We Travel the Mojave Road

turbodb

Well-known member
Excited to test out the rear shock relocation I'd just completed with the help of Zane @Speedytech7, I headed north toward Las Vegas to pick up @mrs.turbodb who was flying in for a two-ish day trip along the Old Mojave Road - a historically significant trail through the Mojave National Preserve in southern California.

Passenger acquired, we made a quick dinner pit stop at The Habit Burger - a place we'd never been before but had heard had amazing burgers at drastically low prices ($3.50). The burgers were actually quite good - I'd recommend them over any other fast-food burger - and the fries were good too, though we felt a bit overpriced. We then headed south - our only goal for the evening to reach the beginning of the Mojave Road and find a spot to camp, given that it was already dark by the time we headed out.

It was 9:15pm when we arrived at the eastern end of Old Mojave Road, and we stopped just long enough to get a shot of...well, not much.


We headed west - not more than a mile or so - until we found an offshoot with a nice area to camp. A bit exposed - we were in the desert after-all - but it wasn't supposed to rain and the wind wasn't too bad. It was over this mile that we also discovered that the shock work I'd completed the day before wasn't going to work for us on the trip - even over small bumps the shocks were bottoming out - only having perhaps 2" of up-travel with a fully loaded bed.

We were going to need to make a decision in the morning...

- - - - -​

The next morning we woke to overcast but dry skies, and the gentle breeze throughout the night had kept any dew off the tent - a great start to the trip. And the landscape was spectacular - in that desert-nothingness sort of way.




With plenty of light, and knowing that rain was on the way, it was a good time to evaluate the shock situation. I laid out the Trasharoo under the back of the truck and scooted my way under. Yep, there was definitely a problem.


I still didn't know why - I mean, we'd measured more than twice and (I thought) done everything right - but we quite clearly hadn't allowed for enough up-travel and the shocks were close to hitting their rubber bumps and bottoming out - even at rest - when the truck was loaded up.

There were two options - abort the trip and head home on the highway, or remove the shocks and run the Mojave Road with leaf springs only. The answer - to me - was obvious: adventure was waiting.

As @mrs.turbodb got breakfast (cereal ans strawberries), lunch (PB&J sandwiches), and dinner (roast turkey sandwiches) prepped, I set about removing the shocks. I knew it wouldn't be ideal for the leaf springs, but it'd be better than ruining a brand new set of 2.5" ADS smooth bodies! Back into a box they went, and the truck was once again drivable.




Just as a few drops of rain started to fall, we began our journey west - excitement and anticipation of the unknown ahead!




The Mojave Road has been used historically by Native Americans - Mojave runners were said to have covered upwards of 100 miles per day - but saw increased travel in 1848 and 1849 after the land was taken from Mexico and as American settlers headed west to California as part of the gold rush. Naturally, conflicts arose and the U.S. government began sending troops and building forts to protect travelers along the route. As we made our way to towards one of these forts - Fort Piute - we ran into the ruins of an old homestead - only the rock portions of the structures still standing.


It wasn't long before we reached the remains of the old Fort Piute, part way up Piute Canyon.




Built in 1867 to protect the mail route that ran along the Mojave Road, the fort was tiny - though it housed both humans and livestock. As often seems to be the case in the early American west, the mail route was changed to a southern route less than six months after the fort was completed, and it was abandoned. Built entirely out of stone, its walls remained mostly intact until 1930.

It's obvious why a fort was built here - Piute Canyon was beautiful this time of year, Willows and Cottonwoods a bright yellow even with overcast skies; the hillsides dotted with barrel and chollo cactus as well as two different yucca's - truly a feast for the eyes.


I highly recommend making the couple-mile out-and-back hike up the Old Mojave Trail into Piute Canyon. There, the landscape continues to unfold, the red walls of the eroding canyon contrasting beautifully with the vegetation. It's an easy hike with very little elevation gain, but you want water in the summer when it's warm, I'm sure.






Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if I could fit more than 20 photos per post. But until then...

Keep reading the rest here
Mojave Road Part 1 - We Head West




.
 

turbodb

Well-known member
Mojave Road Part 2 - So Much Adrenaline I'm Shaking

The rain did seem to tail off sometime in the middle of the night, and the breeze did definitely continue on into the morning. All of this gave us hope that we'd climb out of the tent to a similar situation as the previous morning - overcast, but mostly dry.

Nope.

It was overcast alright, but it was also super foggy. I mean, it was a pea soup-type fog that really felt like more of a windy drizzle. The tent was soaked, and we decided that we didn't even really want to eat breakfast it was so wet out.


Instead, we decided to take a look around the Death Valley mine, the name alone intriguing enough to warrant a look.

Turns out that the east Mojave Desert didn't have too many crooks, but what it lacked in numbers was made up for by Dawson. A 32-year old gold mining promoter, he started a rumor in 1905 that he'd struck it rich in Death Valley in a place he called "Hidden Hell." He ran ads across the country promoting the discovery of a mother lode and sold some 2 million shares, despite the obvious absurdity of his story. In need of an actual mining operation to keep the share price up, he purchased a mine established in 1906 by J.L. Bright, which he promptly renamed the Death Valley Mine. The fact that this mine wasn't even a gold mine didn't worry Dawson one bit - the fact that the mine was now, miraculously producing a bit of silver as well, an added benefit!

In September 1907, Dawson and his brother ran off with the proceeds of the 2 million shares, and the mine fell into disrepair. It spun up again in 1915 by the Strawn family, and run until 1921 - but produced only $38,000 of silver before shuttering once again. The mine got one more chance in the 1950's, but as much of it had already been gutted, not much more came out of it at that time.

Since the mine fell into disrepair only relatively recently, many of the buildings are still in reasonable condition. The main house still sheltered from the road behind a screen of Joshua Trees; grape and melon vines growing on trellis' that covered attached porches.


The interior too was in relatively good shape - the roof still protecting the contents from the brunt of the weather.


Having once employed upwards of 100 men, nearby the main house were several structures that clearly supported mining operations. The remains of an old (and barely used) 10T stamp mill, miners quarters, a workshop, and a second house were all nestled in the surrounding landscape.


While it was clear that some minor excavation and mining had taken place around these structures, the majority of the mining clearly happened several hundred feet to the northeast where tailings surrounded both a 30T ball mill and a bucketed conveyor belt used to pull ore from deep underground.


But it wasn't until the very end of our exploration that we discovered what we'd read to be the main shaft. Apparently several hundred feet deep, pumps were required to keep water out and since they've ceased operation, only the 30 feet closest to the surface are visible.




This was definitely a place that would be fun to explore again in better weather - many details likely still waiting to be discovered. For now though, it was time for us to get a move on - we had plenty to see today if it turned out to be anything like the day before!

So we put away the tent wet and headed back the way we'd come the night before - only this time in daylight. To our surprise (and delight), before long the fog and clouds started to clear - or rather, we realized that it was only the area in which we'd camped where there was a thick pea soup. Lucky us.

Regardless, as the skies turned blue and the sun broke through, we agreed that the surrounding landscape was the most beautiful we'd see on the trip - the vegetation various yellows, greens, and blues; their crazy shapes dancing against the sky.





This too was the only place where we'd see three types of chollo cactus growing together - the segmented branches covered with spikes ready to jump out at passers by.


Having skipped breakfast we were getting hungry and decided that once we were back on the Mojave Road, we'd look for a good spot to open up the tent (to dry it out), get our meals for the day prepared, and eat breakfast. And, though we were initially surrounded by a Joshua Tree forest as we turned onto the road, we could see it meander into the distance - giving us confidence that it wouldn't take long to find a suitable spot.




- - - - -
Don't miss the rest of the story, and all the remaining photos - it'd all be included here if it fit. But until then...





.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,530
Messages
2,875,579
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top