What a trip this was. This has been on my radar for a while now. We did the route west to east. Ending at the Colorado River sounded much better than Barstow. Also note, the trail is harder in this direction. All the harder technical sections are up hill this way.
Doing this in mid-June is not for every one. Not only is it hot, but super dry. My "7 day" cooler kept ice for 2 days. Would recommend a two cooler set up. One for drinks/adult beverages and one the is only for perishables where the cooler is only being opened a few times a day.
This trip has it all. Terrain, vastness, testing wilderness skills, observation of ones self (heat) and sweet spots you can only get to by vehicle.
GPS with preloaded track is a serious plus. There are rock cairns but many spots they are missing. And with other trails crossing and splitting, it's very easy to get off the Mojave Trail. I had a track preloaded and we still found ourselves off course several times.
Dangers of the trail were heat and critters. Had serveral incounter with the Green Mojave rattlesnake. They're sidewinders so they move fast. The other was the Africanized "killer" bees. They love water in the mornings as we found out on our first morning wake up. While making my morning coffee a few showed up. They were going for my dish pan that had water in it from the night before. With in 15 minutes, what was 10 or so bees quickly turned to hundreds. Multiplying by the minute. We packed up quickly and drove off. Having breakfast later with less guests.
Recommend Level for the trip - 10/10
But as the motto goes, please go prepared. This wasn't a easy trip.
Doing this in mid-June is not for every one. Not only is it hot, but super dry. My "7 day" cooler kept ice for 2 days. Would recommend a two cooler set up. One for drinks/adult beverages and one the is only for perishables where the cooler is only being opened a few times a day.
This trip has it all. Terrain, vastness, testing wilderness skills, observation of ones self (heat) and sweet spots you can only get to by vehicle.
GPS with preloaded track is a serious plus. There are rock cairns but many spots they are missing. And with other trails crossing and splitting, it's very easy to get off the Mojave Trail. I had a track preloaded and we still found ourselves off course several times.
Dangers of the trail were heat and critters. Had serveral incounter with the Green Mojave rattlesnake. They're sidewinders so they move fast. The other was the Africanized "killer" bees. They love water in the mornings as we found out on our first morning wake up. While making my morning coffee a few showed up. They were going for my dish pan that had water in it from the night before. With in 15 minutes, what was 10 or so bees quickly turned to hundreds. Multiplying by the minute. We packed up quickly and drove off. Having breakfast later with less guests.
Recommend Level for the trip - 10/10
But as the motto goes, please go prepared. This wasn't a easy trip.
