5-7 days in the back country of Death Valley....

[WOODY2]

I'm on the fence about keeping your son occupied with electronics. The reason your out there is to have an adventure with those you care about. Involve him in your discoveries. Not saying to leave the digital home but rather use sparingly? That being said, I have no kids so maybe I should remain on the sidelines?

 

[Etoimos]

Your trip spawned an idea and a quick search led me to something different, but it might help you.

https://www.outdoorsgeek.com/

What you can't afford to buy or borrow from others you can probably rent from here. I don't know where you are in CO but these guys are in Denver.

Also, I too have the Odin designs rtt and love it! I got one before he changed to grey, I like those better.

Thanks for the link, I'm open to renting some stuff to fill my needs for this trip. That also has the added benefit of getting to try it out before buying it.

The grey color for the Odin RTT is what got me looking at that brand in the first place. Matches my Jeep pretty well

 

[chet6.7]

Can you rent a small off road trailer for gear/supplies ect?
Going from Badwater Basin to Telescope Peak is fun,if you are lucky there will be a wildflower bloom.

 

[Etoimos]

Can you rent a small off road trailer for gear/supplies ect?
Going from Badwater Basin to Telescope Peak is fun,if you are lucky there will be a wildflower bloom.

I did find a place in Denver that has an off road trailer, but price was about $1000 for the number of days I needed it for

 

[chet6.7]

I did find a place in Denver that has an off road trailer, but price was about $1000 for the number of days I needed it for

Could you buy a small used trailer for that amount and sell it when you are done with it?
As an older guy being comfortable is more important to me than it used to be.
Three people,gear,just the supplies that can be carried in a jeep for X amount of time,doesn't sound very comfortable at camp.My suggestion is to not be ambitious on itinerary once in DV,have fun,don't forget the comfort factor.I appreciate what you are doing as my folks are gone.

 

[WOODY2]

If you planning to start from Titus Canyon you could provision and fuel in Beatty, it's really just a couple miles from the Titus cutoff and you could see Rhyolite on the way. Stovepipe Wells has fuel and some groceries not to far from exit of Titus FYI. Do the charcoal kilns also

 

[NatersXJ6]

If you are simple on the food requirements, it is pretty easy to just do freeze dried backpacker meals for dinners, sandwiches, crackers, cheese, and sausage for lunch, and oatmeal breakfast. When I'm on a trip, I often take time to cook a bigger/better meal mid-day and then just to the snacks or sandwich at night.

Realistically, you can live on pre packaged junk food for a few days. That cooking style saves a ton of gear and difficulty, while making camp setup and tear down very easy.

I will re-iterate music and distractions for the kid. DV is hours and hours of driving with essentially the same scenery. After 4 days with my 7year old daughter, my dad and I were ready to consider strapping her to the roof rack! The best thing to bring along when you have a young kid is another young kid, but then they still want video games or something. Unless you plan on letting them drive... they will get bored.

 

[perterra]

Thanks for the replies everyone...




For solo trips the minimalist approach is great. I've spent nights in the Jeep with just dry food and blankets before. No setup or break down required at all. While I'm just fine with that type of camping, it is not really feasible with my son and father.


.

The point I was alluding to, was it is better to go minimal than it is not to go because you cant afford to go the way you want to go. 90% of the time, we dont need as much as we think we do.

 

[neil d]

Sounds like you are doing this trip for all the right reasons, and you are all going to have a blast.

A few random notes...

- You already know the weather can be variable, but Death Valley is great for access to a range of conditions. Too hot? Head for elevation. Too cold? Valley floor and lower canyons. Wind? Tuck up into a canyon mouth to find protection.

- Your iten sounds great. My suggestion would be to budget time, at least two days and maybe three, for the swing through the northwest part of the part. It is remote, beautiful, and empty. There is also lots to do that the kid will enjoy, like the racetrack, abandoned mines, and of course the dunes.

- IMO, the backcountry camping options blow the doors off of developed campgrounds in DV. With the exception of Wildrose, I find the campgrounds very depressing, although I have never stayed at Mahogany Flat.

- You mentioned the 'no backcountry fires' rule...yes, I know it is a rule, and I don't advocate lawlessness, but...there are plenty of established fire rings, and it really elevates the mood to have a fire going during the evening out there. Bring your own wood, of course.

Seems like you have a good read on keeping the kid entertained. In my experience, he will have a blast when outside the car, but long desert drives are very boring for kids. They just can't appreciate the subtlety of the landscape. Audio books are a great idea.

 

[ducktapeguy]

I took my 7 year old to DV last year for 4 days. As other people have mentioned, you don't really need a whole lot. Tent, sleeping bag, clothes, water and food. That's about it.

Try not to plan too many sites and do too much in one trip. If you haven't been there before, one thing you'll realize is Death Valley is big. Really, really big. So for every interesting place you visit, plan on many hours of desert driving in between. While technical trails and dirt roads might be interesting for the driver, hours of washboard road and desert scenery could get very boring for passengers, especially young kids. Plan to stop every hour or two just to get out of the car, even for no reason. Remote desert locations might be a lot of fun, but keep in mind anything that's really interesting will probably be developed into a tourist site. Old Mines, ghost towns, and canyons are always fun for kids and adults, and when my kid started getting bored, just giving him a shovel and letting him dig kept him entertained and burned off a lot of energy.

 

[Wilbah]

I love the idea of a small trailer. Maybe a CL find or even put a note here and on CL to rent one. I bet you find it for far less than $1,000. Heck I'd give you my utility trailer to use for a week but I'm in MA.

I just had a thought for the boy....take away the gameboy and give him a digital camera. Always great to "see things" through kids eyes. When we did a SW trip all 3 of our kids had cameras and it was awesome to pull all the pics together. Tell him he's the official trip photographer. Obviously you can grab some too, but also if he catches pics of you and Dad talking around the campsite those will be very valuable indeed.

 

[4x4JeepCamper]

I love the idea of a small trailer. Maybe a CL find or even put a note here and on CL to rent one. I bet you find it for far less than $1,000. Heck I'd give you my utility trailer to use for a week but I'm in MA.

I just had a thought for the boy....take away the gameboy and give him a digital camera. Always great to "see things" through kids eyes. When we did a SW trip all 3 of our kids had cameras and it was awesome to pull all the pics together. Tell him he's the official trip photographer. Obviously you can grab some too, but also if he catches pics of you and Dad talking around the campsite those will be very valuable indeed.

Wow. That's a really great idea!

 

[MANUCHAO]

Thanks for the replies everyone....
Water is my major concern right now (food is the other). I'm not real sure on how much I need to bring and then where to store it all. In the Jeep all of the weight is a concern. It is already pretty heavy when loaded up for a day of wheeling, so adding a weeks' worth of camping gear raise challenges. I'm seriously considering removing the 3/16 steel skid plates as I doubt they will be need in DV (I'm on 37" tires and have 4" of lift) and removing them saves me 100 lbs. The Scepter cans look really nice, but I think to keep costs down on this first trip I'll just have to use the 2.5 gallon jugs with the spouts that drinking water comes in ... if I can find them anywhere.

Are you talking about the clear egg container from Costco? I think I've seen one of those before and remember it being really sturdy. I'll have to have the wife grab us some eggs from there so we have one of those to use. I've also been thinking about the thrasharoo for this trip as well. The collapsible camp chairs we have already as well for general use.

I think a lot of our camping is going to be "backcountry", so no camp fires will be permitted. But I do plan a couple of nights at campgrounds, so I'll have to look into the wood issue for those occasions.

Staying hydrated guidelines....
when in DV I usually bring a gallon per person per day. I have done multidays with my wife, 3 y/o & two pooches (never in summer tho')...up to 3 days.. we usually go through less than half of what I bring.....but it is best to have more than not enough....
I run a 4" lift on 35" no skid plates of any sort.....never had an issue on many of the mine roads or Dedeckera canyon (steel pass if you decide to go that route).. just take slow and you'll be fine...

Yes those are the plastic cartons Im talking about....
I usually dont do the campsites ......thus the reason I went from a wood camp-fire to a propane camp-fire...these are considered stoves and can be used in areas with fire restrictions.....
As for kids ..... I can only tell you what works/doesn't work for my own kid.....It is wise to have technology (for the kiddo) to pass time when driving long distances...

Have fun !!

 

[Caelan]

From our latest trip to Death Valley, then biggest things we found lacking were water storage and a good trash solution. We had five gallons of water for two people and a dog and it barely made it through three days. Pack more than you think you'll need.

Trash is another big issue we hadn't really put much thought into... We never had an issue just tossing a bag of trash into the back when it was just the two of us, but since adding the dog we now get to deal with stinky poo bags and less usable space. A trasharoo or one of sea to summit's dry sack trash bags will make life a lot nicer.

If you think there's a chance you'll stay in camp for a day or two, look into an extra battery or solar power for the fridge. The sun's heat will flatten a battery in no time as the fridge tries to keep up inside a hot rig. Even in the winter. If you're spending most of the day driving around it's not too much of a problem.

 

[pluton]

For trash, I use compactor bags. Double them up for excellent protection against liquids/odors leaking out. While traveling, I hand compress them and twist the neck and secure with a #2 spring clamp. In camp, I hang them open. The spring clamp doubles as a way to hang the bag in camp.