I was pretty excited about this trip: I did it in 2008 after learning about it on a Hummer Forum and it seemed like it would be fun. I met up with the other three guys, in two cars, at the Avi Casino in Nevada and we traveled the route in two days. That was shortly after the movie Heartbreak Mountain came out and my kids couldn't resist giving me a bad time about it.
On that first trip we just followed the trail, not stopping at any of the points of interest. We did stop at the Penny Tree and the Mail Box, but I suspect it was because they were next to the trail and would have been impossible to miss. We also stopped at Fort Piute, but mostly we followed the trail where we could and, I suspect, made it up where it wasn't clear.
The most memorable part of that 2008 trip was finding a Greenback rattle snake, which is particularly dangerous. He was big and he wasn't happy that I was there, but I got some great pictures!
This trip, organized by Greg, was a much better trip!
On Thursday morning, I arrived at the Safeway on Dunne Ave a bit early. I wanted something from the Starbucks since I skipped breakfast, but I couldn't find it, so I decided to go into the Safeway for ice, which I also needed. It turns out the Starbucks was inside the Safeway, so the trip was already off to a good start. I had plenty of time to wander around, drink my hot chocolate, and text with my wife who was in Hawaii visiting her Mom.
I reconnected with Dennis, Vidas and Jessie, and Detlef and Ursula, and met Greg for the first time. Seven people in five cars were prepped and ready for the long drive to Fort Mohave in Arizona. We stopped occasionally for food, gas, and comfort breaks, but the weather was perfect, and the travel day went smoothly. It was dark by the time we reached Fort Mohave, and after fueling up we re-crossed the Colorado River, drove past the Avi Casino again and located the start of the trail. Greg wanted to start the trip at the river and we got pretty close.
After partly airing down, we picked up the main trail and drove in the dark. I was impressed by how easily Greg found our first over night spot, which is called Balancing Rock campground. It's a wide spot behind a high rock pile near the road, and we had it all to ourselves, so we spread out a bit. Three of us were in dome tents, one was in a car top tent, and one slept in the pickup bed.
On Friday morning, I could see the road going west as far as I could see: I love that view. I wondered around to take a few pictures, and everyone was up by 7:00 AM or so; we all ate breakfast, packed up, aired down some more, and headed out by 9:00 AM. It was good to be on the road early. We were headed for Fort Piute and the trail was clear, but rocky and a bit rough. I could tell that it gets a lot of use.
Fort Piute was "built to last" according to the sign. In 1867, a U.S. mail route was created along the Mohave Road between San Bernardino, California and Prescott, Arizona. Military escort relays were established to protect the mail riders, and Fort Piute was one of several outposts built to house the escorts. Shortly after the fort was completed, the mail route was changed to a southern route, and the fort was abandoned after less than six months. Today the fort is slowly disappearing.
At one point the trail makes a short drop into the canyon, it wasn't too steep, but it was full of big holes and covered in thick loose dust. We didn't want to take the bypass though and committed ourselves to getting everyone down. Another group pulled up behind us to watch and decide for themselves. For vehicles like mine, with an IFS front end, keeping all four tires on the ground proved difficult. The trip down was mostly controlled and partly slip-n-slide, but it wasn't an "out of control" death slide. It was good to have something exciting to remember.
A bit further on we came to a stone cabin, on a hill top, that was locked so I took pictures through the windows. The best news was a nearby fully stocked and clean bathroom. Life is Good! The house is in good condition, and is now (possibly) used by rangers. It had a fabulous view from the porch.
Bert Smith, was exposed to poison gas during WWI, and built the house in 1929 for his health: He lived until 1954, much longer than the doctors predicted. An artist named Carl Faber moved into the house in 1981. He occasionally sold his art to people who passed by on four-wheel drive trips. He moved after 5 years and eventually moved to New Mexico.
We arrived at our camp site after dark and quickly set up for the night. Two other vehicles arrived, well after we did, while we were all setting around the camp fire. This was another large camping area and our five vehicles had spread out again, but the new comers didn't have any trouble finding space.
On Saturday, we left camp again at about 9:00 AM, following the dusty whoop-de-dos west to an old homestead. Nothing is left except a corral and the spring. The honey bees were working the spring pretty hard, but I couldn't find the hive, or even tell which way the bees were going to (or coming from).
After leaving this area, we took a long detour to the south following the power line poles, to avoid a washout that may or may not have been passable. Once back at the road we had to drive East a short distance to find the Penny Tree, then we doubled back and continued west again on the road.
The road was mostly smooth loose dirt, with lots of dust, and plenty of whoop-de-dos. Both sides of the road were covered in vegetation, like Joshua trees, Cholla cactus, and desert brush. It probably sounds counter-intuitive but there was plenty of color, and critters, although I didn't see any snakes on this trip. This area also had the remains of some very old volcanic activity, with cinder cones that are clearly visible and identifiable.
The Mail Box turned out to be fun. Detlef and his wife brought a ceramic frog, which he "offered up" by placing it with the frog he delivered two years ago. How weird is that? We made a ceremony of it by wearing red Santa hats and Detlef wore a red smock of some kind. We all signed the frog before delivering it to its new home; in the desert, where there is no water, in the middle of nowhere, like some kind of frog cult. One of the frogs still says ribbit, ribbit every time a shadow passes over it.
There are other collections of things "not normally found in the desert", but you'll have to do the trip to find out what they are. Dennis added an ED4 Safety Clinic sticker to the small blue boogie board attached to the Mail Box pole and we all signed the guest register, then we were off again.
Our next stop was at a short lava tube, which is reached via a ladder. It was a nice spot to collect a lava rock for the rock pile, but I don't think anyone did. We reached an old factory or mine near the dry lake bed and had lunch. There isn't much there anymore, except some concrete foundation blocks. We did pick up our rocks here, mine was about the size of my palm, with a distinct yellow (Grey Poupon mustard) color on the smooth flat side.
Greg cautioned us about traveling across the lake, since there was a chance of wet spots, but it was dry and dusty all the way across: The dust was deep in places. The tradition is that everyone carries a rock, for good luck (?) across the lake which is placed on the pile at the west side. Evidently there is an actual monument, with a plaque, under the large pile of rocks. My rock looked very much at home with the other rocks.
Two days of rough trail had beaten the rigs pretty hard, and near the end of the day Dennis' truck had a problem. The bolts holding one end of his front drive shaft had disappeared and it was slapping around underneath. A couple of us walked back along our route and Ursula found one of the missing bolts. That one and a couple of others got him back on the trail. If we hadn't found enough bolts he was prepared to remove the drive shaft and run it in two-wheel drive. In fact, he took it out of 4-wheel drive and unlocked the hubs, to remove any drive train strain, for the rest of the trip.
That night, we chose a camp site prior to the water crossing, rather than doing it in the dark. It was another wide spot along the trial, next to an old mine of some kind, and perfect for our little group. We had another beautiful sunset, a nice campfire and some company. A small fox was brave enough to come into the camp to see what we were up to. He, or she, wasn't brave enough to come close though, and our one picture is slightly out of focus. It was also close to the train tracks, and trains moved through all night long, blowing their horns before a nearby crossing. Most of the group slept through the train traffic.
On Sunday, there was an early morning water crossing just before reaching Afton Canyon campground. When we got there a group of 13 vehicles was already lined up and ready to take the plunge. Everything from full sized pickups to a mini jeep, and pretty much stock, not "built" in any way. They're not a club, but are rather a Facebook / email group, and they were on a day trip to the lava tube. Nice people though!
After they all pushed through the water crossing we went in the other way. The bottom is gravel and the water was at or below the door lines, so none of us had any trouble. Interestingly enough I don't remember this particular water crossing from my first trip, or I remembered it differently, but it's probably just the number of years since I was there last. After we all got through there was a slow rush to Afton Canyon campground to regroup and use the facilities.
After leaving the campground, we followed a trail, in and out of the dry wash, through deep sand again to a place called Camp Cady. It was established in 1860 to protect people traveling through the area. Today, there is nothing left but a plaque. This was the end of our trip and we drove out to the pavement to air up and start for home. First though, we stopped at Peggy Sue's Diner on route 66 for a late lunch.
The trip home was uneventful, although I was pushing a strong head wind and only making about 60 MPH. Once past Tehachapi the wind died down and I cruised along at 70 MPH, then ran into a head wind near Harris Ranch on I-5 and dropped back to 60 MPH again. I got home about 9:30 PM, unloaded some essentials, took a shower, and went to bed.
Although it was basically a trail ride, this was another great trip, and I'd like to thank Greg for organizing it. He did a great job, and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested! I saw so much more on this trip than I did in 2008, including some things I didn't expect to see: Like the frog ceremony. I'd also like to thank Dennis for loaning me a radio, and my other traveling companions for the great memories.
-Neal Wade