2023 December Mojave Road Run

[Mr.BlueSky]

Write-up Author: Paul Dunn, Trip Leader

Attendees:

• Paul Dunn (Trip Leader) - Perentie
• Jody (guest) - 1989 Toyota (gasp! scandal!) HJ-61 RHD Turbo Six
• David and Sierra - LR3
• Nathan and Gryphon - L322

NCLR (+) Mojave Road Trip Summary 12/28/23 à 1/1/2014

 

12/28: Long day for all of us - we made the 7 to 10 hour drive to the Needles area to spend the night at Avi Casino near the starting point. I escorted Jody in his 1989 Toyota HJ-61 RHD turbo six and together we crossed over the Colorado River to top up at one of the fuel stations on that side of the river.

12/29: Up and at ‘em as we greeted David and daughter Sierra around 9 AM to begin our tour de force across the mighty Mojave. First stop: The Colorado River official start point, about 2 miles North of the Avi. I presented a brief speech about the historical & cultural aspects of the trail and then off we went to the sandy start just East of the Dead Mountains. We aired down there and headed West to a brief stop at the famed Balancing Rock camp spot then over to the hard flat of the Piute Valley and up the scraggle to Fort Piute. There we met up with a 3-rig group of our friends from AZLRO and traded a few stories over lunch.

Off to the trail again and up the Piute grade where Jody’s truck decided to release one of its two battery hold-downs which resulted in a bit of smoke emanating from under the hood of Jody’s truck. Since he is officially “profoundly deaf” from birth, his heightened sense of small clued-in to the trouble before it became a real issues. The team jumped into action and quickly re-secured the battery mounts. Then up we went to visit the Piute corral, Piute Gorge, and then West to cross over the famed Sacramento Wash.

We detoured South at around 3:30 to run the six miles down to Leiser-Ray Mine for a relaxed camping location and a great fireside ambiance under a calm sky. As David was backing in to set-up his swag, we could all hear a horrible screeching sound coming out of his right trailer hub. Nathan jumped into action and we soon discovered that his brake shoe had seized itself onto the brake drum in a VERY fried fashion! Once removed, he was golden.

 

12/30: A cold morning wake-up shook me outta bed and the camp break-down ritual began. We had a long day ahead of us as I wanted to introduce the group to the REAL Mojave Road that featured the amazing Joshua Tree forest on the Lanfair Plain, the cool petroglyph site along the way, and of course Rock Springs.

This all came together swimmingly and it was great entertainment to watch David navigate his LR4 with attached military trailer negotiate the steep downhill moguls just East of the Rock Springs Wash.

The weather was closing in so after lunch at the Rock Springs Stone House, we scurried West to cross over Kelso-Cima Road to make and planned camp at or near Marl Spring. A nice couple in a Tacoma was occupying my primary camp, so we ambled up the box canyon to a very protected site with yes, an existing fire ring. A light rain was soon approaching, so we prepared for it, yet a good, bold fire kept the heat on and Nathan was even treated to my rendition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts advertising jingle.

12/31: Ready for a Long day, we rallied early and made haste to the Mojave Mailbox, then down Willow Wash while Sierra drove David’s LR4, and then a right turn up to the famous lava tubes. Nice group of new Bronco owner’s there and we said our hello’s. Then a quick one-mile trip North the visit the Petro – AND – Picto site that dare not mention it’s name. Afterwards, Nathan ascertained that hi front driver’s side shock had done enough, so they volunteered to exit early and head home.

We said our goodbyes to Nathan and Gryphon and pointed ourselves South, then West to make 17-Mile Point and start the official crossing of Soda Lake. As chief navigator, I was able to follow some recent tire tracks AND keep my eyes on the Gaia routes I had run in the past. We just wondered: would it be a mud-fest with the recent rains…? Turns out… not even close. We crossed over a hard-packed trail that was no issues for anyone… so we made the Traveler’s Monument around 3 pm in time to place our contributory stones, take a few pics, and get movin’ towards Afton Canyon and the night’s camp.

Since the private land owners at the West end of  the Rasor Road OHV Area have had enough of visitors crossing over their land, there has been a recent re-route to the South on runs along a sand dune kinda hilly path for a few miles. It was imperative for me to “connect the dots” as I reeled in cairn after wood stump then cairn again, all the while verifying that I was in the right spot on my GPS. In this section of the route, there are many crisscrossing paths that all pretty much end up at the same place: the rail road bridge as you enter Afton Canyon.

Yay. We made that… So, since hurricane/tropical storm Hilary did a number on this part of the desert, what I thought I remembered from just a couple of years ago was… not as I remembered. So for the next few miles I obsessed on the GPS and the tire tracks we were following so that, in the heat of it, I totally missed a right turn out of the river bed that would taken us to higher ground and then safely to the Afton Campground. Instead, we quite squarely got bogged-down in a dead-end portion of a wash, that, had we pursued, would have resulted in axle-deep stuck-ness.

I knew something was off, so I re-conned on foot and then bush-wacked in my truck only to find no way to connect to the main trail. Meantime, David’s front passenger wheel was making a horrible screeching sound – most likely something pinched between his mud shield and his brake rotor -- So we doubled-back, only to find our AZLRO friends in the same predicament…! One of them offered to lead us back based on a hunch. And it was soon found where we BOTH missed the key turn—as the Carsonite marker was folded over and covered with brush. Soon we were at a group camp with all seven rigs drying out from the Mojave River crossing and warming our hands over a nice fire.

Next day, Jody and I were off to meet prior obligations, but David and Sierra soldiered on, joining the AZLRO guys as they made their way down river to the REAL ending point at Camp Cady, about 20 miles East of Barstow.