NorCal Land Rover Club trip to Death Valley April 2011

[spikemd]

I bought my 2001 Range Rover last year and have been slowly modifying it for overland travel/family camping with a few modifications: sliders, Safety Devices roof rack, front steering guard, front axle guard, 12v accessory plug for my ARB freezer/fridge, etc. But with three kids (the oldest being 4) and work, it has been tough to get time to go exploring. Well, this spring my 4 year daughter (Ella) and I went on a fantastic trip with the Northern California Land Rover club to Death Valley.


I had two weeks off in April which corresponded with the Death Valley trip being put on by the Northern California Land Rover Club. I joined the club and started prepping for the trip. Over the past year, I have been slowly preparing the truck for some overlanding trips. I have upgraded tires, bought some armor including sliders, front steering guard, front axle guard, Safety Devices roof rack, brush bar and getting her all fixed up. She is a P38 Land Rover, so she has a few quirks, but I love her just the same. I also rewired the rear accessory plug to be constant 12V and built a custom storage unit with drawer slides for the ARB freezer/fridge for the trip.

Ella just turned 4 and we started talking about the trip and reading "Curious George Goes Camping." It was going to be our first father-daughter trip and we were going to be roughing it. The trip itself was broken down into two segments, the first starting Thursday and going through the weekend. The second half of the trip was extending through Friday. I figured that she could make it through the weekend and if we had to bail early, we had an exit strategy. Well, by the time we were ready to leave on Tuesday, she was crying because she did't want to leave!

So, we began preparing for the trip and I met up with Rob, another P38 owner in Elk Grove who was also going on his first trip with the NCLR group. We met up for a beer the week prior and had a great time talking shop. I was getting really excited.

Thursday morning arrived, and I was scrambling trying to get the gear organized in the truck and everything tied down. What started off as a meticulous organization strategy fell apart at the end as I just threw the remaining gear into the empty seats and off we went to Starbucks to meet Beaver and Rob (RGB). We were also planning on meeting the Suttles,
but with three kids and two rigs, they were running about 6 hours delayed.

We jumped in the trucks and started our epic journey to Death Valley.

My custom storage unit with slider for ARB freezer/fridge. (pic without ARB tie-down that was installed before the trip)

We hit some snow going over the pass before dropping into South Lake Tahoe for some lunch. Ella loves her new purple flower chair from REI. Though she didn't use it very much on the trip because she was always running around!

Passing by Mono Lake

 

[Funrover]

Nice set up!

 

[spikemd]

Finally arrived in Big Pine to stay at the Bristlecone Motel. A nice, inexpensive room for the night across from the diner we are meeting at tomorrow morning. Most of the group rolled in throughout the night.

We got showered up (last shower for a few days) and headed to a great breakfast while everyone rolled in. Here are some pics of the group before we headed into Death Valley. An anxious group of rovers ready for an overland adventure.

On the road and into the park from the north end on Big Pine road. The last pavement for a couple hundred miles.

Airing down before we hit the many miles of washboards on the trip. I sure love the EAS air suspension on the P38 as it
definitely helped smooth out the rough roads. Ella was already out picking flowers in the desert with her Easter basket.

We hit Eureka Dunes which rise up about 400 feet and much bigger than they look from afar. We stopped to run around and play on the dunes. Ella enjoyed making sand-angels. It was getting warm, but thankfully at this time of year April) it never got over mid-80s.

Another pic of my P38 Range Rover on the backside of the dunes.

Chuck (DiscoII) was the trip leader and planned an incredible journey for us all. You can also see Colin's RRC which he just picked up just a few months ago. It replaces his Disco after a tree fell on it (true story).

More to come...

 

[spikemd]

We stopped at our first obstacle to take a look and let the rovers cool off. The P38 walked up without a hitch. We grabbed some lunch and Ella climbed on the rocks.

Ella was enjoying herself climbing all over the rocks.

Climbing out of the canyon, a military jet buzzed up flying really low. It was very cool and very loud!

Ella taking her turn at the wheel. She is only 4, but will be driving before I know it!

We ventured on and stayed at the lower hot springs in the valley. Most of us didn't take a dip in the hot springs as clothing was optional and too many 'others' were enjoying themselves sans clothing.

We camped out our first night and fought incredible winds all night. Thank goodness for earplugs.

more to come...

 

[Green96D1]

wow very good write up.

excellent pictures and some awesome truck and beautiful scenery:victory:

 

[spikemd]

continued writeup

The next day, we set out from the hot springs and stopped to admire the art of Death Valley in the form of the 'Bat Sign'.

One of the few pics of Ella and me.

After the bat sign, we hit many, many miles of washboards. The group took a detour trying to find a cabin, but were unable to locate it. We stopped on the shores of an old salt lake that still had the remains of the cable system to harvest the salt. There was still a bit of water in the lake and a salty/mineral crust on the shore.

We kept driving and eventually started over Lippincott grade. It was a great view back into the valley as we climbed up.

Dan in a Range Rover Classic decided to take the easier way around as his truck was having some ignition issues.

Up to this point, we weren't technically in Death Valley National Park.

This was a nice slow climb and near the top, my P38 started to get warm. We had to stop and let it cool off as it was in the red! These 4.6L V8s do like to be overheated. I added some water and she seemed to do better after cooling off. After we restarted, I kept the heater on to increase cooling capacity. Not fun driving in Death Valley with the heat on full blast!

Ella hitched a ride with Kai in Richard's LR3 to stay in the comfort of a/c.

What we just came up:

We made it over Lippincott pass with no further issues that day for my rig.

more to come...

 

[1leglance]

great write up ...
always good to see parents getting the young ones out there early and having fun in the dirt.
Sorry to hear about the overheating issue, I hope it is an easy fix

 

[Steve UK]

Fantastic, great pictures.

Interesting to see road tyres being used? They obviously worked well.

One of them had a british looking number plate too, do you know where that was from?

Thanks for sharing.

Steve

 

[spikemd]

I have All-Terrain Bridgestone Revo2s which are good offroad and still handle very well onroad. The reality is my truck is driven on the street 90% of the time.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo+2

My next tires will probably be mud-terrain KM2s as many trucks were running these on the trip.

The other P38 belongs to a fellow enthusiast from Scotland, but it is a US spec truck. Not sure where he got the plate from, but it has some meaning. He just replaced those street tires with some good AT tires, but didn't get them on before the trip. The trucks on street tires didn't attempt the more technical sections.

 

[Funrover]

Great report, sorry to see the over heating.

 

[DarthBeaver]

The trip was a lot of fun. We had a good mix of vehicles from the bone stock Discovery II with the CDL (Me) to a RRC with 35" tires.

SpikeMD's P38 went places I could not in the Disco (mainly due to clearance) but it proved itself to be a very capable vehicle. There was one spot that the street tires did not work and I had to be strapped over the obstacle, but other than that I went every place else... even chicken rock.

And BTW, Ella was an excellent driver! And a real trooper. When it was time for her and SpikeMD to head out she didnt want to go! Not bad for a 4y/o!

 

[teotwaki]

GOOD DAD!

Lucky Daughter!

 

[SCRover]

Sounds great!

One of these days, I'm gonna make this trip. Chuck does a nice job and he knows the area well now.

Did Leigh go on the trip?

Thanks for sharing and hope we meet up one of these days.

GriffSC - NCLR #12

 

[roverrocks]

Great pictures and write up. Very enjoyable.

 

[spikemd]

The trip was a lot of fun. We had a good mix of vehicles from the bone stock Discovery II with the CDL (Me) to a RRC with 35" tires.

and DarthBeaver's bone stock DiscoII was loaded down with roof-top-tent, water/gas/wood and a huge 86L fridge with 130k miles on the suspension. It proves just how capable these rigs are right from the factory. DarthBeaver has a 3inch lift in the mail as I write this and new 32inch tires will be installed in the next month. The 100s of miles of washboards completely wore out his tired suspension...

As far as overheating, I have since replaced my fan clutch, waterpump, thermostat and expansion tank cap. The fan had a decent amount of play in it and was on its way out. I then noticed that one of the expansion tank cap gaskets was broken and a sudden loss of pressure might have attributed to a rapid rise in temp. These 4.6L engines do not like to be overheated!