10 replies to this topic

[fuzzymarindave]

Doing some planning for a trip in March or April and considering entering Death Valley via Waucoba Saline Road if the snow is passable at the 7300 elevation North Pass.  Does anyone have a "best guess" for this year or can recommend good sources for information on conditions from prior years?   Will be in a 4x4 Ford F250 with Hawk camper.   Thanks in advance.

[ski3pin]

If the snow/ice is clear, you should have no problem. Current conditions are ice and snow turning vehicles around with the lower south pass the access into Saline Valley.

[Lighthawk]

I never plan very far ahead regarding Saline Valley.  Sometimes you don't know until the day you arrive in Bishop.

It's good to have alternate plans.

[rubberlegs]

This site has reports on North and South Passes:

https://forum.saline...1hG5e191XHGkpoU

[fuzzymarindave]

We plan to be making it to Big Pine on midday March 30th so we will keep our plans flexible and check road conditions that day. Thanks for the feedback.

[superduty]

Predicting weather or road conditions 2 months in advance in California is quite difficult.

[slash2]

Guess at this point would be all you can hope for. With that road it's always best to hope for good but prepare for the worst. Conditions can go from mild to wild depending on what weather just moved through in the past hours or days. You may get into the valley one day but not be able to get out the next. 

Your truck should be fine provided you have the proper tires. The road is know for puncturing tires, have at least one full size spare with a patch kit and a way to re-inflate, chains not cables and provisions for at least 3 days more than you expect to stay. There is no cell service once you leave the pavement until you find spotty coverage in the valley. 

[ntsqd]

I will never, ever suggest South Pass to anyone. No matter how much I might dislike them.

Edited by ntsqd, 04 February 2023 - 03:10 AM.

[slash2]

I'm guessing you probably already know what an exceptionally rough winter this has been for travel to Saline Valley, what with people stranded at the springs for weeks unable to get out and multiple helicopter rescues of folks whos vehicles got stuck in snow on the passes.

 

A post from a day or so ago @ https://forum.saline....org/categories

 

martiny505

a day ago

I wanted to provide a bit of information about our challenges in getting out of the valley last week (3/24 and 3/25).

 

First of all I want to thank Major Tom for taking on the challenge of going over South Pass on the behalf of those that were and still are in the valley. I know that you did not make that decision lightly and it was good information for those people to have even if it wasn't the information they were hoping for.

 

Major Tom, if there is anything we can do to help those that are still in the valley please let us know.

 

My group of 8, 4 adults and 4 children drove, in over South Pass on March 20th. The road in was in relatively good condition minus the large wash out that Major Tom mentioned below. On our way in we passed a gentlemen in a 2 wheel drive van on his way out and he mentioned that he had been stranded for over a month, which at the time we all thought was a joke. That gentlemen did make it out that day. The night we made it into the valley it rained and blew all night and into the morning, which at the time it felt more like an inconvenience than a threat. Once the clouds lifted the snow was revealed and was clearly below 5000'. After talking to a number of the people that were at the springs we recognized that the road conditions were going to pose a problem for exiting the valley. On March 22 our group attempted to drive up to South pass and made it to about 5100' before deciding to turn around and return to the springs in hope that the road would dry out after a few days. The next few days were beautiful but the daytime temps were only in the upper 60s lower 70s so in the higher elevations there was not much snow melt happening. On March 24th, from the springs it did appear that the snow line had receded so we made another attempt at exiting the valley, which required us to transfer some fuel from my spare tank to my buddies vehicle so that they would have enough for the drive back to a station. My vehicle had an off road trailer in tow and so we decided to drop in at the boulder field at the bottom of south pass so that we could go assess the road conditions without the burden of a trailer. We drove up to where we turned around before and ended up walk up the last 1.5 miles so that we didn't get ourselves into a situation. Most of the road seemed like it would be possible, with a 4x4 and chains, but when we got to the Pananmint overlook the conditions changed. As Major Tom mentioned the road was covered in 1-2' of snow and boulders had come dislodged from the cut above the road. At the time it did not look like any new boulders had fallen since Tom had driven the road but it would be easy to see how as the snow melted the ground would become more saturated and more rocks would come down. We returned to the parked vehicle and decided our only other option to get out of the valley was to drive out Lippincott Road, which with a trailer was a last resort. We ended up camping near the boulder field and got an early start the next morning, March 25th. With the trailer there were only a few difficult/pucker factor moments. This road is very narrow and with a wide trailer it is very important to understand where your tires are going to be as the trailer goes through. The rocky section near the bottom of the hill was a slow climb in low range but was doable and actually the numerous washes in the valley that you cross to get to the switchback section were probably more of a challenge than the rocky section. The washes would require a shorter wheelbase and high clearance to make it through or you will be spending a significant amount of time building up ramps. We ended up making it to the top of Lippincott pass but not with out one flat tire. There are a large number of fairly sharp rocks that shift and move as you drive and the sidewalls of my tires were torn up with one of these rocks actually puncturing the sidewall. This is not a road you want to be changing a tire on and the road surface is loose and the edge is steep so with one wrong move it could spell disaster. We did successfully change the tire on the narrow road and made it to the top with a sigh of relief.

 

I am not trying to dissuade potential visitors to the valley, but I would encourage you to consider the risk that Lippincott posses.

 

The remaining visitors in the valley are in my thoughts and I hope they are able to get out soon.

 

Happy Travels

[ski3pin]

Posted on the same forum today regarding South Pass -

 

"I just spoke with the Inyo County Road Department and they said they have crews working on South Pass right now.  They started yesterday and from what I was told they're going to clear the road quite a way into the valley.  They're aware people are stranded so it sounds like they're working to clear all the debris that's blocking the road."