THIS trip has come and gone, and it had some highs and some lows. The good news is I'll be going out there again someday to complete the Mojave Road.
The four of us started out Wednesday morning and made the drive from Phoenix to just outside Barstow. We started the trail at Harvard Road running it "backwards" west-to-east. I must say everything was clicking pretty well. The weather was nice, company was excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised with the Mojave. Honestly, I had fairly low expectations. Perhaps because it seemed just like a long road through the desert, and I've been on lots of long roads in the desert. Perhaps because I'm a bit jaded after Death Valley, the San Juans, or Moab? Whatever the reason, the Mojave turned out to be a great area and a great trip... except for the mishap that send me limping home a day early.
We started out at Camp Cady and took the Mojave Road all the way to the Kelso-Cima paved road. From there we deviated from the trail up to the Cima area, and then took it back down to Kelso Depot and the dunes. The plan was to take the Foshay Pass to Black Canyon Road and then back up to the Mojave Road. This southern detour would take us to some nice points of interest, add an extra 50 miles to the trip, and only miss a very small section of the actual Mojave Trail.
While in Foshay pass, checking out an old mine, I heard a metal clanking noise. At first I thought it was a loose skid plate since it was loose with a couple bolts missing. I quickly fixed that but the noise continued and after a better look I quickly determined the problem. The driver side leaf spring was busted, as was the shock. Strange that such violent damage would occur on an otherwise easy 4x4 trip.
Thanks to the help of others on this trip, we strapped the spring down in two spots as best we could and strapped the rear axle to the crossmember to keep it from moving backwards. It did the job keeping everything together as I carefully drove the 300 miles home. Andy and Mike pressed on and Brett escorted me back to Phx. Sorry Brett for cutting your trip early too. I'm still waiting to hear back from Andy and Mike to see how things finished up. Now it's time to get the Tacoma back up to speed and ready for the next big summer trip!
Took LOTS of pictures and uploaded about 20% of the keepers. Link to uploaded pictures
The four of us started out Wednesday morning and made the drive from Phoenix to just outside Barstow. We started the trail at Harvard Road running it "backwards" west-to-east. I must say everything was clicking pretty well. The weather was nice, company was excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised with the Mojave. Honestly, I had fairly low expectations. Perhaps because it seemed just like a long road through the desert, and I've been on lots of long roads in the desert. Perhaps because I'm a bit jaded after Death Valley, the San Juans, or Moab? Whatever the reason, the Mojave turned out to be a great area and a great trip... except for the mishap that send me limping home a day early.
We started out at Camp Cady and took the Mojave Road all the way to the Kelso-Cima paved road. From there we deviated from the trail up to the Cima area, and then took it back down to Kelso Depot and the dunes. The plan was to take the Foshay Pass to Black Canyon Road and then back up to the Mojave Road. This southern detour would take us to some nice points of interest, add an extra 50 miles to the trip, and only miss a very small section of the actual Mojave Trail.
While in Foshay pass, checking out an old mine, I heard a metal clanking noise. At first I thought it was a loose skid plate since it was loose with a couple bolts missing. I quickly fixed that but the noise continued and after a better look I quickly determined the problem. The driver side leaf spring was busted, as was the shock. Strange that such violent damage would occur on an otherwise easy 4x4 trip.
Thanks to the help of others on this trip, we strapped the spring down in two spots as best we could and strapped the rear axle to the crossmember to keep it from moving backwards. It did the job keeping everything together as I carefully drove the 300 miles home. Andy and Mike pressed on and Brett escorted me back to Phx. Sorry Brett for cutting your trip early too. I'm still waiting to hear back from Andy and Mike to see how things finished up. Now it's time to get the Tacoma back up to speed and ready for the next big summer trip!
Took LOTS of pictures and uploaded about 20% of the keepers. Link to uploaded pictures
