East Mojave Desert 5/14-5/16/2010

[cruiserlarry]

Chazz, his wife Dani, and I spent the weekend out exploring in the eastern Mojave desert with our friend and author Joe De Kehoe ("The Silence and The Sun"). We were joined by several others, including Todd Juel (Roughshod Off-Road) and his friend Jeri (Jeep Wrangler), Jon Bryan (09 4Runner), Nick Shammas and his son, Nolan (FJ Cruiser), and Ben Gharheeb (FJ Cruiser).

The weather was great (and HOT....100+ ), the scenery was spectacular, and the food was phenomenal. We started off meeting at the Old Poste ruins camp site east of 29 Palms / Joshua Tree on Friday night, and spent Saturday exploring several mine sites and interesting areas. We camped out near Skeleton Pass with clear skies and light winds, leading to great conversation around the campfire.

I woke up Sunday morning, and after descending from the FJ penthouse, came across a rattlesnake snuggled in the sand...thankfully, it was more interested in gaining body temperature than having me for breakfast.

All in all, a terrific trip with a fun group of folks in a beautiful part of Southern California. I'm looking forward to going back soon.

A few pics from the trip :

Breakfast at Old Poste camp

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Checking out a previously undiscovered structure

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Used car sale in the Mojave Desert

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The whole gang posing on the dry lake

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Baby hawks in the nest just inside a mine shaft

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The X-Jack in action changing Joe's punctured tire

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My security guard on "break"

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Filling the lot up at the Calamute Mine

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Another desert citizen checking out our caravan...

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What an amazing area to explore...

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[OLLIE]

Great trip Larry. It really is good to see that you're getting that rig and penthouse some use. I see some unexpected participants in the photos. Wish I could have made the trip.

[cruiserlarry]

I see some unexpected participants in the photos. Wish I could have made the trip.

Good eye....I'll tell you more about that next time we get together

[BorregoWrangler]

Great looking trip there, Larry. Way to get out there and have fun despite the heat. I love the picture of the sidewinder rattlesnake you got.

[Chazz Layne]

Great pics Larry, now I am really missing my 12x lens.


Here's a few highlights from our pictures, the rest can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chazzlayne ... 083751528/




An excellent trip indeed, we're both looking forward to the next.

[salad_man]

Nice photos everyone

[SP Jon M3]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for a great trip. It was a lot of fun with some great people. I do have to say that the trail leading up to the mine on Sunday was a bit of a white knuckle ride but with help from several of you, my very stock 4R was able to make it through! Thanks!

I only took a couple pics nothing great, but I wanted to share them anyway.


Setting up Camp



Sunrise at Camp

[cruiserlarry]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for a great trip. It was a lot of fun with some great people. I do have to say that the trail leading up to the mine on Sunday was a bit of a white knuckle ride but with help from several of you, my very stock 4R was able to make it through! Thanks!

Nice pics !!!

As we both know, your 4Runner didn't stay stock for very long after that trip

I'm looking forward to seeing it roll through the trails in Big Bear at SummerFest 2010

And, by the way, congratulations on passing your Technician test !!!

Post up your license when it's on-line so we can include you in the official "OAUSA Amateur Radio Operator Roster"

[SP Jon M3]

Post up your license when it's on-line so we can include you in the official "OAUSA Amateur Radio Operator Roster"

It finally showed up in the database. My Call Sign is KJ6IRM. Should I post this somewhere else?