This is an AWESOME video of the events these past few weeks.
another new one
and another
Nice trip report from DennisMC in the park from 17-24 october
Posted on Expedition Portal 10/30/2015
By dennismc
I was in Death Valley from the 17th through the 24th. Came over Steele to the springs. The steps are a little more challenging as most of the rock fill is gone but at most it only took me 5 minutes to get through. The rest of the road over Steele is in good shape until you get to the upper springs and then the road gets very hard to follow, tracks going in all directions and many false paths. Took several hours of following a track down a wash only to find a gulley or wash out. Met up with 2 other vehicles at Marble bath and after a while we would spread out and find a path and got to the middle springs, took several hours and I have gone into the springs this way probably 10 times so I know the way.
Not technically difficult just time consuming finding a through though this will change as vehicles go in and out and reestablish a path. Got a lot of wind and some rain over the weekend and had a spectacular lightning show Sunday night which turned out to be the storm that devastated Scotty's castle. Left
Monday for the racetrack, valley floor in very nice shape with a couple of washouts to keep you alert and went up Lippencott. No real issues other than 1 spot in the rocky middle section where a lot of dirt and rocks have built up to create an off camber area. Caught up with a quartet of Toyota's that had been at the springs and talked for a spell at the racetrack which was under a fair amount of water at the south end, enough to cover all the tracks and all but the largest rocks. The water disappeared about halfway to the grandstand.
Followed the Toyota's out, they went straight at Teakettle and I turned up to go out over Hunter mountain. Going across Hidden valley the silt pit has turned into a mud bog which was interesting, as at a guess it was 2 plus feet deep and about 150 feet long. I drive a 2001 Xterra with 2" body, 3" suspension lift, full Shrockworks skids, sliders, ft and rear bumpers, front Aussie locker, 33/10.5/15 BFG mud terrains, etc, Wallowed around quit a bit but got through ok if not a bit muddier. Going up and over Hunter there were no tracks since the last rain storm so I wasn't sure what to expect.
What I got was a lot of rocks and brush on the road with a few corner washouts but nothing too washed out that I couldn't get by. Once at the top came across numerous mud bogs that seemed to get a little bigger and deeper as I went. Made it through and out without any major mishaps and got to the hiway where I aired up and took some pictures of my quit muddy truck. Spent the night at Panamint springs and after talking to Noah the next morning found out Goler was not going to be done this trip as the previous day a motorcyclist had come through and shown him pictures of gullys 6ft deep and 6 ft across and a lot of rockfall in the canyon.
Went up to Minnietta cabin for the night and did some exploring in the area. Next day went up Pleasant canyon and Middle park and then up to Telescope and stayed at Mahogony flat campground, beautiful but cold at night. Left the next morning and explored one side road just down from the Kilns then went up to Augerberry pt for some pictures of Badwater under water then into Furnace creek. Next morning up to Dantes for a view of Badwater from the other side then into Greenwater/Furnace creek wash area which I had wanted to explore for a while but had always just passed through. Fun to explore and the roads were in great shape.
Spent all afternoon following roads all over to what was out there, which isn't much anymore then continued south to Deadman's pass, east into the Amargosa Valley. Hadn't thought about it as I was just kinda winging it as to where I went and got lucky as I hit pavement because I was just up the road from the Amargosa river and luckily the road was on the high side, could not have crossed after all the rain.
Went down to Shosone for a quick lunch and fill up of the gas tanks then headed north, stopped at Death Valley junction and thought about staying at the hotel but decided to head back into Death Valley. Have been wanting to go out over Echo Pass for a while, having come into the valley coming down Echo I always wanted to try up so I drove up to see what the condition of the road was like, all the morning reports had the Greenvalley/Furnace creek road closed as well as Echo canyon, and both road were in great shape, Echo was nicer than warm springs road into Butte valley, so I continued up to the dry falls to take a look. A little intimidating but did a little rock stacking and 20 minutes later I was heading to Beatty for the night.
Stayed at the Atomic Inn which is a nice inexpensive little hotel and after checking in headed out to eat. Imagine my surprise when I step out and who's parked just across the street, James and Monika in the TurtleV. I had never met them before but had seen them at Expo and read about their travels. They invited me in and we talked for quit a while but I still had to get some dinner so off for pizza and beer.
If you've not had the chance to spend any time in Beatty it's an interesting little town , lot of characters in the bar that night. Next morning went back into the valley through Titus canyon which is always a nice drive, road was a little rough in places but nothing too serious. At this point it was time to start heading out of the valley. Stopped at Panamint springs for a burger and beer then headed over to Darwin falls and up the hill to China Garden springs, haven't been there in a few years and was surprised by how much growth both in and around the spring, not a lot of room for the koi and gold fish, very overgrown.
Went out through Darwin which is always an interesting town to drive through, people live there but are rarely seen and the feeling is that many eyes are always following you. After hitting pavement did one last detour before heading towards hiway395 and stopped at the site of U2's Joshua tree which has been fallen down for many years but there's a chest with a lot of memorabilia and pictures and things that fans have left over the years.
At this point it was time to head into Lone Pine for a room and dinner and back home the next day. Had another very full but rewarding trip to Death Valley, missed spending time in Butte Valley because of road conditions and all but this forced me into seeing parts of the park that I either had never seen or hadn't seen in a long time
