DV President's Day weekend report

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Posted by Pugsly on February 17, 2003 at 22:07:04:

Okay, just back from a great 4 day weekend in DV!

As has been noted, there is quite a lot of standing water, though it is rapidly drying out.

Roads we traveled -

Slate Range trail to Panamint Valley - a great trail as always. Noted that BLM had put in new trail markers since we were last there. Took the side trip up Fish Canyon, fun and slightly challenging drive up the wash.

Goler Wash to Mengel Pass through Butte Valley and down Warm Springs canyon. Road was in great shape, no problems. Stuck fullsize Ford at the entrance to Goler Wash, and came across a high centered Chevy Blazer on the West side of Mengel Pass. Someone else was already helping out the stuck Ford, and we gave the Blazer a quick tug free.

Coming down Warm Springs Canyon into DV proper, turned off the main route after it climbs out of Warm Springs Canyon onto the 4WD road that runs just south of Warm Springs Canyon (but north of the main route). Found a few challenging spots, but continued down and joined West Side road.

Drove West Side Road up to Furnace Creek. Had obviously been quite wet, and there were large pools of standing water. Solid underneath though, not muddy.

91 octane is $2.50 a gallon at Furnace Creek!

From FC, up Echo Canyon all the way through to Nevada. The trail is in good shape, though there are a few spots (climbing up short rock waterfalls) that relegate this trail to modified trail vehicles only (high clearance, high traction required). This was my first time running Echo Canyon, and it is a fun trail.

Once in Nevada, up the main road to the turnoff for Chloride Cliffs then West to Chloride. From Chloride, we took the Northern exit, and drove down to Stovepipe Wells, then exited the park to the West via Emigrant and Wildrose Canyons. Came across a stranded Honda in Nemo Canyon, loaned some tools helped repair their burst heater hose.

All in all, a great trip. We camped at Trona Pinnacles, Warm Springs, and Chloride Cliffs.

Other than some standing water, there seemed to be very little impact on the roads from the recent rains.


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