Heading out to Death Valley for a 4 day ride with two friends tomorrow for my first trip to DV for this winter season. Can't wait.
Sold my DRZ400S, which I loved, and bought a fuel injected KTM 500EXC. Because Safari doesn't have a 4.0 fuel tank yet for it, I bought an Acerbis 5.3 gallon fuel tank which should give me plenty of range for Death Valley. This will be the maiden voyage for this bike. Had a Corbin Seat made for it yesterday in Hollister and have a Giant Loop to haul my stuff.
The weather forecast says 60% chance for rain and thunder storms for tonight and Friday for this area.
Here is where we plan to ride:
Friday: Panamint Springs Resort to Cerro Gordo and we will ride the ridge to the Salt Tram.
Saturday: PSR to South Pass, Hot Springs, Steele Pass, Eureka Dunes, Crank Shaft, Gold Point, Castle, Beatty
Sunday: Beatty to Ubehebe Crater, Race Track, Lippincott, North Pass, Papoose Flat, Lone Pine, PSR
Monday: Ballarat, Pleasant Canyon, Middle Park, South Park
I will report back on conditions next week. I'm glad we are finally getting some rain in California to settle the dust.
Larryboy started a thread in early August, 2012 on Death Valley Road Conditions with some very good information. You can check out his thread here:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=815079