Hey everyone,

With any luck, I'll be headed down to Furnace Creek, CA this coming weekend with a friend who is running the Death Valley marathon and I'm hoping some of you guys that frequent this are can help me out with some information.

First, our plans were to spend one night at the NPS campground just up the road from the airport in Furnace, but it is going to be closed for several months starting on February 1st. They are moving all the tent campers up to Texas Springs campground on the other side of Furnace, a bit further away from the airport. Our second night we are planning on spending over at Chicken Strip. Do any of you know if camping is allowed on the field at Furnace? Would anyone have an issue if we threw our tent up under a wing on the ramp or in the dirt next to the ramp? I wonder because it is shown as being operated by the NPS.

Secondly, I've read the other threads on Chicken Strip, especially regarding the military traffic in the area. For those that have camped there, did you just camp at the uphill end of the strip by your plane? Any additional info, especially from those of you that go there frequently or have been there recently, that you deem important would be appreciated.

Third, I thought about checking out Bacon Strip while down there. Problem is, I'm having a hard time locating it on Google earth to get an exact fix on where it is in relation to everything else. Can anyone verify that this is the right lat/long for it? On another thread I found N34 59.76' W116 10.90'. I searched this area and found no structures or anything that resembled anything close to a strip. If someone could give me a radial and range off a VOR and/or corrected lat/long (or both) I'd appreciate it. I didn't see it listed on Shortfield, so maybe we can get it added on there too.

Lastly, I've not done any low, GA flying in this area, so if there are any "don't miss places" down there, please point me to them. We won't have a ton of time, but I'd hate to miss something really cool when I'm that close. If any BCPers are out and about that weekend and want to meet up, let me know. We have to be back for the Superbowl party Sunday afternoon and will be leaving late Sunday morning. We will most likely be going down, and coming back via Wendover, Ely, Tonopah, Lida Jct, and on to Furnace.

We are really looking forward to a good weekend of flying and seeing some new country. I just wish my leg was up to running the race too but I managed to do something to it a few weeks ago. Probably for the better. After the last marathon I did, there was no way I could fly a plane!

Cory, this might help a little for the Bacon Strip.


http://skyvector.com/?ll=35.12635132209338,-116.06632863629603&chart=24&zoom=3&plan=G.34.9927778827325,-116.18355042756778:A.K2.0O2

Howdy- I used to be based out of Beatty, NV which is just a ten minute hop to the north of the Furnace Creek strip. I have flown into Furnace Creek about a zillion times and have never seen anyone camping there so do not know the regs but you are in the park and on the edge of a ritzy area right there so the may not allow it. You could hop over the ridge to Beatty and either camp or call the "Burro Inn" for a ride into town and a hotel. Something worth seeing is Ryioloite which is a ghost town just south of Beatty. Sure wish I could join you it is a great place to fly this time of year. Enjoy!

58Skylane wrote:Cory, this might help a little for the Bacon Strip.


http://skyvector.com/?ll=35.12635132209338,-116.06632863629603&chart=24&zoom=3&plan=G.34.9927778827325,-116.18355042756778:A.K2.0O2

Cory this is correct. You will see the places to land when you get there. If it rains don't go. Mudd.
When we were at Chicken there were 3 camps around the parking area.
Kern Valley is a great place with good camping. Great restaurant. Rick[701pilot] and Joe[172heavy] are good guys.
Giant Rock was a cool place. Watch the whoops. There is a semi smooth area in the middle.
N34 19.8926 W116 22.125

Have fun

I've thrown a sleeping bag under the wing at Furnace Creek several times, and no one has ever said a word. I think you could do the same thing at Stovepipe Wells, although I haven't tried it yet.. but I'm going to .

Hi Cory,

Do keep your head on a swivel; two weeks ago on a Friday afternoon we were at the Chicken Strip when an F-16 made a single pass over the hot springs at 100 ft AGL. I haven't seen jets on Sat or Sundays, though.

We camped at the upper end of the strip and rode MTB's to the HS. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Mike

Cory,
What day will you be down. I'm off Wed & Thu and would fly out and meet
You in the desert Thursday but have to be back to work Friday for night shift

Bacon strip is 20nm from Dagget VOR on 073 heading. you see a little dry lake on the sectional. Its real hard to pick it
out on google earth but once you get there it pops out pretty good.

David

m7flyer wrote:Bacon strip is 20nm from Dagget VOR on 073 heading. you see a little dry lake on the sectional. Its real hard to pick it
out on google earth but once you get there it pops out pretty good.

David

Another good way to find the Bacon Strip with no GPS from the south is to fly to Ludlow and then follow the dirt road straight north to the second smaller dry lake.

Awesome! Thanks everyone!

Joe, thanks for the info. I think we will camp under the wind until someone tells us to move...at which time we will ask for a ride to the campground that they are using which is 2 miles away.

Mike, thanks for the heads up. Yeah I've read that there are lots of fast movers.

David, we will be there Friday early afternoon. I'm guessing we will set up camp, go check out a few places, spend the night at Furnace, then head over to Chicken Strip after the race on Saturday. Maybe some running around Saturday afternoon, spend the night at Chicken Strip, then head home Sunday late morning. If you can make it over, that would be great! Maybe we could meet at Kern Valley for dinner or something.

Pat, thanks. I believe I have located it.

Rob, can you point to me where Giant Rock is? That place looked really cool in your pics. Thanks for the heads up! It's not soft is it! (Horseshoe reference).

On top of it all, my leg is feeling better so I might do one of the races after all!

Made it back from Death Valley. What a great weekend! Perfect weather for a run and for flying. We decided to forego Bacon Strip this time just so that we weren't rushed. Ended up over at Chicken Strip a couple of times, once for the night. Wow! What a place! It was a great run, with a great friend, and some great flying. As soon as I was home, I had to make sure to help Dee out with the kids since she let me run off for the weekend. As a result, it will be a while before I can get a video and trip report done, but here are some pics.


Furnace Creek, CA


-211 Field Elevation


First visit to Chicken Strip! Thanks again to all of you guys that made it happen!






The hot springs were pretty amazing.


Trying my sewing skills to hopefully give the sock a bit more life.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Really pretty country in the Bishop area.

Great pics! Glad you had a great trip.

Nice pictures Cory! Your photos give a good perspective as to what is there. Thanks.
Hope to make it out there in April or May.
HC

You'll love it Ernie. It really is a neat place. Definitely a "must see" place. I wish I could have helped out in October to get this place back open. Again, big kudos for those that did!

Finally got a trip report and video up. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=9558