BrianSD_42’s Nov. 2015 Death Valley Trip (& Breakdown) Report

Death Valley

@ OP... At least you had a buddy to help! Looks like an awesome trip until that all happened. But, I learned some important things because of your break. So thanks for the post and details either way.
 
Brian, sorry to hear about your mishap. At least nobody got hurt, and you weren't as far away from civilization as you might have been.

I wonder if I should reinforce that part...
 
Bandit Runner said:
Where's the naked hippy pics?
Click to expand...

:hippie:

I visited those Saline Valley nekkid people back in 93. I didn't want no pictures of them then, SHOR don't want no images of them now. And based on the caliber of those nekkid people, I wasn't about to get in that water, my wife would have to see a Super Fund clean up before touching that water.

But I'm sure no one ever peed in there!
 
That sucks man! I can relate to the top of the spindle breaking. Were you unable to ratchet strap the top of the spindle to the UCA well enough to limp it out? Great pictures though! Someday I would like to explore Death Valley too.
 
IBallEngineer said:
:hippie:

I visited those Saline Valley nekkid people back in 93. I didn't want no pictures of them then, SHOR don't want no images of them now. And based on the caliber of those nekkid people, I wasn't about to get in that water, my wife would have to see a Super Fund clean up before touching that water.

But I'm sure no one ever peed in there!
Click to expand...

Nowadays they drain and clean the pools every day!
 
BrianSD_42 said:
Recently went to death valley with a close friend and a bigger group from the 3rd gen section.

Friday - Drive to Death Valley, camp at Emigrant Camp

Saturday - Drive to Rhyolite Ghost Town, then to Phrymm Canyon then to Titus Canyon, then to Cottonwood Canyon

Sunday - Leave camp at Cottonwood, break down @ 8am, stuck in Death Valley until 5am Monday.



About my breakdown …

My drivers side Knuckle / Hub broke where it meets the upper ball joint. The Toyota part failed. I’m not sure what happened. It could have been stress fractures, metal fatigue, hitting a rock that was too large etc. It just happened.

Cottonwood Canyon was never a nice place to go but with the recent floods it really was a nightmare.

I was traveling with my friend Rob in the silver Tacoma and we had HAM radios so when my failure happened I was able to ride out with him.

We go back onto the road and drove to StovePipe Wells, used the local internet to book a Uhaul trailer dolly in Beatty, NV about 30 mins away. Got to Beatty, NV and it turns out the trailer place was closed on Sundays - no exceptions. The dolly’s were right there but no go. Can’t steal things of course. Called Uhaul found another dolly 150 miles away. Went there, got it, came back. Filled up in town at Beatty, NV. Headed back to Cottonwood. Got at the trail entrance near StovePipe wells at 4pm. Started the trail, it was very slow going. You can see that the Uhaul is extremely close to the ground, probably 3.5” at most in ground clearance.

The Uhaul rental was $150. I did call for local tow service but I was told the early quote was $2,000 for 8 hours.

I had to walk the path to make sure we didn’t get a flat on the dolly, it was about 7+ hours to go in and get the truck out. We must made it out of the canyon at 2:30am. Walking in the dark, clearing rocks, stacking rocks, etc.



Cottenwood Canyon - WTF I hope to never meet you again.


Now for the pics!


1.
FvW1isT.jpg



2.
5I1l2uQ.jpg



3.
E011vkX.jpg



Sucks about your break! I'm supposed to go to death valley at the end of December. Maybe I should invest in some of those spindle gussets. Anything else I should keep in mind when I'm out there. How was your fuel conspumption? Aside from the trail where you broke the knuckle, were the trails easy to moderate? Also I'm in San Diego too!
Click to expand...
 
Pictures look great as always! Sorry about the damage that occurred, when I first read "Breakdown" in the title, I was hoping to see a breakdown of the trip instead of a literal breakdown. :frusty:
 
paddlenbike said:
Sorry to hear about the breakage; at least you weren't out there alone. Those are the times you start thinking about the things you wished you had on-board.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I don't think anyone out there is carrying around a spare drivers side wheel hub/spindle with a new wheel bearing pressed in already.

But hey it could have been worse. It could have broken in Moab.
 
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