13-14 Desert Season planning

[Seanz0rz]

The 2013-2014 Desert season is upon us.

I was planning a MRE trip in December. I will have to cancel that since no one wants to go the day after Christmas, and move that to the standard time of the annual MRE trip sometime in March. I will announce dates for that very soon.

I also want to go exploring sooner than that, in a prep for a new annual trip to take place in November every year. Maybe we will do some scouting trips soon. I will post them up a couple of weeks in advance. They will be either Saturday trips or Sat-Sun camping trips.

I was hoping to do some scouting on the Western side of the Mojave desert, and attempt to find a desert to coast route with as much dirt as possible.

Any other desert trips planned this season? post em up!

[troyboy162]

What do you have in mind so far?

[Seanz0rz]

I would like to check out the desert megaphone, and see if there is a way from there, across the active Union Pacific RR tracks, north up the old Tonopah & Tidewater railroad bed to the eastern side of Soda lake. I think a cool day trip would be to start at I40, head north up to the megaphone, then north still up to the proper Mojave Road. If you couldn't get across the UP tracks, you could parallel them west to the huge bridge that we pass under on the Mojave Road. From there, spend some more time exploring Afton Canyon, and exit on the I15.

One of the biggest unexplored areas for me is West of Fort Piute and East of the New York Mountains (I guess that whole area is Lanfair Valley, but I am not positive, I would have to look at a map). There is a TON of stuff north of the Mojave Road there, a few dozen old mines and towns, plus some other neat stuff. South, you have Hole in the Wall and a few mine remains and ghost towns.

And that is just off the top of my head for Mojave NP. There is so much to see in the Mojave Desert and up to Death Valley, along 395, etc.

Money is tight this winter, so I'm not sure how many trips I will get to go on. For sure, the big one in March, and I think I will put together a day trip or Saturday-Sunday thing to flush out some new and exciting routes in Dec, Jan, and Feb. I want to go in a couple weeks but I'm not sure that will happen.

[Seanz0rz]

I'm having a hard time routing from the megaphone east across the Bristol Mountains, Devil's Playground and Kelso dunes. There is a road that parallels the rail road tracks, but it looks pretty boring. This takes you up to Kelso, then it's pavement for a good while until you hit anything interesting again.

I think I finally figured out some more routes up around the cinder cones, which should be fun. Lots of exploring up there. This stuff is easier to check out on day trips, it is that eastern side that is more of a challenge, but I think there is a bit more out there.

[Jaydee914]

Keep us updated. I'm always down for a weekend or even a day trip!

[Seanz0rz]

Will do! I was thinking about going Thanksgiving weekend, since that is close to my b-day, but I'm not sure I'll get to do that. We'll see.

[troyboy162]

I'm hopefully going to be available weekends. I certainly will want to have some fun with the truck this trip home.

[Jaydee914]

Troy, when did you say you'll be back? I just met up with another 4Runner guy here in Costa Mesa who wants to get out there and I was thinking a quick Cleghorn run would be perfect to get him initiated.

[troyboy162]

I'll be back in a couple weeks. I'd be up for a cleghorn run! I might have to take it easy though. I've got a lot of work to do so the skid plates will be off.

[Seanz0rz]

I'd be down! I need a shake down run to isolate some problems.

[Jaydee914]

Perfect! Lets get out there! Ideally, I'll be mounting up my new gas tank skid next weekend, so I'll want to go put some scrapes in that thing ASAP.

[troyboy162]

Sounds like a plan. Gas tank skid sounds like a wise investment. Theres nothing worse then hearing metal on rock and knowing its your tank. Clawhammer ate my tank twice Hopefully i can get one e d or the other put together for testing

[Jaydee914]

Yeah, I've been kind of saving for either a locker or winch (should I be able to get myself into trouble or out of it first?) but found a deal on the last piece of protection I needed and couldn't pass it up.

[Seanz0rz]

FWIW, I use my locker a WHOLE lot more than I use my winch. But, those times you need the winch, you NEED the winch! It's a tough call, but since you typically go with guys that have a winch, I wouldn't worry so much about that now. I think a rear locker is more useful.

[Jaydee914]

Pretty much what I was thinking. For now, I think I'd really only need a winch for solo runs. A locker would get me farther and keep me from holding others up. Rear locker first, followed by winch, front locker and taller m/t tires, in no particular order.

[troyboy162]

thats what I ended up doing. The winch is nice, but a high lift, rock stacking and lots of time can fix most any stuck. I'm going to try and have my rear suspension done for the run.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I went rear locker, front locker, and still no winch. I dont really do solo runs. So rock stacking, a hi lift and recovery strap and a buddies tuck will get you out of just about anything. Mind you, I DO have a winch.... in the garage, just sitting there.

[Seanz0rz]

For me, a winch was much more useful than a front locker. The times I've needed a front locker I can count on one hand. All of those situations were solved by either a careful line, a stacked rock, or my winch. I don't have to worry so much about breaking things up front too.

[04 Rocko Taco]

For me, a winch was much more useful than a front locker. The times I've needed a front locker I can count on one hand. All of those situations were solved by either a careful line, a stacked rock, or my winch. I don't have to worry so much about breaking things up front too.

Thats true. I happened into a front locker in a package deal with my gears, so thats how I ended up with one. I dont worry nearly as much about breaking anything up front as you IFS guys do, and I dont use my rig as a DD, so the front locker really has no downsides.
If I had to street it everyday, I might reconsider.

[Good Times]

if you're in the buying mood I'd say a locker up front (w/ regrear if you've gone larger tires) before a winch. though this is coming from a guy that never bothered to lock the front up since I was a bit more careful on the line I took. Honestly speaking I'd say save up for a rainy day on both the locker/gears and/or winch. Neither of which are really critical needs so long as you've got good tires, sliders, skids and a rear locker.

Worst case, just use a hi-lift / bottle jack and start stacking away.

:)

[Jaydee914]

That did make it sound like I was excited to spend some money, didn't it? These are actually very long term plans, but I would like to have that rear locker in place in the next 6 months or so. I'm just trying to put a very rough plan together for my build.

[Jaydee914]

Sooo, what about a quick Cleghorn trip? You guys free next weekend?

[troyboy162]

Sooo, what about a quick Cleghorn trip? You guys free next weekend?
I'm game for it on saturday. I'm gonna try like hell to have something to test for the run.

[troyboy162]

oh and Front locker is for when there is no good lines or for taking a line that saves the truck. It only adds like 30-50% to the trucks ability. The rear locker easily adds 100%.

[Seanz0rz]

I should be up for a Saturday run. I need to fix my rear diff leak and figure out a suspension clunk back there, plus do a good once over on the truck. I will also probably skip some of that more horrible stuff on the trail.

[Jaydee914]

Ok let's tentatively plan for Saturday at Cleghorn, although I'm open to other places too.

[Seanz0rz]

sounds good! I have a friend that is interested in either a shotgun ride or tag along in his Suburban.

[Seanz0rz]

What time are we meeting at the trailhead?

and Troy, how is the rear axle coming along?

[Jaydee914]

Want to do 10am?
Do you guys have time to do a little HAM work afterwards? I need some help loading up my Baofeng, and tuning it's antenna. I can provide the beer!

[Seanz0rz]

10am sounds great. I will bring my laptop and programming cable just in case. We can stop somewhere or find a comfy spot on the trail provided it is not too cold.

I plan on bringing lunch to eat somewhere on the trail. I suggest y'all do the same! JD, is Victoria or kids coming? Friend will be riding shotgun with me.

[Jaydee914]

Cool, thanks Sean. I'll bring lunch, but probably not the family. We'll see.

[Seanz0rz]

Short little video of Cleghorn: http://youtu.be/n9rZvGpUFnM

Back to planning, I am thinking a January run maybe? Just a day trip, maybe 1 night of camping.

[Jaydee914]

Nice video. That was a fun day!
January is tight, but I might be able to squeeze in a day trip to Mojave. Troy's Death Valley run is end of January, if that's still on....

[troyboy162]

deathvalley is still on. They are opening roads fast around there. Should be fun!

[Jaydee914]

Excellent Troy! I already took that Friday off from work, so I'll be seeing you guys out there late Thursday night.

[Jaydee914]

Sean, did you get pics from John from Saturday? I want to see my truck nearly flopping again.

[Seanz0rz]

I'll text him tomorrow and have him email or dropbox them to me.

[Seanz0rz]

Still working on pics.

Date for the usual MRE is set. March 14-16. Post will be up soon, when I don't feel like I'm about to die.

Since that's the same run I've done the last 2 years, those of you who have done that before probably won't want to go. I'm planning another run in February. We'll discuss the date very soon, again when I don't feel like stepping in front of a bus, and when I have a better idea of Lexi's schedule.

[Seanz0rz]

I think I have a pretty good idea of a route for a 1.5-2 day trip. Should take us to see some cool stuff, and it looks like it shouldn't be too much in the way of power line roads, although they are sort of unavoidable.

[Seanz0rz]

So when would y'all like to go out in Jan/Feb? I have another Mojave trip mapped out, still working on all the specifics, etc. Trying to avoid power line roads is nearly impossible! I'm thinking a Saturday trip, with camping if the weather is OK.

[Jaydee914]

January is getting pretty full for me, but I might be able to squeeze a day trip in on the 25th. Weekend of Feb 1st is the Death Valley trip, and then I'm most likely unavailable the weekend of the 15th.
That's my schedule - not saying that the trip needs to revolve around me though.

[Seanz0rz]

How does Saturday, Feb 8, or Sunday, Feb 9 work for you guys?

I want to discover a new route and see the Desert Megaphone, as well as check out a new leg of the Mojave Road trip.

[Jaydee914]

I'll have to see if I can sneak off for some wheeling 2 weekends in a row...
There's a big mine in the northern section of the New York mountains that looks interesting. If you look at Caruthers Canyon on Google Earth and view to the north side of that ridge, you'll see it. I went part of the way up, and the road gets a little challenging and fun, but unfortunately dead ends at the top. Could be interesting if you have plans to head up in that direction.

[Seanz0rz]

PM me the coords. the route I want to do is a bit more west of that, but we might be able to jet over there before it gets dark.

[Seanz0rz]

actually, that date wont work either. I'm looking at the 18/19 maybe. just a day run, probably a long day though.

[Jaydee914]

I might be able to do that. I have some work to do on the truck, and depending on when everything delivers, I might be tearing into it that weekend.

[Seanz0rz]

Yeah, I'm trying to get that roof rack finished so I can get lights mounted to it. I have 6 Blitzpro 6LZs sitting on my desk

[Jaydee914]

Nope, no working on the truck for me this weekend. My parts aren't showing up until Monday, so I'll be spending the 18th and 19th tearing it apart a bit in preparation for the Death Valley trip.

[Seanz0rz]

Sounds good. I will see if Lexi is up for DV, but I doubt it.