Mojave Road Part 1 — We Head West

December 5–6, 2018.

Excited to test out the rear shock relocation I’d just completed with the help of Zane @Speedytech7, I headed north toward Las Vegas to pick up @mrs.turbodb who was flying in for a two-ish day trip along the Old Mojave Road — a historically significant trail through the Mojave National Preserve in southern California.

Passenger acquired, we made a quick dinner pit stop at The Habit Burger — a place we’d never been before but had heard had amazing burgers at drastically low prices ($3.50). The burgers were actually quite good — I’d recommend them over any other fast-food burger — and the fries were good too, though we felt a bit overpriced. We then headed south — our only goal for the evening to reach the beginning of the Mojave Road and find a spot to camp, given that it was already dark by the time we headed out.

It was 9:15pm when we arrived at the eastern end of Old Mojave Road, and we stopped just long enough to get a shot of…well, not much.

We headed west — not more than a mile or so — until we found an offshoot with a nice area to camp. A bit exposed — we were in the desert after-all — but it wasn’t supposed to rain and the wind wasn’t too bad. It was over this mile that we also discovered that the shock work I’d completed the day before wasn’t going to work for us on the trip — even over small bumps the shocks were bottoming out — only having perhaps 2" of up-travel with a fully loaded bed.

We were going to need to make a decision in the morning…

- — — — -

The next morning we woke to overcast but dry skies, and the gentle breeze throughout the night had kept any dew off the tent — a great start to the trip. And the landscape was spectacular — in that desert-nothingness sort of way.

With plenty of light, and knowing that rain was on the way, it was a good time to evaluate the shock situation. I laid out the Trasharoo under the back of the truck and scooted my way under. Yep, there was definitely a problem.

I still didn’t know why — I mean, we’d measured more than twice and (I thought) done everything right — but we quite clearly hadn’t allowed for enough up-travel and the shocks were close to hitting their rubber bumps and bottoming out — even at rest — when the truck was loaded up.

There were two options — abort the trip and head home on the highway, or remove the shocks and run the Mojave Road with leaf springs only. The answer — to me — was obvious: adventure was waiting.

As @mrs.turbodb got breakfast (cereal ans strawberries), lunch (PB&J sandwiches), and dinner (roast turkey sandwiches) prepped, I set about removing the shocks. I knew it wouldn’t be ideal for the leaf springs, but it’d be better than ruining a brand new set of 2.5" ADS smooth bodies! Back into a box they went, and the truck was once again drivable.

Just as a few drops of rain started to fall, we began our journey west — excitement and anticipation of the unknown ahead!

The Mojave Road has been used historically by Native Americans — Mojave runners were said to have covered upwards of 100 miles per day — but saw increased travel in 1848 and 1849 after the land was taken from Mexico and as American settlers headed west to California as part of the gold rush. Naturally, conflicts arose and the U.S. government began sending troops and building forts to protect travelers along the route. As we made our way to towards one of these forts — Fort Piute — we ran into the ruins of an old homestead — only the rock portions of the structures still standing.

It wasn’t long before we reached the remains of the old Fort Piute, part way up Piute Canyon.

Built in 1867 to protect the mail route that ran along the Mojave Road, the fort was tiny — though it housed both humans and livestock. As often seems to be the case in the early American west, the mail route was changed to a southern route less than six months after the fort was completed, and it was abandoned. Built entirely out of stone, its walls remained mostly intact until 1930.

It’s obvious why a fort was built here — Piute Canyon was beautiful this time of year, Willows and Cottonwoods a bright yellow even with overcast skies; the hillsides dotted with barrel and chollo cactus as well as two different yucca’s — truly a feast for the eyes.

I highly recommend making the couple-mile out-and-back hike up the Old Mojave Trail into Piute Canyon. There, the landscape continues to unfold, the red walls of the eroding canyon contrasting beautifully with the vegetation. It’s an easy hike with very little elevation gain, but you want water in the summer when it’s warm, I’m sure.

Now mid-morning, we knew we had a lot of ground to cover if we were going to complete the road on our two-day schedule so we climbed into the truck and got underway. I’d heard that part of the road here — which skirts Piute Canyon — might have been washed out and require a re-route, and sure enough it wasn’t long before we came upon some road signs suggesting possible trouble ahead.

Ready to re-route if necessary, we pushed forward, climbing up and over the Piute Range with little trouble — the route perhaps a little worse for wear but clearly passable at this point.

At the top of the pass, the landscape opened up — Lanfair Valley ahead. That’s where we were ultimately headed, but it appeared to us that a short side trip might take us right by an old corral and perhaps give us a view into the west side of Piute Canyon something we didn’t want to miss.

From there, we continued west on the Mojave Road and into Lanfair Valley, on the lookout for a good lunch stop and apparently missing the old schoolbus and penny tree — just a couple of many reasons for us to return for another look in this magic place.

As we drove, the creosote rose around us, a few Dr. Seuss-ian Joshua Trees just starting to appear in the landscape.

And then, a little way off the road, we saw what looked like the remains of a small tornado. More likely it was simply an abandoned homestead that had been vandalized by previous passers-by, but we decided to check it out anyway while we ate lunch. An old Ford pickup was now the centerpiece of this attraction, the old building and couple of RV trailers now little but rubble to be reclaimed by the desert.

Our bellies full and with temps in the low 50’s, we didn’t linger long before getting back in the truck for our next stint of road. As the miles ticked away — more slowly than normal given the need to watch our speed due to the lack of rear shocks — we made our way across the valley until we saw a structure in the distance that we’d seen several times before on other trips.

What was it? As I stopped the truck, we were about to find out!

So can you, by picking up the story over at Mojave Road — Part 1 at adventuretaco.com.

Originally published at adventuretaco.com.