Death Valley trip (the survival)

[GreenTaco]

Since I don't really see an area to post up Expeditionary Trips, i thought I'd post this here. Here is a link (http://www.dezertrangers.com/vb/showthread.php?t=81962) to a trip that my friends and I went on between Christmas and New Years. This was either the best/worst trip or the worst/best trip I've been on. Really had a great time over all!

[ShowStop]

Very interesting trip report. :eek:

[TEJASYOTA]

Cool trip!
Too bad they did not take a photo of the "scary guy".....

Maybe we may want an EXPO Trip section added.

[CYi5]

Pretty sweet, we went to a lot of the same places when we went in November. Scotty's castle, the crater, racetrack, the hot springs, and the 4x4 trail going between them. It sure seems like there is a lot of room to move over on some of those big cracks; I remember it being narrow in some of the places but those pics look like a lot of tire placement?

[GreenTaco]

For the stock width trucks it was fine, tight, but fine. Some of the guys are extended in the front and back a few inches (4-6" per side) so it was very tight for them. There were about 2 or 3 cracks that got a little scary and those weren't even the ones my friends had trouble with (blue Ranger wasn't paying attention, white Explorer had some of the trail collapse)

[ike]

Looks like it was a hell of a time.

[TaWComA26]

My goodness...that looked freaking awesome.

I plan on taking a trip like that one day. one day

[azdriver]

awesome trip- Death Valley is a favorite. b

[d33pt]

Killer trip report! Must've been pretty scary for a little while. At least you guys had alot of heads to think things through. Sometimes when we go, it's just 2 or 3 people. Next time take more 4x4's!!

[Scuba]

Id be down if I could ever get a few damn days off work !! Looks like a killer time !!

[Loober]

The scariest part is that you guys were brave enough to attack it with ford's...sorry had to do it

[GreenTaco]

I said the same thing, me and the Red Toyota truck were worried for them the whole time since there wasn't an Autozone to get parts when they break

[Loober]

at least that exploder had that extremely necessary intercom system, cuz when your flying through the desert at 120mph trophy truck style it is hard to communicate with eveyone inside, I too run into that problem quite often.

Those 5 points must be a bitch to use in a DD but again crucial at 100+ speeds, which im sure he expriences often because why else would he have those things in there right.....

[Ian Rogers]

I have run all of those roads in my stock 4 runner... no big deal you guys need to pick better lines. Steal pass is not that bad, heck i ran out north pass from sailne valley hot spring in 1hr 15 min from the springs to the paved road.

[DustyTrails]

I have run all of those roads in my stock 4 runner... no big deal you guys need to pick better lines. Steal pass is not that bad, heck i ran out north pass from sailne valley hot spring in 1hr 15 min from the springs to the paved road.
x2 on steel pass, especially going down toward the Dunes. Made it from the springs to the pavement via North Pass in just under 1hr 45min yesterday, and thought that I was hauling ass!!!

[toyo58]

That looks like one cool trip. last time I was out in DV was probably in '98 or so. It was in the winter also but I was just passing through with no 4x4. Can't wait to get back there some day, a little bit of a drive from Texas...

[DustyTrails]

Death Valley is always an adventure. However, WTF were you doing attempting those snow covered passes with no 4WD, or at the very least chains? Planning ahead and being prepared is one of the criteria for an expedition, right? Those passes are known to be snow covered most of the winter. A little research would tell you that. I would be pissed if I was one of the guys who met you blocking the road for 5 hours because you came unprepared.

[GreenTaco]

at least that exploder had that extremely necessary intercom system, cuz when your flying through the desert at 120mph trophy truck style it is hard to communicate with eveyone inside, I too run into that problem quite often.

Those 5 points must be a bitch to use in a DD but again crucial at 100+ speeds, which im sure he expriences often because why else would he have those things in there right.....


The explorer you are speaking of is my friend Jerrod's and yes the 5-points and intercom are necessary. Several years ago Jerrod's little brother was in Lucern Valley doing about 60mph when the rear tires exploded causing him to loose control and roll the truck 3 or 4 times. The only thing that saved him was the roll cage and 5-point harnesses. Jerrod also rolled a truck in Pismo. His truck was parked on a dune when on side of the dune gave way causing the truck to roll 5 times. After that he decided that a roll cage and 5 points were necessary. The intercom is more of a convenience, but it helps when you can hear your passengers call out other people on the trails (bikes, quads, other truck) or hazards.

[GreenTaco]

I have run all of those roads in my stock 4 runner... no big deal you guys need to pick better lines. Steal pass is not that bad, heck i ran out north pass from sailne valley hot spring in 1hr 15 min from the springs to the paved road.

Ya Steal pass isn't bad, it just that the vast majority of the guys in our group are used to high speed desert driving, not really the finesse that is need in taking lines or knowing how or when to hit the gas and how hard.

[GreenTaco]

I have run all of those roads in my stock 4 runner... no big deal you guys need to pick better lines. Steal pass is not that bad, heck i ran out north pass from sailne valley hot spring in 1hr 15 min from the springs to the paved road.

Death Valley is always an adventure. However, WTF were you doing attempting those snow covered passes with no 4WD, or at the very least chains? Planning ahead and being prepared is one of the criteria for an expedition, right? Those passes are known to be snow covered most of the winter. A little research would tell you that. I would be pissed if I was one of the guys who met you blocking the road for 5 hours because you came unprepared.

We did do a lot of preparation for the trip. One of our friends planned the whole trip out. He grew-up camping and off-roading in DV so we trusted his judgement on what trails to take. We also kept an eye on the weather for weeks and weeks before and from all the reports we saw it said there would be little or no snowfall. The weather reports also said that the lows at night would be in the 30's, but we recorded temperatures in the low, low, low teen at night. So we learned that we can never put all of our trust into weather reports. You are right that we should have brought chains. In response to blocking the trail, any and every time we met someone on the trail we let them pass. We stopped what we were doing, backed up and let people go.

[DennisDawg]

You all did fine, I mean, you went and came back, so you did fine. Whatever went wrong, you learned more for next time and you figured a way through. Everyone has a bad one from time to time. Snow changes everything! We go up there pretty often, see a lot of wonderful places.

[GreenTaco]

It really is an amazing place, to date this has been the best trip of my life. We are trying to plan another trip there, most likely at a different time of the year.

[CAP650]

I'm trying to get down to death valley myself, March / April, to camp and explore for a few days. I haven't been to DV yet. Looks like fun.

[DennisDawg]

If you need help planning a trip, PM or e-mail me and I am happy to help.

GreeenTaco, you are like just down the street from me!

[CAP650]

If you need help planning a trip, PM or e-mail me and I am happy to help.

GreeenTaco, you are like just down the street from me!

PM sent. Thanks.