Events/Trails Quick Mojave Road Trip (1 Viewer)

[ethernectar]

We had four trucks run the majority of the Mojave Road over this last weekend of the year. @indycole , @Markuson , @TRD Burglar and I met up at the Avi on Friday morning with our better halves and enjoyed a nice day of wash and desert two-track driving. We camped up in Caruthers Canyon (6500') at a old campsite nestled up at the end of the canyon. It was cold and windy but good company. Sub-freezing cold for this California native - at 7:15 Saturday morning it was 21º F, so we expect temps were down into the teens and single digits with the wind chill.

Saturday we worked to make good time to get through the soda lake by mid afternoon. We (Beth and I) split that afternoon, Mark and Julie stayed till the evening with Cole, Bethany, Brad and Laura who camped out Saturday night at the Afton Canyon campground. The trail wasn't busy but a few groups of trucks here and there to wave hello to. Its a great run and one I'd definitely recommend, especially in the spring when temps are milder.

My pics follow and I expect that the others will add theirs as well.

 

[ethernectar]

 

[ethernectar]

 

[ethernectar]

 

[ethernectar]

 

[ethernectar]

 

[Markuson]

Beautiful stuff, Matt!

Freeeeezing night in camp...but great time with great folks!

Few more-

 

[Markuson]

Left to right:
@ethernectar @indycole @Markuson @TRD Burglar

 

[cc93cruiser]

Berry berry nice.... Damn, I gotta start outfitting my 200... Beautiful rigs...

 

[ckkone]

Awesome, I need to get out in the dirt more often...

 

[TeCKis300]

The recent cold front definitely make things chillier than is typical this time of year. Any of you guys run Buddy Heaters? Pref with a full size tank adapter to run through the night? That's my preferred gadget for camping this time of year.

Nice pics. Looks like you y'all had fun out there.

 

[Markuson]

The recent cold front definitely make things chillier than is typical this time of year. Any of you guys run Buddy Heaters? Pref with a full size tank adapter to run through the night? That's my preferred gadget for camping this time of year.

Nice pics. Looks like you y'all had fun out there.

I did run a big buddy in an RV5 oztent. Eats fuel on high....but we would have frozen without it. @ethernectar ran a lil buddy but had proximity issues due to much smaller RV2.

Dog’s water bowl started freezing before sundown after only being outside a few minutes.

Bottom line was ...we needed warmer bags.

Our hard-top RTT trucks fared better with their much smaller interiors and better bedding.

With windchill I suspect we were in the single digits. I’ve backpacked in snow over 10k feet and slept ON snow...but this area with the biting wind felt much colder.

 

[Union]

Super jealous, I wish I wasn't working for this! I'll be sure to bring my OCP pants if I do ever go

 

[indycole]

Here's a quick compilation video from my drone footage. I'm not sure when I'll get to the still photos. All in all I didn't do much photography due to the weather but that didn't impact our enjoyment of the trail and people at all. Sometimes it's nice to have a good excuse to leave the camera in the bag and take in the landscape. The CA desert never disappoints.



Let's see if the video above works. Apologies in advance for the music

 

[Markuson]

Here's a quick compilation video from my drone footage. I'm not sure when I'll get to the still photos. All in all I didn't do much photography due to the weather but that didn't impact our enjoyment of the trail and people at all. Sometimes it's nice to have a good excuse to leave the camera in the bag and take in the landscape. The CA desert never disappoints.



Let's see if the video above works. Apologies in advance for the music

Awesome video, Cole!

 

[RET2]

How deep was the water?

 

[Markuson]

How deep was the water?

Trip was abbreviated due to **nasty** cold.
Had my sealant ready to go...but no crossing.
Probably just as well. Could have been a temptation followed by a really expensive attempt.

 

[indycole]

How deep was the water?

Trip was abbreviated due to **nasty** cold.
Had my sealant ready to go...but no crossing.

Even if the weather had been better I'm not sure if we would have tried the crossing. Not being familiar with the road, I reached out to the friends of the Mojave Road group and they said that the crossing would be above 4 feet in areas due to recent rains. They were not recommending the crossing.

 

[ethernectar]

Sweet video Cole! Going to repost on FB.

 

[RET2]

Even if the weather had been better I'm not sure if we would have tried the crossing. Not being familiar with the road, I reached out to the friends of the Mojave Road group and they said that the crossing would be above 4 feet in areas due to recent rains. They were not recommending the crossing.

Hence my pre-emptive conversation with @Markuson, hard to expect a river in that part of the country. Glad a good safe (if chilly) trip resulted.