Great music and great description, glad you included the info about the Death Valley Germans, I can attest to how great the first hand account of the searches you linked is. Just finished reading it and found your video of the pass, unbelievable the Death Valley Germans even made it to the butte valley in a minivan
Just did it this past weekend in a stock 19’ Tacoma OR on 32s. Much much tougher than seen here and not for the faint of heart. My back bumper got whooped and I lost a couple mud flaps. Sweet trail 🤘🏽
So, I just watched your nice video of you driving your off-road vehicle over Mengel Pass/ Goler Wash. Looks like such fun! Well back around 1976, the morning after Halloween, we had spent the night at the Newman Cabin. I had gotten in touch with the owner, who was a Fireman Captain in Oxnard, I think, who told me how to find his cabin, and welcomed me to camp there. My wife and young son and I did that trip in a 1970 Ford E-300 1 ton, 2-wheel drive, auto trans, manual steering, manual brakes, ‘2-20’ air conditioning [open 2 windows, go 20 mph], no cellphone, no GPS, etc., regular road tires, although 10-ply as it was a 1-ton van, with about 175,000 miles on it! Back then, I was a mechanic at Les Bowen's Exclusive Jaguar Service in West Hollywood. Now, there was a big dryfall (a giant, smooth rock that water cascades over after a heavy rain) on the trip up to Mengel Pass, and I had to make a couple of runs at it to get over it, but the rest of the trail was passable. I believe that dryfall was blown up and removed by the BLM, I think it's called? (It's been a LONG time since I was in CA!) We stopped at Carl Mengel's monument for a bit to pay respects, and then headed down the trail into Striped Butte Valley, but it looked NOTHING like what I see in your video! It was all big boulders, with a little sand between, and when we were about half-way down, I could see that we would NEVER be able to turn around and go back up. I kept driving down, and eventually we saw Striped Butte, and just sat there enjoying the seclusion and the beauty of it all! Then, further along the trail we came to a farmhouse with a couple of sheds, a bus, a dump truck, etc. in a fenced-in area. The fence was about 10-feet high, and all barbed wire. 3 HUGE angry, snarling dogs greeted us when I stopped at the gate and waited for a very large man in coveralls come to see what was going on. I asked him for directions to the desert, and he was very pleasant and helpful. We shook hands on parting, and we went our merry way down to Death Valley, stopped and had lunch on the sand, just past where it gets covered with quicksand after a rain and the Army Engineers come and clear the trail with a grade-all, and then drove around a while and headed for home, which back then was No. Hollywood, CA. I believe that man I spoke to was connected, somehow, to Mr. Manson and his crowd. Once we had left Ballarat Road and drove into Goler Wash, we didn't see ANY other vehicles until we got out of the desert on the other side of the Panamint Mountains! Talk about REMOTE! lol
Nice, thanks for posting. Got a Cherokee Trailhawk..I think it would make Mengel ? I been to Barker & Stipped Butte but never over the pass. Cool you went down Anvil gotta remember that camp area if get shut out at Geologist
I just drove this in my 4runner on Halloween 2020. It was in a much worse condition with more drops and ruts. All in all it was fun cuz I had some good spotters, but it definitely provided many butt clenching moments.
The best things about Mengel Pass when me and my wife now went through Mengel Pass a few years ago when it was like a rock garden of 2-3 foot rocks making it hard to see the road. 1 there was no Jeeple traffic spotting each other over rocks the size of a curb. Not more than a few vehicles at all. 2 I did not need a hood on her or earplugs! she SAYS BECAUSE SHE WAS " spellbound" (I can accept that) 3 Doing it in my 87 Bronco I was/am building we made it through in good time without a stop or stall over rocks and no worry of breaking made me happy and proud. 4 When done through one of the roughest trails for miles I have been on so far I realized my hubs were not locked and I never put it in 4 wheel drive. WTF how did we do that ? I still smile thinking of that trip. (Big thanks to rear lockers and Brett King of King Shocks for making it happen in peace with no crowing besides picking the right line steered and speed). We made it into that beautiful place and got a place to stay (Don't Ask) bring a good tent with just us 2 in my burro.
Thanks so much for this perspective. I'd only found out about the German tourists recently, but they fascinate me endlessly, not the least of which is why, once they realised that they couldn't make it "up the pass" they didn't just turn around and go back the way they came. Also summer? What were they thinking?
Its my understanding that they were in a hurry & on a very tight budget and what they really wanted was to get to Yosemite National Park or Las Vegas and they thought a trip through "Death Valley" would be a shortcut that they could take to save time & money. But yeah, its called "Death"-valley for a reason. It would be like swimming in "Shark" Beach. However, they did visit a tourist center where they bought a map & other things and the person they spoke to admitted that the Germans did tell them of their intentions. What ticks me off is that the person at the tourist center never warned them of what they were getting into, especially with 2-kids. Had it been me, I would have advised against the trip. Especially in the middle of the summer. And I would have given the Germans a telephone number to call me when they make it out and if they fail to do that I would be notifying authorities asap. Again, its "Death Valley." So its not just the Germans that made questionable decisions, it was also the person at the tourist center that they spoke to, imho.
Great music and great description, glad you included the info about the Death Valley Germans, I can attest to how great the first hand account of the searches you linked is. Just finished reading it and found your video of the pass, unbelievable the Death Valley Germans even made it to the butte valley in a minivan
Just did it this past weekend in a stock 19’ Tacoma OR on 32s. Much much tougher than seen here and not for the faint of heart. My back bumper got whooped and I lost a couple mud flaps. Sweet trail 🤘🏽
Planning on heading through there tomorrow, what was the condition like?
So, I just watched your nice video of you driving your off-road vehicle over Mengel Pass/ Goler Wash. Looks like such fun!
Well back around 1976, the morning after Halloween, we had spent the night at the Newman Cabin. I had gotten in touch with the owner, who was a Fireman Captain in Oxnard, I think, who told me how to find his cabin, and welcomed me to camp there.
My wife and young son and I did that trip in a 1970 Ford E-300 1 ton, 2-wheel drive, auto trans, manual steering, manual brakes, ‘2-20’ air conditioning [open 2 windows, go 20 mph], no cellphone, no GPS, etc., regular road tires, although 10-ply as it was a 1-ton van, with about 175,000 miles on it! Back then, I was a mechanic at Les Bowen's Exclusive Jaguar Service in West Hollywood.
Now, there was a big dryfall (a giant, smooth rock that water cascades over after a heavy rain) on the trip up to Mengel Pass, and I had to make a couple of runs at it to get over it, but the rest of the trail was passable. I believe that dryfall was blown up and removed by the BLM, I think it's called? (It's been a LONG time since I was in CA!)
We stopped at Carl Mengel's monument for a bit to pay respects, and then headed down the trail into Striped Butte Valley, but it looked NOTHING like what I see in your video! It was all big boulders, with a little sand between, and when we were about half-way down, I could see that we would NEVER be able to turn around and go back up.
I kept driving down, and eventually we saw Striped Butte, and just sat there enjoying the seclusion and the beauty of it all!
Then, further along the trail we came to a farmhouse with a couple of sheds, a bus, a dump truck, etc. in a fenced-in area. The fence was about 10-feet high, and all barbed wire. 3 HUGE angry, snarling dogs greeted us when I stopped at the gate and waited for a very large man in coveralls come to see what was going on.
I asked him for directions to the desert, and he was very pleasant and helpful. We shook hands on parting, and we went our merry way down to Death Valley, stopped and had lunch on the sand, just past where it gets covered with quicksand after a rain and the Army Engineers come and clear the trail with a grade-all, and then drove around a while and headed for home, which back then was No. Hollywood, CA.
I believe that man I spoke to was connected, somehow, to Mr. Manson and his crowd.
Once we had left Ballarat Road and drove into Goler Wash, we didn't see ANY other vehicles until we got out of the desert on the other side of the Panamint Mountains!
Talk about REMOTE! lol
That sounds like quite an adventure!
One of favorite trails...
Thanks for posting!
🏜️✌️👀
Nice, thanks for posting. Got a Cherokee Trailhawk..I think it would make Mengel ? I been to Barker & Stipped Butte but never over the pass. Cool you went down Anvil gotta remember that camp area if get shut out at Geologist
Always the guy with the trailer holding everyone up..lol Nice video :)
I just drove this in my 4runner on Halloween 2020. It was in a much worse condition with more drops and ruts. All in all it was fun cuz I had some good spotters, but it definitely provided many butt clenching moments.
The best things about Mengel Pass when me and my wife now went through Mengel Pass a few years ago when it was like a rock garden of 2-3 foot rocks making it hard to see the road. 1 there was no Jeeple traffic spotting each other over rocks the size of a curb. Not more than a few vehicles at all. 2 I did not need a hood on her or earplugs! she SAYS BECAUSE SHE WAS " spellbound" (I can accept that) 3 Doing it in my 87 Bronco I was/am building we made it through in good time without a stop or stall over rocks and no worry of breaking made me happy and proud. 4 When done through one of the roughest trails for miles I have been on so far I realized my hubs were not locked and I never put it in 4 wheel drive. WTF how did we do that ? I still smile thinking of that trip. (Big thanks to rear lockers and Brett King of King Shocks for making it happen in peace with no crowing besides picking the right line steered and speed). We made it into that beautiful place and got a place to stay (Don't Ask) bring a good tent with just us 2 in my burro.
Thanks so much for this perspective. I'd only found out about the German tourists recently, but they fascinate me endlessly, not the least of which is why, once they realised that they couldn't make it "up the pass" they didn't just turn around and go back the way they came. Also summer? What were they thinking?
Its my understanding that they were in a hurry & on a very tight budget and what they really wanted was to get to Yosemite National Park or Las Vegas and they thought a trip through "Death Valley" would be a shortcut that they could take to save time & money. But yeah, its called "Death"-valley for a reason. It would be like swimming in "Shark" Beach. However, they did visit a tourist center where they bought a map & other things and the person they spoke to admitted that the Germans did tell them of their intentions. What ticks me off is that the person at the tourist center never warned them of what they were getting into, especially with 2-kids. Had it been me, I would have advised against the trip. Especially in the middle of the summer. And I would have given the Germans a telephone number to call me when they make it out and if they fail to do that I would be notifying authorities asap. Again, its "Death Valley." So its not just the Germans that made questionable decisions, it was also the person at the tourist center that they spoke to, imho.
What trailer do you have? I'm getting an Off Grid Trailer Expedition 2.0 in 5 weeks and pumped to have it.
I'm pulling an Adventure Trailers Horizon Trailer.
Cool, I had long wondered how Mengel Pass compares to Steel Pass. Mengel looks a little less technical than Steel. Would you agree?
I think Mengel can be a lot more variable than Steel, which is very much just rocks.
ace love mengel
What is being towed?
Off-Road Adventure Trailer
Next best option, horse camping!!