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Escape to Death Valley over Easter Week

Desertcrawler

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Teds Apprentice

Teds

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Update:

 

1) No medical conditions for me or my daughter

 

2) I am a physician doing my residency at UC Davis Medical Center. I will have a first aid kit with me and possibly emergency airway supplies.

 

Emergency contact info: Cara Speicher (my wife) will give her number to you in PM.

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astateofmike Contributor

astateofmike

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I wanted to just say, now that I have had a chance to review the powerpoint presentation, that you have been and continue to do an outstanding job with this trip Chuck! Your love of exploration and the Death Valley area clearly are shown by the research and personal knowledge. Thank you for your time, dedication, and excellence in preparation of both the trip and the atendees. I am very impressed. My family hope to join you next time to further explore DV!
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Desertcrawler Newbie

Desertcrawler

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I wanted to just say, now that I have had a chance to review the powerpoint presentation, that you have been and continue to do an outstanding job with this trip Chuck! Your love of exploration and the Death Valley area clearly are shown by the research and personal knowledge. Thank you for your time, dedication, and excellence in preparation of both the trip and the atendees. I am very impressed. My family hope to join you next time to further explore DV!

 

aww, you bring a tear to my eye. Speaking of the presentation, here is a PDF of that information. Recommend that everyone going on the trip take a look through it -- if you have questions, post em up here on the thread...

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Desertcrawler Newbie

Desertcrawler

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Good post Brian. Note that Hunter Mountain Road (where we will be camping Day 2) it says "Winter conditions" -- carry chains. Also the high (of 86) and the low (of 36) all within 24 hours. If I haven't already said it -- pack with layers! With luck, we won't encounter snow -- but will be going from sea level all the way to 8,000 feet -- so expect climate change due to that, as well as just the Death Valley extremes..

 

http://www.deathvalley.com is a good place to lurk as well. Lots of good info on backcountry roads. I plan to make a post as trip gets nearer.

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KSuttle Newbie

KSuttle

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The official SPOT tracking page for our trip will be:

 

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=07j9KKPuXeBL9uQiXVaT29nKCW8WIrcYt

 

We have a Spot Tracking service, so anyone looking at the page will see our tracks updated every 10-15 minutes. I will probably do a test in the next day or so for people that want to see what it looks like. Additionally, any OK, Help, or 911 messages will appear on the site as well. I try to signal an OK each morning and again upon reaching camp each night. Also, understand that signals are sometimes blocked by trees, canyons, etc. So make sure your freinds and family don't freak-out if they don't see an OK message each day or a track every 10-15 minutes.

 

This is a public non-password protected page, so please don't blast it out to the world.

 

With regard to medical conditions/allergies/etc., I have the ability to provide that level of information in my Spot account. If "God forbid" we did have to use the 911 feature, the Search & Rescue team would be informed of all medical conditions prior to dispatch. Sooooo...if you are comfortable sharing that information, send me a PM and I will capture it in my Spot account profile for this trip.

 

Finally, do we have an Emergency Contact List for each driver/family on the trip AND 2 people designated as Emergency Contacts that could be reached by land-line, cellular, or e-mail during our trip. Chuck, if needed I will also list them in my Spot Account. SAR will try to reach 1-2 Emergency Contacts before dispatching.

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KSuttle Newbie

KSuttle

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A few questions...mostly around how much cash to bring:

 

  1. The itinerary shows that we will be near showers @ PSR. Will people have time for a quick rinse and if so how much are the showers.
  2. Does it cost to get into DV National Park?
  3. Does the gas station at PSR take credit/debit or cash only?
  4. And the city slicker question of the day - if we are at PSR for long enough is there a coin laundry to wash clothes that we could hang dry back at camp.

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DiscoChef Newbie

DiscoChef

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A few questions...mostly around how much cash to bring:

 

  1. The itinerary shows that we will be near showers @ PSR. Will people have time for a quick rinse and if so how much are the showers.
  2. Does it cost to get into DV National Park?
  3. Does the gas station at PSR take credit/debit or cash only?
  4. And the city slicker question of the day - if we are at PSR for long enough is there a coin laundry to wash clothes that we could hang dry back at camp.

 

 

Aww- why bother with showers...just think of yourselves as pioneers from the 1800's :eek:

 

Don't forget earplugs...ask me how I know lol

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Desertcrawler Newbie

Desertcrawler

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Kevin, to address your questions:

 

1. I am pretty sure the showers are $10 or so. And we should have time for a quick rinse off.

 

2. It does cost, normally, but I understand we are going during a "free" period per earlier in the thread -- so no need to pay!

 

3. PSR takes credit only (when closed) cash and credit (when open) for gas.

 

4. Not sure on the coin laundry. Don't think so, but never really investigated it...

 

I've heard the 110 guys need earplugs. Also, if you drive with your window down, there are sections with dirt that is almost like talc powder. So prepare for dirt -- maybe a bandanna?

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KSuttle Newbie

KSuttle

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...Don't forget earplugs...ask me how I know lol

 

...I've heard the 110 guys need earplugs. Also, if you drive with your window down, there are sections with dirt that is almost like talc powder. So prepare for dirt -- maybe a bandanna?

 

Actually, I think what DiscoChef was referring to is the fact that whenever/whereever my family goes camping, there seems to be a bear that follows us...and he snores loudly ;-). So if you are a lite sleeper, earplugs may be in order.

 

Respectfully,

The Bear

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Desertcrawler Newbie

Desertcrawler

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On the SPOT emergency contacts -- I'll reach out to the Board -- I've used them in the past. Perhaps Will, Mike, Gary, et all will volunteer up to assist. I'll reach out to them...

 

That is pretty nice that you can actually add emegency contacts for each driver. I guess where I would leave that would be if people want to give you that info to add, lets do it. From my perspecitve, don't think I've really got anyone to give you..my family is all along with me...

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astateofmike Contributor

astateofmike

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I will be happy to monitor the SPOT device and be an ER Contact (if needed....) Get me the relevant info in an email (so I can easily access it from my phone) and I'll have that whereever I am..
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KSuttle Newbie

KSuttle

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Chuck,

I've been doing some poking around your powerpoint presentation (very nice), the GPX file that you sent and the Death Valley SUV Trails book by Roger Mitchell. Getting more and more excited about this trip! :-)

 

A couple questions for you:

 

On Day 3, what is the Arrogant Bastard Club?

 

On Day 4, the bridge by Chicken Rock is rated at 6,000 lbs. I believe LR3's are right around 5,500 unloaded. Miller's book says if you are over 6,000 turn back. Is this going to be an issue for us? His new book was updated in 2006, so not sure if anything has changed.

 

On Day 7, we go up Goler Wash and Day 9 we come back down. Mitchell's book rates the wash (on his scale) as class I-II or all the way up to Class V depending on conditions. He says wash can take hours or days depending on conditions. Should this be passable in LR3's? If the Wash is difficult to traverse, my concern is tacking on a Day 9 drive home on top of a difficult descent.

 

This looks like an AWESOME trip and my clan is getting excited.

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Desertcrawler Newbie

Desertcrawler

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The Arrogant Bastard is a beer, served on the porch of Panamint Springs Resort. In an older version of the forum, we had a "club" that membership required sipping a Arrogant bastard while sitting on the porch..

 

We won't be loaded going over the bridge. And I've seen rigs much larger than 6000 go over it as well. So no worries.

 

No promises, but Goler should not be a major descent. Conditions vary based on the last winter washes and whether or not a grader has ever been through If it is, we will know when we go in, and will break camp a day early...Should not be an issue for an LR2..

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KSuttle Newbie

KSuttle

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Thanks Chuck. Again, looking forward to it.

 

Not sure if those bringing smaller kids have outdoor'ed in the cold with them. My wife asked me to re-iterate that there may be some cold nights. As others have posted...layers are your friends...for kids too. In addition to regular clothing, for our kids we are bringing:

  • Gloves
  • Beanies
  • Pair of Thermals
  • Hand warmers (found some at SaveMart 2/$1)
  • Fleece blanket

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MichaelBeaver Newbie

MichaelBeaver

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Also, SUNSCREEN, SUNGLASSES AND HATS. As someone who has gone through 3 bouts with Skin Cancer this cannot but underestimated.

 

 

Here is some info if you wish...

 

Skin Cancer Institutes Seal of Approval Sunscreen list: http://www.skincancer.org/seal/

Info from the American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/Features/sun-safety-101

General Protection Guidelines: http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/SunandUVExposure/SkinCancerPreventionandEarlyDetection/skin-cancer-prevention-and-early-detection-u-v-protection

 

 

Hope this helps... I will also be bringing a Kelty Sun Shade. Take two to setup but it AWESOME for shade... I am happy to share the shade with the group :D

 

 

For hats I swear by my tilley!

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