SyncroHead
Observer
Syncro Safari, Mojave Road ‘14 Announcement
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Check out www.SyncroSafari.org for additional information and links to the places we'll visit and stay at.
.
This year’s Syncro Safari adventure will be a springtime event to take advantage of the nice spring weather in the Mojave Desert. The dates are Sunday, April 6th through Saturday, April 12th.
.
The venue will be the 140+ mile trek along the historic Mojave Road. While some have done the Mojave Road in just 2-3 days or even at near-race pace in a single day, our adventure will spend five days traversing this route. This will afford us a relaxed schedule and the opportunity to see all the most significant sites along the route. We’ll spend three of the five days traveling along the route allowing a couple additional days for sight-seeing, hiking, bird-watching, “wildflowering”, and photography.
.
Preliminary Itinerary:
------------------------
Sunday, April 6th: Gather and camp at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park in Nevada, south of Laughlin. This site is right on the Colorado River and if you arrive early enough, there would be time for some water recreation in the river if you'd like. We've arranged with the management there to allow our group to camp in the day-use area right along the water!
.
Monday, April 7th: Travel a short distance south along the Colorado River to “Mile 0” where early travelers crossed the river. From here, our westward trek will take us to a number of sites along the way including Fort Piute and Rock Springs. Monday’s 61 mile journey will take us from the warmth of the Colorado at an elevation of 487 feet to the cool altitudes among Pinion Pines and Junipers to Mid Hills Campground. Mid Hills is between the Providence Mountains and the New York Mountains at an elevation of 5,600 feet.
.
Tuesday, April 8th: Recreation and relaxation around the New York and Providence Mountains. Maybe take a nap! Nowhere to “get to” this day except to be at Taco Night at “Camp Syncro, at Mid Hills a second night. Some will probably want to take a little side trip south to Hole-in-the-Wall to see the unique rock formations and hike the “Ring Trail” where there are iron rings placed into the rock to help your descent and ascent through this narrow canyon. We working on arrangements for a volunteer Mojave Road expert to conduct a talk on the history of the Mojave Road.
.
Wednesday, April 9th: Continue our expedition westward descending out of the mountains to Marl Springs, take a side trip to walk through the underground Lava Tubes and then cross “dry” Soda Lake. At least we hope it’s dry. Recent storms can sometimes make this section impassible as a few previous Syncronauts have found. On the west side of the lake, lies our destination, the Desert Science Center at Zzyzx, 50 miles (+side trips) from Mid Hills. We’ll camp at the center and have use of their facilities including showers!
.
Thursday, April 10th: We’ll be treated to a tour of the Desert Science Center facility and an educational session at the DSC on a topic to be determined such as desert wildlife, petroglyphs, or Native American history. The balance of Thursday is open for recreation and relaxation and we’ll spend a second night at the DSC, probably including a screening of “The Bus Movie”.
.
Friday, April 11th: Our trek will continue westward across the Rasor Off Highway Vehicle area and up the Mojave River wash through scenic Afton Canyon. We’ll take a hike in a slot canyon called “Spooky Canyon” (flashlights required believe it or not) and continue to the western terminus of the Mojave Road Recreation Trail at the historic Camp Cady site (Mile 140), about 40 miles from the morning’s start. From there we’ll continue northwest out of the Mojave River area, visit the very scenic Rainbow Basin loop road and camp at Owl Canyon Campground.
.
Saturday, April 12th: The trip’s officially over so we’ll say our goodbyes and part ways to see other sites in the area (Black Canyon, Calico, etc.) or head home.
.
Mojave Road? What’s that? Why would you want to go there?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So, if you’ve read this far, you either already know smoothing about the Mojave Road, or you’d like to know why we’d pick this route. Here’s a little overview…
.
Long before the first white man saw the Mojave Desert region an ancient trade trail crossed the eastern Mojave. It connected the tribes of the Mojave Indians with other tribes in the region and ultimately the California coast. This significant Indian trade route was first used by someone from the “old world” when Spaniard explorer and missionary Francisco Garces traversed it in 1776 on his way to find the Mission San Gabriel. The next famous traveler on the route was Jedidiah Strong Smith in 1826. Other early travelers included John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson. In the min 1800’s a mail route was needed for the US government and the area was surveyed (using imported camels!) and eventually outposts and forts were set up along the route to safeguard the mail. Later mining and cattle enterprises dotted the Mojave, all using this important east-west route. Eventually a railroad and more modern highways were established along different routes and the Mojave Road was nearly lost for good. That is until the 1970’s, when Dennis Casebier investigated the route and first published a book on the subject. In the early 1980’s a group formed known as “Friends of the Mojave Road” and dedicated themselves to reopening the route for recreational, educational, and inspirational purposes. The latest editions of Casebier’s “Mojave Road Guide” now include GPS coordinates and clear directions and maps to follow making access to the special, scenic, and historic spots along the route more accessible than ever.
While a number of Syncros have traversed the route (or at least parts of it) in the past, we’re planning on making this adventure the most complete, educational, and enjoyable Mojave Road trip ever. The number of historic sites, interesting geology, scenic desert vistas, sand dunes, volcanic craters, petroglyphs, and interesting canyons and formations is simply too many to list here. There are literally a couple of book series, each with at least two volumes about interesting sites in this region.
Next…
------------
Cost, registration, and more detailed plans are still being worked out, but like other recent Syncro Safaris we'll expect to have raffle prizes, digital photo scavenger hunts, Syncrocaching, and more.
If you're interested in attending, please send me a private email at SyncroHead@aol.com.
While this won't hold a spot, it will help to gauge how many Syncronauts are interested in the trip. As with most Syncro Safaris, this trip will likely be limited to 10 Syncros. Registration will open as soon as we know the costs.
.
Jim Davis
_________________
Check out www.SyncroSafari.org
.
Check out www.SyncroSafari.org for additional information and links to the places we'll visit and stay at.
.
This year’s Syncro Safari adventure will be a springtime event to take advantage of the nice spring weather in the Mojave Desert. The dates are Sunday, April 6th through Saturday, April 12th.
.
The venue will be the 140+ mile trek along the historic Mojave Road. While some have done the Mojave Road in just 2-3 days or even at near-race pace in a single day, our adventure will spend five days traversing this route. This will afford us a relaxed schedule and the opportunity to see all the most significant sites along the route. We’ll spend three of the five days traveling along the route allowing a couple additional days for sight-seeing, hiking, bird-watching, “wildflowering”, and photography.
.
Preliminary Itinerary:
------------------------
Sunday, April 6th: Gather and camp at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park in Nevada, south of Laughlin. This site is right on the Colorado River and if you arrive early enough, there would be time for some water recreation in the river if you'd like. We've arranged with the management there to allow our group to camp in the day-use area right along the water!
.
Monday, April 7th: Travel a short distance south along the Colorado River to “Mile 0” where early travelers crossed the river. From here, our westward trek will take us to a number of sites along the way including Fort Piute and Rock Springs. Monday’s 61 mile journey will take us from the warmth of the Colorado at an elevation of 487 feet to the cool altitudes among Pinion Pines and Junipers to Mid Hills Campground. Mid Hills is between the Providence Mountains and the New York Mountains at an elevation of 5,600 feet.
.
Tuesday, April 8th: Recreation and relaxation around the New York and Providence Mountains. Maybe take a nap! Nowhere to “get to” this day except to be at Taco Night at “Camp Syncro, at Mid Hills a second night. Some will probably want to take a little side trip south to Hole-in-the-Wall to see the unique rock formations and hike the “Ring Trail” where there are iron rings placed into the rock to help your descent and ascent through this narrow canyon. We working on arrangements for a volunteer Mojave Road expert to conduct a talk on the history of the Mojave Road.
.
Wednesday, April 9th: Continue our expedition westward descending out of the mountains to Marl Springs, take a side trip to walk through the underground Lava Tubes and then cross “dry” Soda Lake. At least we hope it’s dry. Recent storms can sometimes make this section impassible as a few previous Syncronauts have found. On the west side of the lake, lies our destination, the Desert Science Center at Zzyzx, 50 miles (+side trips) from Mid Hills. We’ll camp at the center and have use of their facilities including showers!
.
Thursday, April 10th: We’ll be treated to a tour of the Desert Science Center facility and an educational session at the DSC on a topic to be determined such as desert wildlife, petroglyphs, or Native American history. The balance of Thursday is open for recreation and relaxation and we’ll spend a second night at the DSC, probably including a screening of “The Bus Movie”.
.
Friday, April 11th: Our trek will continue westward across the Rasor Off Highway Vehicle area and up the Mojave River wash through scenic Afton Canyon. We’ll take a hike in a slot canyon called “Spooky Canyon” (flashlights required believe it or not) and continue to the western terminus of the Mojave Road Recreation Trail at the historic Camp Cady site (Mile 140), about 40 miles from the morning’s start. From there we’ll continue northwest out of the Mojave River area, visit the very scenic Rainbow Basin loop road and camp at Owl Canyon Campground.
.
Saturday, April 12th: The trip’s officially over so we’ll say our goodbyes and part ways to see other sites in the area (Black Canyon, Calico, etc.) or head home.
.
Mojave Road? What’s that? Why would you want to go there?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So, if you’ve read this far, you either already know smoothing about the Mojave Road, or you’d like to know why we’d pick this route. Here’s a little overview…
.
Long before the first white man saw the Mojave Desert region an ancient trade trail crossed the eastern Mojave. It connected the tribes of the Mojave Indians with other tribes in the region and ultimately the California coast. This significant Indian trade route was first used by someone from the “old world” when Spaniard explorer and missionary Francisco Garces traversed it in 1776 on his way to find the Mission San Gabriel. The next famous traveler on the route was Jedidiah Strong Smith in 1826. Other early travelers included John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson. In the min 1800’s a mail route was needed for the US government and the area was surveyed (using imported camels!) and eventually outposts and forts were set up along the route to safeguard the mail. Later mining and cattle enterprises dotted the Mojave, all using this important east-west route. Eventually a railroad and more modern highways were established along different routes and the Mojave Road was nearly lost for good. That is until the 1970’s, when Dennis Casebier investigated the route and first published a book on the subject. In the early 1980’s a group formed known as “Friends of the Mojave Road” and dedicated themselves to reopening the route for recreational, educational, and inspirational purposes. The latest editions of Casebier’s “Mojave Road Guide” now include GPS coordinates and clear directions and maps to follow making access to the special, scenic, and historic spots along the route more accessible than ever.
While a number of Syncros have traversed the route (or at least parts of it) in the past, we’re planning on making this adventure the most complete, educational, and enjoyable Mojave Road trip ever. The number of historic sites, interesting geology, scenic desert vistas, sand dunes, volcanic craters, petroglyphs, and interesting canyons and formations is simply too many to list here. There are literally a couple of book series, each with at least two volumes about interesting sites in this region.
Next…
------------
Cost, registration, and more detailed plans are still being worked out, but like other recent Syncro Safaris we'll expect to have raffle prizes, digital photo scavenger hunts, Syncrocaching, and more.
If you're interested in attending, please send me a private email at SyncroHead@aol.com.
While this won't hold a spot, it will help to gauge how many Syncronauts are interested in the trip. As with most Syncro Safaris, this trip will likely be limited to 10 Syncros. Registration will open as soon as we know the costs.
.
Jim Davis
_________________
Check out www.SyncroSafari.org
