By Dan McCarthy

Mojave Road April 27-29 2001.

Wow what a treat, this year we had to suffer through some of the prettiest scenery ever. With all the recent rains, the desert was covered with a thick blanket of green foliage. In all my years of traveling through the Mojave I had never seen it so full of life, every where you looked the flowers were blooming, small animals were scurrying about and butterflies quietly flurried around looking for that special leaf to land on.

Starting out on Thursday night in Needles Ca. we discovered that a large group of Harley Riders were invading the town 80,000 strong. As it turned out this weekend was bike week, where every Biker in the adjoining states came to party for three days. There was next to no rooms available anywhere, if you were lucky to find one you could expect to pay around $125.00 a night with a 3 day minimum. Well we scored, $28.00 in Needles Ca. the room itself would have made a good store. To give you an idea on how the room was, the shower ran brown.

Friday morning turned out to be a typical spring desert day, clear, warm and beautiful (the Harleys were a little noisy). We met at the Avi as usual, around 9:00 am, at the start Bill and Connie Simms, Brian and Beth Pawlak as well as their two kids and my Dad joined in on the fun this year.

The trail started as the usual fun simple and beautiful county road, until we hit the first obstacle a 30-degree off camber waterfall. Then it happened, ARB pumps were starting to pop and sputter as they strained to activate each locker. When it was Bill’s turn to run the very challenging obstacle his driveline gave way, pulling away from his rear axel (yah that’s the ticket) just kidding. If you have ever traveled along the Mojave Rd. you would know that the hardest thing out there is the lose sand in the Mojave River (very mild).

Only about 7 miles out Bill did develop a mechanical problem with his driveline, so we escorted him out to highway 95 and then out to Rt 66. He had decided to head home on his front axle and not to tempt fate on the trail. Since the remaining vehicles had been out to Ft. Piute many times before we decided to try our hand at finding Goffs School House. If you were curious, Goffs School House is where the Friends of the Mojave are based and they give tours of the very historical School House grounds. I will give you one guess at what happened next it was closed!

Traveling up Landfair Rd. we picked up the trail in just about 10 minutes of fast bumpy driving. Next stop was Rock Spring and the Rock House. The view from the house is something that has to be experienced, with the mountains ¾ away around and Landfair Valley the other, it is easy to see why they built the there Rock House over 70 years ago on that bluff. A quick tour of the property and off we went stopping by Government Holes and then to the first night camp.

Our first night was spent at the Rock Pile located at the junction of Cedar and Black Canyons. My plan was to tell ghost stories but Dean missed the trip and Beth Pawlak kids weren’t falling for any of my tricks. After a very enjoyable dinner we all settled down for an evening of good company and a warm campfire. Kurt and the soon to be Rena Misner joined in on the fun arriving about one in the morning only to find a quiet slumbering camp.

Bright and early the next morning, we woke up to a magnificent view of Pinto Mountain, after an enjoyable lazy morning suffering through another trailside breakfast of Spam and Eggs; we were off to Mitchell Caverns. Once up at the caverns we met up with Larry and Margi Williams, the last of the late arrivals to this year trail. The tour was very interesting looking at all the special features buried deep within the mountain. Walking along the path in the cave the guide would give a narration of the history and other remarkable features.

After the cavern and lunch we were off to the trail once more, blasting back up the road through the scenic Black and Cedar Canyon we found our selves at the Kelso Cema Rd. and the trail. Wondering through and around a few hills as well as Beal Mountain you had wonderful views of Kelso Dunes, the Cinder Cones and the long Kelso Grade watching trains struggling to climb. Marl Springs with a very active well was next, walking into the coral and looking at the water flowing also emphasized how much rain had fallen in the past few months.

One of the fun items along the trail is a mailbox located about half way in-between Marl Spring and Kelbaker Rd. What you find is a welded box mounted on a pole stuck in the middle of nowhere. Inside is a logbook and a plethora of desert treasures. What is required of a traveler is to sign the log; if the desert explorer requires a cretin item, they are welcome to remove any thing inside the box, but you must leave a little something in its place.  

Zipping along a sand wash with eyes pealed for the required turn to the site of the second night’s camp. At this regular Dirt Devil camp you would find the usual excellent desert view of the surrounding hills and the valley we just came through. Best of all this is where the lava tube is located.

Nestled up on the side of an adjoining hill is a small dark opening. Looking deep inside you feels a cool breeze blowing up in your face; the only thing you see is a deep dark hole that seams to never end. Picking up a stone and tossing it in, it seams to fall forever before hitting the bottom. I know of some folks say that they even heard splashing at the bottom of the entrance

Asking Brian to bring up his repelling ropes and gear, we started to get ready to lower ourselves into the darkness. It seamed that the group dropped forever before reaching the bottom. Standing their in the filtered shadows of the lava tube looking west all you see is a low hanging ceiling causing you to hunch over or to crawl along your knees to reach the bowels of the cave. Once deep inside, the air is still and heavy the floor has a layer of fine dirt and the walls are full of cracks, craves and small animal nests. Looking up there are two holes in the ceiling that let beams of light shoot to the floor, enticing hardy visitors to play deep within the cave. Oh my, did I get off track again. The cave entrance has a rickety ladder that let’s you slide down a mere 15 feet or so to a rubble-strewn floor. The rest is fairly accurate. Once the camp was set up we made a couple of trips up to the lava tube, enjoying the view above and below ground. 

When night started to fall Larry and Margie ran off to Baker to find a room for the night. The rest of us enjoyed snacks, beverages and wonderful fire under a sky full of stars and gentle breezes.

Back on the trail in the morning by 9:30 zipping along heading towards Soda Dry Lake passing 17 mile point, Jackass Canyon Road and the Cowhole Mountains. Soda Dry Lake is a huge salt flat, which can be seen from Baker looking south. When crossing it is best to watch for wet spots and the half a dozen ditches. When we crossed the lake we did it in intervals of about 300 yards apart, doing our best to avoid the dust kicked up from the vehicle ahead. In the middle is a huge pile of rocks used for navigating, we stopped there to regroup and to make a couple of phone calls (cell phone). After we all threw a few more rocks on the pile as required by local tradition. We headed out towards our next goal Afton Canyon a beautiful scalped landmark; we traveled throw the next section of trail that covers Razor Road OHV area and down into the treacherous Mojave River. The river is nothing to flirt with, when Toyotas and Fords have been known to be washed away never to be seen again. Ops I did it again.

The Mojave River is a long dry sandy riverbed strewing with small sand dunes, trees and rocks. This year I saw an unusual thing. I looked to my right and noticed a tail of an airplane. Being generally the nosy sort I guided to group over to the crash site; not realizing what had happened the day before. What we came across was a very recently crashed plane (within 24 hours). Since we could not determine how long the plane was out there and if anyone survived the accident, we decided to contact the Sheriff Dept and to run a small search. I managed to contact someone on the ham radio and in turn they contacted the local Sheriffs Office. We found out that the plane went down the day before and the only person on board parishes in the crash.

After spending about an hour at the crash site we were off again heading for the bridge at Afton Canyon. Stopping only for a quick look at a local mine and then lunch under the railroad trestle. We were lucky to enjoy the company of three noise freight trains rumbling overhead while hiding in the shadow of their bridge.

The rest of the trail was as usual Afton Canyon. With it shear walls and grand sculpted cliffs ran for a mile or so then through a couple of deep-water crossings and out to the Freeway.

The trip ended with a recommendation from Margi, to enjoy a dinner and snack at Peggy Sue’s Dinner near Yermo. As some toasted the end with a burger I toasted the trail with a tall chocolate malt and two pitchers of water.

I want to thank everybody joining in on the fun this year and look forward in next years run.

Dan DDD McCarthy