Mojave Road Run

Mojave Road
April 8-11, 2010

Participants:
Trail Leader – Mike Whittington & Marley
John Cary & Nova
Rich and Corkey Wohlers
DuWayne and Tina Larson

Day 1
Thursday, April 8
Submitted by Mike Whittington

At 6:00 sharp all of us except Rich and Corkey left the normal meeting spot for the 300 mile road trip to Avi Casino on the Colorado River just North of Needles. After a brief stop for breakfast in Barstow, the group met up with Rich and Corkey who spent the night at Avi, gassed up and headed out for the short drive to the trail head at mile 3 of the Mojave Road.

Today, like every day this trip on the “road” was clear with mild temperatures. It never ceases to amaze me just how beautiful the Mojave Desert actually is. As we climbed from the Colorado River basin to our first nights campsite we saw the flora and fauna at its best in spring time bloom. The colors were amazing with something new every mile.

Our first significant stop was at Fort Paiute, the first military fort along the route after Fort Mojave. We spent about an hour looking at the old fort ruins, Indian petroglyphs, and walking up Paiute Creek. While at Fort Paiute we also found (actually they found us) gnats, mosquitoes, no see ums, etc. I think I gave up a quart of blood to the onslaught. Thankfully they are all afraid of the dark!

Our campsite for the night was at the overlook above Fort Paiute where we had a great view of the Paiute Mountains and valley beyond. The night (like the day) was beautiful. After dinner and good conversation around the campfire we all turned in for the night.

Day 2
Friday, April 9
Submitted by John Cary

On Friday morning we woke up to clear skies and great temperatures. The view back through Piute
Pass was outstanding.

After breakfast we headed west planning to get to Mid-Hills campground for the evening. Our goal was to stop at Indian Hill for lunch. The only problem was, we missed the turnoff and we had to go back several miles, where we found it and had lunch.

The variety of flowers in the area was tremendous and with Spring Bloom, as we moved westward, was full of new flowers. If you missed the earlier email, I sent out a flower pictorial, starting from Needles, through Afton Canyon.
Prior to Indian Hill we stopped at the monument where the Ivanpah Railroad and the Mojave trail intersect. Rich found a few interesting pieces of railroad steel in the top of the monument. There are numerous buildings along the trail and if we stopped at every one, it would easily add two more days.

The trails were easy and our fearless leader Mike had no difficulty. We stopped at several springs along the trail. Nova, somehow, managed to get thrown in one of them. She needed a bath anyway.

My front tire managed to go flat every night on the trip. That problem was solved with a new set of treads after getting back. So I have 3 - 37x15 MTR’s with 60% tread.

Arriving at Mid-Hill campground late in the day, it was full. We managed to find two separated spots, one flat and one hilly, so we dropped all the gear off, parked two vehicles at the hilly site and camped at the level one. Everyone brought plenty of firewood, so we had great evenings sitting around the fire. The elevation at Mid Hills is over 5,000 ft., so the night was a little chilly with a slight breeze. There was a group of scouts who were noisy into the night and then they all disappeared at 5 am.

The skies were very clear and the stars were very bright. Venus and Orion were very bright, along with Ursa Major.

It was interesting to note the lack of birds along the trail. We did see large hawks, plus several turkey vultures. The few small birds, we did see, were near the springs.

Day 3
Saturday, April 10
Submitted by DuWayne and Tina Larson

Today was cloudy, but it cleared up later. We left the Mid-Hills Campground at 9:30. DuWayne & Tina are still on the learning curve of tenting and camping efficiency. The gang was still scratching their bites from Fort Paiute, but the itching and swelling was improving - barely. Tina didn’t get bitten. She thinks it was her suntan lotion that saved her.

We took a side trip to Kelso, where an historic train station had been restored to original format. There was a very nice museum inside, reference books, and a nice little café had been opened recently. Two trains went by during our stay.

As we left Kelso at 11:15, we could see the Kelso Dunes in the distance and for many miles on our trip. From there we went to Marl Springs, where there was a magnificent view of the Providence Mountains, Kelso Valley, and the Union Pacific Railway track. The spring was a vital water source to the Mojave road travelers and to the trains because of its location. It is more than 30 miles to the next water from there. They were also important for the cattle industry, prospectors and miners. The spring was occupied by an army post in 1867 when 3 soldiers were attacked by 30 Indians. The soldiers held their own overnight because they had rifles, and in the morning 150 soldiers came to their defense, and saved them.

Someone had placed two rocks in such a fashion as to defy gravity, with no visible means of support. Our best guess is that they drilled into it and the supporting rock and inserted a post inside.

Traveling on, we came upon the Mojave Road Mailbox, where we left our names in the log contained inside. We took a group picture there. Up the path was a collection of mostly ceramic frogs, all different. It was fun to study.
From there we started our descent toward Soda Lake.
Mike assigned Tina the job of looking up a saying which appeared on several of the information markers along the road. The saying was “E Clampus Vitus”. In short, please read the following:
The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of Western Heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode and gold mining regions of the area. There are chapters in California, Nevada and other Western states. Members call themselves "Clampers." The organization's name is in Dog Latin, and has no known meaning; even the spelling is disputed, sometimes appearing as "Clampus", "Clampsus", or "Clampsis". The motto of the Order, Credo Quia Absurdum, is generally understood as meaning "I believe it because it is absurd."; the proper Latin quotation Credo quia absurdum est, is from the Christian apologist Tertullian (140-230), who rejected rationalism and accepted a Gospel which addressed itself to the "non-rational levels of perception."
Back to the trip, Mike took us on a side trip to the Lava Tubes. These are part of a large lava flow, which could be seen for miles along the trail. We went down into a tube. It was quite an experience, as seen from Rich’s photos. The sunlight coming through the holes above was quite ethereal.

At 17 mile point, we took another side trip to find a lead mine. We found a chimney, the only remains of a house, another old house and a small mine, and lots of wildflowers of interest, especially to John.

As it was getting on toward 6:00, we were anxious to find a camp. We traveled toward the remains of Zzyzx at Soda Springs (a health and mineral bath resort no longer in business); however, we were told not to camp there.

Traveling on, we did find a very good place to camp near some low hills and were able to get our tents up before nightfall.

By then, John’s dog Nova and Mike’s little dog Marley were looking pretty tired. They were ready for bed early!

Day 4
Sunday, April 11
Submitted by Rich Wohlers

It was a really pleasant night to sleep. Temperature was in the mid 50s when we got up a bit after 6. The sky was absolutely clear when we went to bed and the stars were very bright. The morning sky was a bit cloudy and there was no significant wind, which was nice.

The group had breakfast, packed and headed out. We were only about twenty miles from our exit at Afton Canyon Campground, with no real points of interest on the way where we planned to stop.

We bumped along and stopped every so often for John to take flower pictures. It was a lot of fun to drive in the Mojave River bed. The loose sand made for a good time. We got to the Union Pacific railroad bridge in Afton Canyon and stopped for a few minutes to look at the great scenery. We continued through the river and actually had water to cross.

A bit before the campground is the infamous Mojave River water crossing that has been known to cause some Jeeps to get submerged, but our group had no problems. I could hear the water hitting the fan blades a bit, but no harm, no foul. At the campground the group aired up and headed to Barstow. John was on empty and we pulled off at Calico and John bought enough gas to get him to Barstow.
We purchased gas at the Lenwood exit and had a nice lunch at the Bob’s Big Boy. From there Corkey and Rich parted company and the rest of the group continued on to Ventura County.

It was a great trip. The weather was really nice and the desert was in bloom. If you have not made this trip before, plan on joining the group next year.