BigJ
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(Click here for the planning thread)
One word: awesome!
I know B took some pics, and I have few. Not sure about Tim. But wow what a cool trip this was! On paper the mileage looks pretty daunting, but in reality I felt the pace was just about perfect. We didn't hurry, we stopped lots and yet still got into camp each night with plenty of daylight to spare. Would you agree guys?
Day one had Brian in his Raptor and Joy Bets (our pup) and I in ours. We left Ridgecrest around 745am for Ballarat, our first stop. Once there we aired down and met Ballarat's sole resident, "Rock" and his dog "Pot Licker". Both of them are salt of the earth types, and nice as can be. Rock even connected the only hose in "town" up to the only toilet in "town" for us to use if needed. Very thoughtful
After shooting the **** with Rock for a bit, Brian led us south then east thru Goler Wash. This was the part I was most concerned about from a technical 4x4 perspective, but as it turns out my concern was unfounded. The only tricky spot is about mid way, and its called "The Waterfall". Brian had no problem getting up and over it, then hopped out and guided me (the newb) up with zero issues.
Here's a video of it (not my video). This guy had to gun it, but we didn't. I basically just held the engine slightly above idle and it rolled right up with no problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbNboO6m_YE
After hitting Barker Ranch (creepy freaking place), we tackled Mengel Pass. By and large that was an easy drive for the Raptors too, with the exception of two or three notable spots. Again in those cases after some scouting, Bri just popped his head out the drivers' side window took is slow and carefully made it with no trouble. Once he was over it or down it, he got out and guided me perfectly.
And that was pretty much it for anything technical. We covered lots of ground after that, stopping here or there when we felt like it, spent some time with some bees (NOT THE BEES AHHHHH!), grabbed some lunch at an old talc mine... basically just had a good time as we made our way to Furnace Creek, eventually reaching the camp grounds at around 430pm. Bri turned in early while Joy Bets and I headed over to the LV Astronomical Society's "Star Party" (maybe 1/2mile from camp). That was VERY cool and that group runs a first class show. There were a bunch of amateur astronomers and a few pros too. There were a couple dozen telescopes ranging from simple $250 tabletop models to pro 6 figure models to home made models. And everyone was happy and eager to point theirs and something and explain what we were seeing. The (lack of) light out there really makes for some stunning viewing, and I really think attending one of these is a must do if you're even remotely able.
The next morning we woke and were glad to find that Tim and Micky (aka "Dogus") had rolled in overnight in his Jeep. We had bfast, packed up and got on the road by around 830am. We went into Beatty, refueled and resupplied, then came back to Rhyolite (yay lego *******!), and then made our way thru the incredibly beautiful Titus Canyon. We made Scotty's Castle around 1pm, had lunch and headed out by 2pm. We hit the Racetrack (the Raptor did REALLY well at 40+mph over that 20mi stretch of world famous washboard), stopped to marvel at the track leaving rocks (really really bizare stuff) and then made Homestake Dry Camp by around 4pm. Tim Joy and I stopped and set up camp while Bri went off to try Lippencott. And made it! Surprising all of us... :mrgreen:. I'll let Bri fill in that part.
We watched the sun go down as Tim filled our heads with the "52 different threads of people getting jumped in Death Valley!" stories that he'd read before coming on this trip. Then just before bed, Tim asked what our plan was if we were to get jumped... my answer? "I aint tactically trained dude... if I get jumped I'll be screaming TIM SAVE ME TIM SAVE ME! as loud as I can. How's that for a plan?" Good times And of course, for some reason that night I had trouble sleeping (thanks Tim anic: 
) so about 4am I got another fire going and watched the moon rise and set, watches dozens of stars shoot overhead and listened to the deafening nothingness. The quiet out there can take your breath away.
We packed up and broke camp around 830am. Back up Racetrack to Teakettle, then out Hidden Valley (did anyone see the Ranch??). That stretch was really a surprise to me since its unique beauty was very different from anything we'd seen to that point. It almost felt like we'd been transplanted from DV into the Mojave, then up into the Sierras, and back down. Very very cool terrain.
We emerged from Saline Valley Rd onto HWY190 about 1230pm, aired back up and went our separate ways from that point, bringing an awesome 3 days 2 nights to a close. I really enjoyed being out there and Joy and I loved spending time with Bri and Tim. Better folks you'd be hard pressed to meet. I'm really fortunate to call them both friends.
I've got a handful of notes and tweaks I'll implement for the end of Nov trip that will hopefully make this even better. In terms of logistics, the weather might stop the Hidden Valley part of the trip (a highlight for sure and it would suck to miss it, but if its wet/snowy up there we don't want any part of that climb to 7100ft). And camping; night #2 at Homestake is really the only part we need to think thru if the group gets large. I took a walk around the immediate area and if we took over the entire spot, we could probably cram 10 tents in. And that assumes we got there before anyone else had set up. There are camps north (that supports 2 tents) and another spot south up the hill (didn't check that one out), but in terms of setup and staked out areas, that's kinda it. However, that area is an area that camping is allowed; meaning we could make our own spots if we had to. It just would take some work to clear the land of rocks and cactus and stuff. Dunno on that one just yet...
But other than that, I really think its is a can't miss trip. I'll get up the few pics I do have soon, and I hope Bri/Tim can post up theirs as well.
Details on the end of Nov version will be posted soon!
One word: awesome!
I know B took some pics, and I have few. Not sure about Tim. But wow what a cool trip this was! On paper the mileage looks pretty daunting, but in reality I felt the pace was just about perfect. We didn't hurry, we stopped lots and yet still got into camp each night with plenty of daylight to spare. Would you agree guys?
Day one had Brian in his Raptor and Joy Bets (our pup) and I in ours. We left Ridgecrest around 745am for Ballarat, our first stop. Once there we aired down and met Ballarat's sole resident, "Rock" and his dog "Pot Licker". Both of them are salt of the earth types, and nice as can be. Rock even connected the only hose in "town" up to the only toilet in "town" for us to use if needed. Very thoughtful
After shooting the **** with Rock for a bit, Brian led us south then east thru Goler Wash. This was the part I was most concerned about from a technical 4x4 perspective, but as it turns out my concern was unfounded. The only tricky spot is about mid way, and its called "The Waterfall". Brian had no problem getting up and over it, then hopped out and guided me (the newb) up with zero issues.
Here's a video of it (not my video). This guy had to gun it, but we didn't. I basically just held the engine slightly above idle and it rolled right up with no problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbNboO6m_YE
After hitting Barker Ranch (creepy freaking place), we tackled Mengel Pass. By and large that was an easy drive for the Raptors too, with the exception of two or three notable spots. Again in those cases after some scouting, Bri just popped his head out the drivers' side window took is slow and carefully made it with no trouble. Once he was over it or down it, he got out and guided me perfectly.
And that was pretty much it for anything technical. We covered lots of ground after that, stopping here or there when we felt like it, spent some time with some bees (NOT THE BEES AHHHHH!), grabbed some lunch at an old talc mine... basically just had a good time as we made our way to Furnace Creek, eventually reaching the camp grounds at around 430pm. Bri turned in early while Joy Bets and I headed over to the LV Astronomical Society's "Star Party" (maybe 1/2mile from camp). That was VERY cool and that group runs a first class show. There were a bunch of amateur astronomers and a few pros too. There were a couple dozen telescopes ranging from simple $250 tabletop models to pro 6 figure models to home made models. And everyone was happy and eager to point theirs and something and explain what we were seeing. The (lack of) light out there really makes for some stunning viewing, and I really think attending one of these is a must do if you're even remotely able.
The next morning we woke and were glad to find that Tim and Micky (aka "Dogus") had rolled in overnight in his Jeep. We had bfast, packed up and got on the road by around 830am. We went into Beatty, refueled and resupplied, then came back to Rhyolite (yay lego *******!), and then made our way thru the incredibly beautiful Titus Canyon. We made Scotty's Castle around 1pm, had lunch and headed out by 2pm. We hit the Racetrack (the Raptor did REALLY well at 40+mph over that 20mi stretch of world famous washboard), stopped to marvel at the track leaving rocks (really really bizare stuff) and then made Homestake Dry Camp by around 4pm. Tim Joy and I stopped and set up camp while Bri went off to try Lippencott. And made it! Surprising all of us... :mrgreen:. I'll let Bri fill in that part.
We watched the sun go down as Tim filled our heads with the "52 different threads of people getting jumped in Death Valley!" stories that he'd read before coming on this trip. Then just before bed, Tim asked what our plan was if we were to get jumped... my answer? "I aint tactically trained dude... if I get jumped I'll be screaming TIM SAVE ME TIM SAVE ME! as loud as I can. How's that for a plan?" Good times
And of course, for some reason that night I had trouble sleeping (thanks Tim anic: ) so about 4am I got another fire going and watched the moon rise and set, watches dozens of stars shoot overhead and listened to the deafening nothingness. The quiet out there can take your breath away.We packed up and broke camp around 830am. Back up Racetrack to Teakettle, then out Hidden Valley (did anyone see the Ranch??). That stretch was really a surprise to me since its unique beauty was very different from anything we'd seen to that point. It almost felt like we'd been transplanted from DV into the Mojave, then up into the Sierras, and back down. Very very cool terrain.
We emerged from Saline Valley Rd onto HWY190 about 1230pm, aired back up and went our separate ways from that point, bringing an awesome 3 days 2 nights to a close. I really enjoyed being out there and Joy and I loved spending time with Bri and Tim. Better folks you'd be hard pressed to meet. I'm really fortunate to call them both friends.
I've got a handful of notes and tweaks I'll implement for the end of Nov trip that will hopefully make this even better. In terms of logistics, the weather might stop the Hidden Valley part of the trip (a highlight for sure and it would suck to miss it, but if its wet/snowy up there we don't want any part of that climb to 7100ft). And camping; night #2 at Homestake is really the only part we need to think thru if the group gets large. I took a walk around the immediate area and if we took over the entire spot, we could probably cram 10 tents in. And that assumes we got there before anyone else had set up. There are camps north (that supports 2 tents) and another spot south up the hill (didn't check that one out), but in terms of setup and staked out areas, that's kinda it. However, that area is an area that camping is allowed; meaning we could make our own spots if we had to. It just would take some work to clear the land of rocks and cactus and stuff. Dunno on that one just yet...
But other than that, I really think its is a can't miss trip. I'll get up the few pics I do have soon, and I hope Bri/Tim can post up theirs as well.
Details on the end of Nov version will be posted soon!
