Monthly So Cal Off-Road Run

Doing Mojave Road this week. Starting Thursday Nov 4th. 2-3 days of desert driving/camping. Anyone that wants to join is welcome!

 

Oh damn If my truck was ready I would join you. Have a great time.

 

Now that's an off road trip. Man I wish I could join you. Trucks good to go thanks to you but too many family obligations to go now. Have fun and be safe.

 

I'd be curious to know if the water crossing at Afton Canyon on Mojave Rd is still filled in with rocks or not, company that did it was supposed to remove them when they were done working out there but who knows.

 

I doubt it honestly - but hopefully! I know that was the main reason a lot of people liked to go out there...

 

Afton Canyon is one of the most scenic parts of the trip, but the crossing is kind of just a small marsh with water in the middle...takes just a min to go across, hopefully people aren't going just for that lol. The whole trail though is pretty amazing, tons of old mines, forts, abandoned miner and rancher homes etc out there. We found an old 2 story house that looked frozen in time, like someone just up and left it in the early 20th century. Still had old cups and pieces of furniture in it and a gravestone marker outside.

 

That was a few years ago, it seems every year Mojave Rd gets more and more popular so I dunno how much of that stuff is still relatively undisturbed

 

Anyone know any decent trails around Jawbone canyon? Have a few buddies going out there to ride dirtbikes, wouldn't mind getting the truck dirty for a little bit. I remember riding out there on bikes was pretty tricky with the deep sand. Just looking for something fun, nothing too technical, buddies trcuk is only 2 wd. Up for any suggestions. Thanks

 

I haven't done the trail yet but from what I have seen of it it looks amazing. The reason I said it was the "main reason" (probably bad wording on my part) is because that is what most people are posting on social media and such... Just the amount of attention it has gotten on social media has been a big enough reason for me to steer clear for now, although it is definitely on the list of trails I would like to do at some point.

 

yeah I highly recommend it, I would probably try and go during winter though to avoid the spring/fall crowds. Summer of course would be hot as balls out there and I wouldn't want to risk that. But over winter it gets super cold at night and probably keeps a lot of people away.

First time I did it was in December 2016 I think, I remember the first night it got down to nearly single digit temps there. Getting up to take a leak was fucking miserable lol

 

That right there makes me miss my 1st gen which was Xcab with a nice topper carpeted inside. Perfect for me and a girl when I was lucky to have one along with me. Was cozy when the weather wasn't.

 

I second this. We ran Mojave last Thanksgiving. The first night our water froze and the wind was at least 20mph gusts. The trail was epic though and the weather got much better the rest of the trip. I'd have to check but I believe the East side of the trail is much higher elevation.

 

Yeah the first night was the roughest/coldest for us, too. I think you're at higher elevation at the start of the trail out east as well.

I drank way too much cheap whiskey that 1st night at camp and woke up at 3am with a pounding headache and dying of thirst....went to grab my water and it was frozen solid. That sucked. Almost as bad as getting up to take a leak freezing my ass off

I sleep with my water bottle in the sleeping bag now on cold nights

 

I was just in the Mojave Preserve last weekend. The west water crossing still has rocks in it - maybe 1' - 1.5' deep. The east crossing under the RR bridge is pretty deep though, especially in the middle. Came up to my hood. Stay to the right if going eastbound, left westbound.

Here's a shot I took before putting the phone down...

 

I’ll be out this Saturday in Barstow!
Help keep the deserts open and free, give back to the land I enjoy so much!

Anyone else plan on going ?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVnvX88P0mo/

 

See ya out there... We are doing Lunch


https://www.instagram.com/p/CVx4puXP_dy/

 

Sweet !

 

This was me crossing it a while ago.


And here is some footage of the trip. We had a great time out there.

https://youtu.be/w3AkT8oUkVg

 

Wildly different now after truckloads of rocks dumped in it last fall

 

I was told the rocks were cleared out of there a few months ago. Something about a construction project where they were taking lots of larger trucks through there, but they were supposed to clear it out.

Mojave trail was a lot more fun then I thought it would be. I do want to make the trip back there, but maybe spend five days looking around. There is all kinds of stuff to see out there.

If you did not figure it out by now, I am the guy in the MGM Tacoma and the jerk in the Jeep is my best friend...he just purchased the wrong vehicle!