As I had mentioned, we went to the Death Valley area during the Thanksgiving break. On the first day, we headed through through Panamint Valley on Wildrose Road. We stopped by the Charcoal Kilns.
We continued up the trail towards Telescope Peak.
We stopped for a short time at the campgrounds. It was a bit crowded for our comfort and wanted to get off the narrow 4x4 trail before someone else headed up as there is only room for one vehicle at a time in some areas.
On our way down, we started finding a bunch of gear strewn across the road. We saw a truck head up that had probably dropped them as the back of their truck was not secured. We picked up a bunch of their gear and put it off to the side for them so they wouldn't get run over. As we continued down, we found even more gear and decided to keep going to see if there was anything else and find a place to turn around to find the truck in question. On our way, a lady flagged us down who had tried to turn around by backing up an embankment and got stuck. One of her wheels was off the ground and although she had 4 wheel drive, she did not have lockers and was unable to get herself out of her predicament. Christian whipped out his tow strap and pulled her out. Afterwards, we headed back up the trail to find the owner of all the lost gear. They were on their way down and found the stuff we stacked up on the side of the road for them and we handed the other stuff we picked up.
After that, we continued on our way. We headed up Cottonwood Canyon Road from Stovepipe Wells to find a camping spot for the night. We found several possibilities but in the end, chose the one shortly after entering Marble Canyon as we will be in the area we will be heading towards in the morning.
In the morning, we cleaned up and took down camp. Christian and Emily did a bit of scrambling while breakfast was being prepared. Afterwards, we got back on the trail and headed to Marble Canyon Road.
It was a pretty nice dirt road. Not much more than a high clearance vehicle was needed in most areas. The road abruptly ended though at what is now the trailhead. We hiked partway up the trail up to the chockstone. Some obnoxious people came down the trail as we were trying to figure out whether we wanted to continue or not and that ended up deciding the matter even though Caitlyn found where the trail continued on to.
It was a really beautiful canyon. I wish we had more time to continue exploring it. But since we were hoping that the Cottonwood Canyon would lead us to a way out on the other end, we wanted to head down that trail to see how far it went or if there was a way out or not. From what I could remember, Cottonwood Canyon Road was significantly rougher. There were quite a few parts where we had to get out and find a way to maneuver our vehicle around. We had to move some rocks and get the shovel out to build some bridges across. After working our way through some of the rough trail, we started getting near the Cottonwoods but decided that even if the road went through, it may be too rough for us to travel down it. We were also running out of daylight.
Caitlyn ran up the trail a ways to see what was ahead while we tried to get the vehicle turned around and get through some obstacles. Apparently she said the trail ended just a little farther along where all the Cottonwoods are. I think there is another trailhead there that might wrap around to the other side and meets up with the Marble Canyon trail. As we were out of time and had other plans, we would not be able to find out. Emily got a lot of practice driving on the trails. She is becoming a real good off-road driver. She knows how to maneuver even her dad's big truck around obstacles most of the time. Christian will still drive it gets too dicey but mostly Emily gets to drive and Christian will sometimes sit in the bag to enjoy the views, take pictures and videos, hop out to scout the trail and sometimes groom the trail for her.
The wind had picked up quite a bit by this time and we were a little worried about where we were going to camp for the night. The wind was just howling through the canyon, so we knew that that would not be a great choice. We went back out of the canyon to see if it was any better out on some of the other camping sites we picked out but it was no better. In the end, we drove back out to Stovepipe Wells and headed up the Ubehebe Road. I think we passed the crater in the dark so we did not see it. Christian has been there and wasn't that impressed to go out of our way to see it.
In the morning, after breakfast, we hit the road again. It's been pretty cold out. We found some water on the road on our way and although the sun was out, there was still ice on the top of the puddles. We passed Tea-kettle junction and headed out to Racetrack. Tea-kettle junction was pretty disappointing. It used to be a pretty neat place but has become this Instagram point where hipsters come and put their graffitied junk so that they can leave their mark. Some of the people don't even try to stick to actual kettles. We were excited to show Caitlyn because she likes to take pictures of junk in the dessert (i.e. old abandoned mines, antique cars, old structures and other trash).
A bunch of people passed us as we stopped so we knew we were in for it. Most of them were driving too fast. Some of them were driving vehicles that should not be out on that dirt road. We continued on and then took a slight detour up a hill overlooking the approach to Racetrack. Tons of cars kept coming down the road and they were getting more frequent. You can tell how fast they were driving by the amount of dust they were kicking up around them. We knew for sure that this was not going to be a good experience, but we wanted to show it to the kids and we had already come all this way, With that in mind, we decided that we better get out there as it was only going to get worse.
There was no parking to be had when we got there. We had to drive up a ways and pull over off the road. People covered the Grandstand like ants on a hill. We went to the edge to attempt to get some peace but as we sat there looking out, we saw this couple walk out onto the playa and pick up the biggest rock in site and heave it over their head. This jerk did it over and over while his girlfriend took videos. Eventually the rock cracked into pieces and they just laughed. Keep in mind that this in a National Park and those rocks, or all that is left of them are part of what gave this place its name and made it famous.
We left in disgust and headed out to the other end of the playa so that we can show the kids the moving rocks and the trails that they leave behind when they move. We walked clear across the whole thing and couldn't find more than a couple of pebbles. The biggest rock we had encountered was the one the macho moron was tossing and consequently broke.
Everything else has been stolen. Over this past year, especially during the shutdown, there were stories of people driving out onto the playa, leaving tire marks and coming out here to steal the rocks. Now there is nothing left. All there is left is pits where the rocks used to be and the scars left behind when the thieves and vandals came out here. The kids were pretty disappointed. We had been hoping to make it out here for a number of years now so that they can see it, but it is too late.
This was not turning into a very good day.
We headed out and away from here in disgust. After we got far enough away from the riff-raff, we pulled over to have some lunch and think about what to do next. Racetrack was one of the big things we had come out here to see.
We decided to take the Lippincott Road down to the Saline Valley. It is a really rough and narrow seven mile trail. 4x4 is definitely required, It was pretty scary at times. A vehicle had gone down the road ahead of us while we were finishing up.
Some time after we headed down past Lippincott Mine, we stopped to catch our breath and look out on the road. We saw the other driver down below, but up above us were what appeared to be F-35 Lightning Jets. They almost appeared to be circling around like birds in a thermal and seemed to almost hover at times. It was so neat to watch. They were pretty high up. I didn't have my camera out in time, but I probably couldn't capture them anyway. Caitlyn managed to get a couple of shots off. We always love when we get a glimpse of the jets practicing out here in the desert. It's almost worth the trip alone.
After they took off, we continued on our way. After a while, we noticed another vehicle actually heading up the trail. We hurriedly made out way to a pull out we spotted down below us to wait for him to pass. He was in some fancy Land Rover or something like that. When he came up to where we were, he said that it was pretty rough down below. I don't think he thought that we could make it. We forgot to take the air baffle off of Christian's truck so it probably looked like we didn't have enough clearance for it.
We took some video of our drive with our GoPro, but we didn't get a lot of pictures. It was all we could do to concentrate on the drive. Because of the narrow steep road, we couldn't just step back to take some pictures.
It did get pretty rough down farther and we had to move some rocks and build some more bridges to get by but we did it. It was a very scenic drive, but we couldn't leisurely enjoy the view and I don't have any pictures to capture it as it was a bit stressful at times with those crappy wheels and tires we got stock with the truck. We had to keep wondering if it was going to survive the drive.
As a side note, I forgot to mention that when we went to fix the flat we got from Old Dale Road, we noticed that it was not the actual tire that blew, but the rim! The rock hit the rim and the crappy giant aluminum rim exploded out! We had ordered an extra rim and tire so that we can be prepared and have an extra spare but had to use it to replace the one that blew instead. We really hate those wheels.
Anyway, once we got down to Saline, we drove out to the Salt Lake.
We stopped by on a whim but I am so glad that we did. It was really beautiful. As the sun was getting low, we had to leave and find a place to set up camp for the night.
We knew there was a storm that was moving in, either that night or the next day. We were not certain exactly when. Some time after two in the morning, I woke to the sounds of rain pattering on the tent. I woke Christian and we lay for a while considering our options. At first we decided to get a few more hours of sleep and get up early to head out, but as we lay there trying to fall back asleep, it dawned on us that although it was raining now where we were, it may have been raining or snowing for hours up higher on the mountain pass that we needed to cross.
We woke the kids at 2:30am and we all quickly and quietly packed up our gear. It's times like these that you really see what troopers our girls are. In 30 minutes we were all packed up and in our vehicle ready to move out, no complaints, no attitude, just teamwork.
As we headed up the Wacoba Saline Road out of the valley, the rain started to come down even harder. Rain started to turn into snow as we continued to rise. Slowly the snow started to stick on the ground as we sat on pins and needles waiting to see what the conditions up ahead would bring us. As it was dark, we did not get any pictures. At some point, we were driving through a foot of new powder but the vehicle was cutting through it all fine. The kids took naps in the truck as we continued on.
When the sun started to rise and we were over the pass and was able to start heading down to Big Pine, we were able to relax a little. We did get some GoPro footage but we had to stop occasionally to clean off the camera lens so we'll see how well that turned out.
Emily got to take a turn getting her first experience driving through snow. We don't want her to have her first experience while driving on her own in Idaho.
When we finally pulled into Big Pine, we stopped by the gas station to air up. We grabbed some hot cocoa and got to use the facilities.
Christian was so elated with getting out unscathed and how well the truck handled in the snow (even with the crappy tires) that he wanted to head back into the snow!
So, after a small amount of deliberation, we decided to head up to Mono Lake. The snow was everywhere but they keep the roads very well plowed in that area. We nervously went through the mandatory chain check point. We have 4-wheel drive but we did not actually have chains. They looked at our truck and confirmed that we had 4-wheel drive. They asked if we had chains, and we grinned and nodded. We have chains but not with us and not for this vehicle! They waved us on. Unfortunately, Christian was a little heavy on the gas pedal as we were leaving. Our wheels spun a little before we took off and the guy at the check point just kind of shook his head.
We had to stop in Round Valley for a bit. The snow was really caked around the tires and wheel well and was causing an unbalance. We got to get out to take some pictures of the beautiful area while Christian worked on cleaning out all the snow and ice.
On the way, we stopped over for a quick look in to the June Lake area.
We also had to occasionally clean off the back-up assist camera as the entire back tail gate was caked with snow and the camera kept thinking we were about to crash into something as it could not see anything.
We basically had Mono Lake completely to ourselves. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And the other plus of coming in the winter is that there are no swarms of flies to deal with!
Afterwards we headed out to return home. Christian wanted to test some things with the truck in the snow, so we took the Mammoth Mtn. loop. The snow had been plowed and pushed up the sides of the road. When there was room, he would drive into the snow embankment to see how the car would handle in deeper snow. Although it was only on one side of the vehicle, the car just cut through it like butter. Since it is all mostly fresh powder, it would fling up and over the car.
With all the playing done, we headed back down US Route 395. Unfortunately, that was probably the scariest experience we had. All the cars would drive around in big clusters. Some of them were sliding all around. We actually feared for our lives there. When a little car slid off the road (so much for mandatory chains), onto the shoulder, there was a truck that decided to just stop in the middle of the road to watch or "help" them, causing more possible accidents in his haste and stupidity.
We knew we had to get ahead of the pack and put some distance between us before something else happened. Luckily, we had no problems with traction and was able to get away from them. We stopped in Lone Pine to take a few more pictures and to have dinner before heading back home.
