East Mojave Trek –by Jungle Jim

Saturday morning we began gathering at the Bun Boy Restaurant in Baker, after topping off our tanks. Some of arrived early enough to enjoy a hearty meal before our long journey across the barren wasteland.

After a short drivers meeting, we headed south on Kelbaker Road and discovered Mojave Road near Seventeen Mile Point. After turning westward on the trail, we stopped to air down the tires and to take a final count of who had made it out for this trip. In these tranquil surroundings, I took the “before” pictures below. Present were:

After a quick briefing on geography, driving guidelines, and a short prayer from Arty, we were cruising on the smoothest stretch of our journey, past Paymaster Mine Road and Jackass Canyon Road, and on our way through the Cowhole Mountains.

This primary stretch had us all becoming accustomed to a steady cruise, forgetting the long highway, and letting our minds wander a bit as we began to enjoy our close looks at God’s many beautiful creations.

Our first major terrain change came when we arrived at Soda Lake. The lake was dryer than expected, so we spread out, following about 1/8 mile behind each other to avoid the dust. Being the lead vehicle, I made a 60 mph sprint across the flats to Travelers Monument, where we all made the traditional stop to look at the large pile of rocks that travelers had brought to this historical site where, in 1887, “nothing happened.” At least that’s what the plaque said.

After our history lesson it was a short drive to the west edge of the lake, where the trail turned a bit mushy as we pushed our way through the sand. Those of us who let more air our of our tires floated over it. For a short stretch through Shaw Pass, the trail ran through bedrock, and then out in to the dunes of Rasor OHV Area.

This is where I like to leave the trail to zig zag aimlessly through the dunes for at least a few minutes. We faired well, with the soft wand swallowing only one of our vehicles. Jim Bays of the Fun In The Sun Fourwheelers came to the rescue with his trusty tow strap and dragged him back to the main trail.

Due to this, and a couple of other unexpected occurrences (I’m being kind here), we were running late for lunch. So with our hunger growing and no shade in sight, we hastened toward Cave Mountain. There we found a nice stretch of shade in the deep canyon. Out came the folding chairs and the food, as we gathered for a leisurely lunch, gab fest and a little guitar worship.

It would have been easy to have hung-out there until dark and then stayed there overnight, had we been equipped. But, such was not the plan.

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