

Our trucks at the Eureka Dunes​

I'll start with my trip report and I'm sure others will share their's.So the much awaited Thu afternoon finally arrives. The gf and I pack a few last min items and hit the highway full of excitement and anticipation of exploring DV. I've done DV once before on a sport bike but that's a very different experience than an offroading trip:After five hours or so we arrive in DV. We topped up in Olancha and filled our 8gals fuel cans. We're also carrying 9gals of water on top of the standard camping gear, food etc. Curiosity got the best of me and I made a quick stop at a Cat Scales along the way to weigh my truck. The report card is in and it says 5260lbs. Just barely within GVWR but almost 1000lbs over the listed curb weight. Onward with the pics:We were staying at PSR this evening. The temps were perfect as we enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio of the PSR restaurant. The gas was $6.50/gal here, still cheaper than many countries but we were glad we filled up in Olancha thanks to the tips from other ExPo members! We grabbed an ice cream bar for dessert and hit the bed after a nice hot shower.We left PSR at about 8AM to meet up with the rest of the gang at Wildrose campground. The gang was dlichterman (Tundra), Captm (Tacoma+Flipac) and lbrito (Rubi UL+M416). We arrived at Wildrose, said our hellos and while Captm was breaking down camp the rest of us decided to go see the Kilns which dllictherman and Captm already explored the previous day:The Kilns were nice, there's a great view of the valley from behind the Kilns. As I got back to my truck I noticed water dripping from the front bumper...then my heart jumped to my throat, oh s#^t! that's coolant. Did I put a hole in my radiator? I popped the hood and sure enough it was coolant as much as I wanted it to be the windshield wiper fluidBy this time others came up and I think everyone had that 'are you f'n serious rightnow??' look. I muttered the ugly words of realization 'welp, looks like our trip is over' and the look on my gf's face was like she just saw a ghost. I decided to let the car cool off and coast down the steep decend back to the Wildrose campground and see what we'll do. May be I limp it to Stovepipe wells where we were headed to pick up our park passes etc. Well turns out that perhaps the radiator cap is bad and not holding enough pressure. I also removed the aux lights from the bumper as they do block some air flow. Looks like we'll be able to make the trip nursing the truck by turning on the heater full-blast as soon as the ScanGuage tells me the water temp is going north of 197deg. A few times even with the heater on full blast the water temps stayed at 202degs but we didn't have the boil-over like at the Kilns.On the way to Stovepipe we took a detour to:Next we picked up our passes at Stovepipe, then headed over to the dunes just about a mile or so up the street for a quick lunch. At lunch we realized we made a pretty good time and decided to do Titus Canyon on Fri instead of Sat and this way those that were heading home Sun could also see the Eureka Dunes and then we'll all head home together instead of Mon. Perfect! So we ran over to Beatty to top up. I picked up a gal of coolant just to be on the safe side and then it was Titus Canyon.We saw a Prius along the way which was begging for mercy- I'm all for exploring and I think Titus Canyon is very doable in just about anything with a bit of ground clearance and the right tires but the media is full of proof how some people get in over their heads, some live to tell about it and unfortunately some don't.After Titus Canyon we headed over to the Mesquite campground for the night. We made camp, dinner, built a fire, watched the stars, roasted cinnabons and went to bed. The next morning wolverine350 found us (thanks to dlitcherman's spotwalla tracking and some good CSI work by wolverine350). I realized how over the years I've met so many people here on ExPo and everyone without exception has been so friendly, helpful and this group was no different. We instantly felt like we knew eachother for a long time, some ribbing, some jokes, some 'my truck's better than your's' but always respectful.