Mojave Rd. April 15-17 2011

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Bluetribal

Bluetribal

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
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280
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Location
Sandy Eggo
Website
www.markkuz.com
I know many of you are focused on the Expo event this weekend but I just wanted to get my trip posted since we are now under a month and counting down and I would love for anyone to come along. My B-Day is the 15th and this year my wish is to FINALLY do the Mojave Road!



The game is currently developing, stay tuned.
Here is my Google Map with the stages all drawn out and most points of interest.
Mojave Rd B-Day 2011
 
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I know its ambitious on my part since I haven't gone through the Expo Rndxz yet.
But I will check my work dates and I'll post if I can go.
 
I'll be running Mojave the 14-17th (4 days) with another group. We are doing the regular stops, Fort Piute, Government Holes, Aiken Mine, Mid Hills Campground, Mitchell Caverns, etc. The extra day makes the trip a bit more relaxing. If for any reason your group does not materialize I am sure you would be welcome. My sons B-day is the 18th so I have to be home Monday for sure, hope nothing major breaks. I'll let you know our comms..in case you wish to avoid our group(meant in a friendly way:)) or in case we need help or can provide help. :)

Scott
 
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Pencil me in for this trip. Need to see if I can get the wife to take Saturday off. She works Saturdays now and that means I am a stay at home Dad on weekends :crybaby:
 
Bluetribal said:
I know many of you are focused on the Expo event this weekend but I just wanted to get my trip posted since we are now under a month and counting down and I would love for anyone to come along. My B-Day is the 15th and this year my wish is to FINALLY do the Mojave Road!

I currently have two friends seriously considering the trip, one will be in a stock 4x4 4Runner and the other would be in his Manx/Buggy but he needs to figure out how to get the Manx back to his trailer since I have no tow hitch. Maybe I could borrow one from someone? I plan to get the Slee hitch receiver in the future but not at this time.

The game plan is to take Friday the 15th off and actually get out to Afton Canyon Camp late Thursday night after work. We would be running the Mojave Rd. West to East so that we could pull into Laughlin Saturday night to party.
Friday we would leave Afton Canyon Camp first thing in the AM and try to get 50 miles under our belts to the Mail Box for a late lunch. After the mailbox we would just have 23 miles to get up to Mid Hills Camp where we would camp for the night. Saturday would be a somewhat easier day where we could do some more exploring on our way 35 miles to Fort Piute where we would eat lunch. After lunch we would travel 20 miles out to Needles Hwy where we would be just 12 miles from Laughlin. Here is my Google Map with the stages all drawn out and most points of interest.
Mojave Rd B-Day 2011 - Google Maps

Anyone who has done the Mojave Rd. before please chime in with some good points of interest that I don't already have on my map or if you think my plans are a bit zealous for this first trip.
Click to expand...

Mark, check out Vulcan Mine if you can fit it in.

Vulcan Mine- 34.92434 N,-115.567043 W

Vulcan Mine

The road up to the mine is a nice climb leading to an awesome view of Kelso Dunes and the mine is about a quarter mile walk from the road and a good respite from all that driving and there are tons of awesome rocks to be seen. The mine itself is beautiful and eerily tranquil and the water at the bottom is a beautiful turquoise. If you can't make it this time then maybe another. IMHO your 2nd choice for camping is almost better than Mid Hills especially if it will be cold. Mid Hills is close to 5000ft and it gets windy and wicked cold if the weather is iffy.
 
Thanks Scott for the tips!!!!! I will add Vulcan mine to my map.


Hey what do you think about a Ford F250 on the trail? Any tight spots? This F250 handles Baja so it's no lifted mall cruiser. My buddy is thinking it would be better for camping than the Manx.
 
Bluetribal said:
Thanks Scott for the tips!!!!! I will add Vulcan mine to my map.


Hey what do you think about a Ford F250 on the trail? Any tight spots? This F250 handles Baja so it's no lifted mall cruiser. My buddy is thinking it would be better for camping than the Manx.
Click to expand...

As long as it can handle the whoop de do's no worries. There is a long section after your secondary campsite with some seriously bad whoops that just have to handled slowly unless you had a trophy truck. The only narrow spots I can remember is the Joshua Forest. Folding mirrors a must....LOL
 
My friends F250 made it fine - no lift with 35s. He HATED the woops and had to go slower than the 80s but still made it through (at one point his dog even bailed and rode with me). Just relax and take it in stride.
 
Right on good to know I think him and the family will be better off camping with the F250.

And I got my HAM hooked up yesterday. I still need to get it permanently mounted but for now it sit's between my E-Brake and center console. Now I have to read up and figure out how to operate it.
 
boydmick said:
My friends F250 made it fine - no lift with 35s. He HATED the woops and had to go slower than the 80s but still made it through (at one point his dog even bailed and rode with me). Just relax and take it in stride.
Click to expand...

He had fun in the mud too! Interesting sight seeing a F250 in my rear view mirror absolutely sideways in the mud near Black Canyon Road! What a sight to see! I'll second Boyd's comments. Wheel base was just tooooooo loooooong for the whoops. 80's are fine...as usual. :D
 
Well I finally have a GPS set-up. This trip was a good excuse to the :princess: to get it purchased. Since she wanted one of those mini laptops for our upcoming trips out of the country we picked one up and I doubled the memory from 1G to 2G so I could run DeLorme's laptop GPS.
So we got a little 10" lapop (ASUS Eee PC 1015 PE)
And I ordered DeLorme's LT-40 Puck and North America Topo 9.0
 
you got room for one more? :) Never been. I managed to get the days off and wouldn't mind tagging along. I'm surprised my boss approved the time off because I took vacation days to go to the expo event but then ended up having to leave my truck in the shop to get the valve cover gasket replaced and rubber hose thingy that ended up disintegrating in the process.:doh:
 
Hey Ryan, I was starting to think this trip was falling apart because my buddy with the F250 bailed out and I am still waiting to hear back from my buddy with the stock 4Runner. I actually contacted Scott from post 5 about maybe joining his group and bailing on the Laughlin idea and canceling my hotel reservation. But I am still 100% in for this trip one way or another and would be happy to meet you and hit this trail with you. I will keep you posted.
 
OK, change in gear now since my other Buddy can't commit to this trip either. So Ryan, if you are totally in then let's run the Mojave Rd. it will be my wife, parents and myself in my Cruiser. And now I can cancel out the Laughlin Saturday night and we can run the trail East to West as most do and take a little more time on it and see more locations.

So the new game plan I am considering would be to leave San Diego around 4:00 - 4:30 and head up to Murrieta. My parents will be coming from LA and meet in Murrieta as well where we will be leaving their car at a friends house. Get them loaded in and meet with you and hit a drive-thru for dinner and hit the road by 6:00. The goal for that night will be Blythe which we should get to around 9:30.
After getting our 8 hours of shut eye it's about a 2.5 hr drive up the Needles Hwy to the Mojave Rd. We fill up our tanks and Jerry cans in Needles and hit the Mojave Rd.
From that point I haven't figured out the rest of Friday or Sat Sun but that gives us 2.5 days to explore the area.

So let me know what you think of the new game plan and I will work on a new google map.
 
Bluetribal said:
I saw that, lets see what Ryan thinks. I know we can't have too large of a group running together and especailly not all camping together.
Click to expand...

There are always cancellations. We will not be too large as to need a permit depending on how we arrange the group.Were are at 6, maybe 7. But if it turns out necessary I'll apply for the permit. :)


As far as camping goes there should be is more than enough room at all the camp spots for 7 rigs. Most of us will be on 2 meter so we do not need to run line of sight although that is always a good idea.


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Special Park Recreation Use Permit
A Special Park Recreation Use Permit is required for some activities within Mojave National Preserve. A non-refundable application fee is required from all applicants, regardless of whether or not the permit is issued. There are two fee categories, depending on the nature of the proposed activity:​




Groups of at least 7 vehicles or 15 participants for common recreational activities (rock climbing, hunting, fishing or trapping, equestrian use, bicycling, street-legal motorcycle or all-terrain vehicle use, backcountry use and roadside vehicle camping).
Application Fee: $5o
​
 
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