A bit of intrigue on this trip!
After initiating our Pied-à-Tire wanderings in the summer of 2020, we were excited to commence our strategy of visiting popular National Parks in the offseason.
During our drive to the desert, we listened to the eerily intriguing "California City" podcast (worth a listen).
We then decided that we would stealth camp there, on the first night of our journey, just to check it out.
If you have an interest in bizarre California history, and you happen to be nearby, you may want to check out this “ghost town” which is 100 miles due north of LA and covers over 200 square miles.
California City is also near a few other points of interest such as the Mojave Air and Space Port, the historic Twenty Mule Team Trail, the Desert Tortoise Preserve administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Edwards Airforce Base, and others along the road between Bakersfield, Boron, Barstow, and Baker.
We then proceeded to the Mojave Desert Preserve and spent the first two days dispersed camping at Kelso Dunes.
We were lucky enough to catch a full moon, which was all the light we needed for our late night climb up the sand dunes to the summit. (700' elevation gain in the shifting sand!) As the full moon closest to the winter solstice, this is also referred to as the Long Night Moon. It was also the 13th full moon of 2020 which was a long and very unlucky year.
We then camped in the midst of the densest concentration of Joshua trees in the world. Unfortunately, fully one-third of them burned during the fires of 2020, but that definitely added a surreal dimension.
Camped between the burned area and the spared area To find our spot, we turned off Cima Road at the White Cross World War I Memorial. In the off-season at least, there is abundant, dispersed, off-road camping!
We stumbled upon the abandoned Evening Star Copper Mine and had the entire place to ourselves to leisurely explore.
(Sal was staking her claim!)
Given that it was New Year’s Eve, we decided to trust Google maps to guide us back via a shortcut to our camp, despite the fact that we’ve been foiled before with their mapping of “forest roads”.
And all seemed fine, right up until the point that the "road" turned into a dry wash and we ended up stuck in soft sand with our wheels buried up to the axles!
PRO TIP: Do NOT take google maps at face value for non-paved roads.
PRO TIP: Carry recovery tracks (which we now do, everywhere).
So, I had no choice but to hike a mile out to Cima Road in hopes of finding cell service while Sal stayed with the van. I reached the Park Rangers, who responded promptly, although it took about an hour for them to cross the park to our location. Night was falling as they were preparing to pull us out of our quagmire. Just then they got a call for an emergency rescue of a hiker from the top of Clark Mountain (8000’). They asked if we would be OK spending the night, if they promised to come back in the morning. No problem!
PRO TIP: Always download enough streaming videos before every trip (which we had done).
The view from our overnight bivouac. All things considered, it was a great way to ring in the new year!
So we started our new year with the new friends who showed up first thing in the morning, as promised, to pluck us out of our predicament. Hats off to the National Park Services’ finest!
Naturally, once extracted, we just kept rolling through the park because there was still so much to see! Hiking around Hole-in-the-Wall is definitely worth the stop, especially when the crowds are light.
Our final stop was at Teutonia Peak. We highly recommend this 3-mile, out-and-back trail with its breathtaking views. Now we just need to find our way back to our Comfy, White Van to begin our journey home.
It was a fitting way to ring out the old year (good riddance 2020!) and it was surely quite an extraordinary 7-day road trip!
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