Retracing the Final Steps of the Death Valley Germans

Welcome to Wonderhussy Adventure #284

Way back in July of 1996, a group of German tourists went missing in Death Valley National Park: a man, a woman and two small boys. Months later, their rented minivan was found stuck in a wash, waaaaaay down a remote side canyon -- but there was no trace of the people themselves. It took 13 years of searching before the mystery was finally solved -- this is an EXTREMELY remote and rugged part of Death Valley, and very difficult to access.
I found their story so haunting that I decided to go out there and see the place for myself. In this video, I retrace the final movements of the doomed tourists, from their campsite the night before they disappeared...all the way out to where their van was abandoned -- and beyond. You can see for yourself the kind of roads and terrain they were up against -- it's no joke.
This terrible, sad story is a chilling reminder of how dangerous backcountry travel can be...especially in Death Valley in the summertime. BE PREPARED!

Most of the information in this video came from this fascinating and thorough blog: http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/se...


Photos:
Interpol by JD210TX - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Interpol pin by Jd210tx - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
China Lake aerial: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
China Lake jet: U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Ian C. Anderson [Public domain]

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