Late in 2010, Kathleen and I
purchased a lightly-used Mercedes 1017A military cargo truck and
converted it to an expedition camper. The chronicle of the
build-out of the truck and camper can be seen on
1017A
Camper Construction Page. This rig, now named
"Thor",
has supplanted our 1300L Unimog/Alaskan Camper combination and
is now our only expedition vehicle. We have taken Thor on
a number of extended trips in the west and our plan was to
return to the Death Valley region before it got too hot to be
bearable. This is not the first outing for Thor; we have
done a number of small outings in San Diego county, and points
south including a week in Baja. The Baja Expedition is
detailed on
Baja
Trip 2011 and demonstrated that the concept was
viable and that the platform was sufficiently stable to execute
a long trip To be sure, the Baja trip showed that there
was some effort required to address some issues, a front bash
plate protecting the radiator in particular, but most of the
items were nits. We addressed the nits and have been using
Thor as our default camping platform.
The western U.S. is one of our favorite areas, Mexico
notwithstanding, and Death Valley is one of the more scenic
areas in the desert regions. We have visited this area
before with our Unimog (see
Death
Valley 2008) and had a great time and saw some wonderful
sights. But, unlike previous trips, this trip would be with a
group of fellow unimoggers. The expedition was expected to
take a full week and would take us to some of the remote areas
in the Death Valley National Park.
As an added perq (as if one were needed...) we had a buddy that
invited us skiing for a week at Mammoth Mountain, so we will
piggy-back skiing in the high Sierra as a welcome juxtaposition
to the heat of Death Valley at the conclusion of the trip.
Finally, as an added twist, the whole area is expecting a rather
large, late-season storm that is lowering snow levels down to
2500'. Since much of the park is higher than that
elevation, it should be interesting. The storm is forecast
to bring heavy rains to the higher elevations as well.
Heavy rains in the Panamint Range could wash out some of the
trails we intend to travel and turn the lower areas into muck
bogs.
Regional Map
A copy of the National Park
Service map for the Death Valley area can be seen by clicking
here. Our plan is to enter the park from the south
from Shoshone along SR178. From there, we will leave the
pavement and head west along Butte Valley road. This path
will take us to the striped butte valley and then over the crest
of the Panamint Range and down Goler Wash (near where the Manson
Family holed up after their killing spree). We will then
go north along the Panamints to Ballarat, Wildrose, Charcoal
Kilns and then cross the Panamints via Emigrant Pass. Once
we are in Death Valley proper, we will get supplies and see the
standard tourist sights and stay in the Furnace Creek
area. From Furnace, we will head north to Scotty's Castle
and then into the back country again at Ubehebe Crater.
From the crater, we would head south toward Hunter Mountain and
from there to Saline Valley.
The group had a good time in Death Valley,
but the weather could have been better. For sure, the time
of year that we went is subject to highly variable conditions
and that was indeed what we got. The trip started with
rain and snow, went to hot and dry and then wind and snow
again. If you travel to this area, check the weather
forecast before going. And, understand the elevation of
your proposed route. In this region, the weather
conditions are strongly dependent on elevation. Also, be
advised that fuel is frightfully expensive in the back country
areas. We intentionally diverted over to Beatty, NV for
fuel and it was $3.99 a gallon as opposed to well over $5 in the
park. Finally, you should go fully self contained on
supplies. Food is available, but selections are limited
and also pricey.