395 Sleep Stop suggestions

[billwilson]

Escaping The OC tomarrow

North on 395

Am whipped from work
Wont make it much past Kramer Junction

I know i can pull over anywhere

However, any suggestions???

Thanx in advance

BW

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by billwilson

Escaping The OC tomarrow

North on 395

Am whipped from work
Wont make it much past Kramer Junction

I know i can pull over anywhere

However, any suggestions???

Thanx in advance

BW

Hit red rock canyon state park campground about 30 miles north of Mojave. Easy access off the 14 and should be pretty empty on a weekday. Not too scenic, but there isn't much scenery anywhere south of Lone Pine.

You can easily zip over from the 395 on hwy 58 or red rock/randsburg road to get to the campground.

Personally, I won't boondock anywhere in the desert between Mojave and Lone Pine, or at least not when I'm solo. Too many tweakers and meth heads out there.

R

[billwilson]

Originally Posted by EMrider

Hit red rock canyon state park campground about 30 miles north of Mojave. Easy access off the 14 and should be pretty empty on a weekday. Not too scenic, but there isn't much scenery anywhere south of Lone Pine.

You can easily zip over from the 395 on hwy 58 or red rock/randsburg road to get to the campground.

Personally, I won't boondock anywhere in the desert between Mojave and Lone Pine, or at least not when I'm solo. Too many tweakers and meth heads out there.
R

i agree
trying to get out early
bw

[jstanley]

The El Paso Mountains are a nice place to stop, but the tweeker factor is still kind of high close to 395.

[Jeffrey]

"Personally, I won't boondock anywhere in the desert between Mojave and Lone Pine, or at least not when I'm solo. Too many tweakers and meth heads out there."

What exactly does this mean? I've driven that road well over a hundred times, and never saw a problem.

And, there's plenty of great landscape scenery all along 395. Just get a map and read some books on the area. Randsburg Road, Last chance canyon, Dove springs. Red Rock canyon, Kennedy Meadows, Coso range, etc, etc.

And, what the heck is a tweaker? Someone who fine tunes your engine?

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

"Personally, I won't boondock anywhere in the desert between Mojave and Lone Pine, or at least not when I'm solo. Too many tweakers and meth heads out there."

What exactly does this mean? I've driven that road well over a hundred times, and never saw a problem.

And, there's plenty of great landscape scenery all along 395. Just get a map and read some books on the area. Randsburg Road, Last chance canyon, Dove springs. Red Rock canyon, Kennedy Meadows, Coso range, etc, etc.

And, what the heck is a tweaker? Someone who fine tunes your engine?

A bit more detail.

There are meth labs and meth heads scattered throughout the high desert in that area. A meth head is a producer and a tweaker is a meth user/addict. Over the past decade I've come across two, thankfully abandoned, meth labs in the course of my high desert adventures. In general, I'm a lot more concerned about encountering the tweakers than the meth heads.

The problem is most acute around Trona, but exists elsewhere too. Heck, Trona is the meth head/tweaker epicenter of North America.

[UJOINT]

They're even there in the summer? I too have driven up & down that hwy a few hundred times, never seen a thing.

[jstanley]

I can believe that someone who lives in Santa Barbara and drives $75K van could be ignorant of the meth problem that exists in the high desert... but wow!

I have driven 14 and 395 hundreds of times also, I have even hitch hiked it probably 25 times(in the 70's and 80's). Have you noticed the increase in stripped mobile homes? Thats "tweekers" gutting them for the wiring for their next fix.

I personally dont feel good in most of So. Cal until Im 10 miles off the pavement, and out of sight of the dirt road

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by jstanley

I can believe that someone who lives in Santa Barbara and drives $75K van could be ignorant of the meth problem that exists in the high desert... but wow!

I have driven 14 and 395 hundreds of times also, I have even hitch hiked it probably 25 times(in the 70's and 80's). Have you noticed the increase in stripped mobile homes? Thats "tweekers" gutting them for the wiring for their next fix.

I personally dont feel good in most of So. Cal until Im 10 miles off the pavement, and out of sight of the dirt road

Yep. I came across the old meth labs when I was out exploring on the dirtbike.

I raised the issue because the original question was about places to camp around the Kramer Junction area. That is prime meth and tweaker territory and IMHO not a good place to just pull off the highway and boondock camp. Ricardo is about the only decent 'official' campground in the area, and it is seldom crowded.
R

[cellularSTEVE]

Originally Posted by EMrider

The problem is most acute around Trona, but exists elsewhere too. Heck, Trona is the meth head/tweaker epicenter of North America.

True story: First time I was in Trona I asked the clerk at the Chevron what people do around there other than work at the plant. He answered, "meth"!

wow.

steve