US West East Bay OB trip Report- Death Valley Nov. 6-7, 2021 pg3

[RAMf1]

Maybe there is a photo limit to the pages... I don't know, the forums still fighting me.

After visiting the Racetrack in Death Valley, our only way down was Lippincott Mine Road... It descends about 2000 feet in a little over 8 miles... With the top 6 miles being the roughest. This road is often called the most dangerous road in Death Valley.
With little hesitation, we began our descent...

Note the rocks, the narrowness of the road and drop off... Concentration levels were high.


Dave and Bobby were already far ahead of the group as I shot photos out of my windshield and open side window.

There were many narrow sections and washouts... most repaired to some extent with rock piles...

There were some spectacular views... When the dust cleared. We were heading into the sun most of the way so visibility was difficult with he dust...

The road twists and turns through this narrow section. You can see Dave in the extreme lower right in the photo below.

The large rocks made the driving quite challenging. Here Dave rushes uphill to help Alfredo through a tricky section.

Alfredo did Great in his capable Land Cruiser!

I gotta say... I was impressed by how well my Lexus LX470 did... The only additions being Metal Tech Rock Sliders, full Asfir Aluminum Skid Plates and 32" Toyo Off-Road Tires...

The road was maybe a little too narrow and tight for Sergio's full-sized Ford Tremor. Dave's spotting really came in handy and Sergio's driving was amazing all weekend.

I have to admit... This Off-Camber section was a little nerve racking. It seemed way scarier than it looks in this photo... Good thing it was short because the drop-off out the driver's door did not look inviting...

We finally made it to the last section of the road... Pretty much fast and straight to Saline Valley Road...

 

[RAMf1]

Some trip statistics: 1210 miles traveled roundtrip from Castro Valley. I started tracking our trip on the morning we left Trona Pinnacles... I tracked on Gaia GPS a total of 379.59 miles traveled through Death Valley... most of those miles off-road with 16 plus hours of travel time at an average moving speed of 22.7 MPH. Our "low" altitude was 182 feet below sea level at Badwater and we reached a high elevation of 7200 feet on Hunter Mountain with a total of 33,179 feet of elevation gained with -30,796 feet lost.
It is pretty amazing spending the night among the pines at Death Valley. Our camping spot on Hunter Mountain was at Hunter Spring and it got a little chilly at night...


A wood cabin in Death Valley National Park... Who knew?

This was my accommodations for the 4 nights. It was cold enough this morning to warrant some hot coffee made on the Jet Boil... I gotta get the French Press option...

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at this overlook of Panamint Valley... Thus ends a fantastic trip! Thank you Dave and the rest of the adventurers for a memorable trip.