Garrett
Adventurist
A few weeks ago I put together a trip to the Mojave Road. Adventure, wonder and shenanigans. We had a good sized group - just at the limit with 7 or 8 vehicles. As many know, I've had beef with The Road for the past two years after a little "encounter" with the Road...it was time to face it again. First things first. It was an accident free trip.
We drove out Friday to the Avi and my friend Alex and I were on site first. We picked suitably flat ground and set up camp which consisted of opening a few frosty brews and getting the BBQ ready. After some dinner, we fired up some wood and began relaxing. We were to have 3 full days on the trail and were quite excited about it! Others began showing up in the dark and the good times rolled on. On Saturday, we got word that the one guy we had been waiting on wouldn't be making it out so we got a quite late start (maybe 11am) to the day. We loaded up, myself on my brother's dirtbike, my brother driving my Jeep w Frankie and Alex on a moto as well. Cris and everyone else rolled behind the motos. Here's where it got fun - tyler's bike decided to be finicky from the get-go; you were either WOT or not...yea...interesting. Until you got to speed in which case keeping high revs kept the motor going, but otherwise it had a HUGE dead spot. You can imagine getting to an obstacle, opening the throttle and nothing happening...then all of sudden WHAM - WOT and hang on! (there was a lot of that).
We ran the road and stopped at Fort Piute for lunch. Let's just say that the rocky hill climb was difficult on the finicky moto. Ooooo, look, a big rock. Let's go around it; NOPE! WOT means just go over. We continued the journey around the mountains and up the grade which was pretty gnar - I'm surprised I ever got my Westy up it!
Continuing on, we were VERY sad to see that the Mojave Road bus, a photo icon, was tipped over. It was decided as a group to right the bus. We attempted first with manpower, got the bus arocking, but nobody came knocking so we used a tow strap and Tacoma.
[video=youtube;ei8Pz23JcUU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei8Pz23JcUU[/video]
Continuing on, it was beginning to get late. Alex struggle puggled a bit in the Joshua Tree forest with all the sand and high walls. I admit that it was difficult, but let's just say that WOT in sand is helpful haha. We came to the always fun, bypass! Going down first, I naturally ate it at the bottom as the front tire washed out. I fell sublimely into the dirt wall, foot pinned by the bike. As I attempted to free myself, I heard Alex's motor at the top. "oh no!" I thought. Good thing he looked down first to see me before coming down. I pushed the bike off me and down the rest of the hill (I hate kick starters for life now). Alex is of a shorter stature and when we attempted to put feet down on the downhill side, it didn't end well. POOF, a little dust cloud and not worse for the wear, but off the bike he went. I laughed - at least I made it further? Getting to the bottom, we watched the rest of the crew come down.
As it got later in the day, it became overcast and the cool weather came in. Odd, last night was warm and we didn't even use tents. Oh well, keep moving! We stop at the sign for Hole in the Wall campground. Something in me says to keep going. We are looking for a very specific large rock formation at which to camp. I consulted with James and Jim who had camped with me there before. We decided to keep moving. It's getting late and darker. We crest the hill, and I realize while looking out in the distance, that we've definitely gone too far. I navigate much of the Road via memory. I make the executive decision to go back to Hole in the Wall campground. I wasn't pleased, knowing we'd be next to RVs and other people, but it was time to make camp. As we cruised the road, I scanned the vistas for any other place to camp but a real campground. We crested the hill and voila...the exact camp site for which I had been searching loomed ahead. I pumped my fist and 'd over. I was ecstatic!
Camp was made and off came the mini bike which had been on Daniel's Jeep this entire time. We tooled around, built a fire and started the potluck dinner. Carne asada and tri tip tacos. Also, bacon quesadillas and fresh salsas. Nom nom. That night got WINDY. I woke up every hour to flapping sidewalls of the tent. I missed my trailer.
The next morning, the wind had died down, we ate breakfast and cruised down to Hole in the Wall for the short hike. Tyler rode his bike this day and I was glad to be behind the wheel of the Jeep with Frankie the Adventure Dawg at my side. Hiking went as planned and we continued the Road. We got to the highway and decided that for the first time, I'd get to visit Kelso Depot. It was an awesome little side trip. Lots of history! Heading back to the Road, we took a section of whoops where I recounted the spot where I broke my....axle in the purple Jeep. I was in a dust cloud and didn't see whoops. I ended up jumping a fully loaded jeep and smiling an axle. Don't ask me about the wag bag bucket which came forward....
We stopped for lunch around the mountain and continued to the mailbox. The frogs are still there, but oddly the gnomes are gone! We searched and searched, but they're definitely gone or hibernating. We continued to the lava tubes. My Jeep WJ is slung low...so I picked up a lot of sand and sandplowed the way. Nobody got stuck and the bikes blasted ahead. After the lava tubes, it was time for James and Par to leave. They hooked up with the highway and we loaded Tyler's dirtbike on the back to be transported home. Our ride situation was out of whack since one of the guys who was coming couldn't make it last minute.
Cris led us to an awesome camp high above Soda Lake. On the way down, Eric's truck shredded a sidewall. We left Jim to help him change it out while we set up camp a few miles down the road and I prepared a delicious al pastor taco dinner. When they finally arrived on a spare tire, Eric decided he would head out via Soda Lake the next day, but there were tacos to eat! Festivities continued late into the night.
The next morning, more than a few of us were sub par. It was a slow and oddly bright morning. Everyone got their rocks ready and we hit the traveler's monument.
Eric departed shortly after and we neared Afton Canyon. Alex was solo on the bike and jammed ahead. I remembered a cave which is pretty awesome in Afton, but naturally, being a cave, I forgot to tell everyone to bring lights. Duh. Pretty short cave trip
As we neared the river, I saw Alex on the far side of the first crossing. The UTV on our side said he had fallen in the water. I'm inclined to agree
Having done the exact same thing, I knew a thing or two about dunking a DRZ and water in the gas tank. While he tried to start (while getting a jump from Jim), I opened the carb drain and watched tons of water come out. The bike started to sputter as real fuel came in and then fired up. A few more cranks to let water out and all was good as new! The Road was finished with the water crossings remaining uneventful. We stopped at a diner on the way back 3 miles from Calico. Dang...too late in the day to visit so I'll do it another time!
We drove out Friday to the Avi and my friend Alex and I were on site first. We picked suitably flat ground and set up camp which consisted of opening a few frosty brews and getting the BBQ ready. After some dinner, we fired up some wood and began relaxing. We were to have 3 full days on the trail and were quite excited about it! Others began showing up in the dark and the good times rolled on. On Saturday, we got word that the one guy we had been waiting on wouldn't be making it out so we got a quite late start (maybe 11am) to the day. We loaded up, myself on my brother's dirtbike, my brother driving my Jeep w Frankie and Alex on a moto as well. Cris and everyone else rolled behind the motos. Here's where it got fun - tyler's bike decided to be finicky from the get-go; you were either WOT or not...yea...interesting. Until you got to speed in which case keeping high revs kept the motor going, but otherwise it had a HUGE dead spot. You can imagine getting to an obstacle, opening the throttle and nothing happening...then all of sudden WHAM - WOT and hang on! (there was a lot of that).
We ran the road and stopped at Fort Piute for lunch. Let's just say that the rocky hill climb was difficult on the finicky moto. Ooooo, look, a big rock. Let's go around it; NOPE! WOT means just go over. We continued the journey around the mountains and up the grade which was pretty gnar - I'm surprised I ever got my Westy up it!
Continuing on, we were VERY sad to see that the Mojave Road bus, a photo icon, was tipped over. It was decided as a group to right the bus. We attempted first with manpower, got the bus arocking, but nobody came knocking so we used a tow strap and Tacoma.
[video=youtube;ei8Pz23JcUU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei8Pz23JcUU[/video]
Continuing on, it was beginning to get late. Alex struggle puggled a bit in the Joshua Tree forest with all the sand and high walls. I admit that it was difficult, but let's just say that WOT in sand is helpful haha. We came to the always fun, bypass! Going down first, I naturally ate it at the bottom as the front tire washed out. I fell sublimely into the dirt wall, foot pinned by the bike. As I attempted to free myself, I heard Alex's motor at the top. "oh no!" I thought. Good thing he looked down first to see me before coming down. I pushed the bike off me and down the rest of the hill (I hate kick starters for life now). Alex is of a shorter stature and when we attempted to put feet down on the downhill side, it didn't end well. POOF, a little dust cloud and not worse for the wear, but off the bike he went. I laughed - at least I made it further? Getting to the bottom, we watched the rest of the crew come down.
As it got later in the day, it became overcast and the cool weather came in. Odd, last night was warm and we didn't even use tents. Oh well, keep moving! We stop at the sign for Hole in the Wall campground. Something in me says to keep going. We are looking for a very specific large rock formation at which to camp. I consulted with James and Jim who had camped with me there before. We decided to keep moving. It's getting late and darker. We crest the hill, and I realize while looking out in the distance, that we've definitely gone too far. I navigate much of the Road via memory. I make the executive decision to go back to Hole in the Wall campground. I wasn't pleased, knowing we'd be next to RVs and other people, but it was time to make camp. As we cruised the road, I scanned the vistas for any other place to camp but a real campground. We crested the hill and voila...the exact camp site for which I had been searching loomed ahead. I pumped my fist and 'd over. I was ecstatic!
Camp was made and off came the mini bike which had been on Daniel's Jeep this entire time. We tooled around, built a fire and started the potluck dinner. Carne asada and tri tip tacos. Also, bacon quesadillas and fresh salsas. Nom nom. That night got WINDY. I woke up every hour to flapping sidewalls of the tent. I missed my trailer.
The next morning, the wind had died down, we ate breakfast and cruised down to Hole in the Wall for the short hike. Tyler rode his bike this day and I was glad to be behind the wheel of the Jeep with Frankie the Adventure Dawg at my side. Hiking went as planned and we continued the Road. We got to the highway and decided that for the first time, I'd get to visit Kelso Depot. It was an awesome little side trip. Lots of history! Heading back to the Road, we took a section of whoops where I recounted the spot where I broke my....axle in the purple Jeep. I was in a dust cloud and didn't see whoops. I ended up jumping a fully loaded jeep and smiling an axle. Don't ask me about the wag bag bucket which came forward....
We stopped for lunch around the mountain and continued to the mailbox. The frogs are still there, but oddly the gnomes are gone! We searched and searched, but they're definitely gone or hibernating. We continued to the lava tubes. My Jeep WJ is slung low...so I picked up a lot of sand and sandplowed the way. Nobody got stuck and the bikes blasted ahead. After the lava tubes, it was time for James and Par to leave. They hooked up with the highway and we loaded Tyler's dirtbike on the back to be transported home. Our ride situation was out of whack since one of the guys who was coming couldn't make it last minute.
Cris led us to an awesome camp high above Soda Lake. On the way down, Eric's truck shredded a sidewall. We left Jim to help him change it out while we set up camp a few miles down the road and I prepared a delicious al pastor taco dinner. When they finally arrived on a spare tire, Eric decided he would head out via Soda Lake the next day, but there were tacos to eat! Festivities continued late into the night.
The next morning, more than a few of us were sub par. It was a slow and oddly bright morning. Everyone got their rocks ready and we hit the traveler's monument.
Eric departed shortly after and we neared Afton Canyon. Alex was solo on the bike and jammed ahead. I remembered a cave which is pretty awesome in Afton, but naturally, being a cave, I forgot to tell everyone to bring lights. Duh. Pretty short cave trip
As we neared the river, I saw Alex on the far side of the first crossing. The UTV on our side said he had fallen in the water. I'm inclined to agree
Having done the exact same thing, I knew a thing or two about dunking a DRZ and water in the gas tank. While he tried to start (while getting a jump from Jim), I opened the carb drain and watched tons of water come out. The bike started to sputter as real fuel came in and then fired up. A few more cranks to let water out and all was good as new! The Road was finished with the water crossings remaining uneventful. We stopped at a diner on the way back 3 miles from Calico. Dang...too late in the day to visit so I'll do it another time!
