Mojave Road Club Run

OTR Mojave Road Trip Report
March 19-22, 2009

Day 1 – Thursday (Rich Wohlers)

Actually, I will start one day earlier. Cork and I left home a bit before lunch
on Wednesday. Initially we thought it might be interesting to stop at the Bagdad
Café between Barstow and Ludlow for lunch. We decided to stop in Barstow at the
first Del Taco, since we were not sure if the Bagdad Café would be open. After
lunch, we did pull off the freeway and drove to the Bagdad. Turned out it was
open and is from 7-7 daily. We will stop there one day.

Our next stop was to look at Amboy. We had been there many years ago and there
was not much going on. Now the gas station is open and they are renovating the
motel. Believe the sign in front of the motel said 1917. Looked like some of the
rooms were being used and there was a guy working in the office.

We spent the night at the Avi on the Colorado River, a bit south of mile 0.0 of
the Mojave Road. We were surprised to see so many folk there. Actually was
pretty crowded in the Casino. The campground was pretty full and there were a
lot of motor homes in the free parking areas. We were some of the younger ones
in the casino! The winter season is the time for Snowbirds in the area. We
walked around the campground and there were people from all over the country.

Thursday, March 19, day 1
Mike called as the group was exiting the I-40 to the River Road towards
Laughlin. We all met at the gas station at the Avi and topped off the gas tanks
and cleaned off the gross-ness of all of the bugs who gave their lives to our
windshields.

The group was:
Mike and Laura Whittington
Damien Smith
Robb Miller
David Weil and his buddy Darius
Jerome Blunck and his buddy Bill
Rich and Corkey Wohlers

We then motored up river to mile 0.0 of the Mojave Road. This was the beginning
of our adventure. We had a couple of copies of the Mojave Road Guide by Dennis
Casebier and headed out following the cairns put out by the Friends of the
Mojave Road and reading the book for the historical, botanical and general
information points along the way.

About six miles into the adventure David stopped and investigated some noise
from the engine compartment. It was determined that the bearing was going on the
alternator. Damien agreed to follow David into Bullhead City to get a new
alternator. We agreed that they would meet the rest of the group at Fort Piute,
which is at mile 23. Our plan was to spend the night there.

The group had no more issues and enjoyed the flora and fauna of the desert until
we arrived at Fort Piute. We had good phone reception there and were able to
communicate with David. They got the alternator installed and were on the way.
The group explored the area. Some of the fort wall is remaining and the NPS has
repaired it so that visitors can get a feeling for what was there. The NPS also
has installed some information displays in the area to give you the history of
the area and the fort. The fort was built to protect the mail route through this
area, but was used for only six months. The mail route was changed and this
location was no longer needed. There was a little water in the river.

Just before sunset we communicated with Dave and they had missed the turn. We
got them back on track and they arrived after we had a fire going and cocktails
in hand. We were happy everything turned out well. We enjoyed talking around the
campfire and looking at the city lights reflecting in the sky and all of the
stars. A beautiful night.

Friday, March 20, day 2
After breakfast, we got a chance to walk up the canyon into Piute Creek where we found Indian petroglyphs, (Indian rock art). The group then headed west for Lanfair Valley stopping to check out Piute Gorge, and then passed through vast Joshua tree forests, Yucca and Cholla cactus. We stopped at the penny can to make an offering then headed to Carruthers Canyon. Carruthers Canyon is not actually on the “road” but an interesting place to visit with excellent campsites, granite rock formations and Pinion pines all situated in a wide deep box canyon. The next stop was Camp Rock Springs, another military outpost along the trail and the next source of water, Rock Springs. This was followed by a visit to Government Holes. We then headed for Friday night’s camp at Mid Hills Campground about five miles south of the Mojave Road. Mid Hills is an excellent camping area administered by the NPS. In spite of a wildfire that passed through camp several years ago, there is still an area that was untouched by the fire with plenty of shade created by Pinion pines. The camp is located at ~5700’ in elevation so the night was cool and crisp…very nice for sleeping.

Saturday, March 21, day 3
After a group pancake breakfast we headed out again. The first stop this morning was at Marl Springs, another of the military outposts along the trail. Here we saw the remnants of an old arrastra (water holding tank) made of rock and a newer one that is still in use today. The next stop was at the Mailbox, a steel box covered with club and manufactures stickers (including Gen-Right), along the trail for everyone to sign in. It is amazing to see the stuff that is out there. Old rock houses, school busses, pieces of old cars, windmills and much, much more including amazing views of the mountains, flora and fauna. We then made another detour to check out the Lava Tube. This is a cave created by lava flows in the Cinder Cones area of Kelso Valley. The next big milestone was crossing Soda (dry) Lake, still heading west. In the middle of the “lake” we all stopped and added a rock to the Travelers Monument, a large pile of rocks where all Mojave Road travelers stop to add to the pile. The last leg of the trip was through Afton Canyon where the Mojave Road parallels the Union Pacific tracks. At this point we had a decision to make. We had heard all day on the radio about a pending storm coming in with predictions of high winds and rain. We took a vote and decided to call it a trip. I-15 was only a short distance away, it was getting toward dusk and we headed south down the 15 for Barstow and home. It turned out that we made a good decision as Sunday brought high winds, rain and hail to the desert.
This was a great trip. We all had a great time and I cannot wait until the second annual Mojave Road Club Run.