Advocate II
This past weekend @Frank'sRoaming, my brother, a friend and I jumped into the desert for 65mi of off-road fun. The plan was to meet at the General Patton museum off the 10 at Chiriaco Summit Rd. at noon, then jump into Red Canyon, and hightail it to The Bradshaw Trail - an old gold road. Old gold road, yeah. That sorta rhymed.
I would've totally done that, but at 855a - when I went to warm up my truck - I noticed a leak coming from the radiator. Turns out, it sprung a leak.
I was fortunate to find a really awesome radiator specialist nearby to me (Julio @ L.A. Radiators - Thanks!). I was on the road at noon, and that's much better than missing out.
We finally met up at the museum around 3p-ish, gassed up, aired down and jumped into the desert.
The trail was a mix of hard pack dirt, some river wash sand, small amounts of rocky areas, and only a few steep climbs. We had 2 vehicles with 2WD, and got through with no issues.
Our route took us alongside Red Canyon Jeep Trail, and not through the wash. That'll have to wait for next time. With two 2WD vehicles, we had to play it safe, especially since getting a late start.
We got about 30mi in on the first day, and found a spot to set up camp with enough light to establish a decent camp, take some golden hour photos, cook a good dinner, and put away a good amount of tasty libations.
A bit to our surprise, there was an explosion in the distance. A big one.
We knew that we'd been driving along the border of a military active bombing site. There were plenty of signs, and we could see the off-limits area in Gaia to our right. So for the next hour or so, we watched planes to strafing runs, dropping explosives, and shouting every time there was an explosion.
The next morning we woke. Some earlier than others, but we all slept well. The weather was great, and breakfast was on the grill. Our plan was to be wheels up by 11, and we hit that with 2min to spare.
Back on the road, we had some ground to cover. We passed by a flipped 4-wheeler, an old boat carcass, and some "street" crossroads. We found a few other people on the trail, gave out a few recruitment cards, and kept going.
Towards the end of the trip, we found a little off-road playground, and went nuts for about 30min. There were all sorts of obstacles, hill climbs, rock climbs, steep drops, off-camber routes, etc. Lots to play on. I'm fairly certain there's an off-road training company that operates out of there.
Few more miles, and some driving through farmland, and we were back at the highway. We aired up, and grabbed some Mexican food before jumping back on the freeway towards home.
I would've totally done that, but at 855a - when I went to warm up my truck - I noticed a leak coming from the radiator. Turns out, it sprung a leak.
I was fortunate to find a really awesome radiator specialist nearby to me (Julio @ L.A. Radiators - Thanks!). I was on the road at noon, and that's much better than missing out.
We finally met up at the museum around 3p-ish, gassed up, aired down and jumped into the desert.
The trail was a mix of hard pack dirt, some river wash sand, small amounts of rocky areas, and only a few steep climbs. We had 2 vehicles with 2WD, and got through with no issues.
Our route took us alongside Red Canyon Jeep Trail, and not through the wash. That'll have to wait for next time. With two 2WD vehicles, we had to play it safe, especially since getting a late start.
We got about 30mi in on the first day, and found a spot to set up camp with enough light to establish a decent camp, take some golden hour photos, cook a good dinner, and put away a good amount of tasty libations.
A bit to our surprise, there was an explosion in the distance. A big one.
We knew that we'd been driving along the border of a military active bombing site. There were plenty of signs, and we could see the off-limits area in Gaia to our right. So for the next hour or so, we watched planes to strafing runs, dropping explosives, and shouting every time there was an explosion.
The next morning we woke. Some earlier than others, but we all slept well. The weather was great, and breakfast was on the grill. Our plan was to be wheels up by 11, and we hit that with 2min to spare.
Back on the road, we had some ground to cover. We passed by a flipped 4-wheeler, an old boat carcass, and some "street" crossroads. We found a few other people on the trail, gave out a few recruitment cards, and kept going.
Towards the end of the trip, we found a little off-road playground, and went nuts for about 30min. There were all sorts of obstacles, hill climbs, rock climbs, steep drops, off-camber routes, etc. Lots to play on. I'm fairly certain there's an off-road training company that operates out of there.
Few more miles, and some driving through farmland, and we were back at the highway. We aired up, and grabbed some Mexican food before jumping back on the freeway towards home.
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