Cerbat Mountains

I should be used to this by now. After all, the past 3 years have been exactly the same. In 2008 they claimed it was a “freak occurance”, in 2009 they pondered the odds, in 2010 “a record breaking storm”, and this year they finally admit that “weather extremes” are the new norm. Snow, in the Mojave, in April? Sweet!

The forecast called for a warm and sunny afternoon. Knowing this last snow of the season wouldn’t stay long I grabbed some munchies, scraped the ice off the windows, and headed out to explore the Cerbats.

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Sunday Drive: Fail

I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. The inherent shortness of a “Sunday Drive” means there usually isn’t enough daylight left to check out a different area when the one you’re exploring winds up a bust. With the heavy rains (and snow) lately I was hopeful that the year-round springs in the nearby hills would be flowing strong.

Right out of the gate I noticed something was different. I’ll confess, I have been busy and haven’t been down to the local shooting area in weeks. I knew there had been construction, you don’t miss that sort of thing living rural, but I had no idea so much land had been torn up. As I approached what was the end of the road, the road didn’t end…

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Pearce Ferry

Kingman, Arizona: Nothing like scattered snow showers to bring the scenery to life. It was bright and sunny when we pulled out this morning, but within ten minutes dark clouds surrounded us. It was a small storm, but it spit every form of precipitation ever witnessed by man at our little 2-wheel-drive Ranger as we slogged through the slush.

Our destination today: the Pearce Ferry area, where the Grand Canyon ends and the Colorado River dumps into Lake Mead, or so we thought.

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Kingman Plateaus

So what is on top of all those pillars of rock that protect Old Kingman from the modern sprawl to the north?

I ask myself that very question every time I drive up the dynamite-carved, artificial canyons of the interstate. This Sunday, after a much needed stop at Arby’s, we decided to find out.

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Mud, Snow, and Mud

With a Friday to burn, and bored of the usual I40 - 89 route to Prescott, we decided to cut through the forest on our way up to the ExPo meet-and-greet. No particular plan in mind, we set out at dawn knowing County 68 would eventually get us there.

County 68 / Camp Wood Road out of Bagdad was awesome. Beautiful views, a little snow, and lots of mud – or so I foolishly thought at the time (the second leg of the trip would prove much, much worse).

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First Snow of the Season

After five days of rain, I finally spotted snow on the HualapaiCam this morning. Knowing it would be gone by the afternoon, I quickly grabbed my ditch kit and a cup of coffee and we headed up the mountain.

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The Mojave Road 2010

The pictures are up from our recent trip over The Mojave Road. The Flickr set can be viewed here. The trip log can be viewed at the following links:

The Mojave Road: Day 1
The Mojave Road: Day 2
The Mojave Road: Day 3
The Mojave Road: Day 4

Old Dale Mining District

I finally got a few minutes to sit down and go through the pictures from our trip through the Old Dale Mining District last weekend. The area is one of many overlooked southern Mojave gems, free of the crowds and nanny-state interventions often found in National Parks. This area sweeps from the higher areas at the edge of the Mojave, southward into the Sonoran desert and the Pinto Basin area of Joshua Tree NP, and is filled with mine sites and remains galore. We were joined by a small group of friends from OAUSA – Larry in the Crazy FJ, Jon in a 4Runner, and Nick in another FJ Cruiser. After a night of last minute installing, death-by-chocolate cake, and a sheltered “camp” at my folk’s place we headed out into the desert.

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Chloride, Arizona

With the Discovery in the shop getting the damage from our Vegas trip repaired, I’ve been left with an all-wheel drive Ford Escape we’ve come to know as the Loanerlander. It has a truly awesome air conditioner, half-decent stereo, and the cutest little street tires that have ever mated with a “utility” vehicle. Playing it safe, we planned to do some hiking for a change and spent a hopeful Friday evening watching this:

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.

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Mojave National Preserve: Day 3

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 from our trip, as always, are on Flickr »