brianinca
Well-Known Member
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- #1
Spring break for my wife this year worked for a trip across the Mojave. I'd done it with buddies RIGHT before we met, back in 2019, and her being a geology nerd, I've been wanting to take the trip with her ever since.
Did the real deal old road this time, starting from Ft Mohave through the Dead Mountains. WAY more "wheeling" oriented that way, instead of the maintenance / line roads between Ft Piute and Laughlin like my first trip. Like, sorry honey, I didn't remember it being this rowdy!
Casebier's book and an outstanding map, both sourced by my wife (geography nerd, too), made driving the "Old Government Road" a lot more interesting, and more authentic, than just Google Maps or OnX. We also turned up the comfort to 11 with the Jeep trailer, a mildly updated M101 A3.
Our passenger side Roam got ripped off by wind folding it up in Needles, easy enough fix with the sheetmetal folks I know at work. The flowers on the first leg definitely made up for the night time arrival and early morning launch! So much green was a little disorienting, but it was gorgeous in all the best ways the desert can be.
Found a good camping spot in the Joshua forest north of the road, but WOW was it chilly at 4400'! Electric heater in the tent, for the win!
The queensize mattress and bed beat all Hell out of the cot I used last time, and the tent rooms from Roam are very well done. The new portable fridge made life way better, had ice for backup but never again otherwise.
Joshua trees are stabby, BTW.
The flowering and fruiting Joshua trees were SUPER cool, definitely a high point of the water situation this year.
Since marrying a woman from Arizona has updated my cactus knowledge, it was really neat to see some of the less common varieties called out by the book, with the incredible geology of the Mojave for backdrop. Pancake cactus!!
Dropping into the wash was not what I expected, and my wife was not happy at how steep it was - but Tigger and JT did fine, and we had our excitement for the day (her picture, with her emphasis).
We hit as many of the springs as we could, Rock Springs and such, and enjoyed the evidence of history alongside the spectacular views.
We did the obligatory mailbox stop, it's a nice SoCal tradition.
We made it right close the the lava tubes in time to find a nice spot with a fire ring off a side road, up a wash. Lower down, well protected from wind, and close to our morning visit to start the day, worked out great.
First, and I mean FIRST, time we saw ANYONE on the road was at the lava tubes, and the parking lot was full of 4x4's. My wife has a thing about volcanos, she's been across the world to visit them, and the field of cinder cones was tall grass for her.
Soda Lake was off limits, and that was kind of a bummer, so we bombed up North to Baker and hooked it to the Rasor OHV area to get to the Mojave River for the final leg through Afton Canyon. I knew this would be my wife's favorite part of the trip, and I wasn't wrong.
Great cactus flowers, too!
The water crossing was a cakewalk because the railroad company has graveled everything for their use, so it wasn't the usual drama - fine by me!
We lucked out with great weather for the trip, not a total shutout from the flooding, and a much more enjoyable experience with the book's descriptions and details.
My wife is hot to show me the Sonoran deserts in Arizona she loves so much, but we'll head to Sequoia National Forest this summer first. The grandkids from LA need a chance to do some real car camping at high altitude! California is a fantastic place to play around!
Did the real deal old road this time, starting from Ft Mohave through the Dead Mountains. WAY more "wheeling" oriented that way, instead of the maintenance / line roads between Ft Piute and Laughlin like my first trip. Like, sorry honey, I didn't remember it being this rowdy!
Casebier's book and an outstanding map, both sourced by my wife (geography nerd, too), made driving the "Old Government Road" a lot more interesting, and more authentic, than just Google Maps or OnX. We also turned up the comfort to 11 with the Jeep trailer, a mildly updated M101 A3.
Our passenger side Roam got ripped off by wind folding it up in Needles, easy enough fix with the sheetmetal folks I know at work. The flowers on the first leg definitely made up for the night time arrival and early morning launch! So much green was a little disorienting, but it was gorgeous in all the best ways the desert can be.
Found a good camping spot in the Joshua forest north of the road, but WOW was it chilly at 4400'! Electric heater in the tent, for the win!
The queensize mattress and bed beat all Hell out of the cot I used last time, and the tent rooms from Roam are very well done. The new portable fridge made life way better, had ice for backup but never again otherwise.
Joshua trees are stabby, BTW.
The flowering and fruiting Joshua trees were SUPER cool, definitely a high point of the water situation this year.
Since marrying a woman from Arizona has updated my cactus knowledge, it was really neat to see some of the less common varieties called out by the book, with the incredible geology of the Mojave for backdrop. Pancake cactus!!
Dropping into the wash was not what I expected, and my wife was not happy at how steep it was - but Tigger and JT did fine, and we had our excitement for the day (her picture, with her emphasis).
We hit as many of the springs as we could, Rock Springs and such, and enjoyed the evidence of history alongside the spectacular views.
We did the obligatory mailbox stop, it's a nice SoCal tradition.
We made it right close the the lava tubes in time to find a nice spot with a fire ring off a side road, up a wash. Lower down, well protected from wind, and close to our morning visit to start the day, worked out great.
First, and I mean FIRST, time we saw ANYONE on the road was at the lava tubes, and the parking lot was full of 4x4's. My wife has a thing about volcanos, she's been across the world to visit them, and the field of cinder cones was tall grass for her.
Soda Lake was off limits, and that was kind of a bummer, so we bombed up North to Baker and hooked it to the Rasor OHV area to get to the Mojave River for the final leg through Afton Canyon. I knew this would be my wife's favorite part of the trip, and I wasn't wrong.
Great cactus flowers, too!
The water crossing was a cakewalk because the railroad company has graveled everything for their use, so it wasn't the usual drama - fine by me!
We lucked out with great weather for the trip, not a total shutout from the flooding, and a much more enjoyable experience with the book's descriptions and details.
My wife is hot to show me the Sonoran deserts in Arizona she loves so much, but we'll head to Sequoia National Forest this summer first. The grandkids from LA need a chance to do some real car camping at high altitude! California is a fantastic place to play around!
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