Death Valley XTC 2017

[Mundo4x4Casa]

My bro and I spent 6 days in Death Valley last week (mid April). There are a lot of shots of his 9.5 OUTFITTER! (Extreme Truck Camper) in there plying the sand and rocks. Unfortunately, the forum does not allow as many pix as i loaded for the piece so a link will have to suffice. jefe
http://forums.goodsamclub.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29263020.cfm

 

[locrwln]

Looks like you both put the trucks and campers through their paces.
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That spot on Steele Pass is the reason I haven't attempted it with my hardside. It just puts you too close to the wall if anything goes wrong.
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Jack

 

[Cummins_expo]

What a great trip- Makes me want to get further out with our Truck and camper.

I worked the first KOH races and recognized your brother / He had a Bronco ish based crawler ??

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

365,
Yes, he's JR on the Pirate Page. John Reynolds. I'm his older bro, Jeff Reynolds. I was the spotter for him on the 1999 Warn Rock Crawling Championship at the Hammers. He came in 11th out of 140 on his first try. The first year of the "KotH", they had only a dozen or so rigs all lined up across the playa when the gun went off and his 550 HP (kinda') Ford Bronco on Mog axles left everyone literally in the dust. He won by a large margin because 'he who is first across the dustbowl wins". The others have to slow down to see where they are going. It was a sight. He was also a winner in the Top Truck Challenge (i think, 2002) beating some very good off-roaders going through the mud pit wagging his rear steer back and forth, paddling his way through and winning the title.
Our trip last week could actually be called "The TC racers", as we got our 10K pound white elephants up to very high speed on those long straight wash board roads. You could see the terror in the eyes of those that pulled over waiting to see what was making so much dust. It was kind of like Rommel closing in on the British in No. Africa, 1942. This 2nd obstacle @ Steel Pass is what stopped us:

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

Jack,
Hardside? Is this a new model?
I tried getting through your build blog and covering almost 50 pages, once you got past one clown's insults, there wasn't enough time in this day to get through it. You are making every hardcore GM fan wanting to follow your lead and do just as you are doing.
jefe
our campsite last week near Darwin Falls running 28 pounds of air in the 35" tires:

 

[locrwln]

Jack,
Hardside? Is this a new model?
I tried getting through your build blog and covering almost 50 pages, once you got past one clown's insults, there wasn't enough time in this day to get through it. You are making every hardcore GM fan wanting to follow your lead and do just as you are doing.
jefe
our campsite last week near Darwin Falls running 28 pounds of air in the 35" tires:

Yep. I haven't updated it in a long time, but here is the new to me camper up in Kennedy Meadows:

[video]https://photos.smugmug.com/Vacation/Vacation/i-knLWhrm/0/1920/IMG_1563-1920.mp4[/video]
Video is from Saline Valley coming back down from one of the mines.
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Thank you, I have been very happy with the truck. The comments were only during the early part of the build, after those, it got down to business.
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Heading to Overland Expo in a few weeks and of course I will be taking the long, dirty, interesting way there.
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Jack

 

[dman93]

Enjoyed your trip report on the Good Sam forum ... thanks for sharing. China Gardens is a special place if you have it to yourself.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

dman,
Yes it is. And we did have it to ourselves but did not stay overnight. I'm sure the wildlife would show up around sundown for a long drink.
jefe