Mauka2Makai - Our Quest Begins...An 80 Series Adventure

[Jakeleverett]

Wow, awesome build/adventure thread! I enjoyed reading it.
I LOVE the land cruiser and family! I am glad that you are able to share that with them!
You are so lucky to be able to get out so much, I am getting tired of waiting for the "right times" to get away... Im just going to start making the right times.
Next time you guys go out to Cougar canyon or any of the local desert areas let me know if you wouldn't mind my girlfriend and I tagging along.
We are very respectful and completely self sufficient.

How could you possibly spend only one day in Yosemite!?
My girlfriend and I spent a week there for her birthday last May and still felt like we missed so much!!
Its definitely a place to spend a good amount of time in!

Next time you go check out mirror lake (the second picture),

as well as watch the sunset from Glacier Point (the third picture),

Check my thread in a little bit as I will be posting the highlights from that trip to Yosemite.

Thank you for sharing your adventures with us!

 

[Mauka2Makai]

About the start my LC adventure. Thanks for sharing your trip!

SLO-Nomad, No worries... So what kind of LC are you driving and where are you heading? Keep us updated on your adventures.

Wow, awesome build/adventure thread! I enjoyed reading it.
I LOVE the land cruiser and family! I am glad that you are able to share that with them!
You are so lucky to be able to get out so much, I am getting tired of waiting for the "right times" to get away... Im just going to start making the right times.
Next time you guys go out to Cougar canyon or any of the local desert areas let me know if you wouldn't mind my girlfriend and I tagging along.
We are very respectful and completely self sufficient.

How could you possibly spend only one day in Yosemite!?
My girlfriend and I spent a week there for her birthday last May and still felt like we missed so much!!
Its definitely a place to spend a good amount of time in!

Next time you go check out mirror lake (the second picture),

as well as watch the sunset from Glacier Point (the third picture),

Check my thread in a little bit as I will be posting the highlights from that trip to Yosemite.

Thank you for sharing your adventures with us!

Jakeleverett, Looks like your on a great path for your future. Trust me... next time we plan to spend some serious time in Yosemite... We're jealous. Thanks for sharing your pics during your own Yosemite adventure. We will keep you in mind next time we travel south to Anza Borrego.



I am doing my very best to convince the wife that we should take the boys out of school for a couple of days... The boys have given me their approval, we should be good to go right? It's been way to long since our last adventure over the summer, we are over due and need get back out on the trail. I'd like to head out of town to a couple of spots that are somewhat isolated... one spot has the largest sand dunes in California and the other spot... I'm just looking forward to doing some soaking. :sombrero: Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Mauka2Makai]

Death Valley Revisited

Our latest adventure brought us back to Death Valley to experience Eureka Dunes, Dedeckera Canyon, Steele Pass, and Saline Valley Hot Springs. We traversed over 180 miles of some of the most remote, challenging, and washboarded roads we've ever traveled, starting at Death Valley road off of Ubehebe road and 3 days later ending at the 190 from South Pass of Saline Valley. We not only pushed our LC's capabilities, but our own comfort levels of traveling solo, and my wife was definitely pushed well beyond her comfort zone. At the end of every trail though, we were always rewarded... wether it was with sights of geological grander, a desert oasis, or the simple pleasure of black pavement after hours of washboard. With all we experienced, It may be some time till the wife and kids are ready to go back to Death Valley, but personally... I'm always looking for a window of opportunity to return. Enjoy our travels.

The boys all ready for the long drive to Eureka Dunes.

We stopped in at the new Death Valley Visitor Center for the latest in road conditions. FYI all roads we traveled were posted closed either by DV or Inyo county. It's a deterrent for the common tourist.

Death Valley road to Eureka Valley road to Eureka Dunes. ~43 miles and completed in just over an hour.

The road was actually in a very maintained condition even through the canyon, we averaged 33mph as per my track, only a couple of washouts to watch out for... watch your speed on those they sneak up on you.

We made it to our first destination... 8 hours later.:wings:

It was so nice to set up camp just off the base of Eureka Dunes. Wow there's even a fire pit and picnic table.

That night the sky was crystal clear with temperatures dipping into the teens. We were able to relax near the camp fire and stargaze the night away. Come morning our plan was to hike to the top of the dunes which stood nearly 700ft. pretty ambitious plan when hiking in sand with two young ones. Stay tuned.

 

[Driver-Navigator]

Overnight temps in the teens!... I'm gonna need to pack some extra blankets for our next visit.

Takin' notes and looking forward to the next installment.

 

[MCObray]

I long for the moment when my eyes will lay upon a road like such. Awesome capture, and awesome adventures Mauka2Makai... keep em' coming!

 

[Mauka2Makai]

Death Valley Revisited continued

One thing I love about Death Valley are the quiet nights...once the boys were asleep we were able to just relax and enjoy some alone time together next to the fire... I needed more than just quiet nights and campfires to get my wife back to DV. Leaving the hustle of a metropolis for pure isolation and seclusion in Death Valley has a certain healing and magnetic element for myself, for my wife and boys I had to "sell" them for a return trip. Last year one of our boys favorite spot was the Mesquite Flat Dunes, I promised them the highest dunes in all of California standing at nearly 700ft. For my wife I promised her an opportunity to finally be able to soak in one of California's finest hot springs and that it would be an oasis in DV. Waking that morning, the bone cracking chill from that night was still in effect, making for a difficult start of our day. As the sun started to rise the air was quickly warming, we started our hike up Eureka Dunes and we all agreed that it was utterly amazing.

The highest peak on the right is where we were able to make to with the young ones.

An untouched face... gently rippled, such a peaceful sight.

Taking a quick rest at just a quarter of the way up.

Hiking up with two young ones can pose a bit of a challenge... we went as far as they were comfortably able to hike on their own.

The youngest filled his pockets with as much sand as he could to bring back with him.

We set out with ambitions of hiking to the highest peak, we made it to just around a third of the way... the views were stunning none the less. A couple hours later we made it back to camp with a good portion of the dunes in our shoes and our boys pockets. With all that walking, we worked up a supreme appetite for lunch...we satisfied our hunger with chicken apple sauseges and then moved forward with the taking down of camp. As we were about to leave we chatted with a couple that just arrived to the dunes that traversed the same route we were about to embark... Steele Pass and Dedeckera canyon. They traversed it south to north making for a very long up hill climb through Steele Pass, but enabling a decent of the challenging and tight waterfalls in Dedeckera Canyon. We would be traveling the route north to south enabling the opposite of their travels, this is the recommended direction of travel to help minimize vehicle overtemps. The downfall is your faced with four waterfall ascends. During our conversations with the couple we just met, I think that the "talks of the trails" may have intimidated my wife and set her forth into a downward spiral of anxiety and uncertainty for fear of the LC breaking down (God forbid) and becoming stranded far from help. I did my best to assure my wife of our preparedness and to have confidence in my driving abilities and the LC's reliability and capabilities. Now that I've had some time to think about this and talk with my wife about it, it brings up a good question that I'll pose later in another section. Stay tuned as we proceed forward.

 

[NM-Frontier]

Looks like another awesome trip! Man I have got to get out to DV!:sombrero:

 

[Mauka2Makai]

Death Valley Revisited continued

We left Eureka Dunes just before one in the afternoon, we were all ready for a nice hot soak after our hike. First we would have to make it through Dedeckera Canyon and Steele Pass, roughly thirty miles of pure Death Valley backcountry fun. Fun for me, not necessarily for my wife... as the "trail talk" conversed earlier was still fresh in my wife's mind. We quickly realized that we both have two very different perceptions on what is "dangerous" and what's not. All differences have since been resolved, but it made for a long couple hours until Saline Valley started coming into view.

Back side of the Dunes.

Heading towards Dedeckera Canyon.

Time for Low range and locking of the diffs. My wife also chose to walk at this point.

This is the worst of the four waterfalls, photo is looking down. Tight squeeze at the bottom as well. Wish I had video... gives me a reason to return in the near future.

This one was ramped up pretty well.

The LC performed flawlessly throughout the canyon. Ready for Steele Pass.

Steep and off cambured... wife chose to walk down this portion as well.

Nothing like being top heavy on this portion.

Saline Valley middle portion of picture in the very far distance.

Another tight squeeze.

Coming across the burrows was a treat for all of us. Don't tell any one but they love baby carrots. :sombrero:

Peace Hill.

Three and a half hours later and roughly 30 miles traveled, we made it to Saline Valley Warm Springs. :wings: Aside from a couple tight squeezes, ramped ledges, off cambered hills, and miles of rocky trail completely isolated in Death Valley the route isn't that bad... my wife would definitely beg to differ though.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I was there last weekend and doing the same exact route...minus the burros.... those are cool pics with the wild life !!

 

[Mauka2Makai]

Death Valley Revisited

As we traversed down from Steel Pass into Saline Valley Hot Springs we were greeted with Hello's from many a nude in the Palm Springs pool. What a sight:Wow1: having not seen a single soul in over three hours, to passing directly next to a spring full of seasoned soakers :snorkel:. We headed down to the lower pool to look for an area to set up camp and get our own soak on. We were definitely lucky to have the lower pool to ourselves for the next couple of days. Soaking in the nude is accepted here (nude just not lewd) and we are completely cool with that, thankfully we didn't have to explain to the boys why grown-ups were naked in the springs :Wow1: LOL. Our time here was as if we were staying at a retreat in the desert... a good time indeed.

We couldn't have asked for better weather... it warmed up significantly here in Saline Valley as compared to Eureka Dunes. We also had the lower springs all to ourselves.

Sunrise pool.

Our favorite pool was the crystal pool... shaded and very spacious.

3 desert coyotes looking for trouble. Two in the middle and one to the left of the bush.

Saline Valley Hot Springs is a true anomaly in the desert. I Love this place!

We fueled up, packed up, and as with all good times... eventually you have to head back home.

My Samsung Galaxy S3 in a Wilson Electronics 4g cell phone signal booster cradle using Tom Harrison's Death Valley map app. The GPS track along with the map worked seamless together, At no time did it ever leave us wondering where we were. I took this photo to show the signal strength that I had at the springs(dang it's blocked by glare)...nothing like having cell service in Death Valley. It's not an end all for communication though, signal was lost in the canyon and portions of Grapevine in South Pass.

At the bat pole. Didn't notice at the time, but anyone notice what's missing from the pole?

Saline Valley Salt Lake with salt trams.

The worst washboard I have ever driven. I bet my shocks were boiling.

Intersection for Lippincott road. Noticed the wheel was missing from the top of the rock cairn.

Heading out of Saline Valley through South Pass. Wow! the trail condition was significantly worse from a year earlier, lots of deterioration from flooding. My wife said it best..., "They really earn their soak driving out here". Seeing the 190 at a distance was a great sign of relief, from there it was the 395 and a long drive back home. My favorite question that my wife asked during our drive home was..."Why do we have to drive a hundred miles into the desert to camp?"

 

[stioc]

Nice trail report as always!

We're actually planning a trip to Death Valley in March in the CA/NV section so we'll definitely take some hints from this timely trail report. Thanks for sharing.

 

[r3run33]

great report! question for ya; did you have any thoughts on the tight squeeze portion with the land cruiser?I have a 100 series and debating on moving to a raptor? the width on certain trails is what really keeps coming up in trip planning. thanks How did your tires do also; any cuts?

 

[Mauka2Makai]

great report! question for ya; did you have any thoughts on the tight squeeze portion with the land cruiser?I have a 100 series and debating on moving to a raptor? the width on certain trails is what really keeps coming up in trip planning. thanks How did your tires do also; any cuts?

Its a tight squeeze in Dececkera Canyon with an 80 series, though I know its been done with a Sportsmobile... with a Raptor? I don't want to say impossible, but why not its worth a try. The Toyos have been performing flawlessly... they do have some chunks and cuts though, nothing excessive.



Always glad to share our trips to inspire others... as others have inspired us.

 

[Mauka2Makai]

Fender Flare Removal

I've been wanting to remove the fender flares for quite some time now and finally was able to get around to it. The process itself is really not that bad, just a little tedious. My goal was to remove the fenders and not cause any collateral damage to the fenders themselves or the LC's body. A 10 and 12mm socket, a philips screwdriver, and a bit of patience were all the tools needed. Initially I wanted to remove them to install new trim and to repaint the flares, but now with them off... the look is kinda growing on me.

With flares?

Removed inner cargo panels for access to the nuts to the rear flares.

One screw hiding behind rear bumper side trim.

Rear door flares have two brackets that are riveted to door... I drilled mine out.

Carefully pulled back the door panel and inner plastic sheet to gain access for recovery of the butts of the rivets. Was a bit of a challenge picking them out with just my finger tips, but I got all four of them on each side.

Gained access to the front hardware by removing the turn signal light housing and accessing through the fender engine bay spaces.

Kept my boys busy with a strap swing while I was removing the flares.

Now that the fenders flares are removed, I've quickly taken to the skinny 80 look. I'm still deciding on whether to fill the holes and repaint or fill the holes and liner the fender flare areas along with the rocker panels. I'm leaning towards lining... I sleep on it for a couple days. I have since given the LC a wash and used a white pad to clean the flare areas... it looks a lot better now.

 

[Sempertoy]

WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This makes me depressed....