US West Death Valley Grand Traverse

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The Death Valley Grand Traverse is set to be a 4 day/3 night adventure, which starts in the south end of the park and snakes its way north, and then eventually west over to Alabama hills for the final night. The route includes hot springs, salt flats, abandoned mines, and ghost towns. All skill levels welcome, although there will a few blue trails.
 

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Traxx said:
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The Death Valley Grand Traverse is set to be a 4 day/3 night adventure, which starts in the south end of the park and snakes its way north, and then eventually west over to Alabama hills for the final night. The route includes hot springs, salt flats, abandoned mines, and ghost towns. All skill levels welcome, although there will a few blue trails.
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Great picture!
 
Hey guys,

I'm planning to head out from the Bay Area after work. I was hoping to make it down somewhere near/around Bakersfield or Tehachapi pass. I'm in Marin, but I may head out sooner and finish my day working remote the latter half of the day to try and get ahed of the traffic.
 
Nice route. We were just there 2 weeks ago and covered the same area. I don't think Hunters Pass will be passable but you never know. I would just plan to do a 180 and exit out via the crater or back down Lippincott. We had just below freezing temp in the AM at the dunes. So dress accordingly. Great temps during the daylight hours. Titus had very light snow in a couple of areas. The exit out towards Big Pine had lots of snow for a few miles. Packed snow and ice. We had no issues but it was during daytime temps.

Where are you planning on camping?
 
1Louder said:
Nice route. We were just there 2 weeks ago and covered the same area. I don\'t think Hunters Pass will be passable but you never know. I would just plan to do a 180 and exit out via the crater or back down Lippincott. We had just below freezing temp in the AM at the dunes. So dress accordingly. Great temps during the daylight hours. Titus had very light snow in a couple of areas. The exit out towards Big Pine had lots of snow for a few miles. Packed snow and ice. We had no issues but it was during daytime temps.

Where are you planning on camping?
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Thanks for the heads up-- I've been keeping an eye on the Death Valley Road Conditions FB page, and even without additional snow, I'm guessing it's a 50/50 chance that Hunter / Saline Valley So Pass will be open. I was actually thinking about alternative routes today, and just finished up two potential options:

www.gaiagps.com

GaiaGPS - Rally Point - Death Valley

www.gaiagps.com www.gaiagps.com

For night 1, I was hoping we could camp somewhere in the vicinity of Rhyolite and Titus Canyon-- it looks like there's a spur off Chloride Cliff Rd (about 2.5 mi in) that has an open area against a big cliff. Night 2 will be somewhere not far from the Racetrack (in a legal area), or if alt route, circa Eureka Dunes. Plan for night 3 is Alabama Hills.
 
Traxx said:
Thanks for the heads up-- I've been keeping an eye on the Death Valley Road Conditions FB page, and even without additional snow, I'm guessing it's a 50/50 chance that Hunter / Saline Valley So Pass will be open. I was actually thinking about alternative routes today, and just finished up two potential options:

www.gaiagps.com

GaiaGPS - Rally Point - Death Valley

www.gaiagps.com www.gaiagps.com

For night 1, I was hoping we could camp somewhere in the vicinity of Rhyolite and Titus Canyon-- it looks like there's a spur off Chloride Cliff Rd (about 2.5 mi in) that has an open area against a big cliff. Night 2 will be somewhere not far from the Racetrack (in a legal area), or if alt route, circa Eureka Dunes. Plan for night 3 is Alabama Hills.
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We camped at Mesquite Springs Campground on day 1. Day 0 (meetup spot) we are at Furnace creek. Since you are starting in Baker it might take too long to get through Titus and up to Mesquite Springs. We were going to camp south of the Racetrack at the legal spot but ended up continuing to the hot springs. It was busy there. Our routing took us down Lippincott vs up and we hit the dunes at the end. I also checked the road conditions site but I would say most conditions were better than listed. It is very hard for them to cover all of the park.

Dedeckera Canyon isn't trailer friendly. Maybe possible with a M416 small trailer but it could still be problematic. Not sure if you have every tried to take a trailer through there. If folks with trailers were to bypass and go via the Saline Valley Road it will take 2-2.5 hours to get to the springs. This is also where they can expect snow on the pass.

I am no expert. Just passing along recent information. Feel free to ask other questions.
 
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Traxx said:
Chloride Cliff and City are off of Daylight Pass Road, before you get to Beatty, so I think we should be fine. It's about 150mi from Baker.
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The tire shop in Beatty was great. A screwdriver bit somehow punched a hole in my tire. He removed the tire from the rim and did a proper patch job.

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snow example on the Saline Valley road. Although it got deeper than this In spots.
 
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I'm not surprised about the snow! We drove from the Bay Area to southern Utah at the end of December, and came back through Death Valley and Tehachapi pass. There was a crazy amount of snow (well over a foot) on Tehachapi at a pretty low elevation from what I recall, seemed like 3500'. I was chatting with a guy from SoCal while in Virgin, UT, and he said they got stranded overnight when they shut down I-15 west of Vegas. I think we made the right decision when we took I-80 to Reno the day after Xmas and made our way to St George via a bunch of remote highways in Nevada-- that was quite the experience, not passing vehicles for hours at a time!
 
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Traxx said:
Hey guys,

I'm planning to head out from the Bay Area after work. I was hoping to make it down somewhere near/around Bakersfield or Tehachapi pass. I'm in Marin, but I may head out sooner and finish my day working remote the latter half of the day to try and get ahed of the traffic.
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If you want to convoy let me know. I'll be coming from 580
 
I'm headed to Death Valley on Sunday for 3 days. I'm going to try Hunter Mt Pass to Tea kettle but if its too iced over on the backside I'll do Lippincott to the Racetrack. I'll let you know how the road conditions are when I get back as I'll be doing most of the tracks your route follows with the exception of Titus.
 
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Ruffrnr said:
I'm headed to Death Valley on Sunday for 3 days. I'm going to try Hunter Mt Pass to Tea kettle but if its too iced over on the backside I'll do Lippincott to the Racetrack. I'll let you know how the road conditions are when I get back as I'll be doing most of the tracks your route follows with the exception of Titus.
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There is a storm hitting AZ with major temperature drops and snow on Monday. No idea if it is cutting through DV or not. Just be prepared.

Look at the temp drop in Furnace Creek!
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Ruffrnr said:
I'm headed to Death Valley on Sunday for 3 days. I'm going to try Hunter Mt Pass to Tea kettle but if its too iced over on the backside I'll do Lippincott to the Racetrack. I'll let you know how the road conditions are when I get back as I'll be doing most of the tracks your route follows with the exception of Titus.
Click to expand...

Let us know! I'm curious what the snow level is like on Hunter Pass.
 
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