US West My Annual Easter Mojave Road trip!!

BTW.......we may have a special quest join us for dinner on Friday night and perhaps Saturday as well. NPS Ranger Dave Nichols said he would be home Easter weekend and can visit us!! He is a Wealth of information about All things related to the East Mojave Desert and the Mojave Preserve.....and as the parks Archeologist........all things related to a few other National Parks as well as the NPS will "Borrow" him away from the Mojave for short assignments at other parks. So, as I like to think I know alot about the park as I've been coming out here for 29 years......Dave has been coming out since he was a kid in the 1970's.....And lives out there as well!! So, he Is The guy to talk to if you want to learn more about the area!!!
Oh, and he can drink Whiskey too!!! Lol!!!
 
my134Runner said:
What happened?? And I do this trip again on the third (3rd) weekend of September.
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Going to visit parents on San Jose Ca area during this time (have short window). I will look to make the Sep event if possible.
Funny, I retired a year ago, sold the house and now travel full time in the truck camper but feel busier than ever before visiting family (Wife has 5 kids, I have 2) and various events.
Happy though.
Sorry as well to miss your guest speaker. I also enjoy a good Whiskey.
 
my134Runner said:
Yeah, I have a winch on my034runner, but haven't got around to putting a bumper and winch on my134Runner yet. I'd say the only way we'd need a winch on this trip, is if we were dumb enough to try Soda Lake when it's wet!! Obviously, if it's still wet (Lots of Rain in Commiefornia right now!!) then we take the bypass to Razor Road (actually cuts over an hour off of the trip to Afton Canyon!)....other than that, we should be fine. I don't have any maxtrax or treds, but if someone wants to bring them, I'm sure they Might come in handy. I've got an entire box full of recovery gear otherwise.......so no one needs to really bring anything else. I'll also have 20 gallons of gas 30-40 gallons of water stashed everywhere...........Cima Road Should be open by then, although, I have been on short parts of it to get to the cabins. I'll also have my Mr. Buddy heater....just in case! And yeah, you may want your full doors!!!! Lol!
Anyway, hopefully Chet can make it. So Grak (first name?) are you in for sure? If so, go ahead and copy and paste the List and add yourself and please send me your cell#< name, and emergency contact.

P.S. If you do come out, go ahead and bring your maxtrax.......as there May be a possible use for them on Friday when we go up and over the Paiute Pass, as with all of this rain, in case it made the wash out any worse.......they Could come in handy to get past it, as we can lay them over the washout and ride high on the right side. It still shows closed on the NPS site, but it has said that since last year and all of the rain. We took the bypass last year, and I'm not a fan, as it takes you way in the wrong direction and eats up more time.
When we went in September, I decided to up the pass. Me and another truck went up first and left the others down below where if we need to turn them around, we could (no place to turn around up top) and one of the 4Runner's had a trailer......and I Really didn't want to worry about them trying to back down. Turns out, it was plenty passable......although the trailer had to be really careful as it was a few inches wider than the 4Runner, but we made it up, Good times!!
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Hey, I am looking into getting a new front bumper with winch for my ‘03 4Runner. What do you have and how do you like it?
 
Brett In The Backcountry said:
Hey, I am looking into getting a new front bumper with winch for my ‘03 4Runner. What do you have and how do you like it?
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No worries, just keep in mind that this a trip thread, not the tech section. On my134Runner, I haven't got around to putting a bumper on it yet. But, On My034Runner, I have probably the Best front bumper made for the 4th gen.....And it was the very First front bumper made by anyone for the 4th Gen!! See the picture of Josh's silver 4th gen above, that is the same bumper!!!
Jim Shrock who owns Shrockworks. Our Toyota120 site (before everyone vanished, it was the #1 Toyota tech/off road site in the country)......no one was making a bumper for the 4th Gen, until I got a hold of Jim, asked him if he was ready to start building stuff for Toyota, and he couldn't say yes fast enough. Anyway, before we even had the amout of people with their deposits ready to go.......he had already started designing it!! He posted all of his plans up, and with Our input from our Toyota120 members.......built was is still the best bumper by far for our 4th gens!!! As far as a winch, I have a Mile Marker in there, but there are a lot of choices for winces available. Suffice to say, that Jims main business is now Toyota!! Previously, he was building stuff for jeeps, land rovers and for some reason.......Nissan. But, I just checked his website, and learned something, that he went out of business last year!! Well shlt! He still made the best stuff, guess he just couldn't manage it right !
So, try ARB, C4, or a host of others.

Now, if you're in for our Easter trip, let me know. We now have room for three (3) more trucks!!
 
AFMsgt said:
Going to visit parents on San Jose Ca area during this time (have short window). I will look to make the Sep event if possible.
Funny, I retired a year ago, sold the house and now travel full time in the truck camper but feel busier than ever before visiting family (Wife has 5 kids, I have 2) and various events.
Happy though.
Sorry as well to miss your guest speaker. I also enjoy a good Whiskey.
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Just bring them out with you!!!!! I've got a Big bottle of Bulleit 90 proof Bourbon ready to go!!! And a NPS Ranger who loves to talk about our favorite place!!!!
 
Hey everyone!! Hope y'all are good and looking forward to hitting the trail soon!! Also, to remind everyone, as I forgot to do so on the September trip......let's remember to bring out some type of FROG statue for the FROG Shrine that we'll be visiting on Easter Sunday!!! The Friends of the East Mojave have taken a lot them out and I assume brought them to Goffs or to the Victorville Jeep club for safekeeping!!! So, we should absolutely add more!!!
The FROG Shrine has been a cool thing to see when we stop at the Mojave Mail Box every Sunday of every trip!!! There was also a Gnome shrine, as well as a 4x4 (model size) shrine at the same location as well!! So, a Gnome or Frog would be cool!!
 
count us in!


1: Robert and Cleo (dog) Traileader (4Runner)
2: Ryan (Tacoma)
3: Joe (Wrangler)
4: Andrew +1 (4Runner)
5: Joshua & Shelley (04' 4runner)
6: Kody (4Runner)
7:
8: This is a just in case......
 
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LostWoods said:
So now the debate is an early start from Phoenix or Thursday night in Laughlin...
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I guess it depends on how much time off you have. It's a lot longer drive from Phoenix than Las Vegas. A lot of out of state attendees seem to opt to come up Thursday night and either grab a cheap hotel room at the Avi, or a motel on the AZ side, or camp out at the Big Bend NV State campground right on the bank of the River. I would opt for the room, so as we're making our way down, you can relax, go to the breakfast buffet, have the last shower for the next three + days, etc......Then when we get close, leave, go to the Smiths and then our weekend begins!!!
Versus, driving all morning, get there, and then another 8 hours of driving!! At least a Thursday arrival, you'll be more refreshed rested and alert and not sooooo damn tired by the time we get to set up camp!! That's what usually happens on Friday for those that choose the drive all early morning all day route........then you're too tired to stay up and hang out around the Lava Box fire for cocktails after dinner hour!!! :sunglasses:
 
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Yeah that's what I'm thinking... wouldn't mind starting the trail with a full tank and looking at hotels, I forgot how cheap they can be around there.
 
LostWoods said:
Yeah that's what I'm thinking... wouldn't mind starting the trail with a full tank and looking at hotels, I forgot how cheap they can be around there.
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Yeah, most stay at the Avi, nice enough place, inexpensive rooms, good food......so you don't have to cook and get a good breakfast in you and a shower!!! If you are bringing a dog, not sure if they allow dogs, they may......but there are a couple of motels on the AZ side of the River in Bullhead and Ft. Mohave that do.
And Don't get gas at the Avi, that's why I started meeting everyone across the bridge at the Smiths........as it is sometimes almost up to a dollar less a gallon!
Not sure how much gas is in Phoenix, but I do know that it's way cheaper at the Smiths......Especially for those coming from Commiefornia!!! So for Josh.......bring all of your extra Scepter cans EMPTY and fill them up at Smiths.....where it's $2-3.00 LESS per gallon than Anywhere in Commiefornia!!! :laughing:
 
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Yesterday at 3:25 PM
Hey everyone!! Hope y'all are good and looking forward to hitting the trail soon!! Also, to remind everyone, as I forgot to do so on the September trip......let's remember to bring out some type of FROG statue for the FROG Shrine that we'll be visiting on Easter Sunday!!! The Friends of the East Mojave have taken a lot them out and I assume brought them to Goffs or to the Victorville Jeep club for safekeeping!!! So, we should absolutely add more!!!
The FROG Shrine has been a cool thing to see when we stop at the Mojave Mail Box every Sunday of every trip!!! There was also a Gnome shrine, as well as a 4x4 (model size) shrine at the same location as well!! So, a Gnome or Frog would be cool!!

Mar 1, 2024
And if anyone wants to or can bring an extra Big white propane tank, please do as I have banned all firewood from my trips after the last two huge devastating fires out in the Mojave National Preserve!!! I Had been bringing a rather large propane fire pit, but got an upgrade for Christmas with my new Lava Box!! So, we'll still be able to have a pretty huge campfire........but I no longer have to worry about starting a fire and burning down what's left of the park!!!! But I'll be out there for 4 more days After y'all leave on Easter Sunday, so if someone can bring another tank, I'll have plenty to get me through the week!!

This is in lieu of firewood!!! And much better!!
Oh, and I notice I typed Extra Big White Propane tank! I actually didn't mean an Extra Big White propane tank, rather just a regular size one you would use for your BBQ at home.......just an additional one is what I meant!! Lol!1
 
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We are coming from Sonoma wine county, so we are planning on heading out Wednesday, gonna stay somewhere along the way Wednesday night, and maybe Thursday night at the avi (pending dog policy) and will meet yall on Friday morning.
 
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