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I guess I will finally get around to writing about this trip as it has been living in my mind and messing with my boyfriend duties for quite some time now. I don't feel like working. I don't feel like paying rent. I want to go ever further in debt to online Jeep catalogs and camping sites, and travel the desert in search of...well, more desert.
The Girlfriend went to Hawaii for a wedding. I did not. It is the start of desert season. I'm no dummy. It's man-cation time, so the plan was to leave San Diego early on Friday morning, Oct 22nd and drive the Bradshaw Trail and then hit up Joshua Tree on Saturday. The weather had been iffy at best that week but everyone here knows that weather never really makes it down the hill to the desert. Myself, my best bud and a mutual drinking acquaintance aka "3 peeps, 2 Jeeps" left San Diego around 9:30 am. I had to wait for BevMo to open at 9 for a certain firewater I was dying to try. :drool: 8 East up in to the mountains. Cold rain, cold clouds, good tunes- We headed north on the 79 to Julian and then followed the 78 East to the 86 North and in to the Salton Sea. Man, what a place that is... grabbed lunch at Del Taco and headed to the trail. I'm flying blind at this point. I had my route plotted out on the GPS and I had been studying Google maps and Google Earth for a month so I "knew" where I was going. Wrong. I tried to jump on the canal 5 miles up from where I had planned and the gate was locked. 4WD- Engage. Made it around and just hoped to not get caught on the road. Still not too happy about that. Anyway, we made it to the start of the Bradshaw Trail around 1, had a look around and headed on. What a beautiful place. We stopped at the train bridge and had a photo shoot. We took the side route in to Red Canyon and explored a bit before turning around. We rode the bombs and hung out at the shot up car. Then as we were losing light and trying to make it to Wiley's Well we found...the boat. Does anyone know the back story on this boat? If you do, please let me know. Spent the night at Wiley's Well and recharged our batteries. Woke up to a great sunrise and hit the road early. Aired up by the prison and headed in to Blythe to gas up before backtracking west down the 10 to Joshua Tree Park. Got off on Cottonwood Canyon and headed up to the rangers station. We decided we would do our wheeling first and head to camp (at Black Rock) at dark. Turned off at Old Dale Rd and aired down. Headed up to Brooklyn Mine Jeep trail and from here...I'm not really sure where the heck we went. I believe we stopped at Standard Mine and eventually found the Brooklyn Mine and even found All American on the way out later that night, but I am new to this and only know what I have seen on these forums so if I wrote in your book at your mine...hey! Long drive up and out of the park on a sweet dirt road. Made camp by around 9pm. Ate, drank, slept, snored. Woke and left. Wishing I could do it again. If you have any feedback on the pics, or have questions, let me know. I'm new round these here parts...
I guess I will finally get around to writing about this trip as it has been living in my mind and messing with my boyfriend duties for quite some time now. I don't feel like working. I don't feel like paying rent. I want to go ever further in debt to online Jeep catalogs and camping sites, and travel the desert in search of...well, more desert.
The Girlfriend went to Hawaii for a wedding. I did not. It is the start of desert season. I'm no dummy. It's man-cation time, so the plan was to leave San Diego early on Friday morning, Oct 22nd and drive the Bradshaw Trail and then hit up Joshua Tree on Saturday. The weather had been iffy at best that week but everyone here knows that weather never really makes it down the hill to the desert. Myself, my best bud and a mutual drinking acquaintance aka "3 peeps, 2 Jeeps" left San Diego around 9:30 am. I had to wait for BevMo to open at 9 for a certain firewater I was dying to try. :drool: 8 East up in to the mountains. Cold rain, cold clouds, good tunes- We headed north on the 79 to Julian and then followed the 78 East to the 86 North and in to the Salton Sea. Man, what a place that is... grabbed lunch at Del Taco and headed to the trail. I'm flying blind at this point. I had my route plotted out on the GPS and I had been studying Google maps and Google Earth for a month so I "knew" where I was going. Wrong. I tried to jump on the canal 5 miles up from where I had planned and the gate was locked. 4WD- Engage. Made it around and just hoped to not get caught on the road. Still not too happy about that. Anyway, we made it to the start of the Bradshaw Trail around 1, had a look around and headed on. What a beautiful place. We stopped at the train bridge and had a photo shoot. We took the side route in to Red Canyon and explored a bit before turning around. We rode the bombs and hung out at the shot up car. Then as we were losing light and trying to make it to Wiley's Well we found...the boat. Does anyone know the back story on this boat? If you do, please let me know. Spent the night at Wiley's Well and recharged our batteries. Woke up to a great sunrise and hit the road early. Aired up by the prison and headed in to Blythe to gas up before backtracking west down the 10 to Joshua Tree Park. Got off on Cottonwood Canyon and headed up to the rangers station. We decided we would do our wheeling first and head to camp (at Black Rock) at dark. Turned off at Old Dale Rd and aired down. Headed up to Brooklyn Mine Jeep trail and from here...I'm not really sure where the heck we went. I believe we stopped at Standard Mine and eventually found the Brooklyn Mine and even found All American on the way out later that night, but I am new to this and only know what I have seen on these forums so if I wrote in your book at your mine...hey! Long drive up and out of the park on a sweet dirt road. Made camp by around 9pm. Ate, drank, slept, snored. Woke and left. Wishing I could do it again. If you have any feedback on the pics, or have questions, let me know. I'm new round these here parts...
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