Adventures of Megaweapon!

[Ray Dunakin]

As I mentioned in the previous post, I went out for another overnight desert trip Monday night.
This time I stayed down at the southern end of Anza-Borrego. Also, there were a LOT more flowers now
than there was the last time! Especially the brittlebushes, which are everywhere and were all in full bloom.
The ocotillos had buds and are very close to blooming but most hadn't quite opened yet. There were all kinds
of wildflowers, and also blooming shrubs such as indigo bush.

The wind on Monday night was fierce! I camped among some boulders, down in a box canyon where there was
at least some shelter from the wind, and it still almost rolled me over in my sleeping bag a couple times. The
wind literally roared all night. I had to use a lot of rocks to hold things down, and even then was only able to
set up camp during a slight lull before the winds really got bad.

Here's a shot of my campsite at night:

Here's what I saw when I first looked out of my sleeping bag in the morning. What glorious scenery to wake up to!

Some of the wildflowers are very tiny and right at ground level. These little purple ones are only about 1/4" wide:

These yellow ones are less than a half inch across:

A view of my campsite:

I was thrilled to find this horned lizard (aka "horny toad") while hiking around the area. I gently picked him up and then released him after shooting a few quick photos:

That's all I have time to post tonight. I'll continue this later...

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[Ray Dunakin]

Here are some more photos from my recent overnight trip to Anza-Borrego...

Indigo bush and brittle bush:

There were a lot of cactus in bloom this time. Here's a hedgehog cactus:

Barrel cactus:

Beavertail cactus:

Continued in next post...


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[Ray Dunakin]

More photos from my latest desert trip...

Can you spot my 4Runner in this photo?

Still more brittlebushes:

Giant windmills mar the desert scenery:

Indigo bush:

Boulders:

A freeway bridge cuts through the desert:

That's all for now, more later in next post...

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[Simon2150]

megaweapon=mega-awesome

 

[Ray Dunakin]

A few more pics from my latest adventure in Anza-Borrego...

I found a large cross made of piled rocks on a remote hillside:

Some fluffy, purplish flowers on a large shrub:

Most of the ocotillos had red buds showing but were not yet in full bloom:

Some more tiny ground-level flowers:

Desert dandelions:

The intrepid explorer:

Megaweapon:

On the way home I stopped to check out the ruins at Buckman Springs. This is the remains of a bottling plant built in the 1880s. They bottled and sold bubbling mineral water from a spring next to the building:

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[LandCruiser]

Nice MST3K reference.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Megaweapon now has a dashcam:

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[Dragonbay]

Nice build

Im inline for a Gobi just like yours. Does your camera come on with the ignition?
I'm considering something like the "black box" .

Cheers

 

[Inked]

Awesome, colorful adventure! Thanks for sharing. Reading and viewing trips like yours are inspiring. I can't wait for summer to begin!

 

[Ron4RNevada]

The southern California is looking good! Still no wildflowers here in northern Nevada yet; but I expect it will be a good year in a few more weeks.

And the drought is officially over up here. We have had about 150% of our average annual precipitation in just two months.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Im inline for a Gobi just like yours. Does your camera come on with the ignition?
I'm considering something like the "black box" .

Thanks! Yes, this camera comes on when you start the car (or just turn to ACC). After you turn off the car the camera stays on for minute or so, then shuts off.

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[Dragonbay]

Great that's what I'm looking for! Where did you source yours at and what was the price if u don't mind me asking.
Thanks
Brett

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I got the dashcam on Amazon. It's only $58.99 and free shipping. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DLWBPCA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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[Dragonbay]

Thank you looks like a good deal:thumb:

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I took Megaweapon out for some serious off-roading....

I got tired of exploring and off-roading in all the usual places, so I decided to go somewhere really remote.
It took some doing, but I finally found a spot that was WAY off the beaten path. Only three or four other
vehicles have ever even been there, and most of the place was completely unspoiled.

It's pretty desolate, though. Makes Death Valley look like Yosemite. Not a plant in sight, much less any
wildlife. But I had the whole place to myself and could go anywhere I wanted. Here's a pic...

On the downside, it was a lot colder than it looked, and the atmosphere left something to be desired.

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[Ron4RNevada]

I've never been to Mars. How'd you get all the sealing done on the 4Runner? Carry a lot of spare gasoline and air? Can't wait for the trip report.

 

[Leucifer]

Really dig the Mines Trip early in the thread. I shared that with a buddy that loves ghost towns.

You should check out the Clampers. They're all about preserving the Old West heritage. ECV History

Edit: Oh. Almost forgot. And yeah. Panamint Valley is joint air training range. Damn good chance they were about 100 ft above the deck, possibly practicing strafing runs. They do the same out in El Centro near Superstition Mountain. It'd be hilarious when we could get our DEST students facing the wrong direction as an F-18 was barreling in at high speed below 100 feet.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I got the dashcam on Amazon. It's only $58.99 and free shipping. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DLWBPCA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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BTW, my dash cam suddenly started showing only a blank white screen a few days ago. I emailed their tech support and they are sending me a new one, no charge. So at least they have good support for their products.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Panamint Valley is joint air training range. Damn good chance they were about 100 ft above the deck, possibly practicing strafing runs.

Yep. Once I was on foot out there with my son and a friend, we saw a jet coming at us very low so we waved. The pilot must have seen us, because he "waved" back with the wings of the plane!

 

[Ray Dunakin]

A few days ago I got a Mavic Pro camera drone. I'll be using it to document my adventures and also in my ongoing quest to document old mining camps and ghost towns:

I named it "Cambot".

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