US West East Bay OB trip Report- Death Valley Nov. 4-7, 2021

[RAMf1]

Since so many members of the East Bay Overland Bound Group wanted to go to Death Valley, the trip had to be broken up into two groups. This is report from the group led by PapaDave...

The adventure started on Thursday at 9 AM from Trona Pinnacles so the group assembled Wednesday night (11/03) and spent the night in the bowl amongst the Pinnacles.


Bobby (Jeep) and Alfredo (Land Cruiser) arrived just before I did in the LX470...



Seven vehicles in total made the trip. All the vehicles were different with differing capabilities but everyone made it and we all enjoyed the trip immensely.
The photo below is waking up on Thursday Morning...

 

[RAMf1]

After driving through the wonderful company town of Trona, we made a right turn on "Hwy 82" and continued onto Stockwell Mine Road over the Slate Range taking the backroads way into Goler Canyon.


Absolutely epic views...

Yes... It is steeper than it looks!


We made it to the other side and continued on to Goler Wash where we stopped at the entrance for lunch...

 

[RAMf1]

Goler Wash Road was easier than I remembered. We stopped only a few times for the Newman's Cabin and the ruins at Lotus Mine.




And there were burros...

And we stopped at what is left of the infamous Barker Ranch...

And from there... on towards Mengel Pass...

 

[RAMf1]

Going up and over Mengel Pass from Goler Canyon consists of some steep and tricky uphill sections and tight, slow going rock garden sections on the way down into Butte Valley.
The first major obstacle was the V-Notch... Coming around the corner, the wall looked nearly impassable but Dave said just line-up your vehicle centered over the V-notch and drive right up. His guidance worked to perfection as everyone just drove right up... with some excellent spotting assistance from Jeff as you really couldn't see where you were going... Here Sergio drives his massive and capable Tremor up...



Photo Op at the top before the descent into the rock garden.


I followed Jeff down since his 4Runner was the most similar to my Lexus LX470... Yeah Right...

Alfredo working his way through a rough section

Dave spotting to avoid the big rock in the way... My door skin came within an inch of it because of the off camber lean.

Of course, the more capable (by that I mean larger!) vehicle could just drive over the obsticle!



Greg made it look easy in his 4-door Jeep Rubicon.

And on towards magnificent Striped Butte!

 

[RAMf1]

Still some fun sections to go before we stopped at Russell's Camp...




The flag was "UP" at the Geologist's Cabin so that meant it was occupied... You can stay at these cabins and use them as a base camp. Visitors often leave provisions or take items they need depending on their situation at the time.
We started the long descent towards Warm Springs Camp where we will be spending our first night in Death Valley.

 

[RAMf1]

Our camp for the night...


The pool is no longer in use...

 

[Jane and Sergio]

Can’t wait to read the final parts Russ. Thanks.

 

[JReichert11]

these are great Russ! Thank you for posting them

 

[DocTaco]

Awesome write up Russ. Thank you. I really enjoyed your sharing of your Death Valley knowledge. The first picture is of our Trail Guide and the second picture is of our Trail Boss.

 

[TrailHawkGuy]

awesome trip report Russ @RAMf1 . Feels like having been there

 

[RAMf1]

Friday was going to be a long day so after a nice night in Warm Springs, we broke camp early and bombed down the 14 miles of Warm Springs Canyon Road to Hwy. 190 where we aired up. We headed North along the East side of Death Valley on paved Hwy. 190 the 20 plus miles to Badwater where we met up with he second group from the East Bay led by Armin.


See if you can spot our group... I've walked out into Badwater Basin many times so this time I decided to hike up the hill to the little slot canyon visible from the road to capture this photo...


From there we headed further North and did the quick loop through Artist's Pallet. The mid-day light was a little harsh... The colors pop quite a bit more in the late afternoon.

We regrouped and headed to Furnace Creek for lunch...

 

[D.I.R.T.]

Looks like you guys had a great trip too! The photos are nice. I actually saw you guys out there for a bit too. I was pulling out of the Ranch and ended up behind your group following the Ram…. Then I pulled off into Golden Canyon. It was fun riding with you guys for the 2.5-3 miles!! I’ll have to join you guys for your next trip out there. It was my first, and it was a blast !!

 

[AlexAtWagan]

Looks like it was an awesome trip! Bummer I missed. I will have to make it out with you guys one of these days.

 

[er waddell]

Nice pictures. Looks like a great trip.


We were out there too, Thursday to Sunday night.

 

[RAMf1]

Lunch at Furnace Creek was nice... Most of us sat at the picnic benches in the shade at the Borax Museum. This outside museum has some nice artifacts to see, including this Death Valley Railroad locomotive.

We made a quick stop after lunch at Zabriski Point to take in the view dominated by Manly Beacon.

From there, we back-tracked a bit, aired down and headed up popular Echo Canyon. We only stopped once at Eye of the Needle before getting to the Dry Falls...

We saw many Jeeps heading down Echo Canyon... All were dejected saying the falls were impassable. When we arrived there was a small crown eying the falls and enjoying the attempts. Both Greg and Bobby drove up the falls with what seemed like very little effort as they picked the perfect line. The other vehicles had a bit more trouble... Here, Alfredo starts his attempt.

After some expert spotting he was able to make it up...



Next was Jeff's turn...


Sergio made it up next...

At this point, I decided the waterfall was a bit too much for my LX470 with its 32" tires. Even though I was assured by everyone in the group that they could get me up the falls, I decided to turn around and head back down Echo Canyon to meet up with both groups later at the Chloride City Townsite... Someplace I've never been...

I stopped for a few photos on the way down Echo Canyon and after airing up headed back into Furnace Creek for some information gathering at the Visitor's Center and enough gas to make sure I can make it to Beatty, NV since I planned on taking the dirt road off 190 to Chloride City. It was at the Visitor's Center that I picked up the great news that the road to the Racetrack had gotten so bad that the road crew had graded the road this week. I also received the bad news that our planned route along Hidden Valley Road was deemed impassable because of a half-mile long, 4-foot deep silty sand deposit covering a section of the road. We would have to take another way down from the Racetrack...

 

[RAMf1]

I was determined to make it to Chloride City even though I knew it would be dark when I got there. The drive from 190 was lonely... well except for a cluster of Burros blocking the road at one point. Even though I had a couple of maps, finding the road was difficult since it was unmarked and after driving quite a ways I came across this reassuring sign... at least I think I was heading the right direction. I had extra motivation... Not only was I meeting up with both of the East Bay groups, Sergio was going to prepare Glazed Pork Chops with Apples... I wasn't going to miss that!

It was an amazing sight seeing a line of rigs with their bright lights climbing the last rough section of road up to Chloride City. When I finally made it up, the entire area was filled with rigs and lights... It was such a wonderful sight! I din't take any photos because it was dark and I was hungry...
Well, except for this one...

A group of people got up way early the next morning to drive to the top of the Chloride Cliffs to catch a spectacular sunrise. I hope someone from that group posts some photos...
Our group headed out at sunrise so we could gas up in Beatty before heading back into Death Valley via one of my favorite drives.... Titus Canyon.
First we stopped off for a quick visit to the Ghost Town of Rhyolite.



After some quick photos we headed down the road to the entrance to the spectacular Titus Canyon...

 

[MrChris]

Amazing log and pics! Thanks