Death Valley routing dilema
 

I`ve decided to take the week of Mar 4th -10th to ride DV, and can`t make up my mind how I want to go about it. I guess I don`t have specific questions, but figured I`d run everything by the forum and see what kind of comments it draws.

Two rides I really want to do while I`m down there are Titus Canyon and the Wildrose-Panamint-Townes Pass loop. I`m thinking two days for each of those rides should give me enough time to do them without a big hurry. For Titus, that two day guestimate would be in the event that I do it as a loop from the Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells area- if I come out of Beatty, I`m thinking 1.5 days from the highway cutoff to Emigrant or Stovepipe. Reasonable?

But it would be even better if I could manage both of those rides PLUS a big loop all the way down to DV Junction and up through Amaragosa Vy to Beatty. That adds a lot as its own loop, though it would cut the extra time required for Titus Canyon by a little bit. I think that would be possible if I had great conditions, but my understanding is that I might well have wind troubles and could find my week over before I got back to Beatty (or wherever I`m parked). That`s too much for a one week trip, isn`t it?

Since I`ve car camped in the park a number of times, I`ve already seen most of the easy to reach stuff, otherwise I`d definitely skip the loops in favor of hitting all the stops between Stovepipe and Badwater. But maybe to play it safe I should just park somewhere in "DV Central", ride my two loops, and then ignore the crowds the best I can and keep it close while revisiting whatever nearby sights I hear calling my name for whatever time I have left over.

I also see that Furnace Creek area has a lot going on this year, which might add to the general confusion and make it harder to get things done in general. It looks like the visitors center was closed a few months ago for remodelling and a temporary one set up in another location, also supposed to close the FC campground in Feb for several months worth utility work. Man, that combo makes me want stay clear of the whole mess and keep it on the boondocks as much as I possibly can. Unless I`m overthing the situation :twitchy:

I've also considered spending a week riding in the Death Valley area during March, when most of the flowers bloom. Like you, I've been there by vehicle a couple of times. My biggest concern is where to legally camp. There are some very long distances between campgrounds, and even in March, it can be quite warm, so water supply is also important. Regardless of which routes you choose, it's an exhausting climb each time you ride out of the valley as well.

I don't know if this link will be of any use to you but it has some good information about riding in Death Valley in the winter.

Thanks, Raybo- I just recently discovered that guy`s site through the resources section on CGOAB. His wanderings are several stages beyond what I`m up for this time around, but still some not-often-heard bits of info, and maybe another time I can go expedition to check out some of the serious outback.

You too, Lew. Yeah, it looks like stuff gets spread out a bit outside of the main triangle, but since that triangle sits right in the middle of what I want to see, I`ll be passing by frequently. In fact, the more I think about it, the better it sounds to leave my truck in Stovepipe Wells and use it as a grocery locker so I don`t have to pay captive audience prices for my grub. Oh, I don`t know if you tend to venture onto dirt or gravel, but with a few exceptions, it also looks like camping is legal most anywhere that`s at least two miles from pavement.

As background, I live down here. I also assume that you have not experienced any part of Titus Canyon. I drove thru there about 6 weeks ago with my buddy in a 4-wheel drive HIGH CLEARANCE truck, and it took us 5 hours. We also stopped at Leadville for a short break which added another 20-25 minutes. That road is not very hospitable to bicycles, cross or mountain; barely hospitable to vehicles! There are long sections of loose gravel, and stiff climbs - you climb to +5500' twice before descending back to DV proper. I use a cross bike on most BLM-bladed gravel roads in the area, and would not even consider doing Titus on a bike. On your proposed Wildrose/Panamint/Towne Pass loop, there is a section of gnarly, unpaved road south of the Wildrose campsite area, coincidentally where the road name changes to Wildrose Canyon Rd [from Emigrant Canyon Rd].

You don't mention whether you are aiming at riding paved routes, or heading for the gravel.

I've ridden the loop from Beatty, over Daylight Pass, down thru FC and then back to DV Jct and onward thru Amargosa Valley/Lathrop Wells, returning to Beatty. The only sketchy part of that route is the Lathrop Wells to Beatty section which is on US95, a 2-lane *70 MPH* highway which has a fair amount of truck and RV traffic, and NO shoulders whatsoever. A very dangerous piece of road, whether you're driving it, or cycling it.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you aren't carrying "it" with you, then you are not going to get "it" just any old place in the valley. The "it" can be food, water, spare parts, whatever. Most of the campsites do not have water sources. You will need to be in Stovepipe, or Furnace Creek for water sources. The food situation can be as inexpensive, or as expensive as you make it. There are "cheap eats" available in both locations.

There is always some sort of event going on in DV during the cooler months. But, to me anyway, it never seems crowded. As for the visitor's center, the newly refurbished building is slated to open this month [Jan], about 6 months ahead for schedule; I just got the notice from the DVNHA yesterday.

YMMV
-dg

Please excuse the slight 'hyjack' "rodar y rodar", but thanks for the information "200miler". I might also be down there in March. I agree that a lot of the gravel roads, once off the valley floor, are not compatible for bikes, and in March, once getting up high, they can still have snow and are very soft and muddy as well.

1/2/12 Have a good ride.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...IMG_6661-1.jpg

Just what I was looking for, 200miler, thanks a bunch! And Lew, no hijack involved, thank you for chiming in with your views. If you go, have you given any thoughts to how you`re going about it? Maybe we`ll bump into each other.

I called the park this morning and was told what you just said about the new center, that it`s ahead of schedule and will probably be ready by the time I get there, so that`s a bit of a relief. The lady also told me that Texas Springs CG won`t be affectd by the FC closure and that I can park at the visitors center and inform the people inside what was going on to keep from being towed.

200, no water at Emigrant or Wildrose campground? I`ll be sure to double check before leaving SW, but based on the park`s website, I did plan on having water available at both those places. If not, I`ll have to carry more, but will still do that loop. Panamint should have water also when I get back to the highway, shouldn`t it? I know it`s a slight detour, but I figured to fill up there before starting up Townes. I`d like to take either the hike to Wildrose Peak or pedal/push/walk to Augereberry Pt if it`s feasible. Have you been to those places? Do you consider one or the other of those side trips to be more rewarding, more time consuming, roughly equal?

I do have some dirt in mind, though it sounds like Titus is much rougher than I was thinking. I`ve seen very little of the canyon, only the two-way entrance road and about a half hour`s walk up from there. I`m completely blank about the upper portions. I still want to make that trip, but will but won`t take the conditions so lightly, and will plan on three days for the loop from FC. Enough?

I`m scratching the "outside" routing through DVJ and Beatty, but might drop in and check out Rhyolite before making the U-turn to go back down Titus. I`ll just take my time on both those loops and call that a trip. Parking at FC, I`ll decide which direction to go first based on wind, make one loop, pick up extra food from my truck, then do the other. Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Beautiful, Doug! Were you biking?

Sorry, you're right about Emigrant. There is a faucet there along side the privy [not connected I assume! );-0 ], but I've never used it. I try to stay away from what the NPS calls "potable water" as it can be really brackish; good, relatively speaking, if you are out of it, but not something that may not cause you lower GI distress. The faucet at the Grapevine kiosk comes to mind. I've not gone up to the Wildrose campsite but it is categorized as a regular campsite, which should have water. YMMV on that one. When you say Panamint, I assume you are referring to Panamint Springs, on CA190. It's about 3½ miles up the fan on CA190 from the Panamint Valley Rd. intersection, your loop return from Wildrose Canyon Rd. It's a resort, and has a gas station, general store, snack bar/restaurant, campsites, and a small motel. No info on Aguereberry Point either; the road out there is classified as "graded gravel".

My buddy has been after me for the past 7-8 years to head over to Wildrose and then hike up Telescope Peak! AND, in spite of his persistence, I've managed to avoid it!

The 2-way lower end of the Titus Canyon entrance is the "freeway" portion. Once deep into the canyon, and then on towards the Leadville ruins it gets pretty irregular. As it's a one way road downward to the lower trail head, I don't know what the NPS would say about a cyclist going UP thru the canyon; it would be a fairly stiff climb to the 1st [eastbound] ridge summit [Red Pass, IIRC]. East from there is a valley - about a 2000' drop, and then another climb up to the 2nd ridge line at approximately the same altitude. If you're planning on camping along the way make sure you have plenty of supplies as there aren't even scavengers out there! The turn to Rhyolite is about 2 miles east of the Titus Canyon entry point, and Beatty is another 4 miles beyond Rhyolite.

I would guess that of the loop routes you're considering, the Titus Canyon would be the tougher and more time consuming. It has 25 miles of so-called gravel road and some really significant elevation changes. From FC you have to summit Daylight Pass [4317'] and then drop down to the NV high desert which averages 2800-3000'; that's where Titus Canyon Rd starts from. BTW, Beatty is at 3280'; it's on a small ridge. Titus has the 2 ridge lines, each in the 5500' range; Red Pass and "a player to be named later". All of this starts at FC, -178'!

As for weather in March, you can expect just about ANYTHING and you'll be safe! In the high elevation areas in can be damned cold - mid/low 30's - overnight, with highs peaking in the the mid/low 60's daytime. There won't be any snow to be concerned about as we've not had much precipitation and the snow levels haven't been below 8-9000' when we've had it. SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE, of course....

BTW, AAA has a pretty good map of Death Valley if you're a member; it's just DV by itself. Also, when you check in at the VC you will get a visitor's map along with your park pass. Ask them for a copy of the "Backcountry Roads" edition; they don't normally hand them out.

YMMV
-dg

Muchos thankyous, 200miler! You`ve been very helpful and I really appreciate the information- can`t wait to get rolling.

Dry down there too, eh? Funny thing- we`ve been super dry this year. Reno had zero recordable precip in Dec for the first time since 1883. Last weekend I took a two day mini tour south of Tahoe, and found no snow at al until well over 7000 ft, only a few little spots of it at an 8400 ft pass. But a few MTBers posted pics on a local forum from a ride on Mt Charleston at the same time with some reasonably impressive snowbanks showing up 2000 ft lower than the nearly dry Sierra pass that I saw! I told them to quit hogging up all our winter! Anyway, hope you have a fine year and don`t let your grass get too brown!

We haven't had any precip since the end of November. The Mt Charleston Ski Center just closed the sledding area on the lower reaches due to lack of snow, but lots of rocks! We've had lots of sharp north winds and slightly higher than normal daytime temps, and it cleaned the lower reaches out pretty well. They are still skiing but that's at the 9000' level and they make supplementary snow as needed. There was some snow on Telescope Peak about the same time [late Nov.], but it's also thinned out pretty well.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=233461

This should be a photo of Titus Canyon Rd looking west, down from the 1st ridge line. You can just see the road wiggling down into the valley and then climbing up the 2nd ridge line, aka Red Pass. That's where the real loose, and STEEP, stuff is. Just a taste... [1st attempt at image attachment..who knows what will happen.]

Grass won't get green, it's a xeroscaped yard for me. It *IS* a desert after all...
YMMV
-dg

Both Emigrant and Wildrose campgrounds have water available. At least they did when camped there last spring and I assume that hasn't changed. I hiked to the top of Wildrose peak and drove up Augerberry. I personally would be very hesitant to try to bike up it Augerberry, its a very rough, steep road. Awesome view from the top though. I'm assuming Wildrose also provides excellent views, but the peak was wrapped in clouds when I hiked it, couldn't see a thing. I even got hailed on during my way back down! Nice hike nonetheless though.

Bummer- all that work and no payback!
Thanks. I guess I could always start riding up to Aguereberry and stash the bike if it came to that. And it would probably be helpful to drop my camping gear in a ditch or behind a bush soon after leaving the main road.