This was originally a generator trailer used on job sites and has a 3.5′ x 5′ x 2′ box. Like many off-road trailers, it is overbuilt almost entirely out of box tube (with the exception of the more than adequate angle ribs supporting the floor). It has minimal surface rust, and is otherwise in excellent condition. It does lack any sort of suspension, but with the amazingly simple way the axle was mounted the frame is nice and clean – ready for any suspension setup we come up with. We’re going to go the budget route on this, with an estimated total cost of $2,000 (including wheels/tires) once completed. It will be running the same wheel/tire combo I have on the Discovery, so that when I’m towing this I’ll have a complete set of spares (4).

The plan is to add a raised floor over a 40-50 gallon water tank and water pump, and partition off about a foot of the front of the box for batteries and other on-board equipment. A kitchen box with stove, sink and propane tank will be built into one side. The other side will store a camp shower, toilet, tent, cot, table and chairs. The tongue will get a rack to carry 6 jerrycans of fuel, and the top will get a removable (probably) rack to hold a spare tire and a canoe. Running lights will be converted to submersible LEDs, and LED floodlights will be added all around to aid with nighttime camp setup, cooking, etc. I might also add solar (and/or wind) at some point to keep the batteries topped off, and perhaps an awning over the kitchen.

Ideally, this leaves an approximately 3.5′ x 4′ x 1.5′ easy-to-clean, multi-purpose cargo area open for whatever I might need to haul. I like the idea of keeping the open mesh gate and not filling up the entire trailer so I can still use it as a small cargo trailer when not camping. I’m also thinking about building the canoe rack a little wider than necessary so I can get full 4′ x 8′ sheets of plywood up there when needed.

Saturday morning looked good, dark clouds filled the sky and it was just barely into the 80s by the time we headed out. I was hoping for a good rain on our hike, since there is no shade to be found in the local hills. I’d never checked out Camp Beale before so we headed up to the loop trail.

We only made it about 20 minutes in before we realized we’d been had. A gang of bandits had stolen our rain! We retreated to the air conditioned safety of the Loanerlander, grateful to have escaped the 115° heat and 90% humidity with our lives, and watched in horror as our beloved storm headed south…

Plan B

My favorite type of exploration starts something like this: “Well, we have a full tank of gas… let’s go that way!”

Armed with ice cold mango smoothies we headed northeast, determined to stop at every single historical marker along the side of Highway 93 (there are lots of ‘em). On arrival at the third one we decided to check out the tiny community of Chloride, AZ. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon looking at all the old buildings, interesting yard art, odd fences, and learning a bit about the history of the town from the general store’s owner over a cold root beer.

We took an easy track the long way home for a dinner of uberthin seared steak and a bottle of red vino.

That’s the driver’s side door after being struck by someone attempting to make a right turn from an inside lane. I suppose it is hard to see an 8-foot tall truck at times…

Kifaru

Kifaru Organizer/Admin Pouch (coyote brown) – BRAND NEW – $50
The Kifaru pouches are easily the nicest I have ever seen. The fabric is thick but flexible, the zippers are the smoothest I have ever used, and the stitching is top notch. Includes MALICE clips for attachment.

Kifaru LiterPlus Pouch (aka JetBoil Pouch)(coyote brown) – BRAND NEW – $40
This is the ONLY “Nalgene pouch” that will fit a JetBoil. Same build quality as above. Frankly, I don’t care if these two sell or not, I’d rather hang on to them…

Maxpedition

Maxpedition 3.5″ Phone Holster (black) – BRAND NEW – $10/ea.
I have two of these available:

Maxpedition 4″ Flashlight Sheath (black) – $10
Slight wear shows on the MOLLE webbing from the extremely tight fit with the MALICE clip. Other than that, good as new: 4″ Flashlight Sheath

Maxpedition Mini Rollypoly (black) – $15
I don’t think we ever actually used this one: Mini Rollypoly

Maxpedition Cocoon (khaki) – $10
No sign of wear, likely also new: Cocoon

Maxpedition THREE-BY-FIVE (khaki) – BRAND NEW – $15

Maxpedition Surgical Gloves Pouch (khaki) – BRAND NEW – $5

Maxpedition Volta Battery Pouch (khaki) – BRAND NEW – $10

Maxpedition H-1 Waistpack (khaki) – $15
Modified by removing the shock-cord and a Velcro tab for unrestricted outer pocket use (the shock cord could probably be restored, but I do not have it anymore), otherwise near-new: H-1 Waistpack.

Maxpedition M-1 Waistpack (khaki) – $15
Modified by removing pocket-side Velcro so the flap would function with a SINGLE closure (the SRB), and removing paracord pull from one zipper, otherwise near-new: M-1 Waistpack.

Maxpedition Medium Tac-Tile (khaki) – BRAND NEW – $20

LA Police Gear

LAPG Map Pouch – $5

This has been modified by removing the pen pocket so the flap would stay closed (a design flaw IMO). Also, I have no idea where the clear vinyl velcro’d map protector ran off to. Neat little pouch, fairly useful. Had it on my hiking pack for about 2 years… is a good size for a small survival kit + munchies + personal items for a day hike. Small hole seen in the photo is the only damage. I will thrown in a set of Maxpedition tac-ties or MALICE clips (your choice) if I don’t find the other snap strap it came with.

5.11 Tactical

Two Casual Leather Belts (black w/white stitching, medium size) – BRAND NEW – $5 for both

5.11 Bottle Carrier (coyote tan) – $10
Has the Slick-Stick system, the easiest MOLLE-attachment I’ve ever used. Modified by removing one side of the Velcro so the flap would function with a SINGLE closure (the SRB), otherwise as-new.

5.11 Knee Pads – BRAND NEW – $5

Blackhawk! – Take ALL 3 for $10

The 40mm Frag Grenade MOLLE-incompatible MOLLE pouch – $5
New. Good luck finding a compatible MOLLE platform as the fine folks at Blackhawk don’t seem to own a tape measure…

The Universal Drop Your Flashlight Out The Bottom Sheath – $5
New, with an added patch sewn on to keep your flashlight from actually falling out of the bottom.

Triple-AR-mag Pouch with Too-Short Attachment Straps – $5
New, nice design for a change… minus the tiny little attachment straps all sitting in the middle.

Miscellaneous

Unknown MFG’s 4str4stamMOLLEbelt (coyote tan) – $15
New. Padded. Has Velcro belt tie-ins. Has odd top-access zippered pockets.

Surplus

MOLLE-II Frame Pack (woodland) – clean and in great shape – $50
Pack is complete with all pocket modules, flaps, straps, cords, padding, and belt intact. Frame is black. Bottom module will fit the tent system listed below…

USMC 2-person Tent – fair condition – $75
The standard 2-person USMC tent that no one seems to carry anymore, complete with poles and reversible light-blocking rain fly (OD green and desert tan). Total packed weight INCLUDING tent, poles, AND rain fly is just over 8 pounds… impossible to beat in a tent under $800. Some zippers are getting stubborn, but could likely be cleaned and lubed. One 1/3rd inch hole in one screen. Tent is starting to show signs of stretching at the stress points, but no rips yet. Fly and tent are missing a few attachment/stake points, a carabiner or paracord does the trick there. If you want the tent and the above-listed pack I will bundle them for $100.

MOLLE-II pack frame (black) – $5
Comes with adapted craptastic Blackhawk straps, no padding or belt, no pockets/pouches/modules.

Holsters

Generic Drop-Leg Holsters w/double Mag Pouch – $10 each
I have two of these available, both khaki-tanish with random scribble as shown. The mag pouches will attach to the holster platform or ride on the belt, or remove both and just use the drop-leg panel as a MOLLE platform. These show some cosmetic wear, but are otherwise in good shape.

Generic Belt Holster w/Mag Pouch – $5
Removable snap retention, ambidextrous design, front mag pouch. Could be new, no real signs of wear.

We also made a stop by Kelso Depot to visit The Beanery, and a short visit at the still-missing Mojave Cross. The Beanery, once the lunch room at the Kelso Depot, is once again serving food to hungry travelers. The smoothies alone are worth a detour. The food is ok… not great, but it beats a sack lunch.

After lunch, we headed up to-and-around Clark Mountain, the small island of the preserve located north of Interstate 15. I had never visited this area before, and had no idea just how high this mountain rises above the surrounding desert. After a long, steep climb we were rewarded with these views:

We then visited the Colosseum Mine, a large flooded pit mine just east of the mountain. It is the pictures of this mine I stumbled across a couple years ago that first tipped me off to this forgotten segment of the preserve. On arrival at the mine, we were pleasantly surprised to find the gate wide open, a welcome relief as I was not looking forward to the long hike to the bottom in the heat.

Here’s a picture of Dani I took from the bottom in a vain attempted to capture the scale of this giant hole in the ground…

The trek around the northern edge of the mountain was no less rewarding, treating us with a beautiful sunset and glowing rain showers. We were also able to note the locations of several campsites for future travels. We did come prepared to camp on this trip, but with temperatures at or above 100° at night I tend to avoid camping if I can help it.

Day Two

Two great things about hoteling it in Baker: you get to go on night runs without fear of losing your camp, you get to have iHop in the morning.

It was already well over 100° by the time we finished breakfast, so we quickly fueled up and got underway. Just south of the border we picked up an eastward-bound dirt track and headed in the general direction of Las Vegas. This was another of those few small areas I’d not yet explored in the preserve, and before an hour had passed we stumbled upon the remains of a dugout, several corrals and a loading ramp.

As I was taking the picture of the dugout, several dozen very fat quail were startled out and flew off. I can’t wait until October.

We continued east, with the roads gradually growing fainter and fainter – no one had been out here in a very long time. If I had to guess, this area probably gets overlooked because of how close to the interstate it appears to be on the map. On the ground, however, this area is far enough out that you can’t even hear the highway. On it’s way to Cima Road, this route winds around a high plateau, up a canyon, and through one of the healthiest Joshua tree groves I’ve seen.

Eventually we reached Aiken Mine Road at the site of an old ranch – two windmills, several corrals and an assortment of buildings bake under the hot sun here. As with the earlier site, it appears no one has visited this area in a long time.

Off to Vegas

The city hasn’t changed much since the last time I was here. They’ve torn down some buildings, built some new ones, closed some shops and opened others… it is still a crowded, noisy, modern city with little culture or history. In spite of my admittedly biased view of the place, we had a great time celebrating the big 3-0 with Kay, visiting with my friend Drawk, and learning how the game of Blackjack is played with real live people.

Day Three

For the ride home we cut south through the New York Mountains via Ivanpah Road and the small town of Goffs. The MDHCA has done a fine job of restoring the town and placing markers at the surrounding historical sites.

The rest of the pictures, as always, are on Flickr.

The mansion itself was quite impressive for it’s age – it is hard to imagine the amount of work involved getting this much concrete up here back in the ’20s. Thankfully, the hornets I was warned about have long-since moved on, so we were free to explore the ruin in peace.

After a brief search we found an easy route down the mountain, so we’ll only have a short hike to reach the mansion on the upcoming trip. Wildflowers are still out in many parts of the Hualapais.

After returning from the mountains, we spent the weekend relaxing and test-driving a different sort of “overlander” we’re thinking about picking up in lieu of dual-sport bikes: a Yamaha Rhino.

Here are the pros and cons we came up with…

Pros: it’ll fit down most (if not all) of the trails we’ve been waiting on bikes to explore, it carries a little more gear (and fuel) than the bikes we were considering (and is more comfortable), driven responsibly it has very little impact on the trails or the surrounding environment despite moving more quickly through them, the open air feeling reminds us of the topless/doorless Jeep I used to have, it is street legal in the states we were planning to use bikes, low maintenance, it’ll fit in the bed of a pickup truck.

Cons: it eats gas almost as bad as a Discovery, it tops out at about 35-mph (so we’d have to haul it to the trailhead on some trips), it is not 50-state street legal (though we both agreed we wouldn’t want to use it those unfriendly states anyhow).

On the advice of a friend, we also took a trip up into the Black Mountains to watch Laughlin’s fireworks show for the 4th.

The pod is built out of 1/8th-inch aluminum plate assembled and ground smooth to match the contour of the dash. On the top of the box, two small speakers provide better sound quality from the radios and conceal access to the only two bolts required for secure mounting. An internal frame holds the CB radio, power wiring, phone charger body (USB based), and the data/audio splitter for the phone (routed to the stereo for music playback). Surface-mounted on the face is a Pro-Clip cradle for my phone, microphones for the CB and amateur radios, the display/GPSr of the amateur radio, dual 12-volt power ports, and dual Anderson power poles.

Underneath the passenger seat, a 1/4th-inch aluminum plate holds the guts of the amateur radio and other wiring where the original CD changer used to reside. An APO-3 cuts power to the aftermarket equipment before the battery’s charge drops too low to start the vehicle, and a RIGrunner 4005 distribution block provides clean wiring and the ease of Anderson power poles.

A slight trimming at the bottom of the “B” pillar allows antenna cable in protective conduit to slip in and up to the roof. The power cabling follows a similar route forward under the foot plate and passes through a factory-provided grommet in the firewall to the engine bay.

Once through the firewall, the 8 AWG wire heads through a 40-amp circuit breaker for fuseless protection, and has ample capacity remaining for a planned carputer setup. The primary battery has also been upgraded to an Odyssey 2150.

Dani finally got a chance to tinker with HF, and managed to log a few contacts herself (including Guam). She has been bugging me for new radios and equipment ever since. I’ll have to admit, while I’ve appreciated the capabilities of HAM radio for some time now, I never fully understood it’s potential for practical application until we used the repeater to co-ordinate dinner plans between 4 different groups on the road with 35-miles of mountains between us on Saturday night. Doing so was actually easier to accomplish under those conditions than it would have been with all of us sitting at home on a conference call.

While our primary purpose on the mountain this weekend was participation in ARRL’s Field Day, several groups did get out for some wheeling. On Saturday morning we headed over by Arrowhead Lake to run Willow Creek trail, a scenic route I’ve never been on before.

After Willow Creek, we continued up Dishpan Springs, a trail I haven’t seen in 10 years. The fire a few years back has left the place in a barren, almost desert-like state. The forestry service has also removed the best part of the trail, the T-6 water crossing, and replaced it with a concrete bridge and a parking lot. The first picture is pre-fire and pre-bridge back in 2001…

Despite being short a water crossing and a rock garden, Dishpan is easily twice as difficult as it was 10 years ago. About half way up the trail we ran into a six-foot-tall wall of rock where once there had been fire road (courtesy of fire damage and a harsh winter). We considered our options while watching the Jeeps tackle the newly improved “waterfall”, and bumped into a couple fellow ExPo‘ers visiting California to pick up a Flip-Pac. Ultimately, our new friends and us decided we were better off heading back to camp for chili and cornbread. Maybe next time… after I get my rock sliders installed.

Back at camp and resupplied with firewood we enjoyed a small potluck of chili, steak, cornbread, various wines, and of course… cake! I also had a chance to try out some low-light, long-exposure photography with the tiny Canon SD940is.

On Sunday a few of us ran up Gold Mountain before Dani and I headed back to the desert. It has also been torn up pretty bad since I was last here (a mere 3 weeks ago). The trail looks as if someone sat in all the difficult spots and spun their tires for a few hours, and many of the bypasses have been blocked off. Still, we all made it through and even managed to bring a stock Xterra with us unharmed.

As always, the rest of the pics are in the Flickr set…

On the left side, the negative cable has been replaced with a longer, heavier gauge cable. The positive cables on the right are where most of the damage had occurred. With the three cables separated, the feed to the fuse box can be shortened about 8 inches and is no longer exposed to engine heat. The tangle of wires that splits before heading to the alternator and disappearing behind the engine can then be re-routed so that they experience less engine heat for less of their length. The positive cable that runs from the fuse box to the alternator was not damaged, so it was simply placed in new conduit and routed along a safer pathway.

With the larger battery in place, the stock battery cover will still close without issue. The cover’s function is also unaffected by the trimming done to the bottle jack’s storage area to get wiring through. To keep things simple, I’ve kept the stock wiring connected to a dedicated set of terminals on the battery.

With the damaged wiring repaired, the bottle jack out of the way, and clean cable pathways waiting I started on the additional wiring needed for my lights, radios, and other equipment. Each of the large terminal connections on either end of the battery have ports on them for two 8 AWG wires, one 4 AWG wire, and one 0 AWG wire. Currently, one 8 AWG connection runs through a 40-amp circuit breaker (where the bottle jack used to be) to a distribution block under the passenger seat. From there power feeds off to radios, accessories, additional interior lighting, and a future carputer setup I have planned.

The other 8 AWG connection powers a small distribution block also located where the bottle jack used to be. From there it powers my rock lights, bumper-mounted flood lights, and will be used for other engine bay and bumper mounted additions in the future. The 4 AWG connection runs through a 100-amp circuit breaker then straight up to a distribution block on the roof which is set up for lights and other equipment I have planned. Finally, the 0 AWG connection will be run to the rear of the vehicle to power the air compressor, fridge, aux. battery, and other equipment.