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DEATH VALLEY EXCURSIONALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

44 / ORA AUGUST 2013

Picking the right 4WD guidedtour operator is like pickingyour friends. You want them tobe intelligent, loyal, trustworthy,knowledgeable and easy to bearound; because for the durationof your adventure, they are theones you’ll be depending on to:lead the way, set the pace, beyour spotter, help with trailrepairs, be the source of informa-tion on every rock, plant, crawlything, and safety as well as onthe human and geological histo-ry of the area, AND tell greatstories around the campfire.

Death Valley Excursion

An Overland Adventure with the Right Mix of Guide andPeople

Story Denis SnowPhotos Robin L. Martin

and Denis Snow

AUGUST 2013 ORA / 45

Tom Severin, President of BadlandsOff Road Adventures, Inc. is just sucha tour operator. In business for 12years, he is an International 4-WheelDrive Trainers Association© certifiedprofessional 4WD Trainer and aWilderness First Responder amongmany other certifications. He’s obvious-ly, very knowledgeable and leadsseveral excursions throughout the yearas well as conducting clinics on suchsubjects as: beginning off-roading,basic to advanced winching, tire repairon the trail, wilderness first aid, etc. Healso frequently emails out various arti-cles covering subjects like: BuildingYour Own First Aid Kit, Reading theWeather, Keep Recovery GearAccessible, etc., and other valuableadvice, tips for safe wheeling, newgear reviews, inside hints on upcomingevents, etc. You can sign up for theseat: 4x4training.com/contacts.html.

These are precisely the reasonswhy the folks in our Death ValleyExcursion group were on this trip.They’ve come to off-roading from dif-ferent paths and different levels ofexperience. Some are relative new-bies getting their first experiences;others initially joined 4x4 clubs andhave been on the trails for years.Other than experiencing two weeks

in the Australian Outback with thefolks from ARB a few years back, myoverlanding experience was nil. That’swhy I jumped at the chance to joinTom’s group on his 4 day (180 mi high-way/245 mi off-road) excursion toplaces probably 98.6% of the peoplewho visit Death Valley never experi-ence or maybe even know about.Friday morning with 11 people in

eight vehicles, we headed out ofRidgecrest, southwest of DV, up StateHighway 178 through the minerals

mining town of Trona, then jumped offthe highway in Panamint Valley. Aireddown and headed east, then south ongraded Wingate Road, to Goler WashRoad and into the DV Park boundary. The Death Valley area is an amaz-

ing place. Its human and geologicalhistory is astounding. No wonderthere has been so many books anddocumentary films done on it. It’simpossible to share all that we expe-rienced on this excursion in thepages allocated for this story. So getsome friends together, get a map,get a knowledgeable guide andGO…it’s awesome!

Checking out the route beforeheading out of Ridgecrest.

We hit our first major obstacle at MengelPass, (elev. 4326), a 120 ft. dry waterfall withthe added challenge of an almost 3-foot indiameter boulder someone rolled smack-dabin the middle of the path—which wasn’t easyto move out of the way.

Tom Severin spots George, with his importedItalian Leg Lamp strapped to the roof rack.

Mike’s excellent driving skills showed as hepiloted his Rubi and off-road teardrop trail-er through some twisty and tight terrain.

Why They Go With an Outfitter Like Tom Severin

“…Tom is organized and very thorough inplanning his trips and in the classes. He is awealth of knowledge and is very mechanicallyinclined. I’ve seen him change axles, dropdriveshafts and patch tires in the field. This isvery reassuring to someone like me and it isfor these reasons that I only go with Tom.” —Paul

“I got my first 4x at the age of twenty...Years later, I decided to take a couple ofclasses with Tom to refine my driving skillsand meet other people with the same inter-ests… We like to go on the trips that Tomdoes, because they are informal and we usu-ally get to see some of the friends we’vemade on previous excursions.” —Mike & Debi

“… Tom gives the history and interestingbackground to things and places we drive byor stop at. It is not just the driving to some-where and camping, it is the story of placesand good company in camp.I never worry about anything when I go on

Tom’s adventures. I once ended up on theside of a hill where I was holding the dooropen to keep my 4Runner from rolling. Tomused two winches in front and one in back toget me back to level ground.” —Skip

“We originally looked at 3 local clubs. Onewas a clique that was not open to new 4x4owners who didn’t own 2-door rock crawlers.The second were real jerks, took risks anddrank on the trail. The third did mostly adopta trail, and was not interested in camping.At this point we realized that any time and

money spent on certified training would keepus safe, cut years off the learning curve andallow us to see places that we would nevergo to by ourselves. —Ken & Cathy

“Badlands presented the opportunity to goout in a safe setting where a novice can enjoya trail without getting lost or hurt. Tom’scoaching helps me understand how my vehi-cle will behave under certain conditions andhow I should react…”—Deshan

46 / ORA AUGUST 2013

Ubehebe Crater wasformed 2000-7000years ago by a volcanicexplosion creating ahole ½-mile wide by600 ft. deep.

tWe came across a number ofgrave markers. Mostly of ill-fatedminers of the 1849s to the early20th century claimed by DeathValley’s harsh environment—which still claims ill-equippedtourists in this era. Tradition saysto place a rock on the graves tosymbolize never forgetting thedeceased.

tSeveral times we came acrosslocals like these who watched ourpassing parade of rigs. Burrosaren’t native to the area—theybusted free/were set free back inthe old mining days.

tTeakettle Junction. Years backsomeone left a teakettle there andthe tradition stuck. Some mem-bers of our group added to thedisplay.

qRacetrack—everybody’s seenpictures and heard about it.Geologists have studied thesetracks for years, yet the stones’apparent movement remain thesubject of research without a con-clusive answer.

pYou find some strange things in the desert.

AUGUST 2013 ORA / 47

2013 Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon

So we could keep up with the other trailmodified vehicles on this excursion, weborrowed a beautiful “Crush Clear Coat”colored 4-door that also gave us plenty ofroom for our provisions and camping gear.I’d spent several hours at a time in JKs

at media introductions, but never had theopportunity of spending 4 days with one.The Rubicon model has everything that oneneeds in an off-roading/overlanding vehicleright from the factory. The 3.6L V6 hasmore than enough power and torque; cou-pled with the 4:1 Rock-Trac® part-timesystem and Tru-Lock® front and rearaxles—there wasn’t anywhere we couldn’tgo—from rock gardens, to high angle upand side hills to sand washes. We also tookadvantage of the Uconnect® 430NCD/DVD/MP3/HDD/NAV and GPSNavigation while rocking out to SiriusXMtunes using the 6.5” touch-screen displayno matter where we were. The only time welost our GPS and XM tunes was when wewere in the tightest of tight sections in theslots of Titus canyon.

SOURCESBadlands Off Road Adventures, Inc.4x4training.comTom@4x4training.com310-613-5473

2013 Jeep JK Wrangler UnlimitedRubiconCheck out all of Jeep’s Trail Rated vehiclesat: Jeep.com

Tri-State Tourstristate.com.auMichael and Joanne McCulkin.If you ever want to experience theAustralian Outback—these are the peopleto contact.

The Eureka Sand Dunes, largest dunesin California at almost 700’ high.

Striped Butte consists of bands of different sediments that geologicalforces thrust up and twisted from thevalley floor.

uA geologists’ cabin atAnvil Springs offers greatviews of Striped Butte andthe valley below. It’s avail-able for free overnightstays. You just need toleave it as clean/cleanerthan you found it.

uChloride Cliff (elev. 5279ft.) looking into DeathValley proper towards theFurnace Creek andBadwater (elev. -279.8 ft.)area, with the PanamintRange on the right.

qTitus Canyon is a one-way trail from east to west.Its shear walls start toclose in—to the point itbecomes a slot canyon.

In the middle of deso-late Saline Valley is awarm and cold springsoasis—felt great!

A beautiful end to our day. p