Death Valley 2020 Overlanding Trip

[Matstock4]

I have been slacking on sharing my overlanding adventures with the forum. Here's my latest trip out to Death Valley via Trona.

Here's part 1 which got off to slow/rough start... because it was 2020 so it had to be that way. After getting past a local fire we get our trip started to DV via Trona and the Searles Valley. We visit the Trona Pinnacles and find a great campsite at the top of a Slate Mountain range overlooking the Searles Valley in the BLM. With our Ham mobile radios we were able to find this great campsite before darkness hit us... I need some after market lights in the worst way!!

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[Benbean66]

Oh man, great video. I live in PA, so we don't have terrain like that out here, but that definitely is beautiful. And what an awesome experience. Keep it up!

 

[Matstock4]

Oh man, great video. I live in PA, so we don't have terrain like that out here, but that definitely is beautiful. And what an awesome experience. Keep it up!

Thank you for the kind words! California has its crazy, but I am very thankful for the varied terrain and natural beauty we have! So much to explore!

 

[A 2]

I have been slacking on sharing my overlanding adventures with the forum. Here's my latest trip out to Death Valley via Trona.

Here's part 1 which got off to slow/rough start... because it was 2020 so it had to be that way. After getting past a local fire we get our trip started to DV via Trona and the Searles Valley. We visit the Trona Pinnacles and find a great campsite at the top of a Slate Mountain range overlooking the Searles Valley in the BLM. With our Ham mobile radios we were able to find this great campsite before darkness hit us... I need some after market lights in the worst way!!

Awesome. DV is on my list.

 

[stickshifter]

Not trying to hassle you, but is this sufficiently backstopped? Hard to tell from the video. Good ethics are important to prevent the rolling back of 2nd Am. rights.

 

[Matstock4]

Not trying to hassle you, but is this sufficiently backstopped? Hard to tell from the video. Good ethics are important to prevent the rolling back of 2nd Am. rights.

Decent point that maybe the GoPro's wide angle distorts a lil making it appear to not have the backstop. There was a rolling hill/ridge in front us that we kept the targets on. That being said it can't hurt having more margin and taking a more downhill position. Can't be too careful these days.

 

[stickshifter]

Decent point that maybe the GoPro's wide angle distorts a lil making it appear to not have the backstop. There was a rolling hill/ridge in front us that we kept the targets on. That being said it can't hurt having more margin and taking a more downhill position. Can't be too careful these days.

Understood. Angles in video can get distorted (steep off-road climbs, for example, almost never look steep in a video). I just saw the blue sky behind the target on the left and that caught my attention. Looks like you had a great trip!

 

[Matstock4]

Some still photos from Part 1 and the campsite that made it all worth the PIA to get the trip started!

 

[Matstock4]

Part 2 of the trip. From the awesome campsite on top of the Slate Mountain Range we head into the Panamint Valley for even greater views. From the valley we enter inside the Panamint Mountains through Goler Wash. The canyon walls and natural spring is really amazing in such a harsh environment. We end up at our next campsite at Newman's cabin. Newman lived there for years and most folks now have bigger bathrooms. Very cool if not a little creepy. Here is part 2 of likely a 5 part series.

 

[AZCooWhip]

Great videos. Thank you for sharing.

Nothing like the Great SW. DV is on the wife’s and mine short list soon. So many places out here. We are fortunate indeed.

 

[Matstock4]

Great videos. Thank you for sharing.

Nothing like the Great SW. DV is on the wife’s and mine short list soon. So many places out here. We are fortunate indeed.

Thanks!

Can't recommend DV enough. I only saw a small part of it which is crazy. It's a huge national park! So much to see!

 

[Matstock4]

Part 3 is complete! I had too much going on with Day 3 so I am going to have to break it up into 2 parts (3 & 4).

It was pretty crazy as we almost rolled my friend's Doka. For the forum you can see in the same section of trail how the Gladiator with the lift and the sway bar disconnected handles the situation. The Gladiator was able to flex and keep the tires firmly on the ground. There really isn't too much body roll. I was pretty proud of the truck, check it out!

 

[Matstock4]

Finally got to completing Part 4 of the series... one more to go! This one we continue our descent from Mengel Pass toward the geologist cabin & the striped butte. The cabin is a sight to see as it is fully stocked with food and amenities from travelers and volunteers alike! Great vistas of the valley as well. We push on down further towards warm springs camp which was a mine and a resort in the past. We are able to locate an amazing hot spring coming out of the rocks mountain. A refreshing plunge after such a long day off road adventure.

 

[Matstock4]

Finally finished the completion of the Death Valley series. The tour of the Talc mine at our campsite was awesome. Very lucky that it wasn't locked up like I have seen in previous pics. This was our last day so we had to leave the mine for wide open vistas of Death Valley. It was a long trip home, but well worth the drive home. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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