US West East Bay OB trip Report- Death Valley Nov. 6-7, 2021 pg3

[RAMf1]

Maybe there is a photo limit to the pages... I don't know, the forums still fighting me.

After visiting the Racetrack in Death Valley, our only way down was Lippincott Mine Road... It descends about 2000 feet in a little over 8 miles... With the top 6 miles being the roughest. This road is often called the most dangerous road in Death Valley.
With little hesitation, we began our descent...
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Note the rocks, the narrowness of the road and drop off... Concentration levels were high.
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Dave and Bobby were already far ahead of the group as I shot photos out of my windshield and open side window.
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There were many narrow sections and washouts... most repaired to some extent with rock piles...
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There were some spectacular views... When the dust cleared. We were heading into the sun most of the way so visibility was difficult with he dust...
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The road twists and turns through this narrow section. You can see Dave in the extreme lower right in the photo below.
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The large rocks made the driving quite challenging. Here Dave rushes uphill to help Alfredo through a tricky section.
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Alfredo did Great in his capable Land Cruiser!
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I gotta say... I was impressed by how well my Lexus LX470 did... The only additions being Metal Tech Rock Sliders, full Asfir Aluminum Skid Plates and 32" Toyo Off-Road Tires...
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The road was maybe a little too narrow and tight for Sergio's full-sized Ford Tremor. Dave's spotting really came in handy and Sergio's driving was amazing all weekend.
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I have to admit... This Off-Camber section was a little nerve racking. It seemed way scarier than it looks in this photo... Good thing it was short because the drop-off out the driver's door did not look inviting...
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We finally made it to the last section of the road... Pretty much fast and straight to Saline Valley Road...
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[RAMf1]

Some trip statistics: 1210 miles traveled roundtrip from Castro Valley. I started tracking our trip on the morning we left Trona Pinnacles... I tracked on Gaia GPS a total of 379.59 miles traveled through Death Valley... most of those miles off-road with 16 plus hours of travel time at an average moving speed of 22.7 MPH. Our "low" altitude was 182 feet below sea level at Badwater and we reached a high elevation of 7200 feet on Hunter Mountain with a total of 33,179 feet of elevation gained with -30,796 feet lost.
It is pretty amazing spending the night among the pines at Death Valley. Our camping spot on Hunter Mountain was at Hunter Spring and it got a little chilly at night...
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A wood cabin in Death Valley National Park... Who knew?
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This was my accommodations for the 4 nights. It was cold enough this morning to warrant some hot coffee made on the Jet Boil... I gotta get the French Press option...
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On the way down the mountain, we stopped at this overlook of Panamint Valley... Thus ends a fantastic trip! Thank you Dave and the rest of the adventurers for a memorable trip.
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