Death Valley XTC 2017

[jefe_4x4]

The road up from the Eureka Dunes to Steel Pass, Death Valley. At 700 feet the Dunes are the tallest in California. They also sport a quintet of sand beetles that are found only in this pile of sand; nowhere else on the planet.
There are many places in the western U.S. to get lost in sand and rock. We've come to the park many times in the past, and every trip has its particular flavor. Bro John and I are partial to the remotest places that our truck campers will take us. This trip started with an idea to explore the northern and least travelled area of Death Valley National Park. Anywhere in the northern end is a long way from anywhere, so I took an extra 10 gallons of fuel along.
John and I started at different ends of the state to meet at Big Pine, CA in the Owens Valley to fuel up and head east up Hwy 168. For Jeanie and I, this required cresting Donner Summit (@ 7000 feet elev.). This precip year is now officially the wettest in California History, with over 100 inches at our rancho on the West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada. For evidence here is the snowpack at Donner Summit's Rest Area: note the yellow diesel cans.


Further breath taking mountain views with low snow; not usual for the middle of April:




and a piece of equipment not associated with California clearing the Rest Stop parking lot:


After a couple of hours of back road driving we turned south on the washboard of the Eureka Dunes dirt road, promptly pulling over to deflate the tires. We use the low pressure in the tires as part of the suspension system of the trucks. Bro dropped his 285/75R16's to 25 pounds and I dropped mine to 28 pounds. I'm using the ARB quick air deflator that unscrews the valve core to let the air out very quickly.




Now was the time to apply our skill at washboard roading. It's like a power boat. You apply throttle and the bow lifts precipitously until enough speed overcomes the resistance and the bow settles down. It's that no-man's-land in between we wanted to avoid. Bro John is an off road racer, having won several including the first 'King of the Hammers' race and knows the dicey value of speed over rough ground. I guess at this juncture, you could say we were in to TC RACING, as we spent about 100 miles of the graded gravel roads @ 40 to 60 mph. There was no in between: 5 mph or 40. The only thing that saved us was the low pressure of the tires. But you learn to drive on the wrong side of the 20 foot wide track, hunting for the least washboard surface. Usually, it's right against the edge where few tire tracks have trod. The only unintended consequence was the tremendous dust cloud that trailed the pair of 10K pound white elephants charging down the way. Any traffic, which was light, moved to the edge and stopped; wild eyed to see what was approaching. Eureka Dunes:


Eventually we reached the Dunes to be greeted by about 20 people in tiny SUV's with a dozen little tents set up in the primitive campsite. Many were entomologists on the dunes crawling around looking for the elusive quintet of beetles. Vehicles, of course are not allowed. Beyond the Dunes we followed the two track for our destination for the night: Steel Pass. It is a short way to get down to Saline Valley from the North, and one of our prime objectives.
We stopped just short of the slot in the rocks and made camp:




Some local paddle cactus just starting to bloom:


Next morning finds us out early to quickly power over the pass. Oh, yeah? Not so fast Mescal breath. The pass consisted of four small obstacles, easily done in our rigs.....except for the second one, 'the rock wall'.




Up and front over just missing the rocker panels.


That's me under the driver's side stacking rocks to keep the OUTFITTER! away from a bad end:


After backing out and trying another approach, he wound up here:


One slip of the rock pile and he moved to within 1/2 inch of the rock;


luckily, Bro has the skill to back off with no boo boos to the OUTFITTER! epidermis. That was it he made several see saws and was back down the trail the way we came. All doable, here's what lay ahead:




Things were looking up when we passed a patch of these:


The smoothest ride was on blowsand:


Once out of the Eureka Dunes area it was endless washboard, especially on the Racetrack road. We all agreed never to take that road again. Turning south again at Tea Kettle Jct. we finally got to a nice valley with many old mines to explore.
typical road near Lost Burro Mine
We camped right at the Lost Burro Mine diggings, which had several level places, presumably that housed house trailers for the workers in the 1940's. This was a very high producing gold mine, a rarity in Death Valley:








Most of the mine equipment was moved elsewhere once the vein began to fail.


I've got to make this shorter, as BKA does not have a lot of bandwidth for these pix.
After taking several remote mine excursions, we happened on a talc mine high up in the hills. This was THE steepest rocky trail I've ever been on in the TC. You needed to keep some momentum up in 2nd gear, low range 4WD, but not too much to over come the tractive effort of your tires. Luckily my True Tracs, front and rear allowed a full traction ascent with not a spin of a tire. This pic taken half way up does not do justice to the exteme grade. My honest assessment is that it was about a 30 per cent grade. I had some concern about leaving the camper in the middle of the trail.


The way out was just that: way out. Maybe the most primitive and remote road I've been on.






Eventually, we arrived at yet another Talc mine for the night.


Here is what the sidewall deflection of a 28 pound pressure, 35 inch tire on a 10 inch wide rim looks like in the A.M.:


There were a smattering of wild flowers, mostly tied to elevation as to their bloom state:


John and Krys in a Death Valley Gothic at China Gardens Spring:


Three years ago we tried to take the Trona Wildrose Road to Wildrose campground. A sign at that time said Road Closed. You could see some wash in and wash out over the pavement. Three years later we're back. I got on the D.V. facebook page to inquire as to the efficacy of travel over said road. The person responding said it was still closed on account of 'debris over the roadway'. This time we approached it from the Wildrose side and found the gate open. So, we went for it. This is what we found:




Not a problem at all. But, I can see how the N.P. Service would want to limit their liability in not having their 10 foot wide roadway up to snuff.
Now, at last here is our last campsite: a gravel bar at the foot of Jail Canyon.

S curves on the way down from Augerberry Point.
It was a great trip. Maybe a one-off in my lifetime. John made home made from scratch Margaritas every night for a wrap up. Thanks for reading. jefe
If you haven't had enough, I took 88 pix this trip and several short vids and they can be viewed on my photobucket site here:
http://s194.photobucket.com/user/jefe4x4/library/DV%20TC%202017?sort=2&page=1

[GoinThisAway]

bka0721 wrote:

c.traveler2 wrote:

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Alex,
The big rock in the pic does not show the lifting the pass side rear wheel must climb about 2 feet sending the dr. side right into the rock. No way to get around it short of building a mighty solid rock pile next to the big rock. We didn't want to spend all day building the 12 foot long road. You could do it in an MT pickup with lockers and an abundance of actual technique because the leaning would cause no harm compared to the Leaning Tower of Pizza delivery truck.
No, it's not worth going to the Racetrack. The Racetrack has been desecrated, if you have not heard already. A couple idiots drove onto the playa when it was wet doing figure 8's and ruining the ambiance. The good news is they were able to track these guys by satellite and found out who they are. Sumpin' bad gwana happen to them. jefe

I didn't know about the damage to the racetrack and looked up some articles on this recent event, it is a shame that some idiot (s) did this, but I still say it worth the drive out.

As to your photo size limitation I use Faststone batch photo resizer, it's free and simple to use.

Sadly this is becoming more and more common. One of the other issues are the rocks on the Playa are being stolen. So those going to the Racetrack are seeing less and less of the results of the long term affects of these rocks on the Playa.

b

So I not only need to get to Glacier NP before climate change melts the glaciers but I also have to make it to Death Valley NP before all the rocks are stolen from the Racetrack. Hopefully both will still be there when I retire in a few years. Meanwhile, thanks for the trip report!

[PatrickA51]

Jefe 4x4

Great trip report. I don't know why I didn't see this before now. Great pictures too!

[RickW]

Jefe,

Congratulations on another great offroad adventure. It wasn't that long ago that mules were the only way travel these roads.

Thanks for the trip report.

Rick

[sabconsulting]

Wow, fantastic trip Jefe.

I know what you mean about the washboard corrugations. I found in Africa that it was 5mph or 60mph - either crawl over them at walking pace or float over them at a speed that works with the resonant frequency of the truck suspension. Interestingly my truck an camper was better on corrugations in north Africa then some other vehicles I had used in Southern Africa - probably due to the weight and different suspension set-up.

Steve.

[bka0721]

c.traveler2 wrote:

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Alex,
The big rock in the pic does not show the lifting the pass side rear wheel must climb about 2 feet sending the dr. side right into the rock. No way to get around it short of building a mighty solid rock pile next to the big rock. We didn't want to spend all day building the 12 foot long road. You could do it in an MT pickup with lockers and an abundance of actual technique because the leaning would cause no harm compared to the Leaning Tower of Pizza delivery truck.
No, it's not worth going to the Racetrack. The Racetrack has been desecrated, if you have not heard already. A couple idiots drove onto the playa when it was wet doing figure 8's and ruining the ambiance. The good news is they were able to track these guys by satellite and found out who they are. Sumpin' bad gwana happen to them. jefe

I didn't know about the damage to the racetrack and looked up some articles on this recent event, it is a shame that some idiot (s) did this, but I still say it worth the drive out.

As to your photo size limitation I use Faststone batch photo resizer, it's free and simple to use.

Sadly this is becoming more and more common. One of the other issues are the rocks on the Playa are being stolen. So those going to the Racetrack are seeing less and less of the results of the long term affects of these rocks on the Playa.

b

[c_traveler2]

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Alex,
The big rock in the pic does not show the lifting the pass side rear wheel must climb about 2 feet sending the dr. side right into the rock. No way to get around it short of building a mighty solid rock pile next to the big rock. We didn't want to spend all day building the 12 foot long road. You could do it in an MT pickup with lockers and an abundance of actual technique because the leaning would cause no harm compared to the Leaning Tower of Pizza delivery truck.
No, it's not worth going to the Racetrack. The Racetrack has been desecrated, if you have not heard already. A couple idiots drove onto the playa when it was wet doing figure 8's and ruining the ambiance. The good news is they were able to track these guys by satellite and found out who they are. Sumpin' bad gwana happen to them. jefe

I didn't know about the damage to the racetrack and looked up some articles on this recent event, it is a shame that some idiot (s) did this, but I still say it worth the drive out.

As to your photo size limitation I use Faststone batch photo resizer, it's free and simple to use.

[joerg68]

Man, I hate hate hate these trip reports. Because I want to go there myself 😉

Really though, thank you so much for taking me along! Great pictures, great country - as always.

[jefe_4x4]

Alex,
The big rock in the pic does not show the lifting the pass side rear wheel must climb about 2 feet sending the dr. side right into the rock. No way to get around it short of building a mighty solid rock pile next to the big rock. We didn't want to spend all day building the 12 foot long road. You could do it in an MT pickup with lockers and an abundance of actual technique because the leaning would cause no harm compared to the Leaning Tower of Pizza delivery truck.
No, it's not worth going to the Racetrack. The Racetrack has been desecrated, if you have not heard already. A couple idiots drove onto the playa when it was wet doing figure 8's and ruining the ambiance. The good news is they were able to track these guys by satellite and found out who they are. Sumpin' bad gwana happen to them. jefe

[c_traveler2]

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Alex,
I'm afraid we did NOT make it over Steel Pass. We came down from the Death Valley Road from Big Pine. Being denied entry via Steel Pass we backtracked on the Eureka Dune road to the D.V. Road and passed Crankshaft Jct. and on down to Ubhebe Crater Road and the Racetrack Road from the northeast. Never again. We never got to the Racetrack as we turned south at TeaKettle Jct. to Hidden Valley and all the mines in the area. We also beat it over Hunter Mountain which still had snow on the ground in patches and came out near Darwin after being on dirt for 3 days.
jefe

Thanks for clearing that up about Steel Pass, did it become too narrow for your rigs? As for the Racetrack,it's really worth the time to make it out there.

[eDUBz]

Great read and pictures

[bka0721]

Your TR reports are always inspirational and shows to the doubters that our Hard Side Campers can and do go where other RVs fear to tread! A couple of years back I was with a group of my Adventure Motorcycle buddies riding this route on our bikes. What a spectacular route and a sense of satisfaction upon completion, as well. Your wonderful shots of the landscape and even better, the shots included proof of the Conquerors that were on this adventure were spectacular. Of course I had physical reaction to your brother’s rendezvous with the canyon wall, not! But it took a few heart beats of reading before I learned the camper was released unscathed.

Thanks for taking the time to put this TR together. Also, an important update in that with Verizon’s capitulation on data pricing I am now the proud owner of an account for unlimited data. While there is throttle limits, but I still consume very small amounts as a rule so I doubt I will be impacted by Verizon’s Rev Limiter.

Sorry we missed by just a few weeks, this season. Maybe another year we will see each other, in Death Valley, again. Unless you venture to the northern Rockies to find some of us RV.net people hiding out for the summer.

b

[jefe_4x4]

Thanks, Mark.
It seemed like a place you could wind up going to. The 'Chocolate layer cake' strata just east of the Dunes begs to be photographed. Alas, we were early in the trip and anxious to cover ground with an 80 mile work-around after being denied Steel Pass. It is a unique place.
jefe
Looking north, the 700 foot high dunes from near Steel Pass in the late afternoon.

[GpnAZ]

Wow jefe, great TR and pictures, especially the ones showing near contact with the rock cliffs!! I was on that washboard road that never ends from Eureka sand dunes in 2008! Thanks for sharing your XTC adventures!

[jefe_4x4]

Alex,
I'm afraid we did NOT make it over Steel Pass. We came down from the Death Valley Road from Big Pine. Being denied entry via Steel Pass we backtracked on the Eureka Dune road to the D.V. Road and passed Crankshaft Jct. and on down to Ubhebe Crater Road and the Racetrack Road from the northeast. Never again. We never got to the Racetrack as we turned south at TeaKettle Jct. to Hidden Valley and all the mines in the area. We also beat it over Hunter Mountain which still had snow on the ground in patches and came out near Darwin after being on dirt for 3 days.
jefe