Death Valley Oct 21-23 2011 Planning: Sign up here

[BigJ]

About a half hour drive from the end of Saline Valley (3.9). I might leave Sunday too, but I'm going to plan for the full pull!!!

Thanks B. First come first served, or is there a set spot that requires reservations?

 

[bstoner59]

It's outside the park in BLM land...just going to park it and setup!!!

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Very ambitious 3-day trip consisting of about 450 miles of offroad driving! You guys who haven't seen these Death Valley sites will enjoy the hell out of the trip - every stop will bring you something new.

I wish I could make it but maybe our paths will cross in DV

 

[The Tank]

So who wants to pay to ship my truck out for this.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

So who wants to pay to ship my truck out for this.

You can use the pay-as-you-go plan :mrgreen:

 

[The Tank]

You can use the pay-as-you-go plan :mrgreen:

I don't like that option.

 

[BigJ]

Thought I'd pass this comment on. It was left on ExpeditionPortal.com where I linked our plans to hoping for some experienced feedback. Good advise, this:

"...be prepared for extremes of cold and wind near the Racetrack and Teakettle Junction. Back in March it was near-freezing and 50-60mph winds at our campsite just South of Lost Burro gap (about 2 miles South of Teakettle Jct.) 5 miles away (as the crow flies) across the Panamint Range at Cottonwood Canyon it was pleasant and temps were in the 50s at night and 90s during the day.

The reason is simple: Elevation. Teakettle Jct is about 4000' above sea level, Cottonwood Canyon is about 500' above sea level."

Be ready for extreme temps guys.

 

[Xjrguy]

It was cold out there at night last weekend.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Extreme temperatures are always possible in DV and winds are likely (wait til you get to Ubehebe Crater). Rain: not likely at all (but I've been rained on out there).

Some suggested items to bring include: water (lots of water), tow strap and full-zie shovel, tire repair (plug) kit, jumper cables (one set per group), flashlights/batteries, sunscreen, hat, jacket, blankets, work gloves, shade (tarp), FRS/ham/cb radio (sat phone), first aid kit, food, more water than you think you'll need, and your off road survival kit.

How many vehicles are going?

 

[BigJ]

Ok hold up a minute. There are two concerns that keep coming up when I run this route (Rev3) by various folks who've spent some time down there.

1) Goler Canyon. On my route, it basically starts at point 1.2 and continues thru 1.3 and into 1.4. I keep hearing that's one of the more challenging 4x4 parts of the whole park, and worse than that, the word "tight" keeps coming up.

Then I found this on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMGW450Qad0

See those handlebars? See how wide they look relative to the narrow trail? Anyone else skeered? After seeing that, I'm thinking we don't have a chance of getting thru there in our Raptors...

2) Distance. I've said how I want this trip to be relaxed, and allow for time to enjoy what there is to see out there. I keep hearing that even if we were able to make good time (thanks to the Raptors) we're still hauling ass to make camp before sunset. We might want to rethink how much ground I've got us scheduled to cover in those 3 days.

I'll keep plugging away at this, but I have a feeling Rev3 is about to be replaced by a Rev4 here pretty soon... guys that are going in a couple weekends, do you guys even really care? Is there anything on your "I can't miss ***" list? Or is it pretty much whatevers clever and we'll just go to go and see what we see? In other words, any specific requests before I go changing everything again?