I want to thank everyone for a great trip with a great group. Mary and I had a real good time and plan on doing it again.
For the lucky ones on this trip who got Friday off the run started early. We met up and made our way to 29 palms. Jordan, Randy, Mark, Chris, Christian, Randalf and I gassed up in Amboy and headed for the dirt. We crossed the preserve south of the 40 heading to Laughlin. This road isn't as famous but I love the geology and mountains here the best. If beautiful mountains and colorful horizons make you new, this shouldn't be missed. We made it to the 40 and highway'ed it the rest of the way.
Friday night we met up after a shower and a short nap and, once again, hit the road. We went north of Laughlin, into the desert, in search of relaxation. We drove for a few miles and found a cove right off of Lake Mojave. Chairs were set up and good times were had. The moon was bright and directly overhead. Although the stars were hidden by the moon, we could see each other and have great conversation. The moon and the stars overhead and the cool breeze coming off the lake on a warm summer night. That was a great moment. After a cooler full of beer, it was time to head back to the hotel. Next year, I'm camping right here! DIBS!
Saturday morning came too quick and with a pounding head ache and cotton mouth we got the day started. We get to the meet spot of the Avi Casino to meet up with everyone as they roll in. Some met new friends, others reunited with old friends and others pumped gas for, what felt like, 45 min's. We had a quick little meeting, introduced ourselves and rolled out for mile 0.0 of the Mojave Rd.
Mile 0.0 is the Colorado River so as we making our way there one of our members had a TIA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_ischemic_attack About 50ft from Mile 0.0 John drove his X down a little ravin and got buried in about two feet of sand. Instead of the group running to his aide, we all ran with our cameras blazing. After an ear full from most of us and airing down, he got himself out. We lined up at the river, took some pictures and got going. About .07 miles into our trip, John realized he didn't have his phone on him so he turned around. Turns out, during his self recovery out of the sand, and two pairs of MT tires digging in the sand, he managed to burry his iPhone under 3ft of sand. Some quick thinking by another member fired up the "find my iPhone" app and the buried beeping phone was recovered. It was the beast GeoCatche of the trip. John quickly signed his phone and buried it again. J/K We were finally rolling down the road ready for two days in the dessert.
The first few hours were a mix of beautiful desert landscape and excited chatter on the radio. Our fist stop was fort Piute to check out the remains. Snacks were had and pictures were taken. Bio-Breaks were needed and we were back on the road. The next few hours were overwhelmingly beautiful. The Joshua tree forest was a mere blur as Christian and I blasted through the narrow gated S curves of the forest going 40+ mph. Mary kept rolling down her wind and pushing that mirror back out every time i smacked it on a tree. After about 20 min's of high fiving Joshua trees, we realized we were about 15 miles ahead of the group.
We eventualy made it to Hole-in-The-Wall camp site for some great geology and clean toilets. We dropped our trash, emptied our tanks and kept going. Shortly after we got pulled over by a ranger. As everyone pointed at me and said "him, that guy, go talked to him!" I thanked god I had just emptied my rig of about 20 empty cans of carbonated refreshments. After treading lightly, answering politely and showing him our permit, we were once again, on our way.
Our next stop was going to be camp for the night, but not before the whoops!
As we head into camp we were faced with about 5 miles of woops. All un even hight and unevenly spaced, there was no rhythm or right speed to be had. We just had to power through them. Camp was just ahead at Beal Mt. A favorite of SCCX in the past, it has been revitalized as our go to spot now.
We immediately set up tents and got to cooking. The feast would rival that of most barmitsfas. We had fresh grill carne-asada. Outstanding soups, Grilled Brats, Chile-Colorado, Fresh Baked Pizzas, Baked Potatoes, an awesome jar of fresh home made salsa, tons of chips, rice, beans, tortillas and an entire dessert bar. We settled in by the 10ft fire to talk tech and trash.
Sunday morning came and our campsite west of a small mountain gave us all the shade we needed to get going. I had my usual of hard boiled eggs and DosXX to get the day started right. A few of us went off to the side popped a few rounds into some boxes. There was quit a bit of fire power on this trip and I thank god it was all handled responsibly. Our next stop would be the 'Mail Box" and on to the the "Lava Tubes". Chris got a flat tire that was changed in true F1 pit style. Once we made it to the lava Tubes, It was a nice 50 degrees underground and were able to get some awesome pictures.
We then moved onto Soda Lake for the filming of the next Nissan Xterra commercial. Jordan and Christian were doing warp 9 while cross crossing each other, very cool. Duffer, Jordan and Christian got to play in the sand that followed. I stayed with the group because here we had a real chance of getting lost. Once we got into the wash it was game on! As long as you stayed in the canyon with train tracks to your right, there is no way your getting lost. Jodan, Christian and I were nothing but a plume of dust off in the distance. We strangly hit a pool of mud that washed the dirt off my truck. WTF! I worked hard to get that! A pair of water crossings and Afton Camp shortly followed. We drove out of the canyon and found the 15. Our adventure was coming to and end.
We aired back up, said our good byes, gave some hugs and headed off to the nearest gas station @ $5 per gallon.
I'm glad I got to experience this adventure with such a great group of people. I want to thank Terry, Randy and John for running tail and keeping me informed of what was happening back there. Ham radios were the best thing we could have used. At times we were 10 miles apart but never out of range. Thanks for a great weekend.
