mojave road

[tongagrnlr3]

im starting to plan a trip accross the mojave nat. preserve in late october or early november. It will be my first time on the trail, anyone here done it?

 

[nwoods]

I've done it lots of times. Great trip. I always go East to West. Ask me anything, what I don't know I am happy to make up

Here are some photo galleries of a few trips I have done:
- http://nwoods.smugmug.com/Land-Rover/Off-Roading/Mojave-Trail-2009/
- http://nwoods.smugmug.com/Jeep-Adventures/Trail-Runs/Mojave-Trail-Fall-2009/
- http://nwoods.smugmug.com/Jeep-Adventures/Trail-Runs/mojave2011

A few favorite images:

 

[tongagrnlr3]

looks like super fun road!!! what were temps when u did it? and how serious is the water crossing at the end? do u just go straight at 15mph and don't stop or are there big holes and other hidden poo?

 

[tongagrnlr3]

and your photos are superb!!!

 

[tongagrnlr3]

also what was your fuel level at first gas station after the trail?

 

[nwoods]

In the LR3, I went through a full tank of gas, but did not need any more than the one tank. I did bring a Jerry can though, and so should you. It's about 140 miles of slow dirt driving, much of it in deep loose sand, where throttles are happiest buried into the floor matts

Fuel up at the Avi casino and then again in Yermo near Peggy Sue's. There is NOTHING in between unless you pull off near Soda Lake and visit the Mad Greek.

Temps range wildly. It can be HOT, it can be COLD. Mid Hills campground is 5200 feet, so it's not uncommon to get below freezing in spring and fall. I was there in January and it snowed about 4 inches on us. You need to bring a wide assortment of clothing for any desert adventure.

The water crossing at Afton Canyon is no problem in the LR3. It's a right fine little submersible. HOWEVER, you do not plow into it at speed! The proper technique to go slow enough to keep a bow wave in front of the grille, and NOT over the hood. A steady speed is far more important than total speed. This keeps the water below your intake on the side of the vehicle and generally out of the engine bay (air is trapped under the hood creating a nice little pocket of air to keep the dainty bits dry).

Make sure you have this map AND book (get both, do not skimp):
http://www.desertusa.com/web_cart/db/pages/5094.html

If you post up on ExpeditionPortal.com that you are going (in the CA/NV subforum), you will have plenty of folks interested in joining you...or you can contact LRCSD.org or SCLR too. Folks are always wanting to take on the Mojave Trail. It's an easy road, but lots of fun.

 

[tongagrnlr3]

ya wasnt planing on barging into 34" of water i was thinking a foot or two after walking it first... and picking up speed as the crossing allows.

when u say deep sand r we talking pismo dunes style or something more crazy. i have had my truck out in the dunes 4 times since purchasing in march of last year and NEVER had a moment where it was even thinking of getting stuck. and that was on my toyo proxies that came on the truck! im going up again in august with with my brothers and im going to try and get stuck to see if i can (while i got help and to dig my a** out)

 

[nwoods]

Not quite Pismo sugar, just sandy river bed. Third gear in low range ******* the rev limiter is fun.

Bow Wave
Too Slow:

Too Fast:

 

[Houm_WA]

...you don't got a "just right?"

 

[nwoods]

...you don't got a "just right?"

Sadly, no one ever seems to get a photo of me.