New Years in Death Valley with the Family

[Big50]

My Brother and I had originally planned to go in early December but we decided to push it to New Years because it meant more time off to explore the park. We ended up being a big family affair. Our parents, both my brothers, both their wives, my wife, son, and mother in law all came. With the large group and our parents attending, off the grid camping wasn't on the table so we booked a spot at the Furnace Creek Campground. Yes, I dragged a Travel trailer down there but it sleeps 8 and made for a much comfier sleeping arrangement. With the size of some of the newer "adventure" trailers coming out why not lol.

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Towing up the 190 east was no joke. Go from sea level to 5000ft in a matter of only 8 miles with a 9% grade. Part of why I love the Raptor so much, it pulled it up with plenty of power. This was the first time I had to stop to let the tranny cool and temps were going past 225 about halfway up. Might finally opt for a that aftermarket transmission cooler now.

Crazily enough, it was raining when we got to the valley floor. I was a little bummed but also realized we were going to have a very rare experience in Death Valley. I mean how many people get to go there when it rains and is overcast lol

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We got to camp around 2pm and headed over to Zabrinski point shortly after. We had mulled over waiting until the next day to see it in full sunlight but we decided to go. Glad we did as we would not have had time the next day.

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My son really seemed to enjoy it which made me happy.

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Saturday we woke up and scarfed down some pre-made breakfast burritos and headed for Ryolite Ghost Town.

The bottle house
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After exploring the town we headed over to Beatty to top of our tanks and grab some candy at the "largest candy store in Nevada".

On the way to Titus Canyon we ran into the Burros

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Once we pulled on to the trail to Titus Canyon I decided to have a little fun and shot ahead of my brother. The mother-n-law didn't quite like the rate of speed I was carrying but my son sure did lol

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As we began to climb in elevation it seemed like we were driving amongst the clouds almost.

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[Big50]

We stopped once in the canyon for some family pics

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Once we exited the canyon we were treated so an amazing view!

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We then headed back to camp for the night to ring in the New Year.

Sunday we started out at the Mesquite Sand Dunes. Not ideal as it's crawling with tourists but the Eureka dunes were just to far out of the way for this trip.

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We then headed for the Ubehebe Crater...man was it windy and cold!

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Next was the Race Track. Man that road has the worst washboard! I had to go slower because my brothers rig is not able to carry the same speed. At lower speeds it sure is terrible. I eventually decided to just go fast and stop to wait for him to catch up. I passed an oncoming Jeep Liberty which had clearly blown his shocks. The rear was bouncing uncontrollably at only 10-15 mph. Sure glad I have my Icon suspension!

Stopping also was nice because it gave me an opportunity to get more pics of the awesome scenery.

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The wife had to have a pic with the little cactus lol

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Made it to Teakettle junction. My mother-n-law got a big kick out of all the teakettles hung on this sign out in the middle of nowhere.

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My son didn't want to cooperate for the 2nd pic so I had to resort to man handling him lol.

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We pulled up to the end of the Race Track and ran into this group of rad overland Tacomas

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I did see the tire marks from those jerks who drove on the lake bed. They were faint though. I only noticed them because I knew they were there and was looking for them.

These two were neck and neck! I put my money on the bigger rock. Going to go back in the spring to see who won!

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My son enjoying the lake bed

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It was now in the 30's once the sun set behind the mountains so the wife decided to try and warm up by jogging around in circles lol.

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After about 45 minutes we begun the journey back. Amazing view from the cockpit

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about 15 mintues down the trail I caught up to a rental Buick sedan I saw at the lakebed. The buick was limping along and now on a spare. they were about 1/3 the way out so I stopped to ask how they were doing. Gentlemen asked if I could swing by the store at Stovepipe Wells and tell them that if they had not checked in by 10pm that they were stuck out there. I willingly agreed.

About 5 minutes down the trail I remembered I had a tire patch kit. I quickly swung around and headed back. I didn't feel right leaving them out there and their chances of making it on the spare were slim. Luckly the tire was savable and I patched it up and filled it up from my CO2 tank. The guy was super appreciative to say the least. From there we headed back to camp for our last night of the trip. I got a text about 8:30 from him saying they had safely reached civilization. I don't personally know why anyone would want to make that drive in a vehicle like that. It's so slow going.

All in all it was a great trip. I really enjoyed sharing the beauty of Death Valley with my family...especially my mom who would have never seen the park if it weren't for this trip.

Cheers!

 

[Skennedy]

Nice trip....That is on our bucket list to do, along with about 5000 other trips.....lol.

 

[Long Rifle]

Great job helping those stranded tourists-that is what it is all about. Years ago my brother, his college roommate and I were about 20 miles from the highway in Bloody Basin and came across an elderly couple in a Buick stuck in the mud. We pulled them out and the gentleman made the remark that he thought they would likely get stuck again before reaching the interstate. My brother's buddy said: "Just spend the night in your car and in the morning the mud will be frozen over and you should be able to make it out". My brother just looked at him-needless to say we followed them out and luckily only had to pull them out one more time.

 

[Big50]

Nice trip....That is on our bucket list to do, along with about 5000 other trips.....lol.

Lol thanks! Yeah, I've got a long list of places I want to visit. A bunch in Utah and Arizona.

Great job helping those stranded tourists-that is what it is all about. Years ago my brother, his college roommate and I were about 20 miles from the highway in Bloody Basin and came across an elderly couple in a Buick stuck in the mud. We pulled them out and the gentleman made the remark that he thought they would likely get stuck again before reaching the interstate. My brother's buddy said: "Just spend the night in your car and in the morning the mud will be frozen over and you should be able to make it out". My brother just looked at him-needless to say we followed them out and luckily only had to pull them out one more time.

Thanks...yeah didn't feel right leaving them even though it was a very poor decision that got them there.

Lol, good thing you followed them! very cool.

 

[Rubicon85]

Great pics and very cool that you got to share the experience with the other family members who normally wouldnt prob get out there...thats what life is about! Cant wait to get down there myself with the family

 

[Lichen]

Thanks for the report. I'll finally be going there next month and am gobbling up everything that I can about the region.

 

[JeepTreeHouse]

Awesome! With my growing family, We have graduated from a 4runner and RTT to a Raptor and a TT as well. The Raptor seems to pull it fine and you can drag those things down more roads than people think- They make a great base camp to go out and explore/enjoy without packing up / hauling your gear around all weekend too. Cool stuff!

 

[importpower99]

Nice write up, nice pics!

 

[Big50]

Thanks fellas!

Thanks for the report. I'll finally be going there next month and am gobbling up everything that I can about the region.

Nice, you're going to love it out there. I'd love to spend a week in Death Valley.

Awesome! With my growing family, We have graduated from a 4runner and RTT to a Raptor and a TT as well. The Raptor seems to pull it fine and you can drag those things down more roads than people think- They make a great base camp to go out and explore/enjoy without packing up / hauling your gear around all weekend too. Cool stuff!

Thanks! Yeah, it worked out well using the trailer as a base camp. I would have preferred to park it somewhere more "offgrid" away from the crowded campground but I'd play it safe with my parents coming.


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[EMrider]

Great report and pics. Love that place!

R

 

[Big50]

Great report and pics. Love that place!

R

Thanks!

 

[LandOps]

I saw the same Burros the same burros near death valley in October. It's a small small world...Nice pics of the trip.