Southern California Club Xterra
Southern California Club Xterra => SCCX Xcursion Pictures => Topic started by: Paul on November 24, 2010, 08:44:34 PM
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Took a trip down the Mojave Road for three full days and two cold nights.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11%20Mojave%20Solo/TrailTaken.gif)
We hit Afton Canyon campground and rather than head east we went under the trail trestle and west for about 20 miles worth of trail to near Yuma - the site of old Camp Cady. The trail was new to us and pretty scenic. We backtracked to Afton, made the water crossing. Every time I take that thing I'm waiting to hit a nice big 24" big rock sitting in the middle!
The water was deep and the second crossing was wet and as nearly as deep as the first one.
Posted for pictures under the second trestle.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave02.jpg)
The river was flowing for a good distance.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave01.jpg)
We camped west of Soda Lake in the area of some of the old mines. The wind was brisk but let up after dark.
The next morning we headed east to the Soda Lake which was closed last solo trip.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave03.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave04.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave05.jpg)
The lake was only semi-dry and there were places where the mud was fresh, wet, and rutted. I was fearful of getting caught in a rut which would pull me off into the bottomless mud. Near the traveler's rock pile the mud wasn't bad. So I took a lap around the pile.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave06.jpg)
Further east it got deeper in places but most of it was fine. I'm glad I had 4WD and that the lake wasn't any wetter.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave07.jpg)
Further east past the lake the wooptie-do's were still there and there and there. Nice views.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave08.jpg)
Just to the west of the Mail Box I lost a tire big time. The rocks change to lava in this area and I must have clipped the edge of one as it sliced the sidewall open big time. Driving through the rocks I couldn't "feel" the thing until about 50 feet later. $30 and America's Tire guarantee and I'll have another new tire.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave09.jpg)
It took about an hour to jack the truck up and find all the parts to swap the first spare tire out. I had a spare spare too - up under neath in the stock position and another on the rear bumper. Vultures or hawks started to circle us.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave10.jpg)
On to the infamous Mail Box and American Flag - this time sporting a second "Don't Tread On Me" (Gladstone?) flag below.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave11.jpg)
The frogs are in good spirit - I found the three we left last year and added three more.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave21.jpg)
The gnomes have returned!
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave22.jpg)
The valleys beyond there are huge and can't be taken very fast at all because of the never ending wooptie-do's. We ended up camping where we camped with the group in 2008 at the base of the mountain. That night the winds came in big time and the sky filled with black dark clouds over night. It got down to 36 degrees that night.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave14.jpg)
The kangaroo rats (mice) were out and not fearful of us at all. We had brought a pound of bird food for them and they put on a nice show for us bouncing around gathering the seeds and running off with them.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave13.jpg)
The next morning and the dark clouds had cleared but were still there both north and south of us. This is looking South toward Kelso Dunes.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave15.jpg)
The rest of the park is really a long long ride. We hit Marl Springs and found the water dry as a bone for the first time ever. The siphon had stopped providing water for the wild life. A little HDR (high dynamic resolution) picture on the way to Government Holes
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave16.jpg)
At Government Holes we tried a run a road called Providence Road which showed up on my maps as a "back" off-road way of getting south toward Mid-Hills and The Hole-in-the-Wall. About two miles down the road someone had put up a nice double fence line with two locked gates. So much for that road.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave17.jpg)
Heading south on Black Canyon road we came across some wildlife. First a red tail hawk.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave18.jpg)
Then a whole flock of these guys ... we were careful because we had some ribeye steak the night before!
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave20.jpg)
And finally we stumbled upon a covey of wild deer.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave19.jpg)
We went to The Hole-in-the-Wall campground which had about 10 RV's parked there, and then around to the park which had just a couple of cars there. We walked a bit of the ring trail before calling it a third day and heading home.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave25.jpg)
I shot some video and took some trail tracks which I'll post up with the map here in a bit.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11 Mojave Solo/Mojave12.jpg)
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Awesome!
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HOLY SIDE WALL! :o :o
WOW lucky to have a spare! man thats crazy, knowing you id say yes, but were you aird down? it seems like you had to have been aird down!
looks like a great run! Great pics as well!
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We were aired down to 18 psi but that's not help against sidewall cuts - it does help with rocks hitting the tread. The tread looks good but it's hard to tell, the sidewalls took damage as I drove down the trail on the deflated tires. That part of the trail is uphill and bumpy and covered in rocks sitting in the sand so it was hard to tell I was shredding the tire. When I stopped to check out what was wrong the tire was smoking!
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Fantastic pictures Paul, love the way your rig looks with the new wheels and tires.
Nice to see them dirty, but not punctured! :o
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Nice trip Paul.
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Paul this looks like an amazing trip. Love your pictures, they are amazing. What wheels are you running? I have been looking for wheels like that forever and cant seem to find them.
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Paul this looks like an amazing trip. Love your pictures, they are amazing. What wheels are you running? I have been looking for wheels like that forever and cant seem to find them.
MB 72 in matte black - found them at America's Tires.
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Great pics and write-up Paul. That shot of the cow/bull (whatever it is) is great.
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Great post. Gotta love the desert no matter where you are!!! Gotta love America Tire Co. I just bought the last 32/11.5R15 AT KO in the entire country from them. Rush ordered the last one from Houston :)
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Great pics and write-up Paul. That shot of the cow/bull (whatever it is) is great.
Hamburger
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Hamburger
Yeah we had steak that night so I didn't know if they could still smell their sister on our breath. There was a whole flock of these things laying down in the grass just passing the time along side the road. I didn't want to spook them because I didn't want to have to try to explain the horn impressions in the fenders or door skins to an insurance agent.
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Hey I was there from 19 to 20. Our group did Barstow to Laughlin on Saturday then back on Sunday. 300 miles of offroading it was epic.
Wish I would have ran into you out there Paul.
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Finally completed the movie
http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11%20Mojave%20Solo/?action=view¤t=MojaveRoadHD.mp4 (http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11%20Mojave%20Solo/?action=view¤t=MojaveRoadHD.mp4)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11%20Mojave%20Solo/th_MojaveRoadHD.jpg) (http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/paul1960/Xterra/10-11%20Mojave%20Solo/?action=view¤t=MojaveRoadHD.mp4)
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Really nice, Paul.
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Really nice, Paul.
You don't realize how deep the water is until you watch the level start to reach to the bottom of the window in the video afterward.