Jeep Rental Death Valley

[Seymour]

Read the automobile rental contract carefully before you rent a vehicle with the intention of taking it offroad (on a non-paved road). The last time I tried to rent a vehicle in Arizona (for use in Monument Valley) the rental agreement clearly forbade off road use; this applies to all vehicles, not only 4wd. Ignore such a contract provision at your own risk..

[mentalcrisis00]

Richard, I got back from DV on the 15th and WOW what an experience. As far as the rental went I reserved and Jeep Liberty for $320 for 9 days in all. However when I got there they tried to rope me into a Chevy Tahoe for $1100!!!! They got me in the seat but I finally came to my senses and said no I need something smaller and less costly. They finally put me into a smaller Kia Sonata which was $250 for 9 days. This is the first time I had rented a car, went to DV, and my car insurance is not very good here at home. So I bought the insurance and road side assistance which cost an extra $300. So I ended up spending around $550 for the rental for 9 days. Which isn't bad, when I went to Florida with friends my buddy got roped into a 2 door ford focus for $600 for 6 days WITHOUT insurance.

Anyhow the rental was fine, my nephew and I slept in it for the week we were in DV and I was able to get a ton of digitals, video, and used up a 50 sheet box of trix and 10 sheets of color. I'll have my film up soon, I've been recovering (twisted my ankle and walked on it for 5 days) and we've been snowed in here for a week. Keep in mind that you might not have what you reserved when you get to the rental office. However my experience with Enterprise was good, but next time I won't get the insurance and definitely not the road side assistance. There is no cell reception in DV and there are plenty of Rangers riding around that can help for free. This was all unknown to me at the time. We actually had a dead battery at Ubehebe crater and a German gentleman drove me to a Ranger station and they had someone up there in an hour to jump me.

Good luck with your trip Rich!

-Ray

[Richard K.]

Thanks for the excellent report Ray! Did you get to the Racetrack? Please post photos if you can...

[mentalcrisis00]

Rich we did not make it to racetrack or eureka dunes like i had hoped. The gas station at scottys castle has been closed a long time so the nearest place to get gas is Stovepipe Wells about 45 minutes away. And it's another hour to racetrack and 2 hours or so to eureka, the roads are mostly washed out so it's 4WD only.

Also concerning gas DO NOT get it at furnace creek or Shoshone. It's $4.60 a gallon at either, go 20 minutes further to Stovepipe wells where it's $3.40. If you head threw Pahrump on your way in fill up on gas there because it's $2.99, same with vegas. If you want an interesting place to hit on your way in I'd recommend Tacopa hot springs, it's actually a better way to go than Pahrump because it's shorter and more scenic. Look at your map and you'll see Tacopa at the southern part just outside DV, take the Old Spanish Trail and you can stay at Tacopa for $16 a night and use the hotsprings as much as you like. Rose is the manager there and she's really nice and can give you alot of great suggestions for scenic places in the area.

On our DV trip we went from start to finish Vegas, Pahrump, Mount Perry, Zabriskies Point, Badwater Basin, Natural Bridge, Artists Palette, Stovepipe Wells, Mesquite Dunes, Titus Canyon, Ubehebe Crater, Tacopa Hot springs, China Ranch Date Farm, and then old Spanish Trail back to Vegas in 9 days. So it was a full trip. I have my best digital shots on my flickr page if you want to check it out. I can't get to the lab till this Friday and hopefully I can develop all my B&W in a day. So 4x5 stuff will have to wait till next week, I hope it all came out ok I was a bit concerned about the carryon xrays, but only went threw twice so should be fine.

Hope this helps you out a bit with your trip. My favorite place was Mesquite Dunes and the Hot Springs personally.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1469910...7625852573216/

PS: oh and if you intend to do 4x5 make sure you have a sturdy tripod, I was forced to bring my Benro travel angel because it had to fit in my checked bag. However the winds made it very hard to shoot over f22 most of the time, especially on mountain sides. I'm sure I lost a good chunk of my shots to blur but I have my fingers crossed. Next time I think I'll drive the entire way out there just so I can bring my heavy weight bogen tripod and tent.