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Mojave Road: An Off Road Adventure

Posted in Events on October 24, 2012
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Monica Gonderman Associate Online Editor
Photographers: Jason GondermanCorey Simone

Check out Day 1 coverage (with more coming soon!) of an off road adventure on Southern California's Mojave Road. The Mojave Road is truly a fun and adventurous route. Its diverse terrain - including washes, river crossings, rocks, silt, lake beds, dirt roads, sand, whoops, and more - combined with fascinating historic sites, should put this trail on your yearly to-do list.

The plan was to meet up with Jon (silver Ranger) and his neighbor Terry to carpool out to Barstow at 6am. We stopped by a Mobil around 6:30am for fuel and Monster.

DAY 1

PhotosView Slideshow
On the road to Barstow. This was the first major drive since the truck was put back together. We had an axle seal leak at this point, but it healed itself. Once arriving in Barstow we grabbed a quick and healthy breakfast at Carl's Jr. We then hit the grocery store before meeting up with the group, since in getting the truck ready we also hadn't had a chance to procure provisions. Note the camping chairs; we forgot ours and they were $8 each so we picked up two and strapped them to the truck. The plan was to meet at the Valero off of Barstow Road (247) at 9am. We got there at 10:18am and were still waiting on several people. Our group over taking the parking at the Valero and neighboring Pizza Hut in Barstow. The Barstow Valero was apparently a universal meeting spot for all kinds of enthusiasts. On the way to the trailhead. We finally got to the trail head (off of Harvard Road) at 11:32am. The holdup was that Frank (Doc) had a turbo fail on his Unimog near the 15/395 interchange and they were deciding what to do with it. We ended up leaving without them with instructions on where to meet us. Airing down the Ranger. 16psi was the choice for this trip; worked great. The comedian is at it already. There's at least one in every group. We started the trail at 12:02pm. The first part, Manix Wash, is just a deep sand wash. Corey got stuck, twice. Josh (Ranger, pictured at Valero in Barstow) overheated as usual. Josh's overheating ended up being terminal. He was towed back to his trailer by Rico in the white Unimog (pictured at Valero in Barstow). Passing a Jeep in the wash. While this was going on we had our first big wait of the trip at the Afton Canyon Campground. Parked at our long wait near the Afton Canyon campground. Once we got a hold of Rico and Josh, assessed the situation, and gave them directions to camp, the group was on the move again. Swamp in Afton Canyon; not much of a "river crossing" this time. It was smooth sailing through Afton canyon and up the Mojave River wash. Entering the Mojave National Preserve. The three trucks at Soda Dry Lake after losing Corey in the wash. He had a tool box explode in his truck bed causing him to fall back and join the Jeep group. The same three trucks on Soda Dry Lake (silver Ranger is Jon's, Black Toyota is Brian's, white Ranger is Jason's) Reassembling the whole group at the rock pile. You can imagine how gooey that lake bed surface gets if it's wet. The dry lake is eerie, barren, and vast. It's a good idea to contribute to the rock pile for good luck. At the top of the rock pile, you'll find an inspiring, life-changing plaque. Monica getting a drink from the cooler, which was a great new addition to the truck. Soda Dry Lake was dry this year as well, which is great. Leave a distance crossing the lake; the dust gets thick. Watch your speed, too, as water can create some front-end-breaking ledges. After Soda we were making such great time and were so far ahead of the Jeep group that we decided to check out the Lava Tubes before hitting camp. Did you bring a flashlight? It's going to get very dark. It's nice and cool inside the Lava Tube. Would camping here be a good or bad idea? The truck group parked at the Lava Tubes. It was a short hike back from the Lave Tubes to the trucks. Sometimes it's just nice to get away. We arrived at the camp site at 4:44pm. Camping with friends and family is the best. That night Rico, with Josh riding along, and Frank, riding with his neighbor James, arrived at camp late. With that we were down two vehicles from the original group (Josh's Ranger and Frank's Mog) but had all the people.
Weather was great, light breeze, about 50*, and no moon. Perfect for sleeping.

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