Half of our group had done the Mojave Trail previously, the other half had not. I wanted to add a little something different for those of us who had done the trail before and still see as much of the trail as possible for those who had not. Our plans had us meeting at the Avi Casino parking lot in Laughlin NV and departing at the original trailhead Friday morning. Our plans were to cross Lanfair Valley, see Fort Piute then head south on Black Canyon Road and camp at Mid Hills Campground. The road out to Fort Piute was very scenic with occasional sun showers. We visited the fort and took a short hike to the spring and viewed several petroglyph's on the way. At the summit of the Piute Range we lunched on hot Italian sausage cooked on the grill courtesy of Nikos and his mobile kitchen.
We continued west until we reached Black Canyon Rd where we left the Mojave trail for Mid Hills campground. A previous fire has left the campground a cold and stark landscape of burnt Junipers but we made the best of it. I cooked homemade chili and Nikos cooked some lamb chops, comfort food and delicious as well. While dealing with a continuous drizzle from our mountain top canopy of moisture we huddled close to fire to stay warm. Some hilarious campfire banter took place before we finally headed for bed and not a minute too soon, as the sky let loose and the rain really came down.
Saturday morning we awoke to a glint of sun and broke our wet camp later enjoying some coffee and pancakes courtesy of Eric (E-Train). We headed south towards Hole in the Wall and as we traveled on the wide open Black Canyon Road. With extreme clarity from the previous nights rain, visibility was unlimited and the scenery was simply amazing. We arrived at Hole in the Wall campground and hiked towards the visitor center where we were greeted by a friendly and informative staff. One staffer had adopted an abandoned desert tortoise and brought her out for a visit. After a nice hike and climb through the Grotto we returned to our rigs and listened to the sounds of Frogeye playing his drum along tothe rythmic sounds of Rob Thomas and Santana. We decide to hold off until our next stop for lunch and headed further south, this time for Mitchell Caverns. The drive up Essex Road towards the Providence Mountain's was breath taking. Once we reached the caverns parking lot we were greeted with a 200 degree view of the Mojave Preserve and beyond. Tickets to the cavern tour were sold out so we relaxed, dried our wet gear and enjoyed another nice lunch thanks to Nikos.
Heading back down Essex Road we turned west, our destination Vulcan Mine. Climbing up and over the pass we reached Vulcan Mine, below were spectacular views of Kelso Dunes. Vulcan Mine was an iron ore operation opened in 1942 by Kaiser Steel providing much needed steel for WWII. Thousands of pounds of ore was shipped daily to the Kasier Steel mill in Fontana. We hiked to the mine and had a good time dumping rocks in the pond and enjoying the amazing colors of the surrounding mountainside and pond. After topping of fuel and rearranging a few roof racks we headed for Kelso Depot. We made a quick stop at the depot for photos and to view some maps and discuss our plans. We chose to go north by way of the paved Kelso Cima road instead of our planned route on a spur road, enabling us to make camp at Beale Mt. before dark.
The sun was setting as we crossed the Mojave Trail towards Beale Mountain, we stopped for photos and to take in the majestic Mojave. We reached Beale Mountain at dusk and set up camp in an ideal location. I started our fire as others set up tents nd Nikos opened his restaurant for business. Several minutes later Josh Miller (Jeshua) and his buddy Nick showed up to share an evening under the stars and some great food. I met them by chance on Thursday night at the Mojave Trailhead in Laughlin. They had already planned to camp at Beale Mt. on Saturday so it worked out great for all of us. Nikos grilles up lamb and sirloin kabobs served with a great Greek salad and we finished the evening with a fresh apple cobbler cooked in my dutch oven. Good food, good friends!
Early Sunday we awoke to moody sky's and the slight threat of rain, the weather was blustery but it seemed to just add to the beautiful scenery. We rolled out and headed towards Marl Springs. As we reached Aiken Mine Road we headed north towards the cinders cones looking for the Lava Tubes. I couldn't pull my way point up for location and later realized that we had actually turned around right at the stop for the Lava Tubes. Never finding the Lava Tubes we headed back up Aiken Mine Road to the Old Aiken Mine, played around there awhile and took some photo's.
Off to Soda Lake we went. The lake entrance had warning signs posted to stop and not pass it. It had not rained for two days so we chose to give it a go and it turned out to be a non eventful passage. Stopping at the rock pile we left out obligatory offerings including an OAUSA card taped to a volcanic rock.
Reaching Afton Canyon we stopped at the Cathedral, a topographic landmark of sorts. We drove on through the Mojave River making final stop for photos and lunch at the Afton Canyon railroad bridge. We walked the trestle, took photos of the group and a passing train. The wind had really picked up and it was time to get moving. The Mojave River had plenty of water to play in and the first water crossing at the end of Afton Canyon was 2' deep or more and the final crossing was over most of our wheels. Not wanting to end the fun there, we continued for another 20 miles on dirt, stopping at the Hacienda on ramp. Our epic 3 day trip had ended, it was time to air up the tires and say our goodbyes. We followed Yermo Road past the agriculture inspection stop then hopped on the 15 freeway for home. I look forward to the next time but until then I'll linger over this awesome trip shared with good friends.
Link to all pictures of the trip
Rolling east on Hwy 40
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