Mojave National Preserve 2003
Detail
Friday Mar 14th, 2003—Day 1
Tim bailed on me @ 4pm Friday, so I was on the road shortly
after; six hours later I found the road side camping area.
The road side campsite at Kelso Dunes is way cool. It
is really big and situated between the sand dunes and the
Granite Mountains.
This provides a natural defense from wind, mostly. This wasn't
the case on Saturday night, but that is to be told later in this story.
The weather was rather nice at 11:00pm: negligible breeze
and some stars were visible. I would have sat up awhile
except for the fatigue of a multi-houred drive.
Later in the evening I awoke to strong wind gales, but the
blustery wind was mostly overhead and didn't rattle my
tent.
Saturday Mar 15th, 2003—Day 2
Saturday morning JJ and James found me around 7:30am. They had
arrived the night before but stayed at the trailhead. They
were soon making a hearty breakfast of omelets.
Soon Dave Harm showed up. John & K-Hiker were already here
camped further than I was, and Joe had slept in his truck
at the trailhead. We gathered at the Kelso Dunes trailhead
at 9:00am on schedule, and left a note for Susan & Scot at
the pit toilet. We were then off for the Lava tube.
As we were traversing Aiken Mine Road, John was telling me
of Susan & Scot's amazing ability to find people
on seemingly impossible trails. As I was saying my
doubt of them finding us here, they were in front of us!
They had been running late and went directly to the lava tube.
We ditched the Susan/Scot-mobile for a three 4WD lineup:
The trail was mostly manageable at this point, but later
4WD was a requirement.
Soon we found the lava tube and most of us went to explore; Susan & Scot stayed
behind to eat their Mad Greek breakfast. The tube was basically a small
cave with a few skylights. There was even a fire pit in the center. It
would have made a good place to camp, perhaps.
Emerging from the tube, some of use started hiking further upward
along the tube. It started to rain, so we ducked back into the tube
to wait it out. The rain abated soon thereafter, and we were ready for
some 4WD fun.
It was a three vehicle caravan to Cow Cove. Eight people, three GPS's
and a fistful of maps could not stop us from getting lost multiple
times. Bypassing Cow Cove, we headed further up to get gasoline at
a place the map describes as Corral. Heading back, we finally found
Cow Cove.
It was about a 2 mile hike to the Cove. We knew we had found the right spot
when we saw the outdated BLM sign telling us not to deface the area. The
first petroglyph was hard to find, but soon they were coming out of
the desert varnished rocks and biting our noses. Some petroglyphs
were hard to see, some had excellent contrast, but all of
them looked like they were made by a five year old. Dave was
like a kid in a candy store.
On the way back to camp we found the abandoned Aiken Mine. This was
a mine for sifting and crushing lava stone for uses in BBQ's and/or
road construction. We had passed the mine on the way in, but none
of us saw it—it was nestled in a corner. This was the icing
on an already tasty cake. We explored the derelict mining equipment
taking lots of pictures and having fun on the lava rock pile.
Back on the road again, we headed back for a warm dinner, a
campfire, and delightful conversation only to be horribly denied!
The wind kicked up in high gear pushing the limits of my tent
poles; the rain pelted pushing the limits of my rain gear; then
I started getting cold. JJ & James had a hell of a time setting
up their tent. Performing a creative tying ritual, they kept
their tent from blowing away.
Hoping it would depart as quickly as it arrived, I was again
denied my wish. I climbed into my car, made a few cell phone
calls, then dozed a bit. The intense wind shifted direction
making it feasible for me to enter my tent. I had a cold dinner
and fell asleep. My tent still leaks after the weather proofing
I performed—I should invest in a decent tent.
Sunday Mar 16th, 2003—Day 3
The weather subsided in the morning. Scot and Susan said their good-byes.
JJ and James made an omelet. Joe, Dave, and I headed up Kelso Dunes,
JJ and James trailing up soon thereafter. The views were spectacular,
then JJ and James did a double backflip showing that sand dunes can
be fun as well as scenic.
Some of the group headed to Hole-In-The-Wall; JJ and James headed
back to Joshua Tree; and I headed back to Santa Barbara.
See some images of the trip.
