First Death Valley trip, chicken rock and hot springs

[angrytaxman]

Awesome write up! My club did a Death Valley run in October, but I couldn't go. It looks awesome. They're doing a trip to the hot springs in January though. I'll definitely go to that one!

Can you post some close up shots of how you mounted the water port to your OEM rack? I have one and haven't figured out how to secure it well. Thanks!


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[mikey's2010SR5]

I respect that you share the coordinates to such a hidden treasure! If I make it to Cali next summer this will be a must do expedition for me! Thanks for sharing!

Not really a secret. Great place to camp though. Can't wait to go back.


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[JohnTheLuck]

Awesome trip! Great job and many thanks for sharing.

I should return to Death Valley in early 2018, but with my "dumb" habit of going solo, I doubt I would consider this trail at all.
.

 

[chmura]

Thanks for joining us. It was sure fun!

 

[Donovan1]

That looks SUPER cool. I have to get in on some of these group trips. Jealous.

 

[DannyLlama]

Can you post some close up shots of how you mounted the water port to your OEM rack? I have one and haven't figured out how to secure it well. Thanks!

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I will have to do some post editing and post it... I just used industrial size zip ties

Something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Serious-Ties-Extra-Heavy-175Lbs/dp/B00I0F1AH4 in white

Don't know if I would have the balls to do that Chicken Rock trail at night. Scary enough during the day watching that video.

Looks like it was a great trip.

I envy your wheeling out west.

I sure didn't have the balls either!! lol

I got out and told [MENTION=46138]chmura[/MENTION] "I got kids bro" lol... in all seriousness, I didnt think I could manage it and he graciously agreed to drive my truck up that last part.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Great pics and trip report!

That trail and bridge going up the canyon from Briggs is pretty hairy. I used to spend a lot of time in that area back in the 90s, but haven't been to Briggs since 1996. I'm hoping to get up there again next summer.

 

[Bodie the Dog]

The bridge

That trail and bridge going up the canyon from Briggs is pretty hairy.

That bridge got washed out a while back (around Y2K?), and it took monumental effort from some volunteers to not only rebuild the bridge, but to get it certified safe. They had to get it inspected by an engineer and load rated, with a sign posted, and were still fought in their efforts by whoever the governing agency was at the time (BLM? NPS?).

This was happening just after a bunch of land had been given wilderness designation in the area, so tensions over the affair were rather high. It is certainly possible that the Feds wanted to close the road. Since there are so few through-roads in the area, closing this one would reduce visitation to a very large area with some awesome features. But from an environmentalist's perspective, it would reduce human impacts to a very large area.

Me? I count myself a dirt-worshipping tree hugger. But the things the BLM and other agencies did during this time period gave me some balance. Getting older and suffering from various infirmities which have limited my walking range also gave me some perspective; I need to drive as far as possible to visit some of these places. So, apologies for the rant.

Sounds like an epic trip. The best ones involve midnight death trips. And thanks to whomever rebuilt that bridge.

 

[DesertCanyons]

Death Valley & Chicken Rock

It looks like a great trip Danny. Friends have been to the cabins before. I want to go out some day.
Not sure why you guys drove for 20 hours straight. Maybe you needed another day to stretch it out?
What is a water port and why do you want one mounted on the rack? I gotta search for that. It looked like you had a sun shower on top in one of the first few pics but the grey tube is different than a sun shower.
Thanks for posting the pics and video.
Dave in So Cal

 

[DannyLlama]

It looks like a great trip Danny. Friends have been to the cabins before. I want to go out some day.
Not sure why you guys drove for 20 hours straight. Maybe you needed another day to stretch it out?
What is a water port and why do you want one mounted on the rack? I gotta search for that. It looked like you had a sun shower on top in one of the first few pics but the grey tube is different than a sun shower.
Thanks for posting the pics and video.
Dave in So Cal

The plan was to stop at the sand dunes, so time was not with us and we wanted to head out early the next day before it got dark and we were driving at night. Even with leaving early, we still ended up driving a good 1 to 2 hours in the dark, but it was light off roading at the time.

The water port is the "sun shower" I used it more for washing dishes and hands than showering. Who showers when camping? lol

 

[DannyLlama]

[MENTION=146753]Bodie the Dog[/MENTION] awesome info!! Would be interesting to see pictures of someone building that thing in the middle of the mountain with a hundred foot drop off on the other side

 

[VTXWheels]

Thanks for posting the video! It'll help a bunch when I make my way out there!! :wave:

 

[DannyLlama]

Thanks for posting the video! It'll help a bunch when I make my way out there!! :wave:

Have fun and don't do it in the dark!!

On another note, you guys have some sick wheels. It's too bad i just purchased a set of wheels recently or else I would have been all over a bronze set. What's the weight per wheel if you dont mind me asking

 

[VTXWheels]

Have fun and don't do it in the dark!!

On another note, you guys have some sick wheels. It's too bad i just purchased a set of wheels recently or else I would have been all over a bronze set. What's the weight per wheel if you dont mind me asking

Thanks for the tip! I'm too scared of the dark anyways to try going in the dark,,, :wow2::wow2:

But darn! We got to you too late Maybe in the future we can update you to one of our wheels :biggrin2:

The weight for the wheels are as follows:
16" - 20LB
17" - 22.5LB
18" - 26LBS

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[mtnkrake]

Is this a trip you can do in a stock vehicle or do you need rock sliders etc. Looks like a lot of fun.

 

[DannyLlama]

Is this a trip you can do in a stock vehicle or do you need rock sliders etc. Looks like a lot of fun.

Death valley is huge... It's an enormous desert bowl. There is everything from paved road to highly technical off roading.

The hot springs, you can do it stock, there's even Subaru's out there.

Briggs cabin, I think you are OK if you take your time and drive super slow. I would suggest a lift.

Chicken rock, highly recommend a lift. I did scrape up two of my wheels and one of my sliders. Dont recall where. never bottomed out though.

Hope that helps

 

[4Rager]

Cool trip. I wish some of these cool trails weren't so far south! I come down from Reno, so getting to the northern part of the park & Eureka Dunes is easy, but down where you guys started would easily be another 90 min down 395. But then I could start down south, over to Badwater and refuel as I head north, then head out through Saline Valley and back to 395. Thanks for sharing, since this can be turned into an awesome route for my spring trip. I had heard about the cabins, but never really pinned down exactly what trail they were on. Out of curiosity, on a scale of 0-10 how wheelchair accessable would you say the area around the cabins is? My best friend is paralyzed and just got a Tacoma TRD Pro, so he's itching to do some overland type stuff. He's still pretty agile in his chair, so as long as it's relatively flat and not deep sand or rocks everywhere he would be fine.

 

[Peakbagger]

great trip

Thanks for sharing! Will put that on the bucket list.

 

[JSparky]

Cool trip. I wish some of these cool trails weren't so far south! I come down from Reno, so getting to the northern part of the park & Eureka Dunes is easy, but down where you guys started would easily be another 90 min down 395. But then I could start down south, over to Badwater and refuel as I head north, then head out through Saline Valley and back to 395. Thanks for sharing, since this can be turned into an awesome route for my spring trip. I had heard about the cabins, but never really pinned down exactly what trail they were on. Out of curiosity, on a scale of 0-10 how wheelchair accessable would you say the area around the cabins is? My best friend is paralyzed and just got a Tacoma TRD Pro, so he's itching to do some overland type stuff. He's still pretty agile in his chair, so as long as it's relatively flat and not deep sand or rocks everywhere he would be fine.

Nice looking rigs. This is a really timely post, I literally just mapped driving times from Austin Texas to Moab, and from Reno to Utah. I'm about to complete my MPH at UC Berkeley and am trying to decide where to relocate after I'm done. Reno has been at the top of my list due to it's proximity to the outdoors, smaller-town feel, favorable state taxes, and the fact that I have a cousin in Truckee. I'm also considering New Mexico, Texas, and more rural areas of California. Anyways, I'd be interested to hear your perspective on Reno, perhaps I'll send you a private message. You're friend will love his Taco, despite all the complaining about it I beat the daylights out of mine in Utah and it never failed, things are STOUT.

Back on point, I'm planning a Death Valley trip later this month so this thread gave me some ideas, thanks guys.

 

[boyfester]

I forgot to say thanks for this write-up a few months ago. I used it as inspiration to complete a DV trip last weekend and we completed the Pleasant Canyon loop too (but in the daytime).

In one of your photos there is an older 4Runner with an Airtop RTT on top but the RTT is pushed forward. How is the RTT supported in the front? Did he push it forward to put other items in the back?