The Death Valley Germans

[Kevin Crisp]

Since questions are often posted about Death Valley travel, I thought I'd post a link to a fascinating series written by the person who spent years and many trips searching for 4 Germans who disappeared in Death Valley. He eventually found them, or at least some of them, so don't skip to the end but follow his efforts and reasoning. I had a meeting with a ranger in the valley many years before the group was found, and as I'd always had an interest in their disappearance, I brought it up. The leading theory for that fellow was that it was staged due to financial troubles.

The author is a fine writer. There are lessons to be learned about desert conditions and survival and thinking outside the box. He continues to hunt for a hiker missing many years in Joshua Tree.

http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/

[Daniel Stone]

Interesting read. I was just up in the Trona/Searles Lake area two weeks ago, doing some rockhounding/digging for ballarat marble, green marble and enjoying some time outside of city life with some friends from a local lapidary club I'm a part of. It's easy to see how people(especially most out of towners, who only know that "it's the desert, bring some water and a hat") get lost/misguided and/or stranded in that territory. After awhile, everything starts to look the same. Shadows can play weird games, and can throw one's coordination off quite easily.

thanks for the link, he's a determined fellow, that's for sure!

[Kevin Crisp]

He certainly changed my mind from my knee-jerk conclusion that they were clueless.

[TXFZ1]

Very interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

David

[John Kasaian]

It made me think of a missing gal who was taken to the Browns Creek area, who was never found. We used to go up there and search on our own time.

[Kevin Crisp]

One of his other stories on the site is about (easily) finding a guy who walked away from Bad Water (probably suicidal) that the park service couldn't find.

It is amazing how much effort he puts into looking for the Joshua Tree missing hiker.

[AJ Edmondson]

Really interesting... amazing perseverance! I was totally captivated by this and found it to be one of the most fascinating sites I have ever visited. Thanks for posting Kevin!

Joel

[gary892]

Very interesting, and as was mentioned, totally captivating.

I think this story has implications and lessons for anyone who hikes, backpacks or drives into unfamiliar territory.
Even familiar territory for that matter.

Gary

[Peter Collins]

I read it all last night, and yes, for me the take-away was the same as described by gary892 above. Tough men (look at some of the distances they covered in one day), experienced in desert matters, careful planners, and yet they sometimes found themselves too close to the edge of--trouble, dehydration, needing food, beating the darkness to their vehicles. So, to be clear: my take-away is that I will use paved roads and roads the NPS declares open, carry a compass (and use it every few minutes) when leaving my vehicle, and keep looking behind myself to remember details of the trip I must take back to the vehicle.

[Drew Wiley]

It's been many years since I did any significant trekking beyond the roads or trails in Death Valley, though I have taken a number of short excursions more recently. I've never used a compass (though always carried one) and obviously nothing like a GPS. Once in awhile I do manage to get temporarily lost; but one
of my habits, and what I teach neophytes, is to frequently turn around and memorize the specific landmarks of where you came from, as well as what lies ahead. Since dunes and hummocks can indeed look different during different times of the day as the angle of the sun changes, note the alignment of distant peaks relative to one another in multiple directions. And overall, never underestimate distances, which can be very misleading in the desert, along with how much water you really need, which implies double of what you'd ordinarily plan, just in case that spring you were anticipating is missed or has run dry. You need enough fluid to get all the way back too. The same applies to driving beyond paved roads and potentially getting stuck in your vehicle. That has certainly happened to me a long long ways from anything. You want a lot of extra water and supplies with you, and ideally more than one spare tire. Smart off-roaders in
that part of the world never travel alone, but in little 4wd convoys, so one vehicle can pull another one out if necessary, or ferry people back, unstranded.
I came from a part of the Sierras where designated 4-wheel tracks were officially rated with a warning sign posted at the entrance. Easy or "Beginner" meant
that somebody with a Ford Explorer or jacked-up pickup would probably be killed in a rollover (and I've seen it happen more than once). "Advanced" will be posted with something like a 2 mile per DAY speed limit and a warning that failing to walk the trail in advance of driving might be fatal. I'm not into 4-wheeling
except to get to this or that trailhead for hiking; but all this goes to show that in any form of outdoor recreation, when in doubt first learn the ropes from someone who is experienced.

[Kevin Crisp]

What apparently happened to them, which happens frequently, is that they make a decision other than turning back to the known, thinking there is a better/easier way. Yes, it was a long way back to the cabin, but people visit there. I have to say the amount of water the writer was concerned about at the temperatures he was describing was an eye opener for me.

[tgtaylor]

The way I use a compass is to first plot my path from beginning to end and shoot a straight line azimuth of that path. Then I walk to the first landmark visible on that azimuth and then to the second...etc. If, along the way, I enter a canopy or other scenario that I have to go around losing sight of the landmark, I carefully note the direction and distance that I traveled off the azimuth and return to the original line and continue. It won't be perfect of course but you'll be close enough. If you're in a white out such as a blizzard and have to travel, following that azimuth is your only choice.

Thomas

[Filmnut]

Thank you for posting, quite a long and sad story.
Here in Canada, we have had kind of the opposite happen, where folks, sometimes tourists, sometimes not, get stuck in the COLD wilderness, some have died, or have needed rescue. I have travelled some of the North backcountry here, and it is similar, the vastness, the extreme temps, the remoteness are all unforgiving mistresses and will often confuse and trap some. Even experieneced folks often run into troubles.
Keith

[Jmarmck]

The same thing happens in the Mammoth Lakes area. People go cross country skiing, get lost or incapacitated in some way. They often are not found till summer, if at all. There are also the pilots that attempt to fly over the Sierra Nevada in a winter storm. Those that do not make it are more easily found because of the wreckage, but till not till summer.

[Drew Wiley]

I remember one year when a plane disappeared in the Mammoth area and all kinds of amateur pilots from the Central Valley volunteered to help search for it.
Eleven of them were lost! Unless you've got a twin engine Otter, the downdrafts around those high peaks are no place for a private plane. I found the remains of the original lost plane the next summer after the thaw. In the strangest case, a plane actually cleared a summit and nose-dived straight down a cliff face into deep snowdrifts. After the thaw, the plane was still perfectly intact, with its nose buried in a meadow like a cross-shaped sculpture. Don't know if the people died on impact, suffocated, or froze to death. Their bodies were recovered early summer. My dad flew in a private plane about once a week; but they always flew completely around the range, never ever over it.

[John Kasaian]

I remember one year when a plane disappeared in the Mammoth area and all kinds of amateur pilots from the Central Valley volunteered to help search for it.
Eleven of them were lost! Unless you've got a twin engine Otter, the downdrafts around those high peaks are no place for a private plane. I found the remains of the original lost plane the next summer after the thaw. In the strangest case, a plane actually cleared a summit and nose-dived straight down a cliff face into deep snowdrifts. After the thaw, the plane was still perfectly intact, with its nose buried in a meadow like a cross-shaped sculpture. Don't know if the people died on impact, suffocated, or froze to death. Their bodies were recovered early summer. My dad flew in a private plane about once a week; but they always flew completely around the range, never ever over it.
I've flown a Super Cub all over the Sierra.
Elevation is your friend and the box canyons, down drafts, lenticulars, density altitude, towering cumulus and rotor clouds are not.
A fighter jock from NAS Lemoore got stuck in one of the Flying Club Cessnas in rotor cloud. He survived but the Cessna's rivets were all stressed---the Cessna's airframe had to be junked.
The guys who fly those fire retardant bombers are courageous.

[CantikFotos]

Jerry Pournelle's Death Valley adventure still gives me the shivers.......

http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosreports/deathvalley.html

[tgtaylor]

How to spot the North Star (Polaris) should be mandatory education for those living in the northern hemisphere and the Southern Cross for those in the southern hemisphere.

Thomas

[toyotadesigner]

Thank you for the link to this very interesting report/documentation.

[toyotadesigner]

Thank you for the link to this very interesting report/documentation.

[toyotadesigner]

Thank you for the link to this very interesting report/documentation.

[axs810]

interesting read..thanks for sharing!

[ross]

Great read!