Maine to California Death Valley Adventure

[jeepingben]

I should have started this thread sooner.

We are winding down a Maine to California adventure and headed to Death Valley for the second half of this week. I had created a thread eariler about mounting a 100w solar-panel to the 1998 Jeep XJ in order to power our fridge and that work has paid off. This is the first adventure with a fridge and I highly recommend it to anyone.

For our trip out, we drove hard until Santa Fe then slowed down a little and managed a couple nights of camping near Kelso Dunes and Kings Canyon in CA before reaching my brother's house. We have been staying with him and working for a few weeks. Keeping eastern timezone hours frees up some of the afternoon for sight-seeing.

On the trip out our fridge was set to -8F during the day and 0F at night to preserve a bunch of treats from Maine for my brother and his wife. After delivering the lobster, deer steaks, and ice cream we switched it to refrigerator mode to power some weekend adventures during our stay. Last weekend we had some very quiet and somewhat cold camping just outside of Yosemite.

 

[margsnell]

We have been impressed with the diversity of the landscapes in California. More of this please!

We plan to be in Death Valley Thursday 2/22-Sunday 2/25 and hope to go to the Race Track, Mojave Dunes, and Titus Canyon, after checking out Badwater and some of the other sights closer to Furnace Creek. Does anyone have any road condition information, especially Lippincott and Steel Passes? We will be traveling as a solo vehicle, but would gladly meet up or check-in via radio with anyone else who might be in the area at the time.

 

[umpqua]

I did this trip a year or so ago....it's a huge area that would take a very long time to explore. Outside of the park are the "Alabama Hills." Wish I'd spent more time there. Camped several nights at Saline Valley Hot Springs. A good place to be if it's cold. Take the trail from Saline through Deckadera (sp?) Canyon to the Eureka Sand Dunes.

The road into Saline is rough. It literally shook my d rings off my bumper. They were red. Let me know if you find them.

 

[frq flyr]

the visitor center in Furnace Creek will have the most recent road updates. Have fun our there!

 

[jeepingben]

We're East-bound now. Excuse the brevity as this is from my phone. Death Valley is huge and beautiful. Nighttime temperatures were a little colder than expected (I saw 25 one morning after getting up and starting the percolator) but the camping was great. Saline Springs is worth another visit.

The Jeep did great with Lippencot and Steel passes as well as a bonus excursion out near Chloride Cliffs. More pics to follow and maybe a more complete story including the Yosemite and Point Reyes when I get to a computer.

 

[umpqua]

If you are near Mammoth Lake, I highly recommend a stop at Crab Cooker hot spring. Great place.

 

[jeepingben]

Well, this is no longer an adventure in progress. I'm not sure if the threads get moved or people start a new thread elsewhere.

We are back in Maine and most of the gear is put away.

I have uploaded the highlights of the pictures we took during our 5 weeks away and ~9000 miles in the Jeep.
https://www.jeepingben.net/zen/zenphoto/index.php?album=2018/California%20Road-Trip

We started our trip from southern Maine with a 2am departure to get past Boston ahead of traffic and drove all day to just beyond Indianapolis. The next day had a more civilized start but we still managed to drive to Weatherford OK. After a short day of driving from there we made it to Santa Fe where we began to slow down and see the sights. We spent the afternoon in Old Santa Fe and had a great night at the Old Santa Fe Inn. The next day's driving included a stop at Tent Rocks National Monument

and some fry-bread tacos before moving on to Flagstaff. In Flagstaff we shifted into camping mode by reorganizing the Jeep, filling our water jugs and buying some coffee and food. Our first night of camping was near Kelso Dunes in Mohave National Preserve and the nearly full moon was so bright it was hard to sleep.

We drove to a site just outside of King's Canyon for the next night of camping. The haze was incredibly thick when we arrived but lowered overnight to give us some views of the valley before heading into the park where we did some walking in Grant's Grove.

before pressing on to Cupertino where we would stay with family for a couple weeks.

 

[jeepingben]

A lack of snow in Yosemite National Park meant we could not do our planned cross-country-ski excursion, but it also meant we would be able to camp outside the park instead of staying in hotels. We found quiet 4-wheel-drive accessible spots in Stanislaus and Sierra National Forests.

It was cold enough on the second night to develop slush in the cooking pot that was left with water in it so I warmed a pre-breakfast stroopwafel on top of the percolator to make sure I had enough energy to stay warm.

Yosemite is beautiful and crowded.

Our original plan was to go the previous weekend and when we changed the schedule we hadn't realized it was a holiday weekend. The shuttle driver said we would need 4 people per square inch instead of the normal 3 because of this. After the crowded shuttle ride the number of people we saw dropped as we walked up past Mirror Lake

and high into the switchbacks on the Snow Creek trail

Thanks to the fridge and the close proximity of an H-Mart to our weekday basecamp, dinner after the hike included Bulgogi Steak stir-fry and warm sake.

The following morning we drove into Hetch Hetchy and out via some Forest Service roads. When returning to Cupertino we found that the Almond trees were now blooming. It was an impressive sight, but the pictures didn't come out.

 

[jeepingben]

Presidents day was a surprise holiday for me and it gave me a chance to prepare the Jeep for the rest of our trip. This is our first trip where an oil change was required mid-trip. At this time I also realized I was overdue for plugs, cap, and rotor. After working Tuesday and Wednesday we packed up, said goodbye to our hosts and headed to Bakersfield.

On our way to Bakersfield the clockspring that had been giving me trouble for a while, but that no parts stores seemed to stock, failed completely. While planning to have one shipped to Las Vegas for us to pick up after Death Valley I just happened to check online for a store in town and one was available. Thanks to the free tool-rental program I was able to get the new spring installed and would have cruise control working for Steel Pass :sombrero:

I didn't litter and the old broken clockspring did find its way to a trashcan after the picture was taken.

We filled our waterjugs and headed into Death Valley via Panamint Springs. We met Bitey near the entrance.

I'm not sure if he was sick or just begging. After stopping at the visitor center and hitting some of the popular attractions (Badwater Basin, Natural Bridge, and Devil's Golf Course) we had our most comfortable night of camping up on the Trail Canyon Road.

 

[molanginaeda]

Great trip. Looking forward to read the rest of your trip.

 

[margsnell]

The wind picked up the next morning as we headed into the racetrack.

We had planned to camp near the racetrack and check out the area further, but because of the high winds, we decided to push on to saline valley through Lippincot Pass.

The jeep did well through the Pass, and we decided to camp just beyond the middle springs. The wind was still strong and it was pushing the water around in the pools.

We constructed a windbreak with totes to cook dinner and used some of the tent’s extra guy-lines. By morning, the wind had died down and we checked out the springs before heading through Steel Pass toward Eureka Dunes.

 

[margsnell]

Steel Pass and Dedeckera Canyon were lots of fun. We had a quick lunch before climbing up the Dunes.

We camped near the Dunes and and ate Maine deer steak for dinner.

(700' dune for scale)

It was the coldest night yet—the Jeep said 25 in the morning. We re-packed and organized before driving back to Stovepipe Wells for fuel.

We left the park via the Chloride Cliffs Road and camped on the NV/CA line on BLM land.

The next day we began the long drive back to Maine.

 

[RyanT]

Incredible thread.... a little late to the party, but here now and loving the updates. Death valley is incredible this time of year.

 

[jeepingben]

Oops, the wrong photo was used to show how thick those deer steaks were!

While driving across Nevada on the way home, we watched these guys for a while

We don't have a lot of pictures from the long drive.

After a few long days of driving we reached Michigan and dropped in to visit my sister. It was snowy when we arrived so seeing this view in the morning was quite a surprise.

We opted to drive through the night from Michigan to Maine the next day.

 

[Ashton]

Looks like a wonderful and fun adventure. Heres to hoping you get many more, as none of these should be 'trips of a lifetime' but rather you should have a lifetime of trips!