Last Minute Mojave Fishing Trip

[Mr.BlueSky]

22 hours ago, Gotrovr said:

I'm just loving the trailer

You and me both! ; )

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 1 continued - before the hill climb

Sometime early into the trip, just after the washes and well into the washboard roads, the occasionally banging was heard.

>not really a-typical of an old classic<

Banging intensified and frequency increased - but disappears in sand... hmmm

Eventually we pulled over and I crawled under the truck to take a peek. It wasn't long before the culprit was identified.

The incredibly well "professionally installed" exhaust on Eleven (a previous owner special formed out of pipe and routed directly into the suspension travel path of the driver side rear link..... ) decided to tear itself away from the mid and rear exhaust hangers.

Rear - fixed with baling wire.

Mid - fixed with baling wire.

 

With that taken care of, the banging subsided to a dull tap : ).

The best part of all of this, is that I now have impetus to get this in and have the exhaust routed correctly ! 

 

Status of Johann's D1 - Functional, Happy, Content.

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 1 - At the Hill Climb and Beyond

As we traveled through the bajada towards Piute Mountains it could be seen that the road for all intents and purposes just went straight up and over the pass. According to the book, the hill climb is roughly a 20 degree grade with a vertical climb of about 400ft. (so basically a gravel version of my driveway ;-0)

The hill climb was more fun than challenging, I hit it with some speed and quickly found that it was just deep scrabbly rock. Eleven being effectively stock (limited slip center differential only) scrambled up with much ado in the way of dust and dirt tossing, but dragged the trailer up just fine.

Johann ambled up after. Once the center diff lock was engaged, the hill climb posed no issue. 

Once at the top of the pass, there are petroglyphs in the area as well intaglios but we missed those here on this trip. As we crested and began the westward ascent fantastic views of the Providence Mountains can be had. 

Dropping down into the Fenner Valley, we continued on our way to the town of Goffs for lunch.

 

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 1 - At the Hill Climb and Beyond

We rolled into Goffs somewhere around the noon hour. 

Depending on what time we rolled into Goffs, I had hoped that we might be able to stop off and eat at the Goffs General Store. Supposedly there was a small restaurant with great food, gas, water, and some provisions available. It had been built in 1946 and was often frequented by Route 66 travelers.

However, that was written 1987. Time has a funny way with things...

We did not locate the General Store, only after we got back, it was discovered that the store had been closed for at least 20 years... and that the general store ceased to exist in June of 2021....  https://www.route66news.com/2021/06/11/fire-goffs-general-store/

(At least we weren't relying on Goffs for fuel ; )

We resigned to the Goffs Schoolhouse to make sandwiches.

Goffs is quite a unique place, with only a few unique people left. Most of those folks are involved with Dennis Casebier and MDHCA crowd.

The MDHCA now maintains the original Goffs Schoolhouse, a huge number of interesting exhibits, and a Mojave Desert Archive center. The Center holds over 100,000 historical photographs, 5,000 early maps and thousands of historical newspaper clippings.

When we arrived the groundskeeper came out from one of the onsite travel trailers and unlocked the schoolhouse so we could tour the inside exhibits.

After touring the schoolhouse, we headed back outside to make sandwiches. Johann was finally able to put his new tailgate table to use, it did not disappoint. 

With lunch packed away, we went ahead and toured the grounds. Here are some of the fun exhibits that caught my eye:

1. Miner Engineering 

Two model T's welded together - First motor drives the second motor converted to a compressor to power pneumatic drills and other equipment. 

2. Salvaged mining carts and rails for a little display

3. The little trailer's older sibling!

 

Last, I didn't get any photos of them, but there is a functional 2 stamp Stott's Mill and a 10 stamp American Boy Mill onsite.  Sadly, we didn't get to see either in operation on this trip.

 

[Mr.BlueSky]

Heading North out of Goffs around 2 PM we veered off the blacktop into the Sacremento wash and passed through a Joshua tree forest towards the Lieser Ray Mine.

The Lieser Ray Mine was dug to extract silver and other precious metals out of metamorphosed rock, initially the primary extractions were silver with gold as an accessory. However production shifted to Vanadium during WWI, the mine producing roughly 40 tons. There is one major deep vertical shaft with several other shafts, prospecting holes, and cuttings in the area. Stamp mill foundations are also present.

Just as Paul mentioned there are a good number of concrete pads to make camp on, however as it was early in the day, we spent some time checking out the shafts and prospect holes and went on our way.

 

Looking down the vertical shaft at Lieser Ray Mine

Looking to the East

As we still had plenty of daylight, we made for Fort Piute where we would make camp nearby.

 

[PaulD]

Was that a JEEP Comanche back at Goffs with an RTT on top? Kinky!

--Paul

[Mr.BlueSky]

20 minutes ago, PaulD said:

Was that a JEEP Comanche back at Goffs with an RTT on top? Kinky!

--Paul

Good eye! It was a 1970s era Jeep Gladiator (you know, before they spit on the name : )

The bars on the rear that hold up the RTT are really tall! They even had a cargo web strapped to the underside of the RTT - it held a small child's tricycle.

It was pretty rad ; ).

[Tyler Mattson]

This is a fun read I'm sad I missed out on going it looks like a killer fun trip. It makes me want to build a model t compressor cart just to hear the noises and see how well it would work.

[Mr.BlueSky]

12 hours ago, Renorover said:

This is a fun read I'm sad I missed out on going it looks like a killer fun trip. It makes me want to build a model t compressor cart just to hear the noises and see how well it would work.

It would be pretty cool to have seen it actually function... then again, I bet we could scrounge up to D1s or RRCs and do something similar! :-0

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 2

We left camp around 8AM,. I scribbled a note that there were petroglyphs in the area, but we gave up the search after about an hour of searching. There would be more opportunities as we went on.

We crossed over the Piute Range on the Mojave Road - or Old Government Road as it is depicted on the maps and dropped into the Lanfair Valley. Joshua trees were numerous. We stayed on the Mojave Road for a good while until we turned off for a second chance at petroglyph hunting. This time, they were easy to find. 

We never did find a fish for @Elherbinator but I did find a etching of a squid - I think

And so many more...

We backtracked to the Majove Road and continued on to drop some change into the Penny Can tree. There we met not one - but TWO PEOPLE. Up until this point we  hadn't seen anyone at all. They were running the Mojave Road and were interested to hear about the EMHT. After chatting for a while we headed on our way, making decent westward progress.

Eventually we turned off the Mojave Road and passed by an old stone cabin and a memorial for Chris Fry. Apparently there is a rather active Southern California XTerra club.

We continued North for a bit until reaching the mouth of Caruthers Canyon - If I recall, I think those that went on the Mojave Road trip earlier in the year camped up there?

As we still had plently of daylight left, we took the left turn to head back East towards Maruba, the old OX cattle company headquarters. Maruba was also the site of an old WWII rope factory - they were harvesting the Yucca Fibers. A good number of buildings remain, including good (for the desert) fences and signage, so we stayed out and moved on.

It wasn't long before we found a not so well kept up OX corral.

 

Note the number of railroad ties in that fence! As soon as the Tonopah and Tidewater line was closed, it didn't take long for the resourceful ranchers to repurpose the ties.

Once we passed through here the road became barely a road at all and started criss-crossing a narrow wash. The Lanfair Valley had once been home to a good number of homesteaders, but now all that remained was the occasional fence and desolation. Eventually we dropped into open valley. The Castle Mountains can be seen off in the distance.

As we went North we began to be "squeezed" from the East buy the Piute Range and from the West by the Castle Mountains. Scenery and elevation changed quickly. Eventually we ended up in a narrow valley with Petroglyphs on rocks found on both sides of the road. 

We stopped for lunch at a rock formation known as the Walrus and the Carpenter - it takes some imagination.

Eventually we finished the climb up to the Lewis prospecting Holes at the California  / Nevada Border. 

After Lewis holes, the going gets slow as you start climbing in and out of a tight narrow wash. Then all of a sudden you pop over a short rise and right there is the first Mailbox! >woo<

A quick sign in, and we were on our way again. Not a whole lot of folks came through - we were only the 2nd sign in since October.

And we were back on our way - down into the narrow wash.

As we worked our way down the wash widened out and it become a 25mph slot car track for a few miles until we hit the Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad Berm. The berm goes perfectly straight down into the Piute Valley to the town of Searchlight, had we needed fuel or provisions that would have been our stop, as it is only about 6 miles out of the way. 

Not needing anything, we proceeded to find camp - which turned out to not be the easiest. The road became two tire tracks with zero pullouts to the sides as we worked our way West towards the New York Mountains.

Eventually once we had climbed well out of the Piute Valley (and the sun had set) we found a pullout. It was barely a road around a big grove of bushes. But it led straight to a fantastic campsite. Relatively flat, and protected from the wind on all sides. The fire pit was practically a crude pizza oven.

Landing in the New York Mountains for the night meant we were well within striking distance for the completion of Segment 1 tomorrow.

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 3: New York Mountains to Nipton

The next morning, while breakfast was being made, and camp packed up, an opportunity to better explore the campsite in the daylight was taken advantage of.

The campsite turned out to be an old homestead site just up the hill from where we camped with ruins of corrals, water infrastructure, cabin, and a few collapsed outbuildings.

What was a decent sized campsite was found to be able to hold quite a few vehicles!

We climbed up and over the New York Mountains and dropped back down into the Big Tiger wash for a re-route to avoid Wilderness Areas. A lot of active mining in this area made for some nicely maintained roads a quick pace.

After passing through the active mining areas, we dropped onto blacktop briefly in order to continue around the Wilderness Area.

Once back on dirt, the going became incredibly slow. Following the powerlines, the badly rutted road dipped down and into steep washes only to rise back out within a few feet. The trailer tongue spent a good bit of its time carving channels into the road on this bit.

Turning away from the powerline road the small community of Nipton can be seen in the distance. Beyond that, I-15 and the controversial Ivanpah Solar Concentration installations.

As we neared Nipton, we passed through the old dump site with tin cans strewn about and it soon became clear that Nipton was going to be yet another colorful desert town. 

Shopping cart art:

When Santa's gotta go, he goes:

Deserted blacktop through Nipton: 

 

[Mr.BlueSky]

Day 3: Nipton to Ivanpah

We parked in front of the restaurant, and began walking around the seemingly deserted town.

Nipton, looks at first glance, to owe its beginnings to the U.P.R.R. (which is still quite active and several trains run through here daily). In reality the railroad came much later in 1905. Rather, Nippeno Camp as it was know then, was established in the mid to late 1800s as camp and corral point at the intersection of two wagon roads. One road ran north-south through the Ivanpah valley and the other east-west. Back in the wagon days, it was a long way from everywhere to Nipton which made it a attractive location to law fugitives and those trying to cross California-Nevada borders to avoid the law.

By 1942, the new rail line positioned Nipton as a cattle -loading station for the YKL ranch that we had passed in the New York Mountains. A school, hotel, post office, and bungalows for travelers were present. As time went on, the population declined and the entire town was bought by Gerald Freeman and Roxanne Lang to maintain as a tourist destination. Many of the inhabitants were temporary workers for the nearby mining and cattle operations.

Then in the early 2000s the town was sold to a marijuana grow operation that aimed to build the dopest attraction in the desert (cue desert art). However, it seems that this dream has not been as popular as had hoped partly due to the lack of marijuana tourism, and COVID-19. The town is yet again up for sale here.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/04/541630307/no-pipe-dream-cannabis-company-buys-california-town

(If someone in the club buys it, I will buy you a case of East Brothers!!)  ; )

Current listing: https://www.landsofamerica.com/property/80-acres-in-San-Bernardino-County-California/9068565/

Just before we were heading out, a local happened out of one of the huts. We chatted with him for a while about our route, and he mentioned that the trading post and possibly the restaurant would re-open in January 2022. COVID had shut down all of the businesses but now that travelers are starting to come through again, they expected to be opening back up.

We left Nipton headed for Primm, NV about 20 miles away as an alternative location for gas as Nipton no longer provided. A few miles from Nipton we were able to turn off the two lane blacktop and onto dirt. This dirt road parallel dry Ivanpah lake to the west and just off to the east side of the road was Francis Marion "Borax" Smith's traction road. Not much is left, but a very distinct berm.

Borax Smith, as he was known was struggling in the 1900 to find a way to transport Borax from the Death Valley Lila C. Mine to a convenient railroad. Previously he had been using the 20-Mule team to transport his borax, but with the construction of the California Eastern through the New York Mountains and into the Ivanpah Valley (only 100 miles from the Lila C.), Smith sought to find an alternative faster mode of transportation to the railhead. 

Smith's first choice was a narrow gauge railroad, but alas, the finances didn't allow for it. So instead, in 1903, a hard packed traction road for the cost in excess of $100,000 was built to connect the Lila C mine with Ivanpah (the second Ivanpah). The new mode of transportation Smith had hoped to employ was a new type of tractor known as "Gibb's Engine" - the idea being that a gasoline motor would generate electrical power which in turn drove motors to drive the rear wheels of the borax wagons.

Almost as soon as the road had been completed, the Gibbs engine was tested and deemed a failure. Not willing to give up, Smith employed a Daniel Best steam tractor (known by name to the miners as Old Dinah) in attempt to salvage the endeavor. The tractor was setup to haul the ore wagons in Ivanpah and set out. 14 miles later at State Line Pass, the tractor blew a boiler flue, and that was the end of that. Smith would go on to later build and run the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad.

The long story of Old Dinah continued as many others attempted to make use of Old Dinah (and blowing the boiler flue again) until it ended up where it sits today on display  Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley.

Old Dinah’s Key Statistics:
- Manufactured by Best Mfg. Co. of San Leandro, California
- Built for farming, logging, mining, and long distance hauling
- Top speed of 3-4 miles per hour.
- 110 horsepower steam engine burning crude oil.
- 28 feet long, 9 feet 7 inches wide, 17 feet 4 inches to top of the smokestack
- Weighed more than 18 tons
- 940-gallon water tank, consuming 340 gallons per hour
- Three wheel tricycle design with the front wheel being 5 feet in diameter
- Rear wheels were 8 feet in diameter and 26 inches wide
-Steered by a chain and pulley system
- Three man crew, engineer, brakeman and stoker
- Vertical boiler easier on uneven terrain with a boiler pressure of 160 psi.
- Piston-type or spool steam admission valve alternating high pressure and exhaust
- An engine capable of both forward and reverse
- Purchases price est. at $6,000-$7,000

Once we neared the Northern end of the Ivanpah Dry lake we had to jump on I-15 briefly for a 5 mile jog to Primm, NV for fuel. A lot of amenities are present at Primm including very expensive fuel! As we headed out of Primm, NV I stopped to check on a "clicking" noise only to find our I had lost two lug nuts on the driver side front!

Johann also checked his and found that some of his lug nuts had loosened from the the washboards as well. 

We re-torqued the remainders and headed out of Primm, though with some further examination of the 15 minute maps we found an all dirt route back towards the original EMHT route.

On the way back from Primm headed towards Clark Mountain.

As we made our way towards Clark Mountain we had to detour around the Ivanpah 1,2 & 3 solar generation stations as these had not been present when the original route was planned. There was a short section where we had to drive on the facility maintenance highway.

The installation uses roughly 173,500 heliostats (sitting on over 3,500 acres) to reflect and concentrate the Sun's rays to the top of the tower where a boiler absorbs the heat.  The heat converts the working fluid to steam which then head down to run a turbine generator. When completed in 2014, the Ivanpah facility was the largest concentrated solar facility in the world.

Controversy does surround the project due to not only th $2.2Bn price tag but also for the impact to local bird-life and the concern for the desert tortoise habitat.

If you look closely at the photos you can see the concentrated rays striking the towers.

Just past the solar facility we began the climb up Clark Mountain, just off to the left of the climb was the short road down to the original Ivanpah townsite. 

We had just completed Segment 1 of the EMHT!

[CRYA]

Such an outstanding write-up. I'd love to take my boys on their spring break this year if anyone is looking to organize a trip! 4/9-4/16

[Mr.BlueSky]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:34 PM, CRYA said:

Such an outstanding write-up. I'd love to take my boys on their spring break this year if anyone is looking to organize a trip! 4/9-4/16

Absolutely! The board is working on a week-long overlanding trip for 2022. 

Since the club covers many school districts we may need to put it to a member vote to set the dates. We have placeholder dates for the event in the calendar.

More details to come soon ; )

[CRYA]

3 hours ago, Mr.BlueSky said:

Absolutely! The board is working on a week-long overlanding trip for 2022. 

Since the club covers many school districts we may need put it to a member vote to set the dates. We have placeholder dates for the event in the calendar.

More details to come soon ; )

Epic! Looking forward to learning more.