WAYALIFE Presidents Weekend Death Valley Run 2018

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
For the most part, Cindy and I try our hardest to avoid doing runs over holiday weekends and especially so when it comes to National Parks or places that we know will be crowded. However, being that we just got JET Li, our brand new Jeep JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited, we decided to make an exception to the rule and headed out to Death Valley over the Presidents Day Weekend. As luck would have it, we were able to get a few of our good friends including Tony and Steph, Trail Bud, Moochie, Et and Michelle, Tom and Susan and Adam and Tina to join us. Being that we spent a lot of our time filming, we didn't get nearly as many photos as we would have preferred but here are a few that highlight all the fun we had. We hope you enjoy. :cool:

It had been a while since Trail Bud had joined us on a run and it was good to have him along for this one. Here we are meeting up at the crack of dawn at one of our favorite eateries in town.
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Couldn't ask for a prettier day to be making a trek down the 395.
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This was the first long road trip that we've taken in our JL and I think we were both surprised to see just how well we were doing in terms of MPG. As you can see here, at about 275 miles into our trip, we were still on our first tank of gas while and averaging about 18.3 MPG and this while cruising at about 75 MPH. By this time, Trail Bud had already filled up once and was in need of another.
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At the gas station and with about a 1/4 of a tank remaining, we were only able to put in a little over 15 gallons of gas.
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Being that we got down to where we'd be meeting up with everyone else so early, we decided to make a detour and do quick run up one of our favorite trails, Last Chance Canyon.
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It's amazing how Trail Bud's 40" tires have a way of making JET Li look so small :D
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After airing down, we made our way up the canyon and I eased JET Li up onto the first set of rocks.
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It really is surprising how much flex the JL's have bone stock.
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With 40" tires and coil overs, Trail Bud was able to let loose and have a bit more fun.
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If there was a limiting factor in our JL Wrangler's ability to take on the rocks, it was me. It literally wanted to go anywhere I pointed it and if I were more willing to do damage to the wheels, fenders and rear bumper, it would most likely clear way bigger obstacles too.
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Working our way to the end of the canyon.
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Love the rainbow colored hills out here.
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JET Li took on a few new bumps, bruises and scratches but he made it to the end of Last Chance Canyon and all on his own. Here's a few shots of him on top of Graduation Hill.
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After making our way back to pavement, we headed out to our rendezvous point and met up with all our other friends.
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To all our good friends and a fun filled weekend ahead - CHEERS!
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For those of you who were hoping to see more shots of JET Li out on the trail, a JL Journal Video will be coming out highlighting it very soon. :cool:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
After a fun filled night of partying with our friends, we got up early in the morning and made our way out to the trail head. Here's a couple of shots of us airing down and getting ready to hit the trails!
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Our route into Death Valley would be one that took us up and over the Slate Range. Riding along the ridge top, we were afforded breathtaking views of the Panamint Valley below.
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Nearing the bottom of Fish Canyon, we made a stop over at sign commemorating the man of whom the canyon was named after, Father Fish.
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Back in the 1850's, Fish Canyon was known as the Escape Trail and it was the route that Lewis Manly and John Rogers used to lead the Bennett and Arcane families across the Slate Range and out of Death Valley.
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Taking a break at the bottom of the Panamint Valley floor after a bumpy ride down the rocky alluvial fan.
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On the move again, we worked our way up Goler Canyon.
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And then we stopped for lunch over at the old Lotus Mining camp.
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The original mining efforts in this area were started by Carl Mengel back in 1935 it until it was sold to the Lotus Mines of Burbank California, it was known as the Keystone mine. Unfortunately, there isn't nearly as much left here as there used to be but a couple of cabins do still remain.
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Taking a peek inside.
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Hand prints left behind by miners of a later era.
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Making our way up to the top of Mengel Pass, Steph takes on a few rocks in her new JL Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited.
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In spite of his love for the Panamint's and all his prospecting efforts, Carl Mengel ultimately died a poor man in 1944. His ashes and prosthetic leg are buried here on top of the pass bearing his name.
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Working our way down Megel Pass and heading into the Butte Valley.
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Down in the Butte Valley and making a stop over at the old Geologist Cabin to take in the view of the Striped Butte.
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Further to the east and down in Warm Springs Canyon, we made a stop over at the old Warm Springs Mining Camp.
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Warm Springs was established back in the 1930's by Louise Grantham and while gold was found in the area, the primary mineral mined was talc.
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Talking a walk to explore the old cabins at the camp.
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Back in the 1990's, soon after the National Park Service took over Warm Springs, the swimming pool here was full of water and crystal blue. Today, it's almost dry and filled with crap.
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Moving along, we made our way down into the Death Valley floor.
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Off the trail before dark, we pulled into Shoshone to top off our tanks.
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As we were getting gas, Tom noticed that his brakes seemed to be soft. After giving things a quick look, this is what we found.
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Turns out his passenger side rear brake line had been chaffing on a caliper bolt and finally wore through.
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Fortunately, we had the means to fix it or at least, for now anyway.
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After getting Tom and Susan bandaged up, we made our way to our home for the night - Tecopa Hot Springs.
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With everyone checked in, we made our way down to the Death Valley Brewing Company for some drinks!
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To a great day out on the trail and with good friends - CHEERS!
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After getting liquored up a bit, we walked next door over to Steaks & Beer to have ourselves some of the BEST steaks you can get anywhere let alone out in the middle of the desert.
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Our waterfront seating.
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CHEERS AGAIN!
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Adam providing tonight's entertainment.
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And finally, the party in Tony and Stephs room - CHEERS!
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wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Day 2 of our Death Valley run would start off by making a permanent fix for Tom and Susan's Jeep. As luck would have it, I carry spare brake lines. :cool:
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With Tom and Susan good to go, we headed out to our first stop of the day - The China Ranch Date Farm.
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Of course, when at China Ranch, one must have a date shake!
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Oh yeah!
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Picking out some goodies for later on while getting the evil eye from the shake guy.
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With date shakes in hand, we took a walk around the ranch to see some of the cool stuff there.
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The date farm.
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Getting a final look at all the date palms as we headed out of China Ranch.
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Back on the trail and heading north.
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The beautiful Mojave Desert.
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Gotta love the nothingness that you can see all the way to the horizon.
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Making a stop up on top of Deadmans Pass.
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And of course, taking some time to do some historic dumpster diving.
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Yea! Back in good ol' Nevada and making a stop to quench our thirst... and to have some lunch over at the Longstreet Casino.
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After a nice relaxing lunch break, it was time to hit the dirt again.
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And, as we turned to the west, that dirt quickly became cobbles of rocks.
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Heading up into Echo Canyon.
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Further up the canyon.
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Climbing higher up the Funeral Mountains.
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And, staring our way back down the west side.
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Getting ready to descend the toughest obstacle on the trail.
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All safely down.
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The drive down Echo Canyon was gorgeous.
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And finally, before dropping back down into Death Valley and back onto pavement, we made one final stop over at the Eye of the Needle so that we could enjoy the setting sun.
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And, that's how we spend our Presidents Day Weekend. A BIG THANKS goes out to Steph for helping us to organize our lodging and figure out all the outstanding places to eat and to all our friends for making this trip so much fun. Cindy and I had a great time with all of you and we're so looking forward to doing it again soon. :cool:

Oh, for those of you who joined us on this trip and took pics, we'd love for you to post them up :thumb:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Looks like a blast. That shake guy is a total serial killer.

:cheesy: I kid you not, I could feel the guy staring at me the whole time but it was only until I saw the pic that I knew I wasn't imagining things :crazyeyes:
 

Cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
Great trip report! Thank you!

So how was the JL’s ride on the dirt for all those miles? Did it suck up the bumps nicely? Did it feel like the shocks got spongy at all from heating up?
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Great trip report! Thank you!

So how was the JL’s ride on the dirt for all those miles? Did it suck up the bumps nicely? Did it feel like the shocks got spongy at all from heating up?

No lie, the JL eats up bumps amazingly well - WAY BETTER than a stock JK and I should note, at FULL STREET PRESSURE. Whatever the coil rate is and/or the valving of the shocks - they are a HUGE improvement and enough so that I'm hesitant to upgrade to anything else. :crazyeyes:

I will say that pushing the suspension really hard, really fast and for a significant amount of miles, I did notice a bit of shock fade but then, I'm sure I would have noticed that on any standard monotube shock.
 

Westy

New member
Back seat

Did anybody actually use the back seat for anything? Is removing the back seat difficult or impossible?
 

DMF

New member
Man, there's just so much cool stuff in DV that I still haven't seen. Need to find these places now :thumb:. I remember taking that Echo Canyon obstacle with confidence right after we did the newb run back in 2014. But I don't remember it being so tall. Thanks for that trip report Eddie, so awesome!
 

Schwarttzy

New member
It's trips like this that makes me hate that I don't have Jeep. Maybe one-day other brands vehicles could tag along with you guys on the trail.
 

Cozdude

Guy with a Red 2-Door
No lie, the JL eats up bumps amazingly well - WAY BETTER than a stock JK and I should note, at FULL STREET PRESSURE. Whatever the coil rate is and/or the valving of the shocks - they are a HUGE improvement and enough so that I'm hesitant to upgrade to anything else. :crazyeyes:

I will say that pushing the suspension really hard, really fast and for a significant amount of miles, I did notice a bit of shock fade but then, I'm sure I would have noticed that on any standard monotube shock.

Wow that’s amazing!!! So glad to hear! I guess that’s why evo has developed a boost kit that retains all the stock geometry and components
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
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