Talk about a trip you took out to Anza Borrego
Mojave Road
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
1/17/2012
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This is not a ABDSP trip but I thought some of you might like to see it. The Mojave Road goes from the Colorado River to just north of Barstow along the Mojave River. This was one of the original wagon routes across the desert. It goes from spring to spring as it makes its way across what is now the Mojave National Preserve. The road is nice for most of its length although it can be hard to follow with all the side roads along the way.
We went a couple of years ago and did the eastern section and the middle section. This trip we did the central part and the western part. We left late Saturday afternoon from north county and headed out through Joshua Tree and 20 Palms toward Amboy. We reached our camp at about 9:00 PM near Cadiz. Slept under the stars that night. It got down to 34 degrees but there was no wind at all. Sunday morning we continued east along the old Route 66 and headed north toward Fenner, the only gas along that stretch of I-40. Topped the tank at $4.89 a gallon to be sure to have enough to get through about 150 miles off road before we hit the I-15 freeway at Afton Road.
Our first detour was into the New York Mountains just north of the Mojave Road. We had spotted these mountains on our first trip on the road a few years ago and really wanted to explore them a bit this trip. We went up into Caruther's Canyon and it was spectacular. Lots of great rock formations and Pinyon Pine trees.
Here is the view into the upper reaches of Caruther's Canyon.
This balance rock is also in Caruther's Canyon.
After exploring to the end of the road in this canyon we head back toward the Mojave Road and continued to the west. We visited Rock Spring, the location of the army that kept the road safe in the old days. There were no ruins there from the army but there were lots of petroglyphs near the spring.
Next stop west was the Government Holes. There are a couple of storage tanks here and an old windmill. This time the windmill was actually hooked up and pumping water.
We spent our second night just off the Mojave Road with a great view of the Kelso Valley and the Providence Mountains.
Again I slept under the stars this night and it got down to 36 degrees with a little wind. But it was a beautiful night with a great campfire to keep us warm. We headed out early in the morning to cover the last third of the Mojave Road. We rounded 17 Mile Point and headed toward the Soda Dry Lake. This part of the road is about 7 miles as it goes across the dry lake. Here we are getting ready to start across the lake bed.
When you get almost across the lake there is a pile of rocks. It is customary to put a rock onto the pile that you picked up along the road. There are a lot of rocks in the pile and some of them are quite large.
From here the road goes through some deep sand and then enters Afton Canyon and crosses the Mojave River a couple of times. When we finally reached I-15 we aired up the tires and headed south with all the Vegas traffic. Made it a long drive home but it was well worth it. We have been twice and will definitely go back again.
You can see a few more pics from the trip from this address.
https://picasaweb.google.com/hikerdmb/MojaveRoad?authuser=0&feat=directlink
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
1/18/2012
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That looks like a great road trip David.
Lots of driving but it looks like there is a lot to explore out there.
Great pictures.
Do you carry extra gas cans with you?
Bob
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
1/18/2012
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My brother brought 10 gallons. There are so many side roads to explore it is good to have extra just in case. I didn't use any but the jeep used one can on the trail.
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anutami Posts: 491
1/18/2012
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Topped the tank at $4.89 a gallon to be sure to have enough to get through about 150 miles off road before we hit the I-15 freeway at Afton Road.
You had it easy, check out the pic, This is the gas station at Furnace Creek in death valley....I have a diesel
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
1/18/2012
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Ouch!!
I remember when diesel was hitting $5 a few years back.
My wife was like "you bought a diesel to save money?!"
anutami wrote:
Topped the tank at $4.89 a gallon to be sure to have enough to get through about 150 miles off road before we hit the I-15 freeway at Afton Road.
You had it easy, check out the pic, This is the gas station at Furnace Creek in death valley....I have a diesel
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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surfponto Administrator Posts: 1364
1/18/2012
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Yeah we tend to carry a couple when we go down to Baja
I am looking into an auxiliary tank.
My friend just installed an OEM tank in his LandCruiser.
I guess in Australia it was a factory option on the Landcruisers
hikerdmb wrote:
My brother brought 10 gallons. There are so many side roads to explore it is good to have extra just in case. I didn't use any but the jeep used one can on the trail.
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https://www.anzaborrego.net/
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
1/18/2012
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I never thought $4.89 would seem like a good price but I guess you are right. I remember a bunch of years ago we were in DV and went up to Eureka Sand Dunes and then down through Steel Pass and Saline Valley. We came out to the south and headed straight to Panamint Springs to get some gas and couldn't believe it was $1.99. I had never seen anything close to that price back then. Never thought that would be the good old days, but I guess as far as gas prices it was.
David
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