First trip to DVNP questions

PaulT

PaulT

Need gumbo
Joined
Jul 30, 2014
Messages
2,641
Location
Hillsboro, Oregon
My wife and I are planning our first trip, in March, to DVNP in our Hawk. The trip reports have been very informative and made us realize what we have missed in not visiting DVNP. We have a few questions of the WTW folks who have done this many times.

1.Places, roads & points of interest
Ranger stations
campgrounds
What are must see places?
Any definitely don't try or don't bother on first trip

2.Resupply items
water, food, fuel, tire repair, portapotti sanitation dumps?

3. Communication- emergency and otherwise
Verizon cell service?
Amateur radio repeaters for 2m, 70cm
Winlink gateways
Smoke signals or semaphores

4. Medical services
Urgent care sites or hospitals

5. Anything else I may have overlooked??

Thanks
Paul
 
Paul, for your first trip stay at the Furnace Creek campground (get reservations). From here you can walk to the Visitors Center and get oriented and collect information. You will get hooked. Drive the Artists Drive and Twenty Mule Team Canyon. Get information and if you like to hike, do the Golden Canyon Gowers Gulch Loop. Hike Mosaic Canyon in the Stovepipe Wells area (about 30 miles from Furnace Creek). Pack up early one morning and drive Titus Canyon. Take your time. Camp that night at Mesquite Springs and do the main tour of Scottys Castle. Ubehebe Crater is also close by. Don't try to do too much and leave the further away adventures for another visit. Talk with the rangers and get a sense of the history and geology. You will very soon be planning your next trip.

As Doug says, go through the information here in "the forgotten" WTW areas. Many members have posted good information and photos.

Have fun, we know you will.
 
If you stay at Sunset (the parking lot) there are no reservations needed. It's expensive though... $6.00 per night with the geezer card. A 5 minute walk to the VC. Texas Springs is about a 20 minute walk.
 
Don't try and do too much. DV is huge. It'll take a few trips to even scratch the surface.

Theres almost no cell service (at least for att) except at Furnace Creek. I was able to hit the mazourka peak repeater that covers Owens Valley 146.760 from Saline and a few other spots in DV. Never really broke out the book and tried to see what I could get.

Must see? Well theres the lowest spot in the states. Really depends on where you're entering, how much time you have etc. I wasn't too interested in Scottys castle but to many its a must see. Special interests?
 
Sorry for my absence. Had to get a few irons out of the fire. Thanks to all who responded. I have been reading trip reports when I can get my wife off the computer. I seem to lose my seat each time I find an interesting report. Ordered the Michel Digonnet and Geology Underfoot books. Got the National Geographic map and downloaded the NPS Back country map. Google Earth has been getting a workout for a 3D look at things. Helps to visualize the terrain.

Will start at Furnace Creek and see what the rangers say about the access to the various locations. Looks like some roads are closed or freshly graded so will need to be careful on the Tundra's shoes. Is airing down the tires recommended for or against on freshly graded roads?

Working out meals etc and resupply trip to Pahrump. Looks like we'll play it by ear and realize that follow on trips are required.
Thanks
PaulT
 
Paul, if you doing resupply in Pahrump, consider a run SW to Soshone and Tecopa. If you and your wife are ready for a shower and a soak, it's $10-15pp for a day pass at Delight's resort. We were just there and it was a nice break. You can go further south and access Ibex Dunes and Harry Wade Rd. to return to DV.
 
Thanks, Andy. Will definitely keep that in mind. As the days go by, that concept increases in desirability greatly. Appreciate your trip reports. Trying to keep anticipation from our scheduling too much for first visit. :unsure:

Paul
 
Entire trip is about two weeks. Couple of days down and couple of days back home. Rest of time in DVNP

Paul
 
Some random thoughts:

I would start a list of the spots you want to see, and leave it at home for planning the next trip. For your first trip just try to get a sense of the area. Do the very touristy things that strike your fancy. Once you get immersed in the back-country they won't (or didn't for me) hold near as much interest. Although, I can be talked into any of the Castle tours at any time.

Count on the roads being wash-boarded. Ubehebe to Teakettle is right up there with roads in Baja. West Side & DV Rd. to Eureka Dune can be almost as bad. I blame the 25 mph speed limit in part. Some of the roads have sections (Lippencott below the switchbacks, Stripped Butte btwn Geologist's Cabin and Warm Springs Mine, Ibex btwn the Y down to Saratoga and the mine, etc.) full of partly buried rocks, Superball to softball sized. There's a very un PC term for those that I won't repeat here.

If you're going slow and feeling a little beat on, airing down is a good call. Considering the camper to be more sensitive than you are is a good plan. If you're able to go faster, then airing down is not a good idea. Tire repair tools/knowledge in the high deserts are probably the most exercised of all of the off-pavement skills.

Mahogany Campground above the Wildrose charcoal kilns has a spectacular view of Badwater and is good for getting some altitude out of the heat (or being snowed-in depending on time of year).

On the west side, Trona has reasonable priced fuel, and closer to the Valley Panamint Spring Resort has fuel at prices that would be unreasonable anywhere closer to civilization, but aren't near as high as in the Valley.
 
Regarding resupply:

If you can subsist on a diet of beer, sodas and potato chips you will do fine shoppng at the stores at Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. Otherwise plan on bringing enough food for the entire trip or making fairly long runs to Beatty or Pahrump for food.

There are dump stations at Mesquite Springs, Stovepipe Wells, and Furnace Creek.

As mentioned by others, gas is expensive in D.V. But if you are going to drive the Titus Canyon Loop you will be very close to Beatty at the top end of the loop and can get more reasonably priced gas there.

In Titus Canyon as well as the other places you visit be sure to get out and look around a lot. Walk a little ways up some of the side canyons. Get up close to the rock canyon walls and look carefully at them. Introduce yourself to some of the peculiar desert plants with their interesting ways of surviving in a very dry environment (tiny leaves, hard leaves, no leaves, deep roots, succulent "stems", etc.) Getting to know the desert is kind of like learning a new language: The more bits and pieces you acquaint yoursef with, the more it all means to you, the more you want to learn!
 
back on MLK weekend regular unleaded gas in DVNP area was

$3.07 Stovepipe Wells - only sell regular unleaded

$3.59 Furnace Creek

$4.99 Panamint Springs Resort
 
As someone said, distance are huge. From Furnace Creek to the sand dunes and back is an all day outing.

Not far from Furnace Creek, ten years ago, we found a secret hidden shallow canyon of petroglyphs about a mile hike off a dirt road. No trails, no one there. Really amazing but I don't remember now exactly where it was. Rangers will not tell you. This was the result of some many hours of web-sleuthing. It took a couple fruitless hikes to find the right spot.

The Goler Canyon 4x4 Road over the Panamint mountains, and back to Furnace Creek was also memorable. Includes side trips to the Barker Ranch (Charles Manson's hideout). Some 60 miles, I think, doable in a day. At the time I had no actual 4x4 experience, and a decent 4x4 Tacoma.

http://www.desertusa.com/desert-trails/goler-canyon.html
 
ski3pin said:
back on MLK weekend regular unleaded gas in DVNP area was

$3.07 Stovepipe Wells - only sell regular unleaded

$3.59 Furnace Creek

$4.99 Panamint Springs Resort
Click to expand...

WOW!
I don't pay close attention, but that's the first time that I've seen it be more at PSR than at Furnace Creek. I would expect the about same delta, but reversed in bias.
 
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