Scott
Adventurist
Dirt + No Showers + No Facilities + blazing hot sun + 100 vehicles = A TON OF FUN! The 4[SUP]th[/SUP] Annual Desert Rendezvous took place this last weekend, March 21 through March 23, put together by the folks at American Adventurist (www.americanadventurist.com) . This was my first time attending such an event, although I’d heard SO many great things about what Dave and his crew do. I had to be at Pechanga Casino in Temecula for the Thursday and half of Friday before the event, so I had the chance to drive the 79 South toward Anza, then hit the 371, and then get on to the 74, and follow that into Palm Desert before jumping onto Interstate 10 to finish my journey out to Desert Rendezvous (known as DRV from here on out).
First stop was at “Vista Point” off of the 74, as I noticed some breathtaking views. I had to pull over, and snap a few pictures.
After snapping a few pictures, and helping a guy in a classic Ford Mustang who was a victim of a rotted out transmission line hose, (I had some hi temp rubber hose that fit the bill for the repair in the truck, so I helped him clamp it on to get him home) I was on my way into Palm Desert via Highway 74. I was anxious to get there, so all of the stop lights along Monterey were driving me nuts. After lots of cruising along the 10 (at speeds I won’t mention here), I exited Red Cloud, and followed my GPS on my phone. Luckily, my 4G service on my ATT phone held out until I found the camp, so it wasn’t a huge issue.
As soon as I rolled into camp, I spotted a familiar rig, the Dodge/FWC of Mike, with some mylar balloons floating high above their site. I had to deduce that this was where I was supposed to check in. It was exactly 3pm (right when check-in was supposed to start), so I drove up, signed my name and got some free swag. Mike then told me where the main campfire was going to be, so I stopped the truck and dumped all my firewood out of the truck. As I was doing that, I had a group of guys walking their dogs come up to me. One guy immediately asked me if my name was Scott. I said “yes it is”. He introduced himself as Jeremy and I immediately knew this was the guy that I was giving my old Jeep Wrangler wheels to for his teardrop trailer and his camp trailer. We talked for a few minutes, and they went to register. I ended up finding a nice level spot to camp, right by their trailers, so that I could easily unload the wheels I had bartered over to Jeremy. Little did I know, Jeremy, and his friend Shane and I really hit it off, and we’re actually looking at doing some camping together again soon!
After some great conversation, a few adult beverages, and a great hamburger cooked on my Cadac Grille, it was late, and time to hit the sack in my Napier Sportz Truck Bed Tent (which is quite possibly one of the greatest inventions ever, as it kept me from sleeping on rocks all night!).
Saturday morning rolled around, and I crawled out of the tent, and as is my daily ritual, first things first, I put some water in a pot to boil for coffee. Anyone that knows me, knows I won’t go without my coffee! As the water was coming to a boil, I brushed my teeth, and took a “desert shower” which consisted of splashing water on my face and hair. I hung around the campsite with Jeremy and Shane for the morning while they ate breakfast and relaxed. Once that was over, it was time to hit the trail and go exploring, as well as do some desert cleanup. We headed toward the area of the actual Red Cloud mine. After a few miles in the dirt and rocks, we came upon an abandoned old camp area for miners. Sadly, there was a plethora of “new” trash that people had left behind, so we picked up our trash bags and started cleaning up.
Photo credit courtesy of Jeremy2013
After that was over, we continued down the trail. After a few more miles, we stopped for lunch. After we had a few bites to eat, and downed some H20, Shane, Jeremy and I went for a hike. We hiked, and hiked, and after a while, Shane opted to head back down to the vehicles. Jeremy and I continued on, and found some shelters, and what looked like an old rail system for the miners to use. This had us more and more intrigued about where the mines might actually be. So, we kept pushing on. After a while, and lots of uphill and curves, we found the mine and decided to walk down it to see how far it went. Total distance was about 150 feet or so, and Jeremy and I were both amazed that ANYONE would spend the kind of time and energy digging out this mine for what appeared to be copper.
Photo credit courtesy of Jeremy 2013
After we got back to the trucks, we decided it was time to head to camp and relax a bit. So, a few more miles of dirt road driving, and we arrived back at camp, just in time to get things rolling for the American Adventurist Dutch Oven Competition/Potluck. Jeremy cooked up some KILLER red beans and rice with spicy hot links in his Dutch oven that I absolutely devoured! The competition was fierce, but everyone had a good time, and the potluck went over well. Once that was over, we headed toward the middle of camp, and proceeded to sit for a raffle. The raffle was the coolest concept of this event. A big part of the event was cleaning up trash on the trail that was left behind by others. If you went on a trail run, and picked up at least 1 trash bag’s worth of trash while you were out there driving around, that entitled you to 1 raffle ticket, for the possibility of winning an item from one of the many generous vendors that supported this event. When all was said and done, Jeremy, Shane and I all walked away from the raffle with a prize in hand. I can’t thank the vendors enough for stepping up and offering such awesome prizes for the event.
After all of that was over, we congregated around our fire pit, told stories, and listened to Dave play guitar for a while, all while enjoying some adult beverages, and recounting previous trips we’d been on.
All in all, this trip was one I’ll remember for my lifetime, and I can’t wait to hit the next one up in the Big Bear area. I had a blast, made some new lifelong friends, and cleaned up the trails so that hopefully one day my kids can also enjoy the tranquility I find in camping.
First stop was at “Vista Point” off of the 74, as I noticed some breathtaking views. I had to pull over, and snap a few pictures.
After snapping a few pictures, and helping a guy in a classic Ford Mustang who was a victim of a rotted out transmission line hose, (I had some hi temp rubber hose that fit the bill for the repair in the truck, so I helped him clamp it on to get him home) I was on my way into Palm Desert via Highway 74. I was anxious to get there, so all of the stop lights along Monterey were driving me nuts. After lots of cruising along the 10 (at speeds I won’t mention here), I exited Red Cloud, and followed my GPS on my phone. Luckily, my 4G service on my ATT phone held out until I found the camp, so it wasn’t a huge issue.
As soon as I rolled into camp, I spotted a familiar rig, the Dodge/FWC of Mike, with some mylar balloons floating high above their site. I had to deduce that this was where I was supposed to check in. It was exactly 3pm (right when check-in was supposed to start), so I drove up, signed my name and got some free swag. Mike then told me where the main campfire was going to be, so I stopped the truck and dumped all my firewood out of the truck. As I was doing that, I had a group of guys walking their dogs come up to me. One guy immediately asked me if my name was Scott. I said “yes it is”. He introduced himself as Jeremy and I immediately knew this was the guy that I was giving my old Jeep Wrangler wheels to for his teardrop trailer and his camp trailer. We talked for a few minutes, and they went to register. I ended up finding a nice level spot to camp, right by their trailers, so that I could easily unload the wheels I had bartered over to Jeremy. Little did I know, Jeremy, and his friend Shane and I really hit it off, and we’re actually looking at doing some camping together again soon!
After some great conversation, a few adult beverages, and a great hamburger cooked on my Cadac Grille, it was late, and time to hit the sack in my Napier Sportz Truck Bed Tent (which is quite possibly one of the greatest inventions ever, as it kept me from sleeping on rocks all night!).
Saturday morning rolled around, and I crawled out of the tent, and as is my daily ritual, first things first, I put some water in a pot to boil for coffee. Anyone that knows me, knows I won’t go without my coffee! As the water was coming to a boil, I brushed my teeth, and took a “desert shower” which consisted of splashing water on my face and hair. I hung around the campsite with Jeremy and Shane for the morning while they ate breakfast and relaxed. Once that was over, it was time to hit the trail and go exploring, as well as do some desert cleanup. We headed toward the area of the actual Red Cloud mine. After a few miles in the dirt and rocks, we came upon an abandoned old camp area for miners. Sadly, there was a plethora of “new” trash that people had left behind, so we picked up our trash bags and started cleaning up.
Photo credit courtesy of Jeremy2013
After that was over, we continued down the trail. After a few more miles, we stopped for lunch. After we had a few bites to eat, and downed some H20, Shane, Jeremy and I went for a hike. We hiked, and hiked, and after a while, Shane opted to head back down to the vehicles. Jeremy and I continued on, and found some shelters, and what looked like an old rail system for the miners to use. This had us more and more intrigued about where the mines might actually be. So, we kept pushing on. After a while, and lots of uphill and curves, we found the mine and decided to walk down it to see how far it went. Total distance was about 150 feet or so, and Jeremy and I were both amazed that ANYONE would spend the kind of time and energy digging out this mine for what appeared to be copper.
Photo credit courtesy of Jeremy 2013
After we got back to the trucks, we decided it was time to head to camp and relax a bit. So, a few more miles of dirt road driving, and we arrived back at camp, just in time to get things rolling for the American Adventurist Dutch Oven Competition/Potluck. Jeremy cooked up some KILLER red beans and rice with spicy hot links in his Dutch oven that I absolutely devoured! The competition was fierce, but everyone had a good time, and the potluck went over well. Once that was over, we headed toward the middle of camp, and proceeded to sit for a raffle. The raffle was the coolest concept of this event. A big part of the event was cleaning up trash on the trail that was left behind by others. If you went on a trail run, and picked up at least 1 trash bag’s worth of trash while you were out there driving around, that entitled you to 1 raffle ticket, for the possibility of winning an item from one of the many generous vendors that supported this event. When all was said and done, Jeremy, Shane and I all walked away from the raffle with a prize in hand. I can’t thank the vendors enough for stepping up and offering such awesome prizes for the event.
After all of that was over, we congregated around our fire pit, told stories, and listened to Dave play guitar for a while, all while enjoying some adult beverages, and recounting previous trips we’d been on.
All in all, this trip was one I’ll remember for my lifetime, and I can’t wait to hit the next one up in the Big Bear area. I had a blast, made some new lifelong friends, and cleaned up the trails so that hopefully one day my kids can also enjoy the tranquility I find in camping.
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See ya at MRV!
