UltimateYota Mojave Road Expedition 2013 Trip Report
Our journey started many months ago, with some meticious planning on my part. That planning always pays off!
At the end of this post, the .KMZ of our trip is attached in a .ZIP format. This is nearly the exact route we took, and represents some major changes from the original files posted in the planning thread above.
The following is a chronological tale of our adventure. For the sake of this report, I will be using the VERY nice pictures provided by Daniel Martz. His equipment and skill far exceed mine! Here are all the pictures: http://s955.photobucket.com/user/ham...y/MRE13?page=1
The official start of the trail, as we ran it, is in the very tip of Nevada, along Needles Highway. Since fuel is approximately $0.20 cheaper in Arizona, we crossed the river and fueled up there. Once our tanks were full, we crossed back into California, and drove on to our campsite in Nevada. The camps is one I have been to before, and is absolutely beautiful!
After a restless night of sleep, we packed up camp, met up with Kevin and Neashell, and set on our way.
The first interesting thing we saw was on an unplanned stop. Neashell spotted an abandoned "church" and wanted to visit. I am not even sure how to describe what we saw. I am not even sure pictures will convey the weirdness. In hindsight, this may have had a no trespassing sign, although if it did, it was so badly faded that it could not be read. For all we know, it said "Come On In!"
Maybe a movie set? I am as confused as you are!
From there, it was a rocky and generally miserable drive to Fort Piute. Fort Piute was a military outpost to protect travelers. Through Piute gorge, you can hike the original path of the Mojave Road before an easier bypass was constructed to the south. Being in the midst of one hell of a head and chest cold, I was in no condition to hike. Next time for sure!
The remains of Fort Piute:
2 Green 4Runners, a Red Taco, and the road we just traveled. Good times, bad roads, and great friends!
After visiting Fort Piute, we returned to the power line road and continued south to the designated mountain pass. This road is fairly easy, and has some amazing views. Sadly, neither Dan nor I got pictures. Shame. After passing through the mountains, we headed north up to Piute Gorge. This area is directly west of Fort Piute, and has some amazing scenery in the canyon.
The sights made this a great place for lunch!
Future exploration needs to concentrate on this area, I feel it has much more hiding than what we have found.