Mojave National Preserve CA

From Kingman AZ it's a short drive to crossing the Colorado River back into California. Fortunately, California has finally gotten around to improving the roadway, but apparently the state is slower to maintain the Rest Areas (sigh). California's not a great state to be driving long distances for people with a tiny bladder.

Bridge over the Colorado coming up

Why am I not surprised?

The more we travel, the more we search the maps for places we've never been.  The Mojave National Preserve fits the bill. Just after Fenner CA at exit #100 we turn northward onto a gravel road into the Preserve.  After a few miles, our Google Maps navigation has completely lost sight of where we are. Ahhh - no cell bars traveling; free at last from the Net!

Hey here's a big spot on the map we haven't been

We are now officially off the gird

Up to the Visitors' Center and Hole in the Wall Campground, the gravel road is well graded and easy to drive. Of course we stop at the Visitors' Center.  At first, there doesn't appear to be anyone around and there's no indication whether it's open or closed, so I knock on the door and it's opened by a lady Ranger.  She is taking a lunch break with her husband and two grade school daughters.  We back off saying we don't want to take up her time during her break.  She says no, no please come in as not many visitors stop in she's glad to see us.

Her office area is chock full of interesting objects from the surrounding desert, including fossils and some very large horns from the local Bighorn rams. I would love to have one of those.  She says they find the discarded horns out on hiking trails through the hills and canyons.  She is free with sharing her wealth of information about the area and points out interesting hiking trails and things to see.  She laughs that with Death Valley so close it draws all the crowds with only a small fraction find their way to the Preserve.

Mojave National Preserve Hole in the Wall Visitors' Center

After leaving the Visitors' Center the road becomes dirt with sand and sketchier, but both Peter and the camper handle it well. We pass the Gold Valley Ranch which must be one of the few sections of private land grandfathered in when the Preserve was created. With the arid terrain and sparse vegetation, these ranchers must need lots of land to just feed a few cattle. Still you got to admire these hardly souls for sticking to a way of life that can't be easy.

Interesting rock formations

Gold Valley Ranch

Cattle at the watering hole

Further down the road, we come to the Mid Hills Campground which is by far the nicer of the two on the Preserve. After only seeing a few vehicles of any kind for some time on the road, we are surprised to find a handful of campers already here. They mostly smile and greet us with a wave. Friendly folks out here in the middle of no where. We choose a nice site and pull in for lunch.

Trusty camper at lunch site

Nice place to stop

I love the stark beauty of the desert

The road now becomes a dry stream bed.  With all the flowers in bloom it looks like they got good monsoonal rains. However, we are both glad the stream beds are dry. They are probably pretty nasty in flood rendering the road impassable at best and deadly at worst.

Flowers along stream bed/road

Quick - grab this rock for our garden

Wise advise

As we climb in altitude, we start seeing Joshua Trees, then lots of Joshua Trees. In fact, they are very healthy looking Joshua Trees; much healthier than the ones we've seen in Joshua Tree National Park or just about anywhere else.
Sooner than we'd like, we find ourselves at a gas station at an unknown exit on I-15 just east of Baker. Sigh - we're back in civilization and headed for Tecopa Hot Springs for the night.

Gas station on I-15

Giant thermometer at Baker

Desert just south of Tecopa

When we get to Tecopa Hot Springs, we discover it is now under a new owner since the last time we were here. He's making a good attempt at bringing the place it up to at least minimum building code. Don't worry, it's still very much a funky place with an interesting supply of desert rats camped out.

Home for the night

View from edge of campground