19 replies to this topic

[DirtyDog]

I'm ready to take the 4Runner with the Casita down it.

WTW would like to sponsor that expedition

[Ted]

I see my co-pilot out walking and taking pictures....................

I'm ready to take the 4Runner with the Casita down it.

Since your co-pilot walked it despite being in the most capable vehicle to grace this website, is she aware of this offer?

[craig333]

Nice writeup. Think I'll pass on taking my truck up that. Maybe when i tow the Jeep.

[generubin]

Congrats on your getting out there and exploring, you guys will be hooked, I'm guessing.

I've been going to Saline for good 25 years now. Often, when the higher passes are snowed in, Lippincott Road is the easiest way in and out. It does have some scary drop offs but really, technically, it is not that difficult a road. Practically every year or so, I see some 2wd going up or down it. Just last year it was a 2wd Chevy Van 1500 going up. It made it, a bit of slipping here and there but that was it. It was a plumber's van full of plumbing equipment. The oddest story I can tell you is that I had a friend from Switzerland visiting me about 20 years ago. He rented an Oldsmobile 88 from Alamo. I had drawn up a map for him of places to see on his DV trip. I suggested the Racetrack (of which any sedan can visit unless it is snowed in, in which case chains are recommended regardless of what you drive) as a sight not to miss and I drew on the map Lippincott with a note that he should NOT go down it. He misunderstood the note and thought that I recommended that he MUST go down it. And so he did. Much to the amusement of bystanders. He made it to the Springs and soaked a few days and returned to my house via the South Pass with a big smile!

But then again, everybody knows what the fastest on-off road vehicle is: It's a rental car.

Someday I'll tell you about the Chevy Nova II that climbed over Mengel Pass via Goler Wash. Or how about all the Peugot sedans crossing the Sahara. Closer to home, most all the trucks the residents of Baja drive are 2wd and you see them everywhere. It really isn't about the trucks, the gear and the tires. It is all about going slow and the skill to read the road. As Turtle Jim used to say "I ain't never seen anyone break down by drivin' too slow".

[craig333]

Well I really won't recommend taking a passenger car. Places like Cadillac Hill got named that way because they drove in but they didn't drive out. Seen quite a few cars abandoned out in the hills.

[brp]

In April of this year me, my dog, my 4x4 Tacoma, and my ATC Bobcat went down the Lippincott. It STRESSED me out. Wheels hanging over edges, barely enough clearance to squeeze through tight spots, an iffy gas situation (turned out alright), no spotter, and all the stories of DEATH VALLEY on my mind. I was on the stock tires, which are rumored to be junk, with at least 1,000 pounds of payload in the truck. There are very few places that you could change a tire on that road, and forget about turning around, except at one spot, where there was a 5 foot deep mine that I guess they gave up on. I think it was called, "The Love Shack." The tires, Dunlop GrandTreks, survived the ordeal.

Once you are down out of the crazy stuff, there is still a really bad stretch of "road" that goes on and on, until you connect up with Saline Valley Road. The nice part about that road is that there is no potential to fall to your death.

I have done lots of adventurous things, and always taken warnings with a grain of salt. It is never as bad as people say I say. The Lippincott was a different deal though. You gotta respect the Lippincott.

I think it is awesome that the road is open. In our culture of restrictions, rules, and safety concerns, it is so great that any joe six pack can tackle the Lippincott with no restriction at all. Its seems that one drop of alcohol or careless youth would result in a dead person. Crazy that a guy drove a sedan down that, I would think the radiator, oil pan, floor boards, muffler and gas tank would all be ripped off. BLM land is sort of that way too, a little slice of the wild west.

[ski3pin]

Here is another classic Lippincott Trail story for our enjoyment.............

Lippincott

[Overland Hadley]

Here is another classic Lippincott Trail story for our enjoyment.............

Lippincott

Bet it was a rental.

As Ed Abbey once said, "All rental cars are 4WD".

[generubin]

What's the fastest on/off road vehicle you can get? ----- a rental car.

[MarkBC]

Bet it was a rental.

As Ed Abbey once said, "All rental cars are 4WD".

Years ago I flew to Anchorage and rented a car -- a Subaru -- for a 2-week vacation up there. For a couple/few days I drove up the north slope haul road as far as you could go without permit...and on that gravel road I got a star-crack in the windshield and a dent in the door-panel from a large piece of gravel that flew up and whacked the side.
When I turned in the rental car I was worried (since I'd declined their insurance), but nothing was said about the damage...and though I continued to worry for a couple weeks that they'd get me later, nothing ever came of it.
I guess that's considered normal wear-and-tear in Alaska! (or maybe I just got lucky).