Presidents' Day long weekend adventure (1 Viewer)

[Stepmurr]

For you Ham Radio Technicians, I did some research on 2m Repeaters and frequencies in use in the general area in case you get separated or need help outside of the group (highly unlikely knowing the level pf preparedness on past runs!). Some quick notes;

Within Mojave National Park, 146.520 (Simplex) is the Calling Frequency and is monitored by the National Park Service. We should probably stay off that frequency unless we need something from the rangers. The CSC "club" frequency is 146.460 (simplex), and the best way to talk amongst the group.

For caravan to, through, and return trip home, the following Repeaters may be useful to reach further than your own radio can carry you;

Going west from Bullhead City starting point, Laughlin Repeater is 145.270, (- offset), PL Tone of 131.8, and is a linked repeater with far reach.

On the east side of the NP, Mt Potosi Repeater is on 146.880 (- offset), PL Tone of 100.0, and is also linked.

At the middle of the NP, Barstow Repeater is on 147.180 (+ offset), PL Tone of 151.4.

On the west side, Ludlow Repeater (aka Rodman Peak) is on 147.885 (+ offset), PL Tone of 151.4, and is linked with Barstow, above.

In order to avoid sidetracking the ongoing food thread - which is certainly a priority - please PM me if you have any corrections to this info, or have questions on how to setup your radio. I don't BAEOUFANG, but hear that Chirp software will make this an easier task. Alternately, you could just punch in 146.460 and call it a day.

Thanks for doing the repeater research

I have your four repeaters programmed and on a short scan list.

I'm camped a few miles east of Kingman 2nite. When I wake up i'll start scanning the four repeaters and the csc 146.460 simplex. Be interesting to see how far out i will pick up the main group.

See y'all in Bullhead City ta' marrow

 

[verruckt1]

Made it to Mavericks. Parked in the dirt lot behind the gas station.

 

[rctoyota]

Thank you everyone and especially Steve for such an amazing trip! Steve thank you for all the planning, doing the pre-run, and getting the permit in order. We have sooo many gorgeous photos but here are just a few! Hope you all make it home safe today!

 

[rctoyota]

More photos

 

[rctoyota]

A few more...

 

[rctoyota]

Last bunch

 

[GWcruiser]

Curious - was there a bypass for that wash ?

 

[Mattman]

Awesome trip! Thanks Steve for organizing! We stayed in Laughlin and are getting snow on the way back. Great time!

 

[Dimples]

Did everyone make it home safe last night?

 

[Dimples]

Curious - was there a bypass for that wash ?

No bypass. It is the only way through as far as I know.

 

[rctoyota]

Did everyone make it home safe last night?

We made it home a little after 2am, we were with @LongDuck and @verruckt1 until we all hit the 17. How was camping?

 

[Dimples]

We made it home a little after 2am, we were with @LongDuck and @verruckt1 until we all hit the 17. How was camping?

Well I woke up to the start of a snow storm a little before 7 and had to wake every one up early.

 

[Saddletramp]

What a great trip, felt like traveling across the Sahara desert yesterday. Good fun was had by all, no real failures to speak of and only assisted one crazy jeep guy and his HoboFreight trailer. A few pics

Long lonesome road, until we ran across the heard of Turtleback trailers

Sunrise the first morning in epic campsite

Coffee with Pete

Chris and friends plus Red Steve and Longduck. This after a night of succulent pulled pork from @wtmtnterror and the best beans ever by @Dimples and a number of sides plus spicy vegetarian chili by @rctoyota and Cleo plus some after dinner sweets.

Mailbox

 

[Saddletramp]

A few others

Entering the Preserve via BLM land, no we did not take the recommended bypass, road was fine as shared by Phil and Eric @Pitch

Awesomeness looks like @verruckt1 having a much needed respite

Frogs, @Abigail adds her version of frog frivolity

Soda lake as winds start to push 30 mph and gusting higher. Long string of trucks behind and soda dust clouds ahead.

 

[Saddletramp]

Soda dust everywhere

Chris was thinking it would be so cool to fly his drone, we found out on day two, meeting with the ranger that no drones are allowed in any National Parks or Preserve - wind was too high anyway.

 

[Saddletramp]

Water crossings have consequences
Grill seaweed and fog lights filled with water

@Abigail wins the best hood plunge, always the most positive person we have the pleasure to wheel with.

40-50 mph winds force a long drive from Mojave Road to Kingman via Barstow . 12:30 am at Denny's and yes Saddletramp is still awake.

Laughter from Chris @Highway Romping and his crew, they are always welcome back. The Denny's caption in the right upper corner says it all.

 

[Saddletramp]

Some folks catching up on work or people's recollection of the days events

Couldn't have asked for a better group, gamers to the end as many of us woke to snow later in the morning.

 

[Abigail]

Some folks catching up on works or people's recollection of the days events

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Couldn't have asked for a better group, gamers to the end as many of us woke to snow later in the morning.

Thanks for posting all the great pics with commentary! (Especially for those of me at 1am in a Denny's in Kingman with 3 day's worth of dust in my hair... Definitely appreciated....) most of what I snagged were 15 second video clips that made it onto my IG, but here's a couple photos I got as well:

A real safari

This sign sums up the weekend full of puns and bad dad jokes

Visitors center at Kelso Depot

Sunrise from inside a RTT

Ran into the real T Tusk two days in a row

Had a great time despite the unplanned ending; all part of true adventuring!

 

[Highway Romping]

Awesome trip Steve, thank you for planning this whole trip so that I can just tag along without a care in the world. I'm currently stuck with work for the next two days. I will collect all of the photos and videos from my friends and myself and post them later this week.

 

[Saddletramp]

13 trucks with 19 people crossed the Mojave Desert over 3 days. We drove more than 230 miles and did a bit of back tracking to see some of the sites and re-fuel.

Gas - while some of us carried extra, we still chose to top off in Baker versus risk running out and worrying about the logistics of getting more fuel. Glad we did as the weather turned and with winds consistently 30 to 40 mph and gusting to 50 we had our hands full, not worrying about gas was a luxury we needed. We exited the BLM portion of the Mojave road just before dark rather than camp in the sand and unrelenting wind. We drove to Kingman hoping for better weather and our last night of camping, it was a ragged bunch as we made camp at 130 am.

The vastness of the Mojave NP and places to see was very reminiscent of our Death Valley trip, you could spend weeks exploring and we all hope to go back.

Our group ran in to Jerry the owner and founder of TemboTusk who graciously gave us a few koozie cup holders

Fantastic adventure and our pictures will tell the story from each participants perspective.