Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 03-06-2017, 04:29 PM   #31
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by phlite View Post
daveb: Cool writeup, read your blog

There was one super technical spot that you avoided. That spot looks pretty daunting! How did you manage to bypass around this spot? We'll be going with our 4x4 SMB, and a buddy with a landcruiser.

We are about to head out to do it this weekend, what would you recommend for spots to camp heading east to west? We are planning two nights, three days. We have kids with us so we would like to try and hit up the hole in wall area, and then the lava tube possibly. Think we have enough time?

It sounded like there was a nice camp spot by the lava area. And potentially the piute camp may be a good one. Also, the one at mile +/- 67.

Did you do 3 nights? Kinda looked like it.

Also, I read somewhere that the climb up to piute range was a bit off-camber and close to the side of a cliff, sounds a little scary. Do you know the part I'm talking about?

Also, it's been very wet as of late around the south west, I wonder if the river crossing will be challenging.

Thanks!
Chris
Your best bet is to call the Kelso Depot 760 252-6108 and ask about the bad spots. Even at that most every difficult spot can be bypassed if necessary. You might not get the true conditions off the web site so a call might be better.
https://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

I think a lot of folks run this route quicker than others.
The camps for us were:
Fort Piute (in stealth)
The rock cabin at the intersection of Caruthers Canyon spur
The first mountain range w/o the Kelso/Cima Rd
The Lava flow area
W/O Shaw Pass

I downloaded the maps from this site prior to running it. It helped:
Mojave Road Maps - Download our detailed maps of the Mojave Road


As long as you have 4x4, the climb up from Piute to Lanfair is rocky but easy. The worst technical spot that you mentioned is actually near Watson Wash about 100' off a main vehicle road (Cedar Cyn Rd) that cuts through the area. I did drive around and back up the wash to look at it from a different angle but it still looked bad. I'm sure it changes year to year.
There is a lot to see on that trail. I think the main thing is to get up early and hit the trail ASAP. We had a hard time finding the start of the trail itself and were probably trespassing on the Indian reservation but we wanted our rock. We arrived late to start the run but could have camped off 95 at the start of the trail. There are lots of bike riders and their toy haulers that set up camp there so it should be easy to find during daylight. I always prefer to camp at the more unique spots rather than just set up in the desert. Because we started so late, the goal was to knock out as much of the trail as we could and stayed at Fort Piute (Paiute) for the first night. It's hard to count that first night as a full day being we hit the trail so late and were running some of it at night. If you start early (@ HWY 95) you should be able to make Caruthers Canyon, one of the better scenic spots to camp at.

Now for the guessing:
I'm not sure if you could make it all the way to the Hole In the Wall campground in a day but once you hit Cedar Cyn Rd, it's 55mph all the way to the campground. I tend to steer clear of campgrounds near main roads...just me. Also you could probably get to the lava flow area from the hole in the wall CG in a day if you get a early start. From the lava area to Afton CYN should also be doable in a day. I have no idea how boggy the dry lakes are, or how deep the water crossings will be just before Afton campground. They had a good wet season down there this year. Personally I'll never go back to the Mojave/Manix wash as a lone vehicle. That is something you'll need to air down on to feel comfortable.
For myself, I just don't like being pushed, I take a lot of pictures, and tend to explore which takes up time. Almost every day we didn't get out until mid morning.

Good luck on your trip Chris and please do a trip report. Throw in a can or two of flat tire repair in case you hit one of those prickly plants!

__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-07-2017, 01:07 AM   #32
ctb
Senior Member
 
ctb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Illinois
Posts: 817
Garage
Send a message via AIM to ctb
Ahhh, the reason why this site was a daily check in the days! TRIP REPORTS!!! Yes, watching you all build your rigs is great and the seekers that are looking, and the buyers who are joining, but all that BS aside (except for the Great advice, yes that is PRICELESS!!), Trip Reports are the the cream of this site!! What can we do with our SMB's who can inspire us to do something we are scared or a bit unsure about...what trails, what time of year, the meals, the sites, natures' beauty and pics for the thread "My Top Three" of awesome nature with your SMB in it!! Thank youTHANK YOU THANK YOU Dave B...you truly are the biggest character and poster here...thanks for posting!!!
__________________
'13 MDX 'BigBlackmobeebs'
'01 Lexus 430 LS 'Luxobeebs
'20 Tacoma TRD OR 'Tacobeebs'
ctb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2017, 09:37 AM   #33
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Flagstaff
Posts: 56
daveb: Thank you for the extensive info!

I didn't realize how far off track hole in the wall was. We'll probably skip it on this trip.

Should be fabulous weather! Will definitely report back!
__________________
2006 E350 Sportsmobile 6.0
https://phlite.net
phlite is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2017, 12:25 PM   #34
Senior Member
 
joefromsf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 341
Quote:
Originally Posted by phlite View Post
daveb: Thank you for the extensive info!

I didn't realize how far off track hole in the wall was. We'll probably skip it on this trip.

Should be fabulous weather! Will definitely report back!
Mid Hills CG is in the same general area as Hole In The Wall CG, but much closer to the track. It is also much less used and higher elevation.
__________________
2012 E350 RB XLT Wagon, Agile 4x4, SMB penthouse
joefromsf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-08-2017, 02:32 PM   #35
Senior Member
 
REDOVAL's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Lomita, CA
Posts: 851
Garage
A tip for the Mojave Road trip....there are small piles of rocks along the main route. They will be about a foot or so high and will be on the right side (north) of the trail when headed west and left side when headed east. We did the trail 4 times last year, most recently in December. The conditions were very nice and there weren't really any spots that I would consider out of reach for a locked 2wd or 4wd van. Our trip in December from the Avi Casino to Afton Canyon took a little more than 4 hours....we were moving along at a pretty good clip (~42.5mph avg moving speed) with only a couple of stops. This was in a very capable and tuned Dodge Cummins truck with high end Carli suspension. There is always a lot of traffic around the mailbox area, so don't expect to get through that section very quickly.

We run the California Trail Maps software on a tablet and it is a real help offroad. All the routes are marked and easy to follow. It's actually pretty hard to get lost, which I find nice. The route statistics are always a bonus for engineers as well!

www.californiatrailmap.com

Scott
__________________
2002 Ford E350 V10 Traveler
Vantage Optics Headlights
www.VantageOptics.com
REDOVAL is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2017, 07:06 PM   #36
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
I kinda like those maps...thanks Redoval
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-09-2017, 08:22 PM   #37
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Flagstaff
Posts: 56
These maps are good too! The Mohave road book online!

http://www.davebarton.com/mojave
phlite is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2017, 07:20 AM   #38
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Northwest Colorado
Posts: 33
I have Sprinter 2015 170in WB 4x4 and looking for feedback if I could take the rig on the Mojave road. Reading the trip report and blog's this sounds like an awesome trip but don't want to do something dumb and get myself in trouble. Any idea's or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Tks
Bear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2017, 07:31 AM   #39
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 49
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear View Post
I have Sprinter 2015 170in WB 4x4 and looking for feedback if I could take the rig on the Mojave road. Reading the trip report and blog's this sounds like an awesome trip but don't want to do something dumb and get myself in trouble. Any idea's or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Tks
You may want to consider taking a course by Bill Burke to discover your van's capabilities and how to stay out of trouble.

Ramjet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2017, 11:06 AM   #40
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bear View Post
I have Sprinter 2015 170in WB 4x4 and looking for feedback if I could take the rig on the Mojave road. Reading the trip report and blog's this sounds like an awesome trip but don't want to do something dumb and get myself in trouble. Any idea's or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Tks
The weather/time of the year is the main issue plus the need for some good tires for sand. I wanted to run the complete trail but I still haven't ran the section from the Manix wash to Camp Cady. There are some spots that change year to year and the sand in the Mojave and Manix wash area can be really bad. My mistake was not airing down before I got in there and the fact that mud terrain tires suck in sand. Most sections can be bypassed via better maintained roads if necessary but if you time it right I think a 4x4 Sprinter can make most of the trail.
SMB took one on the trail but I don't know what sections they ran. I'd also suggest you don't cut your teeth on this trail if you go alone unless you're comfortable driving in sand. The water crossings can also be an issue.

__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

GIL

Manoel Brazil

MCSporty

MSD
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:01 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.