Last Minute Death Valley trip, Dec 27-31

[clrussell]

Yeah. About 3 years ago, friend and I went in middle of night for some Milky Way photos and literally witnessed 2 dudes taking the “moving rocks” and putting them in their SUV.

Got their plate and reported it to ranger and gave him my contact info.

Few days later Ranger called me and let me know they caught them in the park the next day with the rocks and a bunch of other stuff as well…

Yeah…

I just hope I get to enjoy some of this beautiful world before people ruin it. (More so then already)

 

[Boston Mangler]

I just hope I get to enjoy some of this beautiful world before people ruin it. (More so then already)

Exactly….

Hence my bitterness toward all those “apps” making it so easy for folks to find hidden gems.

More people visiting, higher the chances there’s a dirtbag that will ruin it.

Sad reality

 

[linuxgod]

That was my favorite part. The 200 aired down eats these roads like a paved highway, Baja rally style. In contrast to the Jeeps I was passing that looked like they were being rattled apart.

Disappointing to hear of the racetrack getting vandalized.

You must’ve passed me today. We were rattled apart for sure in Warm Springs Canyon, and that road isn’t even all that bad!

 

[OGBeno]

The problem with DV is that it’s **too accessible**

Especially with big trucks and all of the bullshït like @Boston Mangler was discussing.

I’ve been going to DV as long as he has been and the more I go the more I want to shed the shït.

Ergo, all I do now is go big bike rides in DV.

When you slow down and experience how impressive the entire place is you question all of the shǐt you bring.

DV really is a place where you want to shed as much as possible.

I like be going to DV on bikes because it actually brings out the fact that I have to figure out how to find water, how to get to a place for some shelter from the elements; how to survive.

And I have done DV in Land Cruisers. Super boring.

 

[TeCKis300]

You must’ve passed me today. We were rattled apart for sure in Warm Springs Canyon, and that road isn’t even all that bad!

View attachment 3802602

Lol. Guess it's win some lose some. They are beasts in the rocks.

 

[LCH21]

I nominate @Boston Mangler to be our guide next DV trip.

I actually enjoyed the race track. We went to ubehebe crater, tea kettle junction, racetrack, then up and over hunter mountain down to panamint valley. Stayed at the resort a couple nights, visited Darwin and out to the 395.

Probably the highlight of our trip was mengel pass, buttle valley and warm springs.

Don't discount the visitor center. I actually enjoyed the visit

Bring as much fuel as you can, it is crazy expensive in the park.

I'm glad you got to the Race Track, and up through Mengel Pass, Stripped Butte Valley and the Warm Springs area. Hebe Jebe Crator, as I call it, is fun to go to the bottom of but is three steps up and two back on the way out. The gold mill at Warm Springs camp one of my favorites. Glad to hear that road up through Goler Wash, Mengel Pass and Stripped Butte to Warm Springs is in good shape. Last time I was there it was a mess. I was lifting tires off the ground from the Geologist's Cabin to Mengel Pass. The rock carn at the top of Mengel Pass has Carl Mengel's ash urn and wooden leg in the center. I hope you had time for the museum at the visitor's center.

I hope linuxgod has done these things as well.

I was one mountain range to the west of you - the Argus Mountains, Stone Canyon specifically. The family and I went to an old Pb (primary), Ag, Co and Au mine some 2.7 miles up the canyon with an elevation gain of 1870 feet. Tough hike. Fascinating mine though. As a geologist, I can't stay away from these things.

The mine. The old road used to run up the wash. Looks rather sad now.

Just inside the portal of the primary adit. All the working are above this. Main ore haulage.

Couple of hundred yards back into the hill.

Some climbing to do. This was the first of five similar sets.

One of many stopes, several were larger. The board in the front-right crosses over an ore pass that drops down a couple of hundred feet to the primary adit. Had to watch your step as there are several ore passes like this. Not all are covered. Looking to the far end is well over a hundred feet. The stull in the center supporting the back is about twenty feet long.

We walked over a mile and a half underground and climbed several hundred feet of ladders and still only explored about 2/3rds of the mine. Did not go into many drifts and cross-cuts. Not enough time. Long day for a 67 Y/O fart like me. Much easier forty-five years ago when I first started to go the the DV area. Plus, the roads were mostly drivable back then. Due to years of flash floods and Hurricane Hillary recently, many of the old roads are now non-existent. The LC handled the hard class 3 to easy class 4 road without a hitch. To make it all the way to the mine, I would have needed a serious lift and 37 to 40-inch tires.

I'm tired!

 

[Boston Mangler]

The problem with DV is that it’s **too accessible**

Especially with big trucks and all of the bullshït like @Boston Mangler was discussing.

I’ve been going to DV as long as he has been and the more I go the more I want to shed the shït.

Ergo, all I do now is go big bike rides in DV.

When you slow down and experience how impressive the entire place is you question all of the shǐt you bring.

DV really is a place where you want to shed as much as possible.

I like be going to DV on bikes because it actually brings out the fact that I have to figure out how to find water, how to get to a place for some shelter from the elements; how to survive.

And I have done DV in Land Cruisers. Super boring.

Amen Sir

 

[linuxgod]

Lol. Guess it's win some lose some. They are beasts in the rocks.

I’m sure a triple locked wrangler Rubicon on 35s+ would be awesome on the rocks. The Gladiator is far too long with even more ass-end overhang than our LCs.

If I had a Wrangler I might have tried Mengel Pass, but we stopped short for lunch and then a full size Tacoma came down and said they’d turned around because he didn’t think he could get through without body damage. Given I was in a rental with such a long wheelbase and basic tires I didn’t force on and push my luck (though admittedly I had planned to turn around before the pass when we set out)

Our vehicle has 40k miles and it rattles like mad on every bump (which you feel), and is squirrelly (like every jeep I’ve ever driven) on the highway with so much wind noise you’d think you had all the windows cracked open. It’s a better vehicle on road than any prior jeep I’ve driven, but it’s still really shockingly sad engineering and I’d take my old 3rd gen 4Runner over a new Jeep any day

 

[Boston Mangler]

If I had a Wrangler I might have tried Mengel Pass, but we stopped short for lunch and then a full size Tacoma came down and said they’d turned around because he didn’t think he could get through without body damage.

Mengel pass is a prime example of how crazy the conditions of the roads can change.

I’ve done Mengel a bunch.

Seen it passable with a bone stock vehicle and seen it barely passable on a 2 wheel dual sport and everything in between

I know years ago, local jeep and 4wd clubs used to do unofficial trail maintenance and clean up on some of the roads and passes up there. No idea if that’s still a thing.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Our vehicle has 40k miles and it rattles like mad on every bump (which you feel), and is squirrelly (like every jeep I’ve ever driven) on the highway with so much wind noise you’d think you had all the windows cracked open. It’s a better vehicle on road than any prior jeep I’ve driven, but it’s still really shockingly sad engineering l

It’s a jeep thing bro…

Do you even understand jeep things bro?

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

Skip the truck. Ride bikes.

Over 35 years ago before the NPS had rules on mtn. bikes on/off trails we rode ours up and down Telescope peak. Then at Bad Water we went for a ride on the playa. We rode as hard and as fast a we could for 10 minutes then stopped and looked around. It was pretty neat to be "out there" in the middle of the basin. Cannot do either today via bike, which all-in-all is a good thing.

The new generation of folks with their tablets that, and their Gaia this, app this and ham radio bla bla bla all day aren’t my thing.

Funny story about maps and the greater area around Death Valley. My father and cousins grew up and explored many parts of CA via a jeep in the mid 1950's. On one trip his cousins were not quite sure where they were. They had a vantage point so they could see lights in the distance and a track leading down. So off they went. When they got to the lights they were surrounded by MPs and tried to explain they were lost. They got their maps out on the hood to figure out their location but the MPs weren't sure where they where. During all hubris the base commander came over, turned the map around, pointed to it and said "You are here, there is the road, now get the hell out of here." Seems they had driven the back way into China Lake Navel Air Station.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Funny story about maps and the greater area around Death Valley. My father and cousins grew up and explored many parts of CA via a jeep in the mid 1950's. On one trip his cousins were not quite sure where they were. They had a vantage point so they could see lights in the distance and a track leading down. So off they went. When they got to the lights they were surrounded by MPs and tried to explain they were lost. They got their maps out on the hood to figure out their location but the MPs weren't sure where they where. During all hubris the base commander came over, turned the map around, pointed to it and said "You are here, there is the road, now get the hell out of here." Seems they had driven the back way into China Lake Navel Air Station.

Yeah, I can totally see that happening

 

[sdnative]

Funny story about maps and the greater area around Death Valley. My father and cousins grew up and explored many parts of CA via a jeep in the mid 1950's. On one trip his cousins were not quite sure where they were. They had a vantage point so they could see lights in the distance and a track leading down. So off they went. When they got to the lights they were surrounded by MPs and tried to explain they were lost. They got their maps out on the hood to figure out their location but the MPs weren't sure where they where. During all hubris the base commander came over, turned the map around, pointed to it and said "You are here, there is the road, now get the hell out of here." Seems they had driven the back way into China Lake Navel Air Station.

Reminds me of the lost Germans story

 

[sdnative]

Our trip was back in 2022 before Hillary, so maybe the roads were not as bad?

 

[Boston Mangler]

One of my fav DV pics

Father Crowley Point aka Star Wars Canyon:

 

[sdnative]

One of my fav DV pics

Father Crowley Point aka Star Wars Canyon:

Unfortunately they don't fly through the canyon anymore.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Unfortunately they don't fly through the canyon anymore.

Yeah. Super bummed it’s no longer a thing.

Did you see the article on why? Crazyiness!

I used to go there often for photos.

Here is one of my favs I shot about 6 months ago this before the big incident

 

[Boston Mangler]

There’s a pretty huge aviation connection with DV and China Lake

Google “fighter jets father Crowley point” for lots of cool crazy vids. I’m fortunate to have seen the jets there a million times

Also, random facts (semi confirmed):

-I forget the #, but Saline Valley is the lowest altitude our fighter jets are allowed on train/fly at, which I don’t doubt, I’ve been in the hot springs when one buzzed to the point I thought it was gonna hit the palm trees, crazy

-A decent portion of Top Gun 2 was filmed in DV around Panamint Valley

If you’re into this stuff, there is a HUGE super dedicated group for photographers that have a Facebook page specifically dedicated to the jets at Crowley Point. They organize meet ups and such and their photos are AMAZING

Tons of jets still fly the canyon, but most are privately owned (which I didn’t even know was a thing). Theres tons of info buried on the web if ya feel like going down a rabbit hole

 

[linuxgod]

Made it to the racetrack today. Went in via the northern route of Racetrack Valley and out through Hidden Valley/Hunter Mountain and Saline Valley. Aired down to 16psi and the tires were fine, even though the fronts are nearly bald. Took a few side trails but. Nothing crazy.

 

[Boston Mangler]

Made it to the racetrack today. Went in via the northern route of Racetrack Valley and out through Hidden Valley/Hunter Mountain and Saline Valley. Aired down to 16psi and the tires were fine, even though the fronts are nearly bald. Took a few side trails but. Nothing crazy.

View attachment 3803534

Awesome!!