April 9 - 14, 2018:
It was all route 40 west to exit 2 with lots of truck traffic and more than enough wind. Route 40 west passes near the towns of Seligman and Kingman, Arizona who both have road signs advertising their Route 66 heritage. I didn’t wander off course today, stuck to the script, but saved them for future reference. Our ultimate destination, the Mojave National Preserve was a little longer than we like for one day ride, so we decided to make the overnight stop here about mid way. This was the BLM Needle Mountain dispersed camping area just off route 40, exit 2, totally free, with lots of dirt roads where you can basically camp anywhere you can drive the rig to. You don’t really want to take your RV too far back country, but it is doable here. We just went in a short ways, no one else was there, we had it all to our selves. I took a hike a short ways in the evening and saw evidence of much Elk activity, but none were seen.
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Scenic uphill climb on route 40 west
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Wide open terrain behind campsite
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After setting up the campsite, I headed the 15 miles to Needles, California to check their Route 66 historic area. At the California border, you pass a unique bridge over the Colorado River that seems to only carry a pipeline and on the opposite side a railroad bridge often carrying long freight trains.
I took the first exit of route 40 in Needles for the Route 66 historic area which is along the railroad tracks, I don’t seem to be able to get away from the railroad. There really isn’t much to Needles route 66 in comparison to Williams, Arizona but they do have a few good signs and they have the historic El Garces Hotel which was a former railroad Harvey House Hotel and Restaurant. The El Garces Hotel is currently undergoing restoration which hopefully will attract more business to the downtown area which is not looking so vibrant these days.
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Elvis in front of the Econo Smog & Tune Shop
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The 66 Motel and Carty's Camp
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The El Garces Hotel and Train depot
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In the morning, I back track 8 miles to the last exit off route 40 to fuel up the Jeep, as the gas in Arizona is about $ 1.50 a gallon cheaper than in California. The truck stop in Arizona was really busy, it seems that everyone stops there before crossing the border. I just wanted to add a few gallons to top off the tank on the RV so I stopped at a gas station in Needles, CA. As I'm about to pull out, a guy tells me my front tire look really bad. I actually have been watching these tires, even worrying about them and was planning to replace them soon as it was convenient. It turns out he has the tire shop across the street, has tires in stock and can do it immediately, which is about as convenient as it can get, so I spend a couple of hours there getting it done. In fact I had all the tires replaced as the rears were just as bad. After checking my records the tires were new when we bought the RV in January 2014 and we have put almost 28,000 miles on them. I would expect tires to last longer than that, but the RV is a rough environment for tires. It was a very costly gas stop, but I feel more relaxed now.
Our move was only 80 some miles, mostly on route 40, so I was still able to arrive at Mojave National Preserve by noon time. This Preserve covers lots of territory, 1.6 million acres, has great terrain, but is far removed from anything. The Hole-in-the- wall campground is about 35 miles from the nearest gas station and store. It is all first come, first served, no hookups, only a few working water spigots, but has beautiful camp sites with great views and with our senior park pass costs only $ 6.00 a day. We came here with the RV water tank filled and plenty of bottled drinking water as we had heard that there was no water available.
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View from the campsite
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This is the Mojave Desert which is quite different from the Sonoran Desert that we are familiar with. There are many different types of cactus here, the Mojave Yucca’s and Joshua Trees being the most prominent. Overall the Mojave Desert is not as green and vibrant as the Sonoran Desert, but this particular area in the preserve is very lush with lots of plant life.
We went for a great hike, the 6 mile “Barber Peak Loop Trail” right from the campground. We took the trail in a counter clockwise direction as the trail description and signs were lacking in how to start the trail in the clockwise direction. The trail skirts around Barber Peak with great views, great vegetation and very interesting rock formations. We left early to beat the heat and the forecast high winds, a smart move. As you swing around the mountain, the trail goes through a cattle gate into a range area where we passed several cows. The trail tends to follow huge washes most of the way around the peak and there is some gradual up and down but nothing very steep. There was an incredible rock formation a little beyond the half way point that forced me to leave the trail and bushwhack uphill to a hillside covered in fragments and veins of a rock called Opalite. There were two balanced rock formations there that were also very special and many dark black volcanic boulders dispersed amongst the Opalite rock fragments which made for an incredible scene.
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| Banshee Canyon leads you into the "Hole-In-The-Wall" |
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Where you must climb up this set of rings
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After a lunch break, we then went for a Jeep ride north on Black Canyon Road which passed through ranch property on a very rough wash board surface dirt road. These roads are not fun in a Jeep Wrangler, the suspension is so stiff, you just dribble over the road surface, at any speed. After 7 miles, I couldn’t take it any more, we went left onto Wild Horse Canyon Road which goes to the Mid-Hills Campground and is an alternate road back to the campground. This entire area 70,000 acres was burnt in a huge forest fire in 2005 and virtually all the trees (predominately Juniper and Pinion) are dead but still standing. The Campground which once sat in a scenic grove of trees is not so appealing now and vacant of campers. This became a good Jeep drive crossing a couple of areas that a normal car would have had to turn around. This road actually runs in a wash for a few miles and even Twinkles, a most nervous passenger, thought it was was a pretty cool ride.
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The White Horse Canyon Road goes in a wash for several miles
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We had to stow everything inside or in the Jeep on Wednesday night with 70 MPH wind gusts forecast as a weather front was moved through. The winds were as strong as forecast all night and then continued all day Thursday at a reduced strength. Luckily, as the campground is at a higher elevation, surrounded by vegetation and with the mountain blocking the north west wind, the dust was not awful bad.
On Friday we did another road tour north on Black Canyon Road, then east on Mojave Road to the Rock Spring loop trail. The Mojave Road was the east - west travel corridor through the desert that was used by the Indians, the first Spanish explorers, early anglo settlers, the miners and the US Army. Fort Piute was built in the 1860’s at Rock Springs to protect the spring and for the safety of travelers, supply wagons and the mail. The trail is a one mile loop into the canyon where you can see Indian petroglyphs and the remains, mostly old tin, of former mining and military occupation. At the entrance to the trail is stone house that was built by and lived in by a WW1 veteran who was gassed during the war suffering severe injuries. He didn’t expect to live long and hoped the sunny dry climate would be good fo him, he lived for another 25 years there.
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A view on the Black Canyon Road
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A beautiful Mojave Mound Cactus growing out of the rock
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| Many balanced rocks along the road |
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| WW1 vintage stone house at Rock Spring |
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A Chuckwalla sunning on the rocks
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| Indian Petroglyphs |
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Old tank and lots of tin used for target practice
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We then headed west on Mojave Road to the Kelso-Cima Road and to Cima where we turned onto the Cima Road and followed it to the Mojave Preserve boundary at route 15. At the junction of Cima Road and route 15 is a gas station and store where we gassed up the Jeep and picked up a few goodies. Gas stations are an issue inside the Preserve, (there aren’t any) and you must travel about 30 miles (one way) to get to one from the Hole-in-the-wall campground.
We then turned around and headed back on Cima Road to the trailhead for the Teutonia Peak Trail. The entire area along Cima Road, as far as the eye can see is Joshua Trees and this area is reported to be the largest concentration of Joshua Trees in the world. The 3 mile Teutonia Peak Trail takes you through a forest of Joshua Trees and remnants of the old Teutonia Mine and then ascends 750 feet to the summit of Teutonia Peak. The trail gets steep near the top but the view from the summit is worth the effort.
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Joshua Tree blooms are massive and beautiful
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Mojave Road plaque installed by the "E Clampus Vitus"
group, it's been a while since I have seen one, I miss them
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Heading into the Joshua Tree forest on the Mojave Road
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Starting the hike to Teutonia Peak
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How did this massive boulder get here ?
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Nearing the top a weathered tree that reminds me of
an old Bristlecone, but more likely a Juniper
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View from the top
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It was a beautiful hike
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The Joshua Trees can grow to about 30 feet tall
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A very long freight train coming up the steep grade from Cima to Kelso
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Our final adventure entailed driving south on Black Canyon Road to Essex Road to route 41 west to Kelbaker Road and the Kelso Dunes trailhead. The dunes are huge, 700 feet tall, and the trail takes you up to the top. We had no inclination to hike that, instead we walked about a 1/4 mile out and wandered around for a while. The sun was bright and the reflection off the sand had us feeling toasted by the time we got back to the jeep.
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These are impressive dunes
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Twinkles looking around
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We then traveled another 7 miles to Kelso, CA and the historic Kelso Depot which now houses the Mojave Preserve Visitors Center. The museum inside the visitors center is excellent and the Depot is a very impressive structure. This was a major rail artery in its day housing railroad workers and train crews. Helper engines had to be added on the rear of the trains to get them up the steep grade between Cima and Kelso. The Helper engines were then taken off at Kelso as they were not required for the rest of the trip. There isn’t much left at Kelso these days but the Union Pacific Railroad continues to run frequent freight trains on this line.
There is more to see at the Mojave Preserve, but we are ready now for some decadent civilization; the next stop is Las Vegas, Nevada;
Twinkles and Slick
