Mojave Desert Road trip…
Our escape from the Christmas holiday was a road trip to the Mojave National Preserve by way of Death Valley.
Day one and two…drive from Portland to Lone Pine. On our drive we stopped in at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge to view as much wildlife as we could. The next day we drove straight to Lone pine, where we found a nice room at the Dow Villa Motel. Great views of Mount Whitney and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Day three…drive from Lone Pine through Death Valley to the west side of the Mojave National Preserve. While passing through Death Valley, we got a good view of Rainbow Canyon from above, stopped at Badwater Basin to experience the lowest land elevation in North America. We also made a quick stop at the Harmony Borax Site Works…where the twenty-mule team came from. We ended our day finding a spot to camp off the hwy, at the west side of the Mojave National Preserve.
Day four…A lot of driving through the scenic Preserve. We started out driving the Mojave Road, which is a sandy rutted road that really is only suited for high clearance 4×4 vehicles. This road drives through dense Joshua Tree forests from west to east. We were headed to the New York Mountains. When we arrived at the base of the mountains the temps were cold and very windy, so we decided to drive back to the west side of the preserve and find a place to camp. Tomorrow we will hike to the top of Old Dad Mountain.
Day five…our camp spot was also a good place to start our hike to Old Dad Mtn. A nice hike with no real trail so it was a fun navigation challenge. Pretty straight forward scramble to the top with incredible desert views. Got back just before the sun dropped so we’ll spend another night here.
Day six…moving camp to a cheap room in Barstow, Ca. Along the way stopped and climbed to the top of the Kelso Sand Dunes, drove up an old road to find a lave tube, and drove through the old historic town of Kelso….ending up in Barstow for the night.
Day seven…heading back to Lone Pine, we stopped and the Rainbow Canyon and dropped the three rappels, the huff back up the hill and finished back at the Dow Villa Motel before the two day drive back to Portland…home.
Day eight and nine…Drive from Lone Pine to Portland.
Fun road trip… This time of year, the days are so short, it’s hard to plan a lot of daily activities. Drive times are slow and long to and from the different destinations because of the road conditions in the preserve. This time of year, when the sun drops…so do the temps. Best have your camp set up and your dinner cooked before that happens. We didn’t have any fires because we didn’t bring firewood, and ones not allowed to gather wood in the preserve.
