Las Vegas Boy Dies After Getting Stranded in Death Valley

Las Vegas Now ^ | Aug 7, 2009 | AP

[GOP_Lady]

Or Stovepipe (something or other), I should say.

[GOP_Lady]

Stovepipe Wells, is it?

I have to look at the park map again on the PDF I posted.

[Ed_From_Ohio]

Several years ago I was living in Ridgecrest (right outside Death Valley) and my parents came to visit me. We planned a trip to Las Vegas via Death Valley. At one point my dad thought it would be fun to take a more “scenic” route and guided me along a “short cut”. Unfortunately this road was full of potholes and I was an inexperienced driver (going way too fast) and got a flat front tire. After inspecting my rear tire I noticed it also had a nice size bulge in it, but it hadn't blown. I put the spare on and then I carefully drove out of there. The scary thing is that based on the description of this article we were close to where this incident occurred because it was not far after leaving Trona. However, we were still on an actual road and there were at least two people that we passed taking nature photos along the way, so we weren't completely hopeless if the other tire blew. Still, reading this article brings back those fears that I had at the time of how close we were to being in real danger.

[Aliska]

I think we were on R66 coming from San Bernardino to Las Vegas, then then Hoover Dam and the south rim of Grand Canyon, whatever road it was then. It was awfully hot, windows open, nothing but hot air blowing on us. And we weren't used to the lack of humidity. The scenery was bleak, think there were some Joshua trees or maybe that was in AZ or NM. It was a long time ago.

One of the most glorious sights of my life OTOH was coming out of Reno and seeing Lake Tahoe for the first time, so blue and beautiful with the pine trees. It wasn't as commercialized as I imagine it to be now, probably summer homes for some, but simpler than I would imagine now.

We went through there years later, still no a/c, but it was during the winter, totally different but still bleak. Long stretch of driving.

[deport]

Badwater Ultramarathon, ran July 13 - 15, 2009.

The 135 mile race starts at Badwater, Death Valley which is 280' below sea level and finishes at the portal to Mt. Whitney at 8,360'.

Winner finished the 135 miles in 23:39:18

[vetvetdoug]

My Sister took her little MG thru the Desert one August...she had to get four new tires at Needles because her tires almost melted off. Not a smart move but she got thru the Desert.

[altair]

The 135 mile race starts at Badwater, Death Valley which is 280' below sea level and finishes at the portal to Mt. Whitney at 8,360'.

That's cool. I had never heard of that before. It sounds like it's kind of an anti-Iditarod.

[FastCoyote]

I live in Vegas, only 106 here. If you were outside all day, I’d guess you’d need near a gallon a day per person,or 128 ounces per day times 5 days times two people=1280 ounces. They had 24 X 16 oz=384.

Verdict = dead

[deport]

It sounds like it’s kind of an anti-Iditarod.

---

Yep, except that the only dogs pulling you along are attached to your legs. This is essentially a non stop race as when the time starts the clock never stops until you cross the finish line. This is an endurance race of stamina and strength. The winner this year averaged about 5.5 miles per hour.

[TChad]

24 16-oz. bottles of water... seems like plenty for 5 days in the desert if you were in survival mode.

That is a total of 3 gallons for the boy, his mother, and the dog. The usual recommendation is a minimum of one gallon of water per person per day.

I have been in Death Valley during the summer a couple of times. It's hot, but not particularly dangerous if you stay in the well traveled areas.

[BunnySlippers]

Trees? What trees?

[altair]

My father took us there when I was really young and made us get out of the car and stand by the sign for a picture. It was hot.

[eddie willers]

I ran over a roadrunner on I-5 near Lost Hills.

In an ACME car?

[jocon307]

“Sounds like an alleged killing. alleged.”

Yeah, agreed. But confirmed stupidity. confirmed.

[EternalVigilance]

Drove in and out of Vegas a few weeks ago. It was 115 one day and 118 the next. I can’t imagine how hot it was in DV.

Went north out of Vegas, passing just east of DV and it was really HOT. Pretty sure I drove past the prison they have OJ locked up in.

Took the east entrance into Yosemite...man, that is one big hill! Sure was a LONG shortcut to Sacramento. Glad I did it though. It was beautiful.

Prayers for this poor family. Losing a kid is about as bad as it gets in this fallen world of ours...

Folks need to remember that the wilderness is a dangerous place, and that the real world is not a video game or a picnic.

[altair]

If you were outside all day, I’d guess you’d need near a gallon a day per person,or 128 ounces per day times 5 days times two people=1280 ounces. They had 24 X 16 oz=384.

By that computation, it's a day and a half worth of water. If she had stayed in the car until sunset, burning all of the rest of the gas in the tank on the A/C, then starting at sunset, retraced their path on foot, that would have been plenty of time to walk the 20 miles back to Trona even if they had to do the last bit in the daytime when it would be the hottest.

They were out there for camping, but I doubt they had gear for hiking, thus no hiking backpacks to help carry stuff.

[altair]

But confirmed stupidity. confirmed.

They had enough supplies to walk a mere 20 miles if she hadn't panicked.

[BunnySlippers]

Look at the terrain. Twenty miles in Death Valley is an eternity! The searing heat ... the wind and sand.

[altair]

The winner this year averaged about 5.5 miles per hour.

That's rather impressive. May I presume, like the Iditarod that racers have to carry their own supplies?

[housemouse 1]

very true, you beat me too saying that, lol