Mojave Road

[dirtman13]

I don’t even know where to begin to explain what a great trip this was. This area is full of history, unbelievable scenic views, and tons of wild life. At times I felt that we were filming an episode of Wild Kingdom. I believe we ended up doing a total of 230 miles, which doesn’t include a side trip to Kelso Dunes on Thursday on our way to the trailhead on the Colorado River. Even though the road is only 138 miles you must include the side trips if you ever do this adventure.

A little history on the road is that it was an Indian trail that became the main route to the west for mail and goods from the east. The forts where for the army troops that protected the mail and supply carriers. Along the road are many springs for watering the horses. The Mojave Road is a must do if you haven’t done it.

Thursday Kurt and I headed up the 40 for Laughlin and stopped by Kelso Dunes. This was defiantly a great start to the trip.
Dunes.

One of many beetles seen this weekend.

On the way back to the 40 we found this Mojave Rattlesnake, which was emerald green in color. They are green after they shed their skin so this was quite rare to see. I believe that this snake is one of if not the most poisonous snakes in North America.


DO NOT TRY THIS EVER!!!! Earlier someone driving to fast on the road ran over another snake and we didn’t want this one to have the same fate so we Kurt moved it off the road.

Friday morning we pack up to begin our great adventure. It was good to see the gods where upon us before we even started.

Trailhead on Colorado River

Fort Pah-Ute

While at the fort there was a small stream that was home to many creatures. The bees where amazing. The sound coming from the trees was quite ere. Millions of bees buzzing together.

Tin can tree

The desert was filled with these tunnel spiders (not sure of the true name yet).

New York Mountains is in the distance. This was our first campsite.

The first night we stayed in Caruthers Canyon, which is in the New York Mountains. This place is beautiful.

Balancing Rock.

The Grinch That Stole Christmas Mountain. Again, my name not the true name.

[dirtman13]

Part 2

In the morning we made our way to Rock Springs and then to Mid Hills, which was a side trip of the main road. This place was burned in the past but was showing signs of recovery. I felt like I was driving through a Tim Burton movie. The trees where charred with no leaves and the ground was covered in long green grass and colorful flowers. That’s Table Top Mountain in the back ground.

Rock Springs Canyon.
Before

After

Free range cattle where everywhere in Mid Hills

Again, the gods where shinning down on us. This was quite a site to see.

From Mid Hills we made our way over to Hole-in-the-Wall. I know I keep saying this but this place was spectacular.

Doing a little rock climbing. (not that kind)

After the Mid Hills loop we head back to the main road. We wanted to camp in the Lava Beds that night. On the way we came across some Badgers cross the road but they where to quick and I had a hard time getting a shot of them.

Quick stop at the Mojave Mail Box.

Most of the trail to the Lava Tubes was quite sandy and made for an interesting drive.

Once camp was set and we sat down to relax all of a sudden Mike yells out “holy crap”. We look up and what do we see but a Red Tail Hawk perch on the side of the lava wall. I had been trying to get a shot of a hawk since we started and here was one nesting near our camp. Guess what I did all night?

In the morning I woke up and guess what I did till we left? I think I ended up with 80 pictures of that hawk.



Alright enough of the hawk. From the campsite we back track a tad (about 30 miles) to the Lave Tubes. Another very cool must see.


This is looking over the lava beds from the tubes.

From the lava beds we headed for Soda Lake. This is where Travelers Monument is and the tradition is to place a rock from the road on the pile. I got my rock from the Colorado River.

That’s my rock above the sign.

From there it was on to Afton Canyon.

Leaving Afton Canyon we stopped for a quick car wash.



I haven’t downloaded all my pics yet but I will. Here's the link to some of the pics. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...Mojave%20Road/ If you do this trip I high recommend the book by Dennis Casebier's “Mojave Road Guide”. It was very well written and has a lot of history about the road. Also bring someone to read the book for you. It’s hard to read and drive at the same time. Trust me. I have the GPS coordinates that go with this book and I will post in the GPS section when I can.

[ECHO]

Impressive Pics. Looks Like I Have To Add That Trip To The To-do List. How Warm Was It Out There?

[Geebo]

This one is for Rat Patrol!! HEY Kurt what are ya CRAZY MAN??? That is pretty cool I did that with a non-posionous black water snake in Pa. but no more guts left in me anymore..LOL..looks like fun Thanks for the pictures and report guys..Geeb..

[FishPOET]

Great trip report and pics. Kurt...you da man grabbin that snake like that :whip:

[dirtman13]

Impressive Pics. Looks Like I Have To Add That Trip To The To-do List. How Warm Was It Out There?

It was perfect. About 86 most of the time during the day.

[Schmo]

Thanks for sharing your pics . . . Looks like you guys had an awesome time . . . I've got to get out there one of these days . . . but I might have to wait a few months now that the hot season is arriving.

[RAT]

This one is for Rat Patrol!! HEY Kurt what are ya CRAZY MAN??? That is pretty cool I did that with a non-posionous black water snake in Pa. but no more guts left in me anymore..LOL..looks like fun Thanks for the pictures and report guys..Geeb..

Geebo,
Like the disclaimer said "Do Not EVER try this". I have been catching poisonous snakes since I was a kid in Texas. I would never have touched her if she hadn't been in the middle of a busy road on the way to the Kelso Dunes. We saw many dead snakes on the road and I just couldn't let that happen to such a beautiful snake. She was very docile, very cooperative, and she left the road side and headed out into the desert as soon as I put her down. Obviously, if you come across a rattler, give it a wide berth, snap a photo if you must, and leave them alone.

Kurt

[RAT]

Mojave Raod pics cont...

All I can say about this trip is that I'm still trying to wrap myself around the size, diversity, abundance of wildlife, changing scenery and colors that we encountered along this dusty desert trail. Most incredible. And what makes it better was the company. If any of you ever get to take a trip like this with Chuck and Mike and Sharon, run, don't walk to get there. They are the best and really make a weekend fun, and informative.
Some more of the gorgeous Mojave Green Rattler


Kelso Dunes

Bug, black, MK1 Mod 0

Life in the dunes

Wasps like this everywhere

Rock art

This poor guy was hit by a truck before I could get him out of the road

Cool rock formations

Cactus gardens that a professional landscaper would be jealous of

Desert blooms like this were everywhere

The rest of the 600+ photos are here:http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...02008/?start=0

[Mitch]

Chuck,

Awesome photo's! Now I know why I haven't seen you guys. Looks like another great trip. And you are right about the Mojave Green. It is the most dangerous poisonous snake in north america, having both nerotoxin as well as hemotoxin. 10 buttons and almost 4', thats as big as they get!

Kurt,

I've heard that you can get F@#$*%@ Nuts, but thats just crazy!
You are the man.

[sandjunkie]

Awesome. This is going on the to do list.

[Rubiconcruiser]

Beautiful photos there young man, Lets do the road one more time bfore it gets too warm, and wehave to wait till fall. Rubiconcruiser, 818 355 7986, Rubiconcruiser@msn.com

[Geebo]

Kurt, Not to worry my friend when I,ve seen rattlers in the past I stay clear..Damn I don,t even like bee stings,LOL..Geeb

[Mike]

Flora and Fauna

I really didn't expect what we found! This area is more than just a road. It most definitely deserves to be preserved! The Mojave Preserve has lots to offer.

Chuck did a great report. I can only add some more pics on things that we saw. Starting with Flora and Fauna:

Flora:


















There was even life and color inside the lava tube:



Fauna:


In Piute Creek we found lots of things living. This pic has tadpoles, water bugs, and fresh water shrimp(?):














Even a little mouse came by to visit us at our campfire:

[Mike]

Friends and Fantastic Finds!

Kurt and Chuck are great travel partners. Chuck has a knack for finding the extraordinary camping spots. It's funny, but the only times that I got into 4WD was in or near each of our campsites!

Here's to Friends and the Fantastic Finds along the way:

The Colorado River:




Caruthers Cyn Campsite view:


MOST of the rock-crawling I did, did NOT involve my Jeep (or van ):



The world's largest Desert Tortoise head:


The Balanced Rock in 1940:


The Balanced Rock on 5/3/08:


The Ring Trail at Hole-in-the-Wall:


Chuck on the Extra Credit line:


Marl Springs:


At the Mailbox, we found an MJR sticker:


If I remember right, FishPOET put this here:


Our campsite in the Cinder Cone area:


Chuck arriving at the Traveler's Monument on Soda Dry Lake:


In Afton Canyon, we stopped and explored a very cool mud cave. It was a tight squeeze to get into it as well in a couple of other places:










Chuck posted what he saw of Mr. Green going through the last water crossing in Afton Canyon, so I thought that should post what we saw at about the same time:


End of the trail, now we head to a gas station ASAP!:


It was sort of sad to go our separate ways, but I know that we will get a chance to go on another adventure... Good times!


All my pics can be seen at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...-08/?start=240