Sunrise/Sunset in Death Valley

I like Death Valley and have visited there three times, once in June,
when it was 118 degrees in the shade. Reducing air pressure in your
tires sounds sensible, but I've never heard anyone mention doing so.
The tire-related recommendation I've been given a dozen times is to be
sure you have a genuine spare tire, not the light weight spares that
come with some new cars and are designed to get you to the next gas
station.

-Steve


On Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:45:33 -0500, Marsha wrote:

wrote:
Thanks everyone (well, except for that one particularly useless
post)
for the suggestions, all such useful info. Do they recommend
lowering
air pressure in the tires when on the desert dirt roads? Dune
tours on
Cape Cod, near where I live, do this. It reduces gives more
traction
to the vehicles.


Awww, come on, it was just a bit of humor - from the best, I
might add.
Thank you, Mr. Nonnymous.

Marsha/Ohio

wrote:

Thanks everyone (well, except for that one particularly useless post)
for the suggestions, all such useful info. Do they recommend lowering
air pressure in the tires when on the desert dirt roads? Dune tours on
Cape Cod, near where I live, do this. It reduces gives more traction
to the vehicles.

You would lower tire pressure to drive on soft sand. Many (most?) of
the backcountry roads in the west are rocky and hard packed dirt more
than they are soft sand.

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:38:53 -0400,
(1100GS_rider) wrote:

wrote:

Thanks everyone (well, except for that one particularly useless post)
for the suggestions, all such useful info. Do they recommend lowering
air pressure in the tires when on the desert dirt roads? Dune tours on
Cape Cod, near where I live, do this. It reduces gives more traction
to the vehicles.

You would lower tire pressure to drive on soft sand. Many (most?) of
the backcountry roads in the west are rocky and hard packed dirt more
than they are soft sand.

Death Valley has an area of sand dunes, but it's pretty clearly
defined, and I don't beleive one is allowed to drive in them. To
drive in dunes you have to go south to the great dunes in the
vicinity of Brawley California.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:54:53 -0700, Hatunen wrote (Brilliantly I might
add):

Death Valley has an area of sand dunes, but it's pretty clearly defined,
and I don't beleive one is allowed to drive in them. To drive in dunes you
have to go south to the great dunes in the vicinity of Brawley California.

I have a bizarre sand dunes at Death Valley story.

On our annual trip to DV, one of the mandatory rituals is walking out on
the sand dunes at Stovepipe Wells. We were trekking out over the dunes
when we heard my friend Kevin running up from behind, as if fleeing for
his life. As he zoomed past he was able to shout "Run......Clown!".

We looked behind us and sure enough, there is a guy in full clown regalia.

Clowns are always bad news, but the Death Valley sand dune clown will
haunt me forever.

In article ,
wrote:
for the suggestions, all such useful info. Do they recommend lowering
air pressure in the tires when on the desert dirt roads? Dune tours on

Who They?

Well for the first time, I did see people reinflating their tires on the
Race Track road. I don't know who told them to do that. It's far more
important to keep speed down.

You can't drive the dunes near Stovepipe.

I've driven around, but have not yet driven the Eureka Dunes surrounded
by the Park (I think technically a State Park). There are dunes just S
of DV, and Imperial Dunes way S were just noted in the papers as a major
smuggling problem. Better to have a vehicle optimized for sand travel.
Or tame sand worms.

--

1100GS_rider wrote:
wrote:

Thanks everyone (well, except for that one particularly useless post)
for the suggestions, all such useful info. Do they recommend lowering
air pressure in the tires when on the desert dirt roads? Dune tours on
Cape Cod, near where I live, do this. It reduces gives more traction
to the vehicles.

You would lower tire pressure to drive on soft sand. Many (most?) of
the backcountry roads in the west are rocky and hard packed dirt more
than they are soft sand.

If you do lower the pressure, I'd recommend not going below 20psi. Much
lower and you really increase the risk of "breaking" the bead on a
tubless tire. For sand driving, you really should have tires with tubes.

--
Nonny

Nonnymus
A penny saved is obviously a
government oversight.

Death Valley has an area of sand dunes, but it's pretty clearly
defined, and I don't beleive one is allowed to drive in them. To
drive in dunes you have to go south to the great dunes in the
vicinity of Brawley California.


South of Beatty, NV there are sand dunes. The Beatty Dunes, west of
US 95 and accessible by graded dirt road often have quadrunners and
buggies on them. This romantic feature was the setting for much of the
movie Cherry 2000, starring Melanie Griffith as its future-shocked and
violence-prone heroine. Most weekdays you'll have this curious
geographical feature to yourself.

If you are coming from Beatty, go south on US-95. You will see the
dunes on the right (west) side of the road. Turn towards them on
N. Valley View, which I think is about 25 miles south of Beatty.
Take any of the unimproved roads that lead directly toward the dunes.
Get your bearings to the dunes from this google map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...37672&t=h&z=13
The dunes are just south and west of the center of the satellite map.
Valley View Rd is to the east of the dunes.
Enjoy.

In article , QX
wrote:

South of Beatty, NV there are sand dunes. The Beatty Dunes, west of
US 95 and accessible by graded dirt road often have quadrunners and
buggies on them. This romantic feature was the setting for much of the
movie Cherry 2000, starring Melanie Griffith as its future-shocked and
violence-prone heroine. Most weekdays you'll have this curious
geographical feature to yourself.

If you are coming from Beatty, go south on US-95. You will see the
dunes on the right (west) side of the road. Turn towards them on
N. Valley View, which I think is about 25 miles south of Beatty.
Take any of the unimproved roads that lead directly toward the dunes.
Get your bearings to the dunes from this google map:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...8&ll=36 .6627
73,-116.571808&spn=0.078076,0.137672&t=h&z=13
The dunes are just south and west of the center of the satellite map.
Valley View Rd is to the east of the dunes.
Enjoy.

We should also include the reminder here that most car-rental contracts
prohibit off-road driving, which might also void one's own car
insurance in the event of a breakdown.

--- Walt

On Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:38:41 -0400, Walt wrote:

SNIP
We should also include the reminder here that most car-rental contracts
prohibit off-road driving, which might also void one's own car
insurance in the event of a breakdown.


........or as a park ranger once advised me, if you do break down,
phone the rangers and NOT the car rental company!!! 8^)

Regards
KGB

Don't forget to bring a camera. Here is a pic taken Oct. 2006

Address:http://icons.wunderground.com/data/w.../Tyrone/76.jpg