Saturday, January 31, 2015

Jeep Ride thru Mojave National Reserve

Saturday, January 31, 2015

This morning the sun started to peek through the clouds so Yuma and I decided to unhook the jeep and do a little sight seeing.   Looked online this morning and found we are camped just off Black Canyon Road.

We drove north on Black Canyon Road about three miles and there was a Ranger Visitor Center, so we stopped in and talked to the ranger for awhile and got the layout of the land.  We also picked up a brochure and a map of the area.  The Hole in the Wall Campground is just a quarter mile further up the road and it is open to campers.

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Asked where the nearest gas station was and the ranger told me I would need to drive 60 miles west to Baker, California on I-15.  Showed me how to get there on the map. 

Yuma and I decided to go in the direction of the Kelso Depot Visitor Center which is about half way to Baker taking the back way.  This meant following Black Canyon Road for about 7 miles to Cedar Canyon Road also known as Mojave Road.  Took this for another 7 miles till it intersected with the Kelso Sima Road which is a blacktop.  Followed it south for 15 miles to the Visitor Center.  The entire drive was very scenic.  I am going to show photos of my travels, but may take several blogs to complete. 

Here are photos as we headed the seven miles north on Black Canyon Road.

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Then we turn left onto Cedar Canyon Road, aka, Mojave Road.

As we wound our way through the thousands of Joshua Trees you could see the Mojave Road stretch out across the desert ahead of us.  Luckily, we don’t drive the entire road.  We turn left at the railroad tracks.imageimage

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Finally made it to the the Kelso Depot Welcome Center.

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Better stop for now.  I will cover the remaining part of my day in tomorrow’s blog.

See you later.

9 comments:

  1. The pictures in this blog are super. There are examples of everything in and about the area. What can I say, other than the photos are beautiful!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you Kelly. It was a long day yesterday. Yuma and I covered a lot of miles.

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    2. Kelly, I think you know now that the Hole-in-the-Wall campground is open 7 days a week now. Drove in and looked around. It is a pretty place and not many campers there now.

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  3. That is a gorgeous area. You got some really fantastic pictures.

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    1. Thank you. Did a lot of miles yesterday and walked a lot. Such a beautiful day today. Not a cloud in the sky and warm. Hoping I have enough energy to get out today and see more of this beautiful and remote country.

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  4. In 2008, I got lost going through that area and saw some of that area. I agree with you that the lack of gas stations is a bit off putting to doing a lot of exploring, so I carried six gallons with me even though they smelled a bit in the back of my car.

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  5. It is remote out here. I also carry a five gallon can of smelly gas, just in case. Too bad they don't put one gas station nearby so I can explore without worrying about running low. Very easy to get lost for awhile.

    So much to see but you need to drive because of the vastness. I read this is the third largest national park.

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