Unexpected Snow Along the Mojave Road

it's been a three years since I was last here at the mojave road and last time we got some terrible weather and I wasn't able to donate my rock to the travelers monument but we're gonna change that this time stay tuned [Music] welcome to trail recon I'm Brad and I am so excited to finally be back here on the Mojave Road this has been something I've been planning for a long time and I finally got my good buddies together and we are gonna spend the next three days going across this amazing trail seeing all the historical monuments along the way and just doing some good camping eating some good food and having a great time now it is January so it's a little chilly here and there was some rain in the forecast but hopefully the weather holds because last time when I was here on this trail three years ago we weren't able to go all the way across sort of Lake because there were some rain and it just made it impassable and so I wasn't able to donate my rock to the travelers Monument and see what the plaque said and nobody would tell me what it said so this time the goal is to get this Rock all the way to the monument and find out what the plaque says this should be an awesome time guys I hope you will enjoy this journey we kicked off this adventure by meeting up at the balancing rock campsite which is just a few miles in on the east side of highway 95 we chose this campsite because it was easy to access from the highway and a great location for us to get an early start the next morning this was a great campsite that had plenty of room for multiple vehicles offered a little protection from the wind and was surrounded by some amazing desert views in every direction we had a few new folks with us on this trip so it was nice to have a little bit of time to get acquainted and of course my good friend Marco had his overland camp chef hat on Marco it's great to be out camping again and now I know you insisted on cooking dinner tonight so what do you got planned I love it it's been a great day it's cold today but it doesn't matter we're making fish tacos tacos beer batter fish stock okay so what do we got I've got two pounds of tilapia I got my vegetables for the coleslaw cuz that's dad doesn't have flavor the tacos harder okay and I got some flour and I got some baking powder and some spices okay make the batter nice and we're gonna cook this up on the scott'll on the scuttle oh dude my mouth is already watering I can't I was a really surprised at just how easy it was for Marco to prepare the coleslaw and the fish batter at camp just simple ingredients that just about anyone can throw together something I may personally try in the future nothing fancy here but when you are camping having a great meal just warms the soul and brightens everyone's mood these tacos were delicious the first night was very chilly but we knew we would be seeing some low 30-degree temperatures during this trip so everyone brought plenty of warm clothes some warm sleeping gear and everyone was tasked with bringing a bundle of firewood because what is a camping trip without good friends sitting around a campfire well it is a beautiful morning and a great start to a day it is 37 degrees so it's a little chilly out here but we kind of knew that coming in so we all brought appropriate clothes but we woke up to the most amazing red sky sunrise just beautiful out here this morning now we are just packing up the rest of our gear Aaron down our tires and then we're gonna hit the trail we've got a lot of miles to put in today we've got a lot of cool things to see but there is some rain in the forecast so our goal is to try to get to camp before the rain hits hopefully we can do that after a few good hot cups of coffee and some very tasty breakfast it was time to roll out this was going to be an unforgettable a few days on the trail with some crazy weather a few mechanical challenges and some new stories that everyone in the group will be telling for a long time to come let me introduce you to the convoy alright guys we just crossed over the 95 Highway and we're getting ready to hit the heart of the Mojave trail I just want to give you a quick introduction to all the jeeps and the folks that are with us so here is my Jeep and I brought my oldest son Devin with me today he's gonna be doing a lot of the driving here we've got Josh and his son Chris in there really nice jlu overland jeep he's done a great job with that build then over here we've got Kate the Jeep you guys may have seen the walk-around what we did with this ally is just awesome guy and if you haven't checked out that I'll leave a link down below go check it out and of course we've got my good buddy Marco who was cooking up some great chat last night it's always good to be out on the trail with him then we've got Eric and Jen who are here with us and always good to wheel with them I've got a great build and then last but last least pulling up the rear we've got robbed in his awesome Jeep built truck also have a walk-around of that so we're getting ready to hit the trail guys you can see it heads way over those mountains many miles to go we got a lot of good people here this is going to be a great day and of course we all had our rocks that would be making this journey with us to be donated at travelers Monument [Music] [Music] the Mojave Road is one of the most iconic overland routes in the US and will take you over a hundred and thirty miles across several different desert terrains the trail is hard on vehicles so ensuring your rig is in perfect working order is really essential as there is no support along the trail having plenty of fuel food and water some basic hand tools and your navigation route and camping stops planned out will help ensure a successful [Music] the Mojave Road is full of spectacular geological structures a few quirky man-made attractions and some interesting historical landmarks did you get to experience all on the way our first stop was a fort Paiute which is located about nine miles in from highway 95 this fort was built for the US infantry to use back in the late 1800s to help protect the male riders along the Mojave Road my son and I always enjoyed checking out old relics like this there are only a few remains left now but to imagine what the conditions were like for those soldiers that lived here back then is pretty amazing so this was worth a brief stop but we couldn't stay long because we've got a lot of miles to put in [Music] one of the things I really enjoy about that Mojave Road is sometimes you're cruising down some straight dirt road and other times you're winding your way through some rutted out sections it really keeps things interesting as we made our way deeper into the Mojave Forest the Joshua trees started popping up everywhere this is one of my favorite parts of the trail surrounded by the unique twisted and bristled Joshua trees is something you don't get to experience anywhere else the Joshua tree only grows here in the Mojave Desert you won't find them anywhere else in the world they can reach a 40 feet tall and each one is so different from the other you might start to question if you are in the center of a dr. Seuss book one of the first quirky encounters you will come across on the trail is the famous a penny can tree now I'm not sure what the origin of this is but our group figured with all the abuse our jeeps were taking and a mother nature peering down on us that any luck we could muster up would be good so we all left a penny or in Markos case a peso [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we were making a pretty good time on this leg of the trip and I had planned two different campsite options for today just in case there were any unforeseen events that slowed us down so I called a quick drivers meeting to get the team's employee the decision is we want to go off trail eight miles go check out that campsite stay there it's gonna be a little higher altitude which consider or we stay on the trail get to this one a little early set up camp enjoy it you know the past lunchtime so we can for lunch there so anybody have a preference or unless this one is crowded a being on trail it might be but arriving at this time of day I'm claiming the campsite because that group ahead of us said they were going to the rock house I say we go check out up there yeah you only lose three degrees per thousand feet of elevation game oh this is coming from the flip-flops yeah but I'm alright we're taking that decision right there was absolutely the best call we could have made and would ultimately end up having the greatest impact on the entire trip as you will see here shortly but first we stopped by the old abandoned settlers house for lunch and this old house while rundown has sure stood the test of time and it really just happened to be in the perfect spot lunch was not as elaborate as last night's dinner but for on the trail food this fit the bill perfectly now time to go ahead eight miles north and go check out this campsite [Music] [Music] [Music] so I gotta tell you all the drive off Mojave Road up here for eight miles was absolutely worth it this little campsite right here is a nice little hidden gem and I'll leave the GPS coordinates down below we've got mountains all around us and we've got some beautiful trees we got some great protection now here's the thing as we were coming up we were starting to get a little bit of sprinkles we knew it was gonna rain today but there was actually some snow flurries and there's some snow on the ground here so I've got a feeling that things are gonna get a little chilly tonight but we're gonna set up camp and get some chow gone it's gonna be a great night guys all right everybody is just about set up a camp I'm gonna give you guys just a quick walk around just take a look at everybody's gear I think it's always kind of a fun thing to do so here we've got Rob's set up and Rob keeps it simple man I love it he's just got the small CVT tent he's got his full truck everything's good to go nice and easy and then over here Marco's got a nice little spot and you guys have seen Marcos Jeep on the channel many many many times and he's always got you know some kind of new piece of gear he's got some new utensils in here and some he was showing me these little bamboo utensils he loves these little things pretty cool but again if you are new to the channel you've never seen the walk-around of that Jeep you definitely want to go check that out and then over here is Ali and he's got his whole setup going on which is really cool because he's really using some of this stuff for the first time look at his look at his Camp Chef it's almost brand new but he's gonna put that to work tonight he's making some kebabs for everybody he's uh he's got dinner duty which everybody's really really excited for but he's just got a great setup that tent is just massive I mean you could put four people up there or easy very very easy Marco's over here setting up the flat pin we're gonna do a little bit of grilling over there we got a big old fire pit here for worry to put the camp josh has got everything set up but he's got his tent up there his tent is this I can't pretend I gotta tell you guys the Hat is a really nice tent it's a very nice setup and then he's got the full batwing he's got some chairs I you can see back there they set up a little private toilet thing over there pretty nice nice little idea good set up beautiful deep you guys have seen my Jeep a million times but I do have a couple of new things I'll show you right here I've got some nonstick gsi pots and pans I had been using that Stanley stuff for a long time but I found that I use less water when I use nonstick and then I just got this new utensil pack it's also from GSI good good little kit and I like it pretty happy with it but that's we got going on there's our rocks you know we got to get our rocks to travelers monument that's the plan and then last but not least is Eric and Jen they've got a great set up and he's got the alyou cab 270 awning beautiful awning love it great little setup here Jen treated us with a nice little snack platter when we got to camp there was no shortage of food on this trip okay so we were worried about rain but now instead I've got snow I guess that's better than ring and it wasn't long until the occasional snow flurry became a full-on snowfall this was totally unexpected thankfully we had a plenty of firewood because we were gonna need it tonight all these smells good man you ever cooked in the snow like this before no this is a first awesome well it smells great man I think dinner is gonna be awesome Ali was grilling up some Persian chicken kebabs and man they were so savory there's nothing like warm food to warm your spirits on a cold snowy night like this the snow really started coming down harder and harder and it wasn't long before the ground was covered along with all of our tents and awnings the weight of a few inches of snow on my rooftop tent was starting to give me a little concerned so every couple hours I got up there and blasted it off thankfully the tent and fabric on everyone's tent held up perfectly over the night something tells me I'm have to do that again nothing like a little snow to bring it out the kid in all of us there may or may not have been a snowball or two thrown at camp this evening and this big old fire kept us nice and toasty for several hours into the night well good morning as you can tell behind me things got a little interesting last night we got more than just a couple snowflakes there is probably two to three inches of snow on the ground let me give you a quick walk around and just show you what camp looks like it's beautiful out here totally unexpected so here's the trail that we came up on you can see it's just covered with snow and there's just snow everywhere all up in those mountains all in the trees and of course our entire campsite was just a complete whiteout now all the snow is we've already started cleaning up and getting ready to pack up so we've already started scraping all the snow off the tents and everything and very interesting that just about everybody had a significant amount of condensation inside the tent so before I wrap up the tent I'm gonna have to get in there and dry it up but we're going to get some coffee get everything packed up and then we're gonna hit the trail today and something tells me by the time we get down to where the snow stops we're gonna see a lot of mud because it probably rained down there so today should be an interesting day but man totally unexpected just beautiful here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it only took just a few hundred feet down in elevation before the snow disappeared and thankfully there was a very little mud once we hit the dirt I think the Mojave soaks up all the water it gets in quick order [Music] it wasn't too long before we were back on the main road and let me just add that we were all soaking in this beauty that Mother Nature was offering up this morning however we did need to get back to work and putting some miles in because we've got a lot of distance to cover today oh and on this leg of the trip our mechanical luck would change we would encounter a few casualties of the Mojave Road today so we just made a quick stop at the campsite that we were considering staying at last night and I'll say we chose the better of the two spots by far I mean this is a great spot it's wide open and you've got a little mountain range over there which is kind of scenic but honestly there's no trees there's no protection from the elements so I mean if you've got a big group this is a good place to stay but I think the place we stayed at was much much nicer than this just a little bit further down the trail we made a quick stop to the rock house this is a great little place to stretch your legs and use the only actual restroom on the mojave trail while we were here Eric took notice of something that just wasn't quite right with his suspension we got a sway bar link arm that snapped the metal clean through from the high steer kit from the Dana 44 kidneys everything is it bad that up yep we put it right up here lock it out of the way and just drive slow on the way home because no more sway bar [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun we had put in a lot of miles and we were making some great time so just a quick stop for lunch one thing I recommend you take note of when you're out here in the Mojave is all the amazing plant life that is all around now honestly I couldn't tell you the name of most of these plants but I'm always sure no matter where I'm at to soak in all my surroundings there's a lot of beauty out there if you look close enough the next stop on our trip was the famous Mojave mailbox many a traveller have stopped here and signed it I suppose it's kind of a Mojave Road a rite of passage just on the back side of the mailbox is some strange and bizarre monuments frogs toy cars and gnomes I don't really understand why they are here but it's just another one of those quirks of the Mojave Road just a little further down the trail we made a slight detour to go check out the lava tubes the road leading up is rough and we experienced the second casualty of the trip Marcos tire sidewall must have caught a rock just right but with plenty of helping hands from this team as a tire was changed out in quick fashion and we were back on the trail the lava tubes are a cool little stop and just a short walk up from the trail I didn't actually get to explore these the last time I was here so I was really looking forward to it be sure to watch your head and your step when you're going in here these lava rocks are a little unforgiving once inside the tube there is a little small hole in the top that lets in a very cool ray of sunlight if you arrive at just the right time of day the mechanical gremlins were not done with us yet Rob busted off one of his rear shock mounts but thankfully removing the shock is very easy and you can still limp around without it today has been a great example as to why it's important to be prepared and bring a good tool kit I just want to thank all the crew that came out gave me this award I appreciate all of the effort and all the support both Rob and Ollie planned on hitting home after we reached camp later this evening but because of this mechanical failure and the fact that we were pretty close to the road right here they elected to go ahead and head out now great guys to wheel with if you ever get the chance so it's about four o'clock in the evening and we finally arrived to our campsite we put in a lot of miles today but it's been an awesome day now it's supposed to be pretty windy tonight so we're really looking forward to having the protection of this big rock mountain right here which should be very nice but man we have such an awesome view of the desert look at that so amazing it's gonna be a great night really looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow and hitting soda lake and then finally travelers monument it's always nice to be able to get to camp before the Sun sets and this spot here turned out to be perfect Eric's dog Sampson was loving it Marko what's on the overland X menu tonight little brie and baguette bread on the venture scuttle for starters and we're gonna have some ahi tuna Asian style on the flatbed nice with some Japanese fried rice Oh Japanese fried rice I love it can't wait buddy hi Jen what are you working on raka moly that's gonna get destroyed once I get to put out on the table so Josh we got another kitchen going on here and can't what are you cooking up so we're doing some filet mignon fajitas to go with the tuna a little surf and turf oh good tonight I think I may have gained 10 pounds during this trip from all the amazing food Jen cooked up one of my favorite camp desserts berry cobbler cooked in a cast-iron stove over the fire I could probably eat this whole thing by myself what a beautiful morning here at camp and the sunrise that red sky this morning was just oh so beautiful I was glad I got out of bed early just to check that out now what a huge contrast to the previous night where we were in the snow this morning there is no wind it's probably about 50 degrees out here just a beautiful morning we're gonna get everything all packed up and then today we've got to cross all the way across soda Lake finally going to hit travelers Monument and dump off those rocks that we've been carrying with us and then we've got a little water crossing and a few more miles to go today should be a nice relaxing day we're gonna be hitting the road here soon I whipped up a little breakfast in the morning and after a few good cups of black coffee we were all packed up and ready to go travelers monument here we come [Music] thankfully there were plenty of trail markers along the way because even with a good GPS you may find yourself making a wrong turn here there I may have made a couple along the way that required us to do a little backtracking we finally reached a soda lake and Wow it's best we were very thankful that it was dry because we were able to pick up the pace a bit and make up some good ground as we went across [Music] [Music] there she is travellers monument if I'm being honest I expected it to be a little bit bigger than this but hey you know what it's still pretty cool well guys we finally made it to travelers monument you know this has been over a hundred and ten miles to get here and this was my second time on the Mohave road and I finally get to deposit my rock on travelers monument along with everybody else this is awesome guys this is such a vast area we're at but I'm gonna drop off my rock and I'm gonna go see what the plaque says ah so that's what it says I can't tell you though sorry there was just something gratifying about placing that rock there we came a long way to deposit our donation to a place many before us had done the very same thing I'll bet there are some good stories of those rocks could tell if only they could talk we've got a few more miles to go to our next hurdle which will be the water crossing [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the Train bridge is a nice spot to stop and have some lunch and you'll probably run into a few other folks while you're out here be mindful to keep off the train tracks this is still an active a grill so we have made it to the water crossing and depending on the time of year this can be deep or shallow but irregardless you need to take your time you do not want a big wake coming over the front of your Jeep and obviously somebody like Marco who's got a snorkel helps but for me I want to be taking it easy [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so the water crossing is always fun especially if it's your first time going through the man what an awesome day and what an awesome adventure you know the people that I have been here with have really made this journey just amazing if you have never been on the Mohave road this should be on your bucket list this is my second time out here and I'm so thankful I got to do the whole thing at this time it was a great great adventure guys listen if you are visiting trail recon for the first time I'd love to have you as a subscriber hit that subscribe button please remember to always travel the trails responsibly thanks for watching

Channel: TrailRecon

Views: 375,103

Rating: 4.9094915 out of 5

Keywords: mojave road, mojave trail, mojave road trail, overland adventure, overlanding, camping, jeep, ovelrand jeep, jeep wrangler, soda lake, camp cooking, travelers monument, joshua tree, lava tubes, place to camp on the mojave road, mojave desert, rock house, penny can tree, camp phallus, water crossing, balancing rock camp, off-roading, 4x4, adventure, mojave road adventure, lifted jeep, jeep jk, jeep jl, jeep jlu, jeep jku, jeep rubicon, jeep sport, jeep truck, jeep gladiator

Id: _Q7fkJPZg1I

Length: 36min 5sec (2165 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 10 2019