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| Government Holes, livestock watering holes, Mojave Desert Road |
After a two night stay in Yuma AZ. site-seeing, it was time to push on into California! Once we crossed the border we gained an hour from Mountain to Pacific time as an added bonus, since the days were getting shorter we needed all the day light possible. Driving on interstate road 8 West we went through Winter Haven searching for exit 159 County Rd. S34. Once on S34 we headed north towards Palo Verde and Blythe as we crossed Interstate 10. We made a jog over to East Blythe and merged on federal Highway 95 north on our way to Needles CA. With the Colorado River on our right we continued north rolling into windy, chilly, half-deserted Needles (economic disaster) where we grabbed a road side motel and ate ribs. Logistics was the reason (or the Ribs) Needles was in such a down turned economy with Bullhead City just across the river in Nevada. Gas prices were half what they were in Needles CA. It's no wonder that Needles was on the decline.
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| Mojave Road Marker |
Up early in the cold morning we checked out of our hotel and grabbed two very large hot coffees from the local mini mart. We continued north on 95 which runs parallel with interstate 40 until we made our way into Laughlin NV. Cheaper gas and last minute provisions, canned soup, tortillas, lunch meat, beer, water and ice was purchased.
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| Fort Piute Ruins, (looking east) Mojave Road |
Backtracking on
Needles Highway 95 we checked our GPS map coordinates searching for the entry point to
The Mojave Road Trail. This 163 mile dirt, often rocky trail stretches east to west across the
Mojave Desert by way of old Indian and wagon trails as far back as the early 1800's.
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| Joshua Tree Desert Scene Mojave Road |
With nothing more than a trail and rock piles called cairns. More often than not these were non-existent or blended so well into the landscape that it was virtually impossible to solely rely on this ancient form of trail marking. We had to use our newly gained overlanding experience, savvy and it didn't hurt to ask the only other overlander we met up with on the trail. Finding
The Mojave Road trailhead even with coordinates was a bit of a challenge. The dirt trailhead was a mix-mash of other trails and 4wd tracks that proved it was a popular spot.
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| Shifting Dunes, (looking east after re-route), Mojave Road |
With some figuring and fact checking we felt confident that we were on the right trailhead. Starting out we passed some well used dry campsites and kept an eye on the compass. Our GPS at this time did not show a trail before us but with both of us scanning the area we spied the first cairn and felt relieved that this was the right path. The landscape was desert surreal as each turn and twist unfolded a new set of aids of navigation. Crawling through the desert on our way to the first of many sites our confidence bolstered as we reached the ruins of
Fort Piute 23 miles into the trail. The fort was built to
protect against marauding Indians and opportunist thieves. Being so
remote travelers fell prey to murdering bands of thieves who blamed the indigenous people for killing and in turn were also
hunted. With the establishment of law and order,
outposts were built by the Calvary along the trail for the protection of travelers and
and the movement of supplies.
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| Joshua Tree wind-break campsite Mojave Road |
Meeting up with the only other remote travelers we encountered on this trail we took time to stretch our legs. The travelers were a band of 3 vehicles with a full size GMC, 4wd, leaning on a jack. Apparently a bolt sheered off where his front leaf spring connected to the rigs frame, oh...ooh!! As the travelers were huddled together to find a solution in order to continue on the trail, I offered any assistance I could give. Just their luck as I searched in my kit for a bolt long enough to fit, Shazam!! I found two and donated it to the stuck traveler. The first one fit perfect,and the second was an insurance policy. Happy to help the elated traveler, he offered his assistance with needed coordinates for a re-route and a printed out trail map; both proved to be extremely helpful.
Fort Piute ruins were right on the trail's end where the road was gated. We had to backtrack and navigate with new coordinates (
provided by our new overlanding friend) to find another way around to continue on
The Mojave Road.
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| Stone abandon cabin, Mojave Road |
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| Volcanic cinder cone Vista from stone cabin |
Continuing on the trail we found ourselves in awe once more- the landscape, the cactus, the Joshua trees, the rocky sandy earth was breathtaking at every turn, twist and rock crawl. Our first night out we searched for the right camp site. Getting late, time was not on our side, turning dark we needed to find something fast. Taking a side road next to a huge rocky outcrop the wind picked up and the temps dropped. Looking for a wind break we came up empty handed.
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| Joshua Trees, Mojave Road |
Pulling into what looked like a turnaround we spied a large Joshua tree and decided to park in such a fashion as to use it for a wind break. Good in theory, it was dark as we leveled the rig and popped our RTT in the frigid darkness. Wind blowing we got the stove burning with two cans of soup heating on the single burner. Creamy clam chowder for me and chunky chicken noodle for Trixie. Feeling the cold I reach for the whiskey bottle to take a swig and passed it on to Trixie as she sat in the running rig, heat on, fixing to stay warm! The soup was tasty, hot and hit the spot as we sipped in silence the whisky warming our first night out in the, cold dark and windy
Mojave Desert. Morning came early along with the
sun we cranked up the stove and brewed some extremely strong, welcomed
hot coffee before pushing on.
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| Travelers Mailbox, Mojave Road |
Back on the trail about 45-55 miles into it, shifting in 4whdr-lo before 9am we navigated some pretty spectacular scenery. Our next point of interest was a abandoned stone and rock cabin which was once home to a local artist. The majestic view points from that homestead were incredible. Pushing on we encountered
Government Holes and
Rock Springs from there we needed to look for camp before the sun set. Getting off the trail we headed up to
Providence Mountains to a remote dry campground, (only one other camper in this campground) we hand picked a spot with a wind break and made camp. With plenty of wood around we built a warming fire and made it our home for two nights. (they had drop toilets, YES!!)
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| Mail Box site Mojave Road |
Returning to the trail we took a side trip crossing the
Kelbaker Road where we traveled into nearby
Baker to top our gas tanks, get fresh water and do lunch. Meanwhile back on the trail our next stop was a hoot!!
The Mojave Mailbox, a travelers mailbox in the middle of no where, there travelers sign-in and bring offerings to the many make shift monuments (alters).
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| 4 Wheeling Monument w/ coveted 2018 GSMTR award, Mojave Road |
Our offering was our coveted
2018 Globe Trotters Trophy award that we won back in May at the
#2018GSMTR in
Tennessee (see earlier post 5/27/2018). Here the landscape changed to an ancient lava flow as we reached
Seventeen Mile Point and the
Old Dad Mountains.
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| Well marked trail off the Mojave Road |
Just over 110 miles into
The Mojave Road we reached the most difficult part, crossing a salt pan while traveling solo.
Soda Dry Lake, we wanted to cross before darkness set in and if any chance of rain were to happen. On our approach we see the deep muddy rutted-out tracks of some not so careful or wise travelers ("who's the U-Boat Commander") as we noticed the deep massive crust breeches and the foot prints of many bogged Commanders!!
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| Sitting on the Soda Dry Lake Salt Pan |
Here you stay on the trail- no deviations which would prove disastrous especially if you're a lone traveler. Making our way 3/4's across the dry lake we stopped at the
Travelers Rock Pile, here each traveler climbed the rock pile to place a rock (a rock each of us chose at a earlier time on the trail) on the pile and read the message deep within, which was sworn to secrecy!
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| Travelers Rock Pile Soda Dry Lake Salt Pan |
Day light burning we reached the other side of
Soda Dry Lake leaving the salt pan the trail changed to rocky terrain as we navigated around several very technical rocky approaches. We were excited to soon complete a very wonderful full on 4 wheel drive desert track. Making our way through
Alton Canyon we camped at an old de-funked mine complete with towering heaps of rock, twisted metal tracks and collapsed entrances to unsafe mine shafts. This place was obviously used for weekend off-roaders and shotgun shootin' yahoos none of which where in sight this time of year.
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| Camped at abandon mine |
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| Abandon Mine entrance, Mojave Road |
At night the sound of a near by train would roar by as we were comfy in our
RTT warmed with a bottle of whisky. Waking early we had the last stretch of desert before us and perhaps the most exciting stretch-crossing the
Mojave River. But first a 25 mile run through a sandy winding dry river bed complete with downed logs and twisted debris washed away from the fury of the river that once flowed not so long ago. We even saw a pick-up truck almost completely buried in sand from the once flowing water. Making our way under remote train trestles and through grassy brush we drove up and around to the entry point of the
Mojave River.
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| River bed Bogged Pick-up |
Approximately 3-3 1/2 ft deep and about 70 yards long we stopped and jumped out to survey the entry point. Just then a band of open framed 4 wheeled Desert rails with dirt bikes following pulled up. Beers in hand looking at the water crossing approach we all started comparing strategies on the crossing. With the design of their Desert rigs they were not suited for such a deep crossing, and these desert travelers were not going to attempt it.
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| Mojave River Crossing first half |
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| Mojave River crossed first half |
On the other hand the
Weoverlander Team was geared up and equipped for such an adventure. Once more, we discussed our strategy before crossing the
Mojave River. We climbed into our rig and buckled-up! Shifting to low we pulled forward and entered the river bank hearts racing, as the water rushed up to our bonnet and well over half way up our doors, we continued with an even throttle as not to push the water wave in front of us over the bonnet.
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| Mojave River Crossing last half |
Our snorkel up high and dry we maneuvered over to a high spot and stopped, so far so good!. We jumped back in and crossed the last half of the river with the same even throttle recipe. Successfully we climbed the bank on the other side with cheers and laughs of elation. We had crossed one of the most hair-raising portions of our overlanding adventure. Then I looked down and noticed that I never engaged the 4wh drive only shifted into 2wh drive low, WTF... now my heart really started to race...what if?!!! Driving on we passed
Camp Cady, Forks in the Road and the
Fish Ponds as we ended this incredible 4 night, epic trail just outside of
Yemo about 15 miles east of
Barstow CA.
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| Calico Ghost Town |
Turning north in
Yemo we looked for camping in
Calico Ghost Town campgrounds, a well done revamped ghost town by the makers of
Knotts Berry Farm. From here we took County road 247 to
Lucerne Valley and Yucca Valley on our way to
Joshua Tree National Park....
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| Frog Monument Mail box Mojave Road |
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| Crossing the Mojave Desert |
Hope to see you on the Trail!!!..
🚙........,,,,,....
