Death Valley - Jan 1998
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 22:42:41 -0800
From: "Sandy and Terry"
Subject: Back from Death Valley
To:
Got back from Death Valley tonight. I added 1,400 miles to my odometer
since Friday. (Equivalent to approx. 1,260 miles with corrections to my
gears.) We had a total of 5 vehicles. The weekend was a blast. I'll be
putting together a trip report soon.
Good people + good trails + good weather = Good times
I'd like to thank Don West, Roger Brown, Bob and Tim Stucky from the "list"
and James Fisher from the Gettin Off club for participating. Roger
sacrificed a nut and washer from one of his dual steering stabilizers for a
quick field repair. I lost the nut and washer on my front left shock in
Titus Canyon. Thanks, Roger.
I don't have a web page so I'll probably attach a text file to a future
post.
Terry Johnson
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Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 22:17:42 -0800
To: Barney McNamara
From: "Don M. West"
Subject: Re: Death Valley
Hi Barney:
As you moght have already seen on the list we had an awesome time in Death
Valley!
Thanks much for your tips on how to find Barker Ranch; no problem...we had
lunch there on Satuday.
James Fisher and I split from Terry, Roger and Tim (who did Echo Canyon)
and went to racetrack with original thoughts of either going over
Lippincott road to Saline Valley (that road is supposed to be in pretty
good shape having been bulldozed about 2 months ago, but the Saline Valley
roads are washed out and closed), and Hunter Mountain was "not recommended"
due to mud, ice, snow, and required chains. As it was we got a private tour
of Scotty's Castle cuz James knows someone who works there, and by the time
we were at Racetrack it was getting late anyway. we did find the Lippincott
Mine (or at least some of the shafts - needed a bit of 4Lo there *:) and
started back out at dusk.
The biggest bitch was Hwy 190 to Lone Pine...at night...really dark...never
driven it before...windy...man, I went 25mph through lots of it! Better
safe!
Regards,
Don
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 08:41:01 -0800
To: barney@flowpoint.com
From: Barney McNamara
Subject: Re: Death Valley
Don,
I'm glad you had a good time. Titus Canyon is a beautiful drive, and
the narrow canyon stretch at the end is amazing. There are several other
driveable canyons like that, but Titus is the best I've seen. I imagine
Surprise Canyon is narrow like that, but I don't have the equipment to
get up there. Did you go by and look into it?
It's too bad you couldn't get down to Saline Valley. I'm surprised
they worked on the Lippincot Grade, that road was in pretty good
shape last year, except for a few small slides that made it kind
of dicey due to having to go even closer than you'd like to the
outside edge to clear the slides on the inside. Maybe they cleaned
those off. I am glad to hear they are maintaining it. There is a
ROAD CLOSED sign at the bottom end on Saline Valley Road. That is
actually good, as it is so narrow, you really don't want to meet
anyone coming up while you are going down. Where did you get your
information on the road conditions?
I'm thinking of going May 2-10. I like spending time at the mines
and cabins, and not just driving right through. So I like to take more
time, and camp. I've been thinking of a loop from Saline Valley - up
Hunter Mountain, then back down Lippincot Grade. Jim Brink is interested
and he knows a few more roads in the south end of the park.
Barney
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Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 22:59:01 -0800
From: "Sandy and Terry"
Subject: Four wheelin near LA?
To:
>I am considering a job/move to LA. Seems like most of the offroading I hear
>about is in North CA. My question is there any good wheelin in the LA area?
>Thanks
>Mike Pelland
>1994 extra cab Pick-up
>http://www2.netcom.com/~pelland/
>
>
I'm from Northern CA but there are lots of opportunities in Southern CA in
the Mojave. Someone already mentioned the extreme trails such as Jackhammer
and Sledgehammer. But there are also plenty of good trails in Mojave.
Also, LA isn't that far from Panamint Valley or Death Valley. In Panamint
besides the winching exercise of Surprise Canyon there is Stone Canyon which
is an excellent trail for modified rigs. There is also the Pleasant
Canyon/South Park Canyon loop which is fun for any stock vehicle. There are
also many trails in Death Valley.
BTW was anyone aware that "Ballarat" Don is no longer the caretaker of the
ghost town in Panamint Valley? He moved to Arizona at the end of May. The
new caretaker is Louie. We met him this weekend.
Terry Johnson
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Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:27:08 -0800
From: "Sandy and Terry"
Subject: 6th Annual Death Valley Report
We had 8 vehicles participate this weekend on the Death Valley run, 5 were
from the list.
1) Roger Brown - '85 4Runner
2) Chris Geiger w/wife and son - '93 4Runner
3) Jack Geiger - '89 Std Cab
4) John Skaggs w/wife, Thunder, and Lightening - '85 4Runner
5) Me w/friend - '89 XCab
6) Mike from work - Fullsize Bronco
7) James from last years trip - Fullsize Bronco
8) Mike, James' brother - CJ7
We left Ridgecrest Sat morning and picked up Roger and Jack at the Trona
Pinnacles turnoff. Our first stop was at the Ballarat general store.
"Ballarat" Louie was out of T-shirts and only had a limited number of maps
this year. We aired down our tires and locked our hubs.
Our first assualt was going to be the Pleasant Canyon - South Park Canyon
loop. This is a 30 mile trip that starts at 1200' in elevation at Ballarat
and rises to 7100' at the top of Pleasant Canyon. The going was pretty easy
at first. I was using my new 2WD Lo option which allows me to use low range
without engaging the front locker. (Another poor man's ARB?) In past years
the trail was mild enough to get through the majority of the trail in 2WD.
The storms from last year added a few loose spots and one minor rock ledge
obstacle which was fun. There was also an underground spring which had
water running down the trail in several spots. One of the Bronco's had a
tough time here. Some rock stacking and momentum was needed to get him up.
Open diffs, street tires, and not airing down contributed to the difficulty.
A little further up the trail Chris Geiger had a problem with his right
front brake caliper coming loose. A couple of stripped bolts was the
culprit. We then stopped for a bit at Clair Camp. This was a mining town
earlier this century. There is an old leaning water tower anchored to the
side of a mountain to keep it from toppling over. There are some old rusted
out buildings, vehicles, and machinery. There is also two huge blast
furnaces which must have been fun to drag up to the site even if it was done
in pieces. Near the top we went through a pine tree forest which is unusual
in a desert environment. At the top we stopped for lunch and had a peak of
Death Valley to the east and several mountain ranges to the west.
After lunch we crossed a steep ridge and went across a meadow, up over
another ridge and a second meadow on the way to South Park Canyon. It was
here in the second meadow we saw some wild burros. As we entered the canyon
we encountered some tall brush which sheltered the ground where there was
running water and ice. Shortly after we came upon the one obstacle in the
canyon which I have heard called chicken rock. It is high up on a narrow
ledge and requires a downward left turn around the wall with a slight lean
toward dooms day. There is chain link fence wire on the ground to help
prevent further erosion. It was plenty wide (another 4') even for the
Broncos but can be intimidating if you've never done it before. 100 yards
farther down is a narrow wooden bridge which was rebuilt several years ago.
At the bottom of the ledge was a couple of cabins were being inhabited. A
little beyond the cabins we got a great view of Panamint Valley from 3000' -
4000'. We got back to Ballarat around 4:30 p.m. We were hoping to get back
early enough to go up to the base of the 1st waterfall in Surprise Canyon.
We will have to put it into next years itinerary. Here is where we had to
say goodbye to Chris Geiger and family. (His wife had to work on Sunday.)
The rest of us drove the approx. 90 miles to Beatty, NV to spend the night.
In Beatty we pigged out on plenty of cheap food. After dinner many were
pooped and headed straight for their rooms. At least one individual braved
the casino and came out ahead on the craps table.
Sunday morning we split into two groups. The Broncos and CJ headed for
Titus Canyon and the remaining 4 toyotas went up to Chloride City. This is
another old ghost town in the mountains east of the Death Valley floor. We
came upon an old shack with a mine entrance directly behind it. Just to the
left was a grave sight probably of some poor old miner. There were several
mine shafts in the area. We took a trail that brought us to the edge of the
Chloride Cliffs. We were at 5200' and had an amazing view of the entire
valley floor below us which is below sea level.
We then drove down to the valley floor and explored some of the canyons near
Stove Pipe Wells. Grotto Canyon is a short 2 miles from the paved road.
Here we ate lunch and explored the canyon. Jack Geiger said his goodbyes
here and got an early start home. Next we went to Marble Canyon which is
about 18 miles north of Stove Pipe Wells all of which is dirt roads except
for the 1st half mile. We saw some petroglyphs but we weren't sure they
were original indian markings. Some of them looked too new. When the trail
ended for vehicle traffic, we hiked up a ways while looking at the unusual
rock formations.
By the time we returned to Stove Pipe Wells it was dark. We aired up our
tires and said our remaining goodbyes. I drove to Lone Pine and spent the
night there. Got an early start on Monday and headed north up Hwy 395. Got
into some rain near Minden which turned to snow when I got close to Lake
Tahoe. I paid my respects at Harvey's and won enough money to pay for the
trip. Finally got home about 7:45 p.m. last night.
Hope all who went had as much fun as I did. Next year the trip will most
likely be moved to Presidents B-day weekend in Feb. So mark your calendars.
Terry Johnson
Pleasanton, CA
'89 XCab V6 SR5
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