Trip Report: 200 miles in Mojave Desert - March 13-15, 2015

[boyfester]

I met up with another Toyota group last weekend after trying to find someone doing the Mojave Road back in December. There was quite a bit of planning on the organizer's part as he laid out a route for us from Friday to Sunday. There were some mishaps as one party was late and there were a few breakdowns too but all in all, it was a sweet trip and very pretty. We hit a number of mines along with the Desert Megaphone and Hole in the Wall and Afton Canyon at the end. Enjoy the pictures!

We started from Valley Wells off of Interstate 15 and Cima Road.



Greene's Cabin along Yates Well Road


Colosseum Open Pit Mine



View of Ivanpah Solar Farm from Colosseum Mine Road


Benson Mine



Pretty rugged trail (no name) just west of Mineral Hills




Some oddities at Kokoweef (hippie junkyard?)


We were behind schedule since it took a while to meet up with the person who was late from the morning so we had to camp here on Friday night. We had intended to camp further south. This place was great as you can see by the lush surroundings of Joshua trees and open vertical mines.





These vehicles were all adjacent to Standard Mine #1.

 

[boyfester]

More pictures at Standard Mine #1







Evening Star Mine and surroundings





We took off-road all the way to Mojave Memorial Cross at Sunrise Rock.


To make up some time that we lost on Friday, we hit the pavement south along Cima Road, passed through Cima, and proceeded south along Kelso Cima Road until we reached Macedonia Road. This is a beautiful off-road trail that goes the back way into Hole in the Wall. We had to do some digging for the trucks with roof racks. As we were removing my fuel and water tanks and having guys on the back bumper to lower it further, a train came flying over. We didn't see a train all day so it was pretty spectacular to be where we were at the time.





The visitor center at Hole in the Wall. This is a cool place! We had lunch here and went on the 2 mile Ring Loop hiking trail.





Next, we headed southwest to our second campsite.

 

[boyfester]

Before reaching our next campsite, we headed over to Bonanza King Mine. This was large enough to drive into, like the Reward Mine, but we opted to walk it instead. It wasn't very long after all.










We reached our campsite for the night at Vulcan Open Pit Mine. This was closed off but there was no way foreseeable to drive into it anyway.


I actually took this picture right around 3/14/15 9:26:53PM so my kids' kids will know where their grandparents were when they celebrate Pi Day 100 years from now.


The next day we headed west towards Kelbaker Road and would go around the northeast side of the Kelso Dunes before taking a left at Kelso Depot and follow the railroad tracks west. As you can see from the second picture, I suffered a flat on my truck and had to break out the steel rimmed fullsize. I noticed it the night of Pi Day but was too hammered on some homemade apple pie moonshine to do anything about it. Unfortunately it was on the inner sidewall and couldn't be plugged.



This is the Kelso Depot. We didn't stop to see the inside unfortunately.



The next mishap involved Sean's A-arm nut coming off along with his cam washer. The bolt was half way out but his aftermarket front bumper prevented it from coming out all the way. Unbelievably someone found a nut in their spare parts that was an exact fit. We cut some spacers from extra metal we had and he was on his way again. It also sure was nice to have a former Toyota technician of 9 years on the trip too!



The Desert Megaphone - What is it? Why is it there? How did it get there? I believe it's a gift from Mr. Edward Leedskalnin. Don't know who this gentleman is? Look him up.



While driving along the railroad tracks we were passed by a train. We decided to get ahead of it and magically turn a nickle into a 50 cent piece.


Magic!!!

 

[boyfester]

As we exited the Mojave Preserve, we entered Afton Canyon where the Mojave River is above ground.












This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip!



As with all wheeling trips, I met some new people and had a great time. I'm really looking forward to the next one!


My adventure didn't end there though as traffic in the Cajon Pass from the Hwy 138 to the 15/215 split encouraged me to exit on the 138 and take Santa Fe Road south along the railroad tracks. There are no "do not enter" signs or "private property" signs anywhere and so I took it. This is a great short-cut as the off-road reenters pavement at the end of Cajon Road. You then take pavement all the way to the 15/215 junction, thereby avoiding at least 7 miles of traffic.


The route in blue is the route I took. The area circled in red at the end is a wooded section complete with an unnamed stream running along it.

 

[Chsbrgr]

Really great looking trip and report. You made me wish I was there. Especially like the choice of trails. I like your write up style. Not over done and not just pics. The Mojave is a lot more than just the Mojave Road, as you have shown. Kudos:thumb3:

 

[Quatre Coureur]

Another great trip and write up. Excellent! Ive been wanting to do this exact type of trip for the longest time... Somebody hurry up and organize one! :wink2:

 

[Kanger328]

Awesome trip report and pics! Did this back in October. It's a must do at least once for adventurers.

 

[DannyLlama]

wow thats awesome! Thanks for sharing, one of these days I will make it out there.

 

[additc]

Late to the conversation, but would a stock 4th gen SE 4wd do this trail ok?

 

[Black Majik]

That sounded like a great trip!

 

[JD914]

Late to the conversation, but would a stock 4th gen SE 4wd do this trail ok?

This particular route featured one section that would be a challenge for a stock 4th gen. But you'd have no problem at all on Mohave Road itself.


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[additc]

This particular route featured one section that would be a challenge for a stock 4th gen. But you'd have no problem at all on Mohave Road itself.


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I think youre talking about watson wash.
Do you know if there is a way around it?
if not, should I go from east to west or the other way to make sure im going downwards when i get to it.
I might be able to down, but unsure if my stock 4runner can go up it.

 

[JD914]

A stocker could make it either direction, but going up would need a spotter and skill and down would need some caution. I'll see if I can find photos of the trickiest section for you. I'm not sure what all this winter's rain did to that either.


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[tay4R]

Awesome trip! Took that same detour around cajon pass when the 138 was closed from a flipped semi and couldn't get to the 15...saved hours of driving around. Not a bad little road!