Last weeked was Terry's annual Death Valley trip. The trip started out on an ominious Friday the 13th (and I'm going to DEATH VALLEY!) when we left for Ridgecrest. We met up with the rest of the group at 7:30am on Saturday morning, there were about 16 trucks total. The caravan took off down the road through the most desolate town on earth, Trona.

We turned off at what seemed to be a random dirt road in the middle of the desert and aired down to make the 120 miles of washboard dirt roads more bearable. Our first stop was to find the grave of a guy who died on the Escape Trail. We never did find it, but my former roommate, Brian, high centered his Bronco on a boulder trying to get there. After an hour of stacking, jacking and pulling we got him free. The rest of us bypassed that obstacle because we were pressed for time.



Soon after, though, the other Bronco on the trip blew a bead and ripped the sidewall. Unfortunately, Brett didn't have a full size spare and he called it a day. He just emailed and said his spare blew at 60mph on his way to back to town, fortunately he was able to pull over safely.



Then it was off to the Barker Ranch, the place where Manson and his cult were found. On the way there, we found that Brians Bronco was having fuel problems...whenever we were going up hill the engine would start to sputter and he'd have to pull over and let it cool off. I stayed with him and we finally met up with the rest of the group at the manson place. My wife refused to let me take her picture there because she thought I would capture a ghost behind her.



To make matters more interesting, there was a "bandit" out there in the desert robbing unsuspecting people. The police found his camp but he got away. At his camp they found a various guns and other things he stole.

Anyway, after the manson place it was starting to get late so we headed down the road to find a camping area.

We woke up to another beautiful day and the caravan headed off deeper into death valley. I found that the desert really stresses every component of the truck. Going down a washboard dirt road at 30-40mph I hit a dip in the road and looked back to see my hilift hanging off my bumper at a 45 degree angle. I stopped and found that the top 3/8" bolt holding the hilift on, had broken from fatigue. The bottom bolt was the only thing holding the hilift on. Time to upgrade to 1/2" bolts.



So then, we stopped at Badwater where the elevation was near 250 feet below sea level. From there we headed off to the info center and paid the entrance fee and bought some souvenirs.



We finally made it to an old abandoned mine where we could explore the tunnels. They didnÆt go too far into the mountain, maybe a hundred yards or so, but it was cool nonetheless.




After that, we again hit the dirt road and made our way to the ôeye of the needleö, a big hole in a rock formation that looks like an eye of the needle. That was also the site of an ôimpassableö obstacle, according to the rangers. We also came upon the 4wheeler of the year, you know, that lexus. Well, I hear the driver looked at the line of trucks that ranged from built Toyotas and jeeps, to a stock tundra, and started saying which ones will make it and which ones wonÆt. Needles to say, everybody made it without breaking a sweat.




That was pretty much the end of the official trip and we all headed off to Beatty Nevada to some hot showers and mediocre food. Oh and I actually got carded trying to play the slotsàIÆm 27, Brian who is 26, did not get carded.

On Monday morning, some of the group went to explore an area north of Death Valley. Brian and I decided not to go with them because of his bronco problems and the fact that we wanted to get home kinda early because of work the next day. We figured we could head out to ScottyÆs Castle and the Racetrack and then head home. Well, that detour turned out to be the highlight of the trip because of some hippies (more later).

We got to ScottyÆs Castle and paid the $8 for the guided tour, then we headed off to the Racetrack. The racetrack is a dry lake bed on which rocks appear to move, but nobody has ever seen them move. They leave tracks in the mud, but there are no footsteps or anything. Unfortunately, we didnÆt get to see any tracks. Oh well.


[img]http://www.robinhood4x4.com/albums/dv04/IMG_2970_Small.jpg[/img]

From there, we found a trail on the map that lead to the highway. There was a big sign that warned the trail was for experienced off roaders only. It was practically a dirt road with a few rocks here and there.
[img]http://www.robinhood4x4.com/albums/dv04/IMG_2986_Small.jpg[/img]

Anyway, we finally made it to the main dirt road and when we rounded a corner, came upon a VW van, a ford aerostar with a missing tire, and another car. As I pulled up, an old hippie guy came up to me and asked if I had any spare gas. Somebody else went up to Brian and asked if he had a spare tire that would fit the aerostar. Apparently what had happened was the aerostar blew a tire and the spare tire had fallen off somewhere back on the road. Randomly, the guy in the VW van happened to run out of gas at the same place. The couple in the other car just stopped to watch (and laugh?). I had about half a gallon left in my spare tank and a gallon of that emergency gas stuff they sell in the stores. They also ended up putting white gas in the VW too. Well, the guy in the VW gave the aerostar guy a ride into town to get a new tire, leaving the VW wife and aerostar wife there on the side of the road with some food and water. It was quite a site to see. I hear one of the girls in the car was high as a kite. Damn hippies. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of them.

It was a great trip and that definitely puts the trucks through their paces. My hilift almost fell off, my auto tranny light came on despite having an auxiliary cooler, a Tacoma blew its radiator, an 85 4runner had a lower radiator hose leak, a bronco had fuel problems, another bronco blew 2 tires, and a tundra developed a bubble in the sidewall of a tire.

I canÆt wait for next year.

Here's a link to the rest of the 123 pics:
http://www.robinhood4x4.com/gallery/dv04

Here's the GPS track of the trip:
[img]http://www.robinhood4x4.com/albums/dv04/death_Valley_gps_track.sized.jpg[/img]

steve,

what's s/w did that plot?

btw, you speedo is off by a couple... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Great pix! I just looked at the whole set. So it appears you did Lippencott on your own, eh? Fun road; my first time along it was more tense, but last year's run it was just a gas.

Glad everyone had a great time, too bad we lost a few to breakdowns this year. I held up well and am ready for the next one <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Leo, that's the topo mapsource software from Garmin.

Don, so I guess that sign is warranted some years, huh? Brain and I figured that if the road got too bad, we'd just turn around and head back.

Steve,

Nice job on the write up and pics. Just got home yesterday afternoon, added 1,150 miles to the odometer for the roundtrip.

The GF has loaded all the pics she took. This one is of Fish Cyn dropping into Panammint Valley:


Here is 4X4Wire's Feb Featured Truck Don West negotiating the ledge on Echo Cyn.


We encountered snow on Monday entering Eureka Valley from the north.

Rest of the pics are here: DV Pics

Cool pics. That's my kind of wheeling. I like the mine pictures, especially!

That looks like a great time. I love Death Valley, it's the first place I took my truck a week after I bought it.

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> Excellent post!I've gotta move out west!You guys got all the good stuff.Snow,rocks,sand,mountains,caves,beautiful scenery! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Totally sweet <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Even a nice pic of my rig, gosh <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />

Hey Terry, were you wondering what I was going to think of the dry falls when I saw them? Been running enuff trails now I guess that all I could do was drool and say "cool." Of course I tend to drool a lot anyway <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Needless to say I walked right up it....while you yawned <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Muy fun....let's go back!