Joshua Tree exploring (Saturday; 8/27)

Since the weather is tolerable: low 90s feeling like high 90s.

Tomorrow (Saturday), going to do some easy/mild wheeling in Joshua Tree with my girlfriend for the first time in the Tundra; mainly to explore as a day trip. Any trails you guys recommend? We're going solo unless someone wants to tag along, so nothing too crazy (though I doubt there is anything since it's mostly desert) but trails as mild as Cleghorn, Miller Jeep
trail, or Gold Mountain are fine. I'm on 37s, sliders, 7" bracket lift with ICONs, and already cut the rear bedsides/bumper. Bonus picture from our last trip to Lassen a few weeks ago.

 

How did it go?

 

@Spvrtan how did it go? I'm heading there at the end of Sept for a night before heading out to Tucson. My truck is 100% stock. Any trails out there outside of the Geology Rd tour that my truck can handle? I will only be with my fiance and dog so it can be anything too technical or crazy. This will be my first time off road w/ zero recovery equipment. Also, can anyone recommend a site number at Jumbo Rocks where we plan to camp?

 

We just hit Berdoo and Pinkham. They're both super easy; granted, I'm lifted 7" on 37" tires, there aren't really any obstacles. On Berdoo there are maybe 2 rocky areas that you'll just have to slow down on. The girlfriend and I spent most of the day exploring the sights both in and out of the park after hitting those trails.

 

How does Pinkham canyon compare to Berdoo canyon? I'm thinking about heading out there for an afternoon, but would probably be running alone (2010 AC Prerunner with rear E-locker, winch, sliders and 2" lift on 32s). I've done Berdoo Canyon in the truck before the lift/tires/winch were added so I'm not worried about that trail, but I'm looking for a relatively easy run and don't know about just trying a completely unknown trail when running alone (also, might have a buddy and his 4 year old along for the ride, so having to hump it out might be even less of an option than it might be with just adults).

 

Sub'd but can't go

 

Pretty sure I can handle sandy, did plenty of that out in Moab at RT in June, and this time I'll remember to pack a real shovel.

Any technical spots? The NPS map shows at least part of it around thermal canyon as being "4-wheel-drive", but that designation covers a lot of variety.

 

Cool, thanks.

 

Everything was fine until i got to the south end of the trail and got bogged down in the sand pit trying to get to the dirt road that parallels the freeway.
Got a good bit of practice digging out my back end (even at 16 psi with a nearly empty bed, I was sinking in), and sheared off the stem on one of my TPMS sensors when the wheel was dug in; I did learn that a milk crate works well to stop a hilift from sinking in sand and got to do some pulls with my winch. Got stupid and impatient on my 4th pull in a 45 minute span, though and drove over my rope, which ultimately broke the hard line on my passenger side caliper, so I now get to go to the dealer on the way to work tomorrow and find out how much that lesson is going to cost me...

At least I can truly say that the worst of it was entirely self inflicted...

 

Did you turn around at the end of the trial? I'm doing a run on monday.

 

Gotcha.

 

The sandbox where I got stuck was past the park boundary markets at the south end of the trail. Of it's wet, watch cause the washes can become flash floods (the park might close that area in the rainy season because of that), and Pinkman/Thermal canyon are "self recovery only" areas. Also, they have some rows of boulders separating the bottom end of the trail from the frontage road which don't show up on google satellite views; it's possible to get around them if you're creative, but would be trickier to do so in mud, so be ready to get back the whole way if necessary (have plenty of lights if you're planning to be out past 2PM, my plan in September was to be back in LA by the time I actually got back onto pavement with the 1 hour tire change and other recoveries). If it's wet, I'd say definitely don't go out with a single vehicle unless you're as dumb as I am.

 

No reports of rain as of right now. We'll see. It's gonna be myself with RR and 35s and a 4X4 titan. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm probably doubly stupid in that I went out alone in a Prerunner (lifted on 32s with a rear locker and a winch, but still only a 2wd) and didn't bring traction boards. Last recovery was from a wash that would have stuck a 4x4 since I tried to go sideways across a pair of ruts which were just as far apart as my axles, and winching in neutral means the t-case is just ballast at that point, but it still involved 5 kinds of dumb on my part.

Fair warning in Pinkman Canyon, the brush is pretty close in, I got thoroughly pinstriped on both sides in a 2nd gen tacoma. Berdoo canyon is more barren, but a fun little trail (not too tough, I ran it in the summer when my truck was basically just a stock prerunner with only one spot where I even needed a spotter).

 

The valley didn't get as much rain as the mountains. Should be fun/fine regardless.

 

I'm wanting to explore berdoo in my prerunner. Looks like i should be fine. Any other tips?

 

You need some clearance. If you're taking it from West to East (into JT) good luck, you'll need an extra set of hands to help you put lots of rocks.
If you're going from JT to berdoo canyon, you'll be fine even bone stock. You'll need a spotter if you don't wanna hit something.

 

good to know thanks. Might setup camp early in JT, take geology tour then finish on this.