Death Valley Thanksgiving 2010

[billwilson-THOR]

Folks

Happy Post T day

Short version:

The OC to Death Valley and Back
Miles= 610
Gas = $180
Food= $20 Furnace Creek Burger
SMB's = One (sorry dude, cant remember your handle here POST PICS

Events:
Killer Food (my wifes home cooked and fresh grilled Thai food)
Purple Mountains
Suburban parked in picture was lady waiting for overdue family hiking
(they hiked out the other end a couple of hours later, happy ending)
(they are from Atlanta, have spent 38 T days in DV with family and now exended family)
Dead Battery first morning - Thank You SMB forum for suggesting and Ricks trailer supply for wiring my Surepower with Momentary jump start switch
Clogged Sink drain - required removing drain plug fitting and removing junk
Cooper- our dog is NOT a hiker, have to carry the little bastard after a while
SMBer- met a nice couple that made us glad we have a suburban heater (blew up flatplate)
Ranger station- got three cool Jr. Ranger pencils
Squeaks and Rattles - had wife drive, found source of a few, to builder and aluminess soon to fix

Conclusion:
will we go back
yes
same area, no
Panament, Race Track and Saline are on list

Road to Saratoga Springs
[photo:1vivnvmn]11993[/photo:1vivnvmn]

Saratoga Springs

[photo:1vivnvmn]11995[/photo:1vivnvmn]


[photo:1vivnvmn]11999[/photo:1vivnvmn]


Sunset at Virgin Falls Trailhead

[photo:1vivnvmn]11996[/photo:1vivnvmn]

[photo:1vivnvmn]11997[/photo:1vivnvmn]


We Love our Volcano

[photo:1vivnvmn]11998[/photo:1vivnvmn]


Toward Furnace Creek

[photo:1vivnvmn]11992[/photo:1vivnvmn]

[photo:1vivnvmn]11989[/photo:1vivnvmn]

Cottonwood Canyon Campsite

[photo:1vivnvmn]11990[/photo:1vivnvmn]

[photo:1vivnvmn]11991[/photo:1vivnvmn]

Leaving DV in Panamint Valley

[photo:1vivnvmn]11994[/photo:1vivnvmn]

 

[Gooseberry-SMB]

lets get a race track run going? see if we can make it out the pass?

 

[billwilson-THOR]

lets get a race track run going? see if we can make it out the pass?

Love to, but gotta work a bit because of the up coming
Bill Wilson Tour de Utah Christmas 2010 to Post New Year 2011

The Racetrack is for sure on our list

 

[woodbee-SMB]

lets get a race track run going? see if we can make it out the pass?

What route are you thinking of doing? A trip down to Death Valley N.P. sounds good.

Woody

 

[jstanley-SMB]

Did you check out Ibex Springs ghost town or any of the talc mines above Saratoga Springs?

 

[Gooseberry-SMB]

I'm open for anything and everything.
Need to see if its passable but going out the north west side of the racetrack I heard is fun.

lets get a race track run going? see if we can make it out the pass?

What route are you thinking of doing? A trip down to Death Valley N.P. sounds good.

Woody

 

[woodbee-SMB]

I'm open for anything and everything.
Need to see if its passable but going out the north west side of the racetrack I heard is fun.

Are you talking about Lippincott Road to Saline Valley? My wife went from the Race Track to Saline Valley down Lippincott Road last April. Great trip.

Woody

 

[jstanley-SMB]

Need to see if its passable but going out the north west side of the racetrack I heard is fun.

????
There are basicly 3 legal ways to get to The Racetrack in a vehicle:

From the SW up the Lippencott road, possibly a SERIOUS 4wd route depending on road condition (Id recomend going down it, no up)
From the NE from Ubehebe Crater a well graded, graveled road.
From the SE thru South Pass over Hunter Mnt and thru Goldbelt, possible snow in winter but otherwise a dirt road. (This route has another "Racetrack" playa but not the famous one)

I would guess you are thinking about the Wilderness Crorridor Route out the NW side of Saline Valley over Steele Pass (just narrow as in SMB scraping, not really technical) to Eureka Dunes over thru Crankshaft Junction, then up the Ubehebe road to the racetrack.

 

[EMrider]

FYI, good youtube vid taken recently of an SMB going through Dedeckera canyon.

That looks it might be uncomfortably tight in an EB......... :a5: :a5: :a5:

Still, I'd probably give it a shot traveling with a group. I've always wanted to go through Dedeckera canyon and Steele pass and a few minor dents or scrapes are not a big deal.

R

 

[jstanley-SMB]

That looks it might be uncomfortably tight in an EB........

The old rule of thumb for going up Dedeckera canyon to Steele Pass was under 72" wide.
The stairs up thru the narrows has been built up lately and wider rigs can do it if your careful,
The NPS Ranger Humvee puts a wheel up on the wall to get thru.

 

[woodbee-SMB]

FYI, good youtube vid taken recently of an SMB going through Dedeckera canyon.

That looks it might be uncomfortably tight in an EB......... :a5: :a5: :a5:

Still, I'd probably give it a shot traveling with a group. I've always wanted to go through Dedeckera canyon and Steele pass and a few minor dents or scrapes are not a big deal.

R

My wife and I went through Steel Pass and Dedeckera Canyon last March in our EB with no real problem. Just a little ding on the edge of the exhaust pipe and a small scratch on the rear bumper.
Pictures on our website: http://www.beckersminerals.com/ Click on March 2010.
This was our first 4 wheeling in our new SMB.

Woody

 

[CJ-SMB]

Hey that’s me (youtube), news (video) travels fast. My wife (Navigator) and I spent T, Day in DV. Here’s a quick report

Tues, Day 1 stayed in Johnson canyon off of the west side road.

Day two started kind of strange...about 2:30 am we woke to the roar of a motor. Sound was coming from the engine compartment. About 20 degrees outside and I'm under the van. Did I say 3:00 am? So as not to let the battery drain, off we go in search of a decent place to fix or die. LOL. Long story short, we ended up in Pahrump, no there is not a Ford dealer there as told there was by attendant at the station in Shoshone. Oh well! After trying the Dodge dealer..no luck! Motor still screaming even with key in hand ‘LOL’ Petes repair shop helped me pull a fluid tank and air cleaner assy. to get to the ABS module and PUMP that was screaming and hotter than "The gates of ____" unpluged the module and stopped the problem now we're off to DV to finish what we started.

Late day two (WED) we ended the day at Eureka Dunes.....Beautiful but cold (windy).
Hiked the dunes drank some toddys and sacked in early.

Day three, "T" day. No wind still cold but warm in the sun....some day trippers no other campers. We hiked the dunes and just generally enjoyed the day.. Then off in the distance a long cloud of dust is spotted...and it’s coming our way. Looks like a train is coming and then one-by-one...jeep after jeep pulls in and they encircle all of the camp sites. This group means business..Within minutes they have established a tent city and are all set up.. It's a great group of jeepers all from "MyJeepRocks" forum (MJR site). It was great to meet them and check out all the nice equipment. They invited us over to celebrate Tday but we were already underway cooking ours. That night got down into the low teens some even said single digit.

Day four (Fri.) the MJR group was up, fed, packed and heading out via Steel Pass. They stopped over to say goodbye and threw in an invite to go with them. With the ABS problem and the fact that a ranger advised against taking the SMB through Steel pass I had to say no...............Then I really gave it some thought, after all it was our original plan to do it solo. And now we have a dozen savvy off roader's to catch up to. Soooo! Packed up and off we went to catch up. We did and that’s one of a few videos of it. This is a great group of people..I hope I can meet up with them again some day. You should check out their site they have some great Pics and detailed reports of the Tday in DV 2010.

You can also see more videos of the steps and narrows on Expedition Portal. Three or four more videos and another great report.

We made the Pass and headed home but not without some salt in the ABS wound..... Coming down 395 about an hour from home I hear ANOTHER roaring motor. Pull off, turn it off and yep a motor is roaring again. This time it’s my Extreme Aire compressor. Don't ask! I don’t know why, the switch is off and after crawling around under the van I cant figure it out..........a bit pissed....this is simple isolate the power wire a CUT IT.

Done... I'll let you know later..... Right now it's just 'stranger than fiction'.

It was a great trip.........PS on our way though the valley we spotted at least three other SMBs at the springs

Woody, I have the exact same marks on my bumper and a good scar on my ladder. :a1:

:b4:

I have very few pictures I'll post later.....However if you are thinking of doing it by all means check out both the Expedition portal and MyJeepRocks sites for their reports pics and vids.

 

[BroncoHauler-SMB]

CJ, that was great video of you going up the canyon, but the sound of the SCRAPE made me cringe.

 

[CJ-SMB]

I know it did the same for me when I watched it. :a5:

It wasnt that bad inside the van when it happened. The scars are not as bad as it sounded either.

:b5:

 

[daveb-SMB]

Would two ladders be a problem? You guys think if you would have moved a bit slower the hit might have been avoided?

 

[CJ-SMB]

Hard to say if two ladders would have been a problem.. My first thought would be no, you would just have to take a bit more time getting it lined up. Yes I did drop off faster than I should have. I really didn’t realize I was that high up on the side wall. However it really is minor scrapes on the bottom of the ladder and two small marks on the bumper.

I can’t be sure about the two ladders Dave, But I wouldn’t let it stop me from trying that’s for sure.

Go for it man, when do you want to go? :a1:

 

[BroncoHauler-SMB]

Worst case, you end up with one ladder and a great story!

 

[daveb-SMB]

Yup, it's only money. Besides, my ladders and bumpers are all scratched up anyway. I'm scheduled to get new SMB springs in a week or so...then I'll be ready to tackle some DV washboard. I love winter+DV