mirowsky

FYI: I expect to be there both days, and to camp out Saturday night. I am finally getting a set of all-terrain tires on my LR4 (Toyo's) -- big excitement for me. John M.

Just to be clear, we are talking about the Bear Valley skiing area near Alpine Lake off CA 4, correct? Other California Bear Valleys and Corral Hollows pop up with a map or web search that might be confusing. The area near Alpine Lake is an NCLRC favorite: lots of great trails at all levels of difficulty, and not too far from where most of us live. John M.

Mr. B. Life in San Francisco has gotten eerie. On the sidewalks, the ratio of citizens to derelicts has dropped to alarming levels. Sidewalk squatter camps are growing in some neighborhoods (including mine -- the Mission). Many restaurants and small businesses have nailed plywood over windows and doors. I called the city about an obstreperous squatter on my block who shouted obscene suggestions at two teenage girls walking by, and then shouted threats of violence at me. The city help line said to call 911 if I get victimized. Still, I walk every day. I'm not about to hide indoors. John M.

Rovers: Here is a PDF map of possible camping areas that you might find useful. John M. mojave-road-camping-map-2.pdf

This is some info from my 4-days in and around the Mojave Road and Preserve (3 nights camping) in a stock LR4. MPG and MPH Over 4 days I averaged 10 mpg and 10 to 12 mph, almost all on dirt. I filled the tank and a 5-gallon NATO can in Laughlin NV. I refilled the tank at the end of 4 off-road days, in Baker CA. I bought 15.2 gallons in Baker, so I used a total of 15.2 + 5 = 20.2 total, or about 5 gallons per day. Baker is a side-trip up the east side of Soda Lake. IF I HAD KNOWN, I would have crossed Soda Lake and taken Rasor Road up the west side to the Shell Station on I-15 at Rasor Road. That station was not on my maps. My fuel computer said I did not have the fuel to make it to Barstow, so I aborted before crossing Soda Lake. BEST MAP Tom Harrison, by a clear margin. Why? (1) Codes 4 levels of dirt roads: graded, usually OK for street autos; high-clearance usually needed; rough, 4wd usually needed; extremely rough, 4wd required. (2) Covers more of the Mojave Road, from Nevada to west of Afton Canyon (Nat Geo Trails Illustrated cuts off on the EAST side of Soda Lake). (3) All on 1 page, easier to use. The Nat Geo map has one main plus: it shows private land (which can be gated or posted, although this is rarely marked on either map). BEST GUIDE BOOKS For the Mojave Road and history of the Preserve area, Casebier's Mojave Road Guide is tops. For side-trails off the Mojave Road or nearby, Huegel's California Desert Byways and Massey, Wilson and Titus' California Trails: Desert Region both prove worth their prices. Huegel favors minimalist but sufficient summaries, maps and GPS coordinates, and has more trails. Massey et al. has much greater detail on history, geography, maps, GPS coordinates, and turn-by-turn directions. Both cover the Mojave Road as well as some cross-trails. Massey et al. would work as a substitute for the full-blown detail of Casebier's coverage of the Mojave Road. DON'T TRUST THE MAPS, BOOKS AND GPS GADGETS ENTIRELY Make no mistake, there are no complete and certain representations of places like this. In addition to the sources above, I had my Rover in-dash GPS and a TRX7 specialized off-road GPS. My Jeep friend also had an excellent Garmin GPS. We still managed to make wrong turns, find roads that were not mapped, mapped roads that no longer existed, and supposedly public roads that were chained and posted. ADVENTURE. Expect it. HOW HARD? My stock LR4 with street tires (Toyo Open Country light-truck) had no trouble on the "extremely rough, 4wd required" parts. I did use the IID Tool to lift the reference (standard) height. This was useful going fast on sand or slow for rock crawling. Sand is by far the most common. The only rock crawling was a short optional stretch in Carruther's Canyon north of the campground. I made it almost as far as my friend in a lifted and locked wrangler with 33 inch tires. The only trouble I got into was later on a little-used, unmarked trail over a ridge of loose rock. I started to slide sideways down the edge, and needed to shore it up and back out. I recommend wandering off on some of the side roads not in the books. Sometimes we had to turn back. Sometimes we found trails that made us feel like pioneers or ranchers. Many of the best views were on these secondary trails. AIRING DOWN? I doubt that airing down or zooming over sand is necessary east of Soda Lake. I did drop about 4 psi, and switched Terrain Response to sand mode in the soft areas. A few days after leaving the Mojave Preserve, I slashed a sidewall in Redrock Canyon State Park. I had dropped the psi some, and was zooming on soft sand when I encountered sharp rocks in the sand. Whoosh. Flat. So much for that day. I limped back fully inflated, with 60 psi in a hard-rubber spare. Never sank in once, and scrabbled over rock just fine. Airing down and "floatation" may be over-rated for stock Rovers. PLACES RECOMMENDED PIUTE GORGE. From the Mojave Road, just north of Piute Corral and the Piute Springs hiking trails. Worth seeing this rent in the valley and range. Good for lunch, camping, or hiking. As a side-trip, better than the Fort. It is on the East Lanfair Valley trail that runs along the western foot of the Piute Range and then crosses the valley going up to the Castle Mountains. Be forewarned that roads across the south side of the Castle Mountains are blocked by renewed operation of the gold mine up there. CARRUTHERS CANYON CAMP. Huge granite boulders in a canyon forest. The road up is fun. The rock crawl just north is short but worthy. The camp could get full for holidays or popular weekends. There is lots of private and group overflow space. Its especially nice to have all to yourself. ZIG-ZAG THE GOLD VALLEY. Old ranch and mine roads criss-cross between Wild Horse and Black Canyon Roads, south of Round Valley and Midhills Campground and north of Hole-in-the-Wall Campground and visitors Center. For the best views run north to south. Feel like a pioneer rancher for half a day. For longer and slower views, walk the north-south hiking trail that is crossed by the 4wd roads at several points. AIKEN CINDER MINE. Odds are you'll want to see the Lava Tubes on the Aiken Mine Road, near the intersection of Kelbaker and Mojave Roads. Go the extra mile and see the mine. The drive is fun, the views fabulous, and the abandoned machinery a photographer's dream.

I still haven't heard from anyone who has taken the Crucero to Ludlow trail below Rasor OHV. Maybe it is Marine training territory and off limits? Or too remote, sandy and treacherous? Come on, folks. This sounds like someone's idea of fun. Anyone?

OK. I got the Casebier Mj Rd guide book. Also the California Trails Desert Region (APC Publishing, Massey, Wilson and Titus). It covers many of the side trails off the main road. I hope to take parts of East Lanfair Road to Castle Mountains (western side of the Piute Range), Carruthers Canyon into the New York Mountains, Hole-in-the-Wall and Macedonia Canyon, and the Cima Dome trail to the Lava Tubes. I also have Louis L'Amour's novel Mojave Crossing. It weaves into the story all the water holes. I probably can't do all of this, but I'll see how much I can get to in 4 days. I will definitely wade the deep water crossings before trying to drive them. I've made up a wading kit with quick-dry shorts, water sandals, and a folding wooden yardstick. I hope the water isn't too cold. I got the IID tool and tried it out on the club run up to Bear Valley area. Don saved the day, helping me to get it fully registered so I could use the advanced functions. It is great. Now I wish I'd gotten one years ago. Thanks all. John

Tom Harrison's map of Mojave NP shows a 4x4 trail from the Crucero site (south-east corner of Rasor OHV) all the way down to Ludlow on I-40. It looks like a valley running between the Cady and Bristol Mountains. None of my books describe the trail, but it looks interesting. Have you tried it? Is it worth taking? Warnings? Time estimate between Basin Road and Ludlow? Appreciate any info. John

Slickrock trail near Lake Alpine and Bear Valley used to be blue-moderate from CA 4 to Silver Creek. Not anymore. The old trail crossed private land. The new owner has closed that part. The new "bypass" trail is hard core right off. It has three "features" on the way to Silver Creek. These are red-difficult, and seriously so from my point of view. The first two have "moderate" bypasses, but the third and most difficult does not. Ranger Jeffrey Hilson is the NFS OHV specialist in charge of trails in the Calevaras District of Stanislaus NF. My Jeep fiend Justin Mazzon arranged a walk-through with him of the new trail segment. There is no way my stock LR4 would survive the third feature. Even Justin's lifted, armored, and lockered Jeep would be seriously at risk. It is about 3/4 mile walk down to the third feature from the trail head. It is a nice walk you might want to take before committing.

PS: The IID info seems to say it can reset the mph limit on off-road height. Is this correct? John

Foster: I read up on the IID Tool. I remember looking into this about 4 years ago. Since then I've put on more miles, and aged out of warranties, so it looks more relevant now. Also, I think the Bluetooth option may not have been available for Android then. Looks like the IID gives much more choice, and keeps your hands clean too. Add the info on faults, and fault resetting, and it starts to look maybe worth the price for me now. What do you think? Has it proved worthwhile in your case? JOhn

Chris: Looks like you were deeper than the advertised 28" wading depth. Got the bow wave just right, though. Nice drivng. I am thinking of a side trip up to the New York Mountains, so maybe I'll put some extra fuel on the rack just in case. John

Foster: How could I get the lift rods? I live in San Francisco, Mission district. Chris: Thanks for the link. Lots of useful stuff there. One question: was fuel tight? Did you bring and use extra? Do your recall total consumption?

I'm planning to drive the Mojave Road in early November. I would welcome your advice on what I should try to see, including side trips off the main road. I've got the Casebir guide, a couple of good maps, and a TRX tablet. But there is nothing like the advice of those who have been there. I'll be in stock 2013 LR4 that I've driven in the west Mojave (e.g., Raser Dunes, Mojave River crossings, ) and Death Valley (e.g., Steel Pass, Mengel Pass). No mods, but hasn't let me down yet. My only complaint has been the automatic lowering above 25 mph. Still, this is no rock crawler. Thanks for any advice, warnings, info or links you can share. John