(Editor's Note-Part I of this two-part Four Wheeler adventure series began in the August 2005 issue.)
It had been several hours since our own team of explorers, Editor Douglas McColloch, Tech Editor Sean P. Holman, Feature Editor Robin Stover, and friend of Four Wheeler magazine, Shane Casad from Bilstein shocks (filling in for Senior Editor Ken Brubaker, who was undoubtedly making snow angels in the Midwest), had put out the campfire and ended the "we don't let the truth get in the way of a good story" fat-chewing session for the night. As the sunlight crept over the hills surrounding Round Valley, we knew it was time to pack up and trade the hospitality of Government Holes for a day of westward exploration, but not before a filling breakfast of Kielbasa and red potato hash was stuck to our ribs like a Jp editor sticks to the Tank Trap.
Pulling out of camp, we took in the sights of Pinto Mountain and headed down the smoothest section of the Mojave Road through Cedar Canyon, named after the prevalence of juniper trees in the area. At over 5,100 feet, this stretch of the Mojave Road is the highest segment along the route. Hitting Cedar Canyon Road, we picked up the pace on the smooth, hard-packed dirt road, but were careful to keep our dust down and speed reasonable as to be respectful of the residents that this road serves.
At mile 56.1, we crossed the intersection with Black Canyon Road. Black Canyon Road offers access, not only to the intriguing Mitchell Caverns and Interstate 40 via Essex Road from the Mojave Road, but also to the only established campgrounds along the route-Mid Hills and Hole-in-the-Wall. These are National Park Service campgrounds and happen to be roughly at the halfway point of the Mojave Road. The choice is yours, but as desert adventurers, we prefer the seclusion backcountry camping offers.
Cedar Canyon soon opened up to reveal spectacular vistas of the Mojave stretching clear to the horizon. Stopping to take in the beauty, we looked to the distant south where a patch of lightly colored earth announced the presence of the 500-foot-tall Kelso sand dunes, whose congregation of wayward grains is blown in by the mystical desert winds. Just barely visible were the summits of the San Bernardino Mountains, which surround Los Angeles to the east, still bald with snow. To the northwest, the magnificent Cima Dome, a prehistoric batholith, gently rises from the desert floor, with only a few ancient cinder cones nearby to hint at the violent nature of this once actively volcanic region. Blooms of desert wildflowers carpeted the desert floor with a palette of yellows and purples, only seen during a few weeks every spring, before giving way to the Beale and Marl Mountains, our next obstacles.
At the intersection with the Kelso-Cima Road at mile 62.1 (elevation 3,725 feet), a monument to the history of the Mojave Road, which was erected in 1986, signals the beginning of the Mojave Road's return to a primitive and remote trail. In fact, no major roads would be encountered until the Kelbaker Road at mile 85.2. This area is desolate enough that the Mojave Road Guide cautions against attempting this stretch of the trail alone.