So though a slight
bit of confusion on which date the club was running the Mojave Road Trixie the Wonderdog, Noon, and I their driver found ourselves out this weekend running the Mojave alone!
Friday we arrived at Afton Canyon campground too early - about 1:00 PM and the weather hadn't turned cool yet. It was sitting just under 90 degrees for the afternoon.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The site holds 22 campers, has covered picnic tables, a faucet for water, and very clean vault toilets. The fee was $6 a night but since there were no envelopes nobody paid. I included the picture of the small red four door across from us as they pulled into the nearly empty camp ground at the site just across from us. Turns out they were two college aged German students traveling around California. A prettier pair of coeds could not be found. I think they parked next to us for safety ... thinking I was harmless.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The camp ground had about 15 people in it by night fall - mostly older "wanderers" types. That night about 9:00 PM an idiot rolled in with his Frontier with his wife, a son and daughter. They were talking back and fourth IN THERE FULL VOLUME OUTDOOR VOICES. They had driven though the completely dark campsite before coming back and ... setting up camp next to the German girls. The father, I'll call him Sean Beale, was either stupid or drunk as he was bullying his two children around trying to set up a circus tent of a camping tent. He spent an hour and twenty minutes yelling at the top of his lungs before I started yelling out the tent window at him ... to no avail.
I put my pants and shoes on and climbed out of the tent and walked up to the campsite of the idiot and scared the living poo out of him. (I am quite the site bare chested I might add).
I said are you quite finished? He said yeah. I said you've woken the entire campground up with your loud voices and it was now well after 10:00 PM. He said he didn't know what time it was. I said that if he made any more noise that I was going to call the rangers. He said have a nice night to me. I said that possibility ended about an hour an a half ago when he arrived and woke everyone up. I told him not another word? Do you hear me? He didn't respond as his manhood shriveled into nothing right in front of his wife standing their open mouthed and the two kids wild eyed.
So they started talking in indoor voices and we fell asleep. Until about midnight when he started slamming the door as hard as he could, and then set the truck's alarm off twice. Sweet.
The next morning at 6:15 I had to empty the trash ... right in front of his tent. Big trash can.
So he eventually wakes up and as we're cooking breakfast and packing he's glaring at us, puffed out chest, hands on his hips ... every chance I got I walked at him at he turned away ... he still couldn't find his manhood. He was about 5' 8" and a buck sixty maybe. I wasn't worried.
A couple of the other campers come by to chat with us and make small talk about all the noise in the site the night before. They check out my Zodi shower and liked it. So we finish packing and Noon and Trixie walk out of the site while I finish loading the truck. I drive past the guy and he flips me off as I say have a nice day to him - I swear. As I drove away he cursed something at me that my wife heard but didn't understand as he flipped me off again. I turned around and drove past him and he ducked away while I used the rest room.
So we're sitting at the entrance to Afton Canyon waiting for the rest of the club to arrive ... and sitting ... and sitting. We drove down to the water crossing to check how deep it was and made a test crossing. Sean flips me the finger on the way out ... but fails to do so when I return three minutes later! One of the older couples in a 1990 VW mini-van made the crossing and died on the other side. We sat and waited for the club. The old man crosses the water, walks the quarter mile to the camp ground entrance and tells me that he can't get his van to run and asks me to tow him back across the river. OK, why not?
So I have grandpa climb on the slider and we drive back and across the river. I bust out the tow strap, tell him how I'm going to pull him and he asks me to two him to the first camp spot - right across from Sean. Sure thing. We connect to my rear tow point and to his way too small looking tow point and dive into the water - it's pretty deep but the X was able to pull him and me across, up the embankment and around we go to the camp site.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
So we pull the guys gear out and start working on the trunk mounted engine looking for what we think is electrical problems. I disconnect the van and drive around to park next to him and one of Sean's kids runs out and takes a picture of our truck. Cool.
Grandpa's wife Cindy and my wife are making small talk and Cindy gives her a bottle of home-made wine as a thank you. Sweet couple. As we're working on the van up rolls a San Bernadino sheriff. He says he's looking for Sean Beale. I said oh boy, that I'm not him but I'm likely the source of the complaint. I told the sheriff what when on the night before and the old couple agreed, said that I was a saint for rescuing them from across the river. I told the officer that I was merely waiting on the club to arrive. The sheriff drives the rest of the 100 feet to Sean's campsite and spends twenty minutes talking with him. I eat lunch figuring it's my last hot meal as we let the van air out. The sheriff comes back and I ask him if we were square and he said no problem and that Sean thought I was threatening him. I said if that were true why does he keep flipping me the finger every time I drive by? He said no problem, we shot the breeze for awhile about the Xterra and the Mojave Road which he apparently didn't know much about. He didn't even ask my name nor run my plate but I assume Sean gave that to him.
So Sean and his family walk past us and down to the stream bed. Grandpa calls triple A and asks for a flat bed tow and thanks us for helping. I said he tows me across next time! Noon and I decide to do the trail solo. We drive by Sean once again. He doesn't wave.
There's now a big crowd sitting on the far side of the water crossing afraid to cross. I drop Noon off on the east side, turn around and drive back to the west side so she can take pictures (above) and cross for a fifth and final time. The crowd is impressed. Sean and family have walked the train tracks and are now walking back when the see us and turn around to walk away. We drive pass again and he still doesn't wave. I'm begining to think he doesn't like me.
The trail is just beautiful. The recent rains have things very green and the flowers are in bloom big time. Very little dust.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The butterflies are out as are the mosquitoes so bring bug spray next week.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The air was clear and the skies were blue
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
We made our way though the canyon and out to the Mojave Road Wash where we crossed the 10-12 miles.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Shaw pass was the only "tough" place along the trail after the water crossing. The wash is very dry and deep sand so 4WD is nice. The soft sand wants to pull you off the tracks if you wander. Shaw Pass has some lose rocks but not too difficult at all.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Past the Pass and it's the Soda Dry Lake which looks like snow from a distance. Along the west side the flowers are in bloom and there are fields of yellow and white flowers blanketing the dunes. As you get close to the lake there is a marker marking the boundary of the preserve.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The traveler's hill is still there and we tossed three rocks on the pile for us. A jeep club came as we were leaving and was sort of surprised to see one lonely X out there.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
We crossed the lake and hunted for shelter out of the wind as it was now after 5:00 PM. We ran across the canyon road which runs down the middle of a very windy wide valley. We jumped on a crossroad and found an old homestead but didn't settle there as it was still too windy.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
We ended up camping between Paymaster Road and Kelbaker Road along side of a mountain. We cooked up as much Korean barbecue as we could eat and finished off with shrimp cocktails and watched the sun set. There was a large weather front coming in and the skies were beautiful.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Off to the north there was the glow from a city which I assume to be Las Vegas.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The place was sheltered but still really windy. About 9:00 PM the front passed and the sky began to clear again and made for a nice (quite) evening. No sign of Sean.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Come morning we crossed Kilbaker road and started in on the central portion of the Mojave Road. Looking to the west I saw another front of clouds coming.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
We scouted out the lava beds and started down Willow Wash. We almost got creamed by three pick-ups and a jeep high tailing out of the east. I managed to just barely get out of their way. About another mile down the road and I came to cross roads and an old mine and ranch site. We went to take some pictures ... and I smelled smoke. Looking at the camp site the four speeders had just left I found a nice big camp fire still going full blast - in the wind no less. It took 3.5 gallons of water to put the thing out and a bunch of sand too. Dang is the world full of idiots - second good deed of the trip done.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
I posed for an HDR photo - you set the camera up on a tripod and take a series of pictures under exposed and over exposed to get a high-dynamic image. The clouds were rolling in and it looked like rain.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
We made it to the mail box before the rain but boy was it every windy.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Signed the log book.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
The frogs are back!
I stopped at the dollar store on the way out and they didn't have any frogs but did have turtles. I figured they were amphibians too so why not? I tossed some change in the bowls and added my turtles to the front of the frogs.
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
It started to rain. Looking down the valley to the west there was nothing but dark clouds blowing in. I thought best about being this far out alone in such conditions and turned back. Besides maybe Sean was still at Afton.
We returned the 15 miles back from the mail box to Kelbaker Road though wind and rain. Sitting at the side of the road I estimated the wind at 30 miles an hour with gusts up to 40. Not quite gale force but close enough. The skies were a solid sheet of gray. By the time we hit Baker the weather cleared up again but that wasn't before 25 miles of rain. Next week ought to be out freaking standing ... and yes, we're going again!
Mojave Road Solo - story and pictures!
