Death/Saline Valley 2/24

[ujoint]

Just got back from a quick weekend run to DV, had allot of fun. We took the south entrance to Saline Valley Rd, planning to jump on Hidden Valley Rd to get to the Racetrack. Then down Lippencott to the hot springs to set up camp. Everything went fine on Saline Valley rd, and looked good until we were a little ways up Hidden Valley rd. The first sign of things to come was a brand new H3 Alpha on the side of the trail, abandoned with a business card saying "alamo rental" on the windshield. The snow wasn't bad, so I motored on.

I was by myself, and was trying to be careful, I stress the word trying... Next thing I knew, I got a little off track, and got myself stuck pretty well. I tried to get out, but just made it worse. So out came the shovel, that didn't work, so I had to spool out the winch and dig some more. I spent about 1.5 hrs, and finally got it out.

I decided to go a little further, and the trail just got worse. So I decided to back down. I met up with a FS Bronco, that was also trying to get to the racetrack. We went up Lippencott, enjoyed the racetrack, back down Lippencott, and to the hot springs for a well deserved dip.

On the way out this morning, the south pass was a little slippery from some fresh snow, but easily passable. Traffic was light on the whole trip, overall a great weekend. Now it's time to clean up!!!! Chris

 

[Green Ganesha]

Chris, glad you made it out alright! The Park Service has had Hunter Mountain Road listed as "CLOSED; Impassable and unsafe due to deep snow and ice." for weeks now. The ranger you met, did he mention whether anyone had made it over Hunter Mountain from Saline Valley Road to Hidden Valley recently?

And I'm jonesing for a soak myself....

 

[ujoint]

There were tracks further than I made it, but they weren't fresh. He asked me about the conditions of the snow. He didn't say anything about anyone making it, but he did ask me if I'd seen a Toyota up there.....

 

[FourByLand]

What's the weather supposed to be for mid March time frame?

Glad you made it out Chris, always good to get home and rinse the dust off, hard to leave though.

 

[Saline]

Nice Pics! Hunter Mtn can be a bear in the snow. My uncle and I were haulted in almost the same spot in your pic. In Feb of 01' the only way into Saline for a week or more was Death Valley to Lipincott/Racetrack. Even the South Pass had 3 1/2 ft of snow on it!

 

[kcowyo]

Glad to hear you were able to extract yourself. I crossed over Hunter Mtn, by myself in the dark when it was dry, and I thought I had really done something. I imagine the snow ups the pucker factor x10.

Hope the customer got the insurance from Alamo. That's gonna be a costly tow.... eepwall:

 

[adventureduo]

Yeah glad to see you got out safely dude. I figured it was still nasty up there. Cool you went and tried and still had a good time.

 

[ujoint]

My g-friend was freakin out a little when I told her HANG ON!! once I got the van free & continued up the trail. I should have just turned around then, but I didn't. I wish I had taken more pics, but I was focused on not spending the night there! A small plane did spot us, and circled a few times, so that made me feel good.

 

[spressomon]

I wonder if the route would be relatively free of snow getting to Saline Springs from the Eureka Dunes side?

Good to see you recovered yourself ;-)

 

[locrwln]

I wonder if the route would be relatively free of snow getting to Saline Springs from the Eureka Dunes side?

Good to see you recovered yourself ;-)

Kind of wondering the same thing myself.

Glad to see you made it out.

Jack

 

[ujoint]

I was going to leave via Steel Pass, but decided to leave the south pass instead. From the view across the valley while driving to the hot springs, it appears that the top of steel pass was fine. When I was up there last year, the snow line was lower, and steel pass was clear.

 

[MuddyMudskipper]

It looks and sounds like you had a good time. :exclaim:

 

[Green Ganesha]

I wonder if the route would be relatively free of snow getting to Saline Springs from the Eureka Dunes side?

If South Pass is doable, Steele Pass definitely should be. It's the lowest-elevation approach into the valley.

 

[enthdigry]

Man, I am planning on heading to Death Valley next weekend but after seeing these pics I know my 4x2 truck can't make it, at those elevations at least.

 

[KodiaK Commando]

Glad you madit out. We had 9 vehicles going over Hunter mountain February 17th. There was no signs of anyone having gone over before us so the tracks that you saw were probably ours. It took us 8 hours to get over to Goldbelt from the top of the Grapevine. We even drug (literally) a stock Ford Expedition over. Some of thedrifts were 4-5 feet deep while most of the road had 2 feet. Was an awesome time. Pictures are posted on our club site http://4x4him.com/forum/index.php?topic=2794.0
We spent 5 days poking around having a great time. The road from Cerro Gordo to the South end was loaded with snow as well, but worth the extra work to get through.
We collected a couple of solo stuck folks during our stay and worked the winches out quite a bit. There is a 5' diameter boulder that dropped on the road on the Goldbelt side of Hunter. That was interesting to get around as it is on the cliff area. Man was it beutiful! We'll probably head back and go out the Marble Bath/Steele Pass route to Eureka Dunes in a month or two.