Post Trip Report
Another successful winter Mojave in the books! We began with spending the night in Afton Canyon preparing for the trip. Due to the recent rains in the area, the water crossing was much higher than usual. We found this out when a rail line worker drove his truck through the water crossing and hydro-locked the engine. Luckily, someone came along and towed him out onto the side of the trail.
Before we headed out on Saturday, we all agreed that we would continue down the rail line to Kelso Depot vs. going through Jackass Canyon. Right before heading out, 2 motorcyclists took their dirt bikes through the crossing. As we started our crossing, the 2 bikers were soaked up to their waists and dealing with their water logged dirt bikes.
We made short work of the rail line trail. We we made it to the New York Mountain campsite by around 2pm. Unfortunately, someone had taken our normal spot, so we camped down the trail a little, which in my opinion is a nicer spot due to having more room and more flat area. We unpacked, set up camp, and prepared to relax. We had a great fire and great conversations, then called it a night.
The 2nd day was all about relaxation. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, we all just moved slow and woke up late. Unfortunately, Gunslinger was plagued with a sour stomach and decided to head out. Later in the day, Fire Ninja, #2, and I took a quick trip further up the trail to get some offroading in. Once back in camp, we finished the day by eating dinner and gathering around the fire once again. The clouds broke just in time, and we were all treated to the awesome lunar eclipse blood moon. After we all decided to call it a night, the REAL fun kicked in. The wind decided to pick up and wreak havoc on our camp. I was ignorant and didn't tie down my tent at all. I woke up to the sound of my stuff being thrown across the tent because 2 panels in my ShiftPod popped in. I made the decision to go out and secure the tent, and heard the sound of Tony doing the same. Later I would find out that Fire Ninja would have an even more interesting experience. Where he set up his camp was even more exposed to the wind, and the gusts were so strong, it began to uproot his tent stakes. As they were attempting to resecure their tent, their kitchen was blown over. As they picked up their kitchen, their tent came completely loose and was airborne. They had enough of the wind and packed up and made an early departure.
It was down to Tony and I. We got up in the morning and packed up, as we were too sick of the wind. We also found that it was colder in the morning than when we went to bed. We shook hands, got in our trucks and headed out. We parted ways on the trail, as Tony was heading to Laughlin, and I was heading south to the 66/40. The drive home was very sketchy, with 40mph headwinds almost all the way home.
Overall, a great trip. Can't wait until next year!
