First time overlanding, advice needed...

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Jimmy Huynh

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Hi everyone, my name is Jimmy, and I am a new comer to this community you all passionately call Overlanding. Recently I've been obsessed with everything overland, and with my love for the outdoors, I'm glad I've discovered this new way of enjoying nature: man and machine.

So about a month ago, I purchased my machine, a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero Limited, 4x4. I plan on taking said machine to Death Valley, along with a buddy of mine, to do some light exploring and overnight camping. Now I won't be crawling any crazy rocks and tackling any super technical terrain, but would like to get the Monty dirty and maybe a few scratches to break it in. I will be coming from Orange County area, and would like to ask those that have already done Death Valley from where I'll be going in, if there any fun trails for a relatively stock Montero. I've put on LT265/85R16 Falken Wildpeak AT3s, and that's about it for suspension.

I've looked into Goler Wash, Barker Ranch, and a few other trails, and we definitely want to see the Racetrack and Eureka Dunes if possible. Please let me know of any suggestions, inputs, recommendations for my first of many trips to come.

Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
 
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Jimmy Huynh

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Thank you @bawesomfels for the suggestions. I'm looking for more advice on route/trail options more so than vehicle modifications. I'm open to any and all advice in preparation for Death Valley. If you have any insights, I'd love to hear from you.
Jimmy
 
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Todd & Meg

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Goler Wash might be a to tough for a newbe, watch some youtube videos and see what you think. Same with Lippincot Road. I haven't done either we were going to go down Lippincott but some people we talked to at Racetrack that just came up and scared my wife from wanting to do it. But they were newbies too. Racetrack road is mostly all washboards the whole way. If you don't have a way to air back up plan on 4-5 hours hours of hell. Ask me how I know. Plan on doing Titus canyon cool road and not hard. Stop at Rhyolite it's just a little ways past the turn off to Titus canyon.

For your first trip to DV catch all the popular spots and get a feel for where things are in the park. It's and amazing place that is huge. We spent 5 days there and did almost 1000 miles in the park and still have a ton more we want to go back and see.

You didn't say when you are going but plan well. We had one night the low was 80 degrees and the next night was 28 degrees, the next night 40+ mph winds ALL night long.

Since you are new to this and I'm guessing off roading too, take it easy at first, there is alway plenty of time to do trails like Goler. And you live close by, we did DV after seeing my daughter in New Port Beach. Even if you had two weeks you can't see it all.

If you want an interesting read on Death Valley Google "The hunt for the Death Valley Germans".

Did I mention have a way to air down and back up again?

Todd
 
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Jimmy Huynh

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Santa Rosa, CA
Thank you Todd for the great advice and suggestion on that interesting and eye opening article. We will definitely take it easy on our first outing.

We are heading out 9/9 through 9/10 and have been preparing the rig for this hot adventure. I have flushed the cooling system, along with a new thermostat and radiator cap. Transmission and engine both have new fluid, along with a new air filter for those dusty roads. Brand new brakes front and rear, along with fresh DOT 4 fluid. I have a portable compressor which I've used many times and know it's reliable so far. As for recovery, I have traction boards and a shovel, but no winch. I will definitely pick my lines carefully and avoid any rough terrain as my off road experience is still quite limited. On board I have a 5 gallon water can, and two 5 gallon plastic fuel cans as backup in case we get lost and away from fuel stations. We plan on just sleeping in the back of the Montero to shield us from the elements should the wind decide to pay a visit.

If anyone has any other recommendations as to what gears I should bring, please let me know and I will try to get them before this trip. We are very excited for this adventure, and I will post pictures as soon as I get back.

Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
 
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James Feldermann

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Todd & Meg said:
Goler Wash might be a to tough for a newbe, watch some youtube videos and see what you think. Same with Lippincot Road. I haven't done either we were going to go down Lippincott but some people we talked to at Racetrack that just came up and scared my wife from wanting to do it. But they were newbies too. Racetrack road is mostly all washboards the whole way. If you don't have a way to air back up plan on 4-5 hours hours of hell. Ask me how I know. Plan on doing Titus canyon cool road and not hard. Stop at Rhyolite it's just a little ways past the turn off to Titus canyon.

For your first trip to DV catch all the popular spots and get a feel for where things are in the park. It's and amazing place that is huge. We spent 5 days there and did almost 1000 miles in the park and still have a ton more we want to go back and see.

You didn't say when you are going but plan well. We had one night the low was 80 degrees and the next night was 28 degrees, the next night 40+ mph winds ALL night long.

Since you are new to this and I'm guessing off roading too, take it easy at first, there is alway plenty of time to do trails like Goler. And you live close by, we did DV after seeing my daughter in New Port Beach. Even if you had two weeks you can't see it all.

If you want an interesting read on Death Valley Google "The hunt for the Death Valley Germans".

Did I mention have a way to air down and back up again?

Todd
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Lippincott Mine Toad is not difficult. I've never even used 4wd on it. It can be a little taxing mentally due to the heights and shelf road.
 
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Lost-Again

Lost-Again

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MEU(SOC) said:
OP, check out my three part DV video series. It’ll give you intel and ideas for your trip. I strongly recommend you watch all three videos. Enjoy. If you like what you see, please subscribe.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3
Click to expand...
Well... that was just a phenomenal video! Great vid, great narration and music!
 
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darjo242

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MEU(SOC) said:
OP, check out my three part DV video series. It’ll give you intel and ideas for your trip. I strongly recommend you watch all three videos. Enjoy. If you like what you see, please subscribe.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3
Click to expand...
Great videos!! Thank you for sharing. Looks like I may need to plan a trip back to DV in the Fall of 2019
 
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gabe

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MEU(SOC) said:
OP, check out my three part DV video series. It’ll give you intel and ideas for your trip. I strongly recommend you watch all three videos. Enjoy. If you like what you see, please subscribe.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3
Click to expand...
Awesome videos, interesting style and amazing music. Keep up the great work.
 
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Jimmy Huynh

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Santa Rosa, CA
Thank you everyone that chimed in! It was a great trip, lots of wonderful sights and experiences. We barely scratched the surface and can't wait for round 2. The rig did great, washboards and all. I didn't even have to engage 4wd on Titus Canyon Rd. Now that I'm more familiar with the Montero's capabilities, we will tackle the more technical portions of Death Valley on the next outing.

This trip was a chance to get out and see what improvement/modifications are needed to the rig. In stock form, it handled everything we threw at it, and begged for more. Often times we are so quick to modify that we forget how capable our stock rigs can be.

I'll sort through the pictures and will post them for a quick trip report. Thanks again everyone.

Jimmy
 
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Sgt12XU

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Jimmy Huynh said:
Thank you everyone that chimed in! It was a great trip, lots of wonderful sights and experiences. We barely scratched the surface and can't wait for round 2. The rig did great, washboards and all. I didn't even have to engage 4wd on Titus Canyon Rd. Now that I'm more familiar with the Montero's capabilities, we will tackle the more technical portions of Death Valley on the next outing.

This trip was a chance to get out and see what improvement/modifications are needed to the rig. In stock form, it handled everything we threw at it, and begged for more. Often times we are so quick to modify that we forget how capable our stock rigs can be.

I'll sort through the pictures and will post them for a quick trip report. Thanks again everyone.

Jimmy
Click to expand...
Glad you enjoyed the trip. It’s a different world out in DV.
 
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darjo242

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If you get the chance to go back, there's a trail out of Lone Pine that's awesome with lots to see and lots of good dispersed camping. It's in the George Well's series of books for California. It's called the Swansea-Cerro Gordo Trail. Might have a little trouble in a couple spots in the Monterro though.
 
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Jimmy Huynh

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Here are some pictures of the trip. Death Valley, despite the extreme heat, is full of life if you look hard enough.

Eager to leave, we set out at 0400. We fueled the rig, set our GPS for Dante's View, put on some cruising tunes, and drove into the darkness. The drive was uneventful, and soon we arrived at Dante's View overlooking Badwater Basin. I've seen pictures, but it did not prepare me for the depth of this scenic stop. It was breathtaking.

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At this point we were low on gas and decided to refuel with the spare gas before heading down to Furnace Creek. Speaking of gas, I guess when you are in the middle of nowhere, you can charge a premium.

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A hundred dollars later, we turned our backs on Furnace Creek and headed towards The Devil's Golf Course. Google Maps led us to a closed road, so we utilized our paper map to get us to our destination. First lesson, never rely on GPS, and to always carry a paper map.

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I wonder if there are any creatures living in this hole.

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Being the curious person that I am, I just had to lick the salt. Just as I thought, salty. After exploring the crevices, we headed towards Badwater Basin.

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Story goes, a surveyor mapping the area led his mule to this water hole but the creature refused to drink. He wrote on his map, "bad water" and the name stuck. Of note, the water is not poisonous, just extremely salty.

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Above you see the walk out to the basin, with signs along the way to warn hikers of the extreme heat. As we walked towards the basin, we noticed little craters along our path. My guess is since the basin is next to the Devil's Golf Course, these holes are created when the Devil overshot and the balls landed here.

It was getting late in the afternoon and we knew it was a long drive to Titus Canyon so we bid farewell to the basin and headed back towards Furnace Creek. On the way back, we noticed a sign for Natural Bridge. Curiosity got the best of us, so we took the turnoff and drove on a gravelly washboard road to the entrance of this short hike.

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After a 0.3 mile hike in the scorching heat, we arrived at the bridge. Definitely worth the walk.

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We sat in the shade for a bit, drank some water, and made the walk back to the car. It's amazing the forces of water, and how it can carve a canyon over time. The walk back awarded us with some spectacular view of the basin as seen here.

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Onto Titus Canyon Road we went. The drive took us out of California, exited the park, and entered Nevada. Titus Canyon is a one way road, the the beginning of the drive starts from Nevada heading back into Death Valley.

View attachment 68267

I've never driven on washboards before, and now I know why people hate it so much. It rattled and shook the rig as we made our way into the canyon. We pulled over shortly to drop the pressure in our tires to 25 psi, and what a huge difference it made. The combination of IFS and lowered pressure made the rest of the drive bearable. I have never been on washboards with solid axles so I have nothing to compare to, but I can imagine a harsher ride.

The drive was absolutely amazing, with switchbacks and slight dips in the road. The views were spectacular.

View attachment 68268

We came across the remains of Leadfield, an old abandoned town, and decided to explore.

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As we exited the canyon, signs for road closure heading towards Scotty's castle made us consult our paper map once again. I did some reading on the website and was aware of this, and knew that this would not affect our route to Ubehebe Crater. We ignored the sign and pressed forward, arriving the the crater.

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With the sun setting and we still had a ways to camp, we decided not to hike down the crater. I walked down the path a little ways to take this picture, and we raced the light to Eureka Dunes.

As we arrived, the setting sun kissed the side of the dunes and made for a gorgeous picture spot.

View attachment 68271

There were about 4-5 campsites at the base, but we had the whole dunes to ourselves. Lovely! We set up camp and up the dunes we went. At 10,000 years old and 700 feet high, Eureka Dunes are the tallest in California. It was getting cooler as the sun crept behind the mountains behind us, and we took advantage of this opportunity.

Evolution at work. Here you see, barely, a creature adapting to it's environment.

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Here is a plant with a strong will to live. It has adapted and overcame the heat.

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Nature is beautiful.

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With the last light, we ate dinner and enjoyed a night full of stars. It was breathtaking.

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We couldn't have asked for a better morning. Made breakfast, cleaned up camp and the surrounding area, and drove home. A memorable trip and we soon yearned to come back.

View attachment 68280
 
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