Mojave Road Saga - Day 1

Note to self: before venturing forth on the historic Mojave Road start early and get plenty of sleep the night before. A single lane dirt road (path in most instances) heading west (from where we started) for nearly 140 miles should not be started in the afternoon or after a lousy night sleep.

Hope self reads note!

He didn't - as with many travelers the night before an adventure starts, the sleep is fitful with the brain working on overload. Are we forgetting anything, is there enough fuel, enough water, should we be traveling this road with only one vehicle? Questions like these, and many more, often keep the explorer from getting the right amount of sleep before a trip begins. Starting tired is one strike against a trip along the Mojave Road.

Starting at nearly two in the afternoon is the second strike.

Luckily there wasn't a third or this trip would have been a strike out.

John and Paul just wanted to get started down the dirt road leading from the Colorado River - so in the heat of the day and with tired minds they drove out of the Avi Resort looking for the beginning of the Mojave Road.

It may get a bit hot in the Mojave Desert - maybe!

Perhaps that's why it took nearly an hour to find the beginning.

For most of the trip, the GPS was right on. The rock markers called cairns (stones set up in a pyramid fashion) were easily found, and the map in Dennis Casebier's book, Mojave Road Guide, pointed us in the right direction. But for some reason it took some maneuvering and back tracking to locate the beginning of the road.

A 'cairn' - guideposts for the Mojave Road. Don't miss them!!!

The trip began at the site of Fort Mojave which was built around 1859 on the shores of the Colorado River. The fort had been built to maintain a sort of peace with the Mohave Indian tribe which had been causing some grief - like killing immigrants and explorers who ventured into their lands. For all but two years during the Civil War, the fort was manned until 1890 when it was turned into a school for the Indians until the 1930s. Nothing much is left of the site - in truth, we found nothing indicating a previous Army fort from the 19th century. No cannons, rifles, graveyards, placards, markers, or anything else indicating a fort had been built along this part of the river.

 Of course, to be fair we may have missed a turn here or there but one thing was certain - the sand was extremely soft, the temperature HOT and we wanted to get a move on westward.

Deep - very deep sand - 4 x 4's only please

No fort, just riverfront property.

For some reason it took some maneuvering and back tracking to locate the actual beginning of the Mojave Road. Trails were everywhere heading into the desert west of the Avi Resort and though the guidebook was explicit we could not find a cairn to save our lives. One road went west and then south and then east - another road went north and then west and then east - we guessed all roads ended back at the Avi Resort. 

It may have been a trick to force us to lay by the cool blue river and gamble. But the ploy didn't work and in about an hour we finally found the beginning of the Mojave Road.

By trial and error we eventually found the road

We found it and the adventure was on. And what an adventure!

Across the same road that the likes of Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson, John Fremont, and Peter Skene Ogden had used while making their way across the Mojave Desert, we were traveling with the ghosts of some of the most famous early American adventurers there were.

Nothing could stop us now - almost nothing . . .

This something did stop our westward movement the first day.

In a relatively recent rain - something the deserts don't often get but when they do it pours and takes out primitive stretches of road easily. This was the case a few hours from the kickoff point of the trip. Even four wheel drives could not make it across a section of the upcoming road since what we learned electrical cables may be exposed or something to that effect. Whatever we would have to find an alternate route - one of 34 miles set up by the BLM or a 14 miler by a great group of Mojave Road enthusiasts.

We'd sleep on it and decide in the morning - tired and hungry we made camp a quarter a mile away and enjoyed the solitude of the desert. We made plans to start fresh and early the next morning.

Stay with us -- the adventure continues with next week's blog entry.

Mojave Road Saga

Road less traveled - better have a GPS!

In Southern California there are two main arteries that flow through the Mojave Desert which are lifelines to the Colorado River and Las Vegas - Highways 15 and 40 are traveled more than most other black topped road surfaces in the United States. Millions of travelers per year drive these highways in search of gambling fortunes, cool river life, or just points beyond - what they both share is miles upon miles of desert landscape.

Towns such as Essex, Baker, Yermo, Barstow, Ludlow and numerous other exits (actually there aren't that many) are mere pinpoints on a map. The traveler drives and looks out the window at cactus, sage, blowing tumbleweeds and thousands of square miles of brown desert dirt.

This is the place Patton trained his tank crews for the operations in North Africa during WWII - it's desolate - it's lonely - it's rough and it's the right place for an adventure.

General Patton in the Mojave Desert during WWII

J along with his trusty companion Paul decided to drive or better yet maneuver the Mojave Road - that stretch of  nearly 140 miles dirt path that parallels the 15 and 40. It's the road which both native Americans traveled for hundreds of years as well as pioneers in the 1800's moving to the promised land. It's rough, dirty, a bit scary, and bloody hot - especially at the end of May and beginning of June where temperatures can easily reach over 100. It did - 102 and 103.

Laureen stayed poolside at home - the thought of night after night tenting in open hot rough country didn't appeal to her this time - dipping her feet into cool water did. This from the woman who loved the Amazon Rain Forest - well not really loved it but went along on that adventure wholeheartedly - the Mojave Road was a different matter. Besides who would look after the four doggies on the home-front?

The boys left on the morning of the 29th of May heading to the Avi Resort on the Colorado River - that would be the jumping off point.

Paul with the Colorado River in the background - the beginning.

Research had been conducted, maps printed, warnings of traveling in only one vehicle discussed and then put away, and the most important tool purchased. A Mojave Road guidebook by Dennis Casebier was a must since this individual has traveled the road more times than anyone could count and the directions - starting off at Avi - were right on with exact mileage and GPS coordinates.

A Must if you want to be safe!

As stated this was not a trip for the faint of heart - this would be like going back in time to follow the footpaths and wagon wheels of those who have gone on before us - the true pioneers who risked it all in an unforgiving desert for a better life. Unlike those John and Paul called once again on the intrepid Toyota FJ - the workhouse of so many of our blogs. The vehicle which has never let J and L down.

New tires, new steel rims, new off road bumper and a 9,000 pound winch were added to the FJ to ensure she (hope that's not taken as sexist) was ready for an off road ordeal. All research stated not to do the trip in one vehicle but one vehicle was all we had.

With the top rack loaded with an extra tire (the FJ already has a spare on the rear door) in case we encountered two blow outs, shovel, hard gravel rake, floor jack we were confident in the tire area. Plenty of water, extra gasoline, tent, cots, and all the other camping needs made us feel that we would at least have some comforts of home on this trip. The FJ was jammed packed with supplies but when the trip is supposed to take three days and may stretch into four one has to be prepared - cell phones are spotty at the best being this remote (in fact John was completely off the grid for nearly 36 hours and Paul's cell didn't do much better).

We followed Dennis's guidebook and learned that the desert isn't a place which is only brown but one of pure beauty and brimming with life. No, while driving on the 15 or 40 a person may look out at the brown of the desert and believe there is nothing worthwhile to view but they are totally wrong - there is so much to see and learn about the Mojave Desert - the only problem is its remoteness and sometimes unforgiving nature.

This road - this Mojave Road is only for four wheel drive vehicles and is only for those who want to get out of their comfort zone to learn the truth about what a beautiful and vibrant world there is between to long lines of black top.

In the next four or five blogs more details on this trip will be written about - hopefully the readers will learn to understand and love this piece of history - this road had to offer.

Not far from the Avi Resort 

We explored and gained knowledge about this part of Southern California we hadn't known existed.