be different from what has been posted:

Broken Trailer on Titus Canyon Road