Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-21-2010, 05:24 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
woodbee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Rohnert Park, CA
Posts: 286
Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Cheryl and I headed out to Death Valley N.P. at 6:00 A.M. on the 7th of March for a quick 4 days, three night, four wheeling maiden voyage in the Sportsmobile. We went over the Sierras via highway 50 and South Lake Tahoe to highway 395. We ran into a lot of snow but no ice on the roads. Fueled up at Big Pine CA and then headed out Death Valley Road on our way to Eureka Dunes and Steel Pass.


On Death Valley Road looking back toward Big Pine




We stopped at the entrance to Saline Valley Road (north pass) and it was closed due to heavy snow. So we will have to go out the South Pass if we make it through Steel Pass and Dedeckera Canyon into Saline Valley.



Nice contrast



Eureka Dunes are huge and the mountains around them are just beautiful.







We spent the night on the back side of the dunes a short distance from Steel Pass.



We headed toward Steel Pass about 8:00 the next morning.



When we got there it is a beautiful view looking back at Eureka Dunes.







We parked at the entrance to Steel Pass. I told Cheryl when we check it out I will not try it unless I know we can make it through, not, I think we can do it.



We took about an hour to check it out and take pictures, the pictures really don't show the steepness nor the narrowness of the pass. After walking the pass I knew we could do it.























Looking back at Steel Pass



I would drive up to each step, get out and we would make a plan on how to navigate the step.







This is the first real four wheeling I have done sense the 1980s when I had my Jeep CJ-5. Wow! what a difference, the Sportsmobile is 24' long and weighs in at a little over 10,000 pounds. It's amazing how it just crawled over everything it came to without any spin of the tires







The third of the 4 steps was the biggest challenge. It is narrow at the bottom and widens at the top. I measured our wheel base at 81 inches. The bottom of the step is much narrower than our wheel base, so I knew I would have to drive up on the rock wall and do a heavy rub on the sidewalls of the tires.



Cheryl did a great job spotting for me and trying to take pictures at the same time.



I would not want to go the other way with our Extended Body Sportsmobile, I believe there would be a lot of scrapping in the back bottom.



Rub



Ding!



Ding!
Very minor damage



Moving on



A nice view looking back at Steel Pass and Eureka Dunes



Dedeckera Canyon was also quite interesting, some real tight spots where we rubbed the side walls on both sides. The 26 miles from Steel Pass and through Dedeckera Canyon is a beautiful drive, we took our time, 6 hours to get to the lower springs in Saline Valley where we spent the second night.



Saline Valley and the Inyo Mountains way off in the distance







Lower Springs and Palm Springs and the Salt Lake at the base of the Inyo Mountains



About 8:00 the next morning we headed out to check out some things in Saline Valley. We drove north on Saline Valley Road about 10 miles and four wheeled up to Crystal Ridge to check out what crystals may be found. Lots of crystals but it would take hard rock mining tools to get to them



I did find a Scorpion while I was digging around looking for crystals



Just below Crystal Ridge is the Waucoba Tungsten Mine. They mined copper in the late 1880's and also mined tungsten during World War II







Old oil can



We then headed back south on Saline Valley Road and stopped at the turn off to the hot springs. Somebody did some art work on the rocks to identify the turn off to the springs



We moved on south about another 25 miles and found a place to pull over for the night. We had a great view of Saline Valley from the south just before going over the mountains to highway 190. The next morning we stopped at highway 190 and aired up the tires and put the front sway bar disconnects back on.
We fueled up in Lone Pine and had a great hamburger and then headed home. We got back home at 8:30 Wednesday evening the 10th of March

__________________
2009 White E-350 Modified EB-43, 4x4, 6.0 PSD
woodbee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2010, 08:03 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 785
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Excellent report and pics, thanks.

And very importantly, now I know that an EB SMB can make it through steel pass into the springs. Well done.

Rob
__________________
2006 SMB 4x4, EB-51, 6.0psd
EMrider is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2010, 09:17 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Western Colorado
Posts: 1,228
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Nice trip report, and kudos for doing Steel Pass in your new SMB! We are a bit fond of the area ouselves.
__________________
Desert Solitaire
2003 7.3L EB 4x4
Timberline 4x4 conversion
saline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-21-2010, 10:00 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
pjpvi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SF Bay Area, CA
Posts: 1,289
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

You did better than I did in not dinging your rims on Steel pass. That tight spot loves to grab the bolts on faux M/T beadlocks.

Great photos. Makes me want to go back.

Phil
__________________
Phil

- 2005 EB50 6.0PSD - SMB 4x4
pjpvi is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 06:54 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,837
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

nice job buddy

looks like i would not be able to squeeze thru with right and left ladders

too bad, nice area

best

bw
billwilson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 06:28 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Jeffrey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,841
Garage
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Nice Trip. I need more pics!
__________________
'07 RB-50 - My Photo Site -- K1JGS --
Jeffrey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 06:31 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Western Colorado
Posts: 1,228
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

BTW, Inyo County always puts up the Road Closed signs during the winter on both North and South Passes due to liability. It is often not "closed" at all and worth a look see.
__________________
Desert Solitaire
2003 7.3L EB 4x4
Timberline 4x4 conversion
saline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 06:42 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Jeffrey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posts: 1,841
Garage
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

I meant to add what Saline just said. I always drive around those signs and never encountered a problem.
__________________
'07 RB-50 - My Photo Site -- K1JGS --
Jeffrey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 06:52 PM   #9
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Quote:
Originally Posted by saline
BTW, Inyo County always puts up the Road Closed signs during the winter on both North and South Passes due to liability. It is often not "closed" at all and worth a look see.
I'd guess that's for plausibility deniability by the county if you get stranded.
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-22-2010, 08:12 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
cellularSTEVE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,071
Re: Steel Pass, Dedeckera Canyon to Saline Valley

Great write up. Thanks for posting!
This is on my list, now I need to move it to the top.

Thanks again!

steve
__________________
'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?
cellularSTEVE is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:59 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.