Mojave Road—East
MVP:
Ramona (2019 Chevy Colorado)—I drove from around 7:30AM until 5:30PM (about 8 hrs of driving and 2 hrs of hiking and lunch) and Ramona handled that without any issues. Even by the end of the day, the engine, suspension... everything about Ramona felt great.
Camp Review:
I found a large campsite near the Cinder Cone Lava Beds that was empty.
It could easily fit 5+ cars and had a fire ring, which I heard from the ranger to mean that it’s an official dispersed camping spot.
It was clean and surprisingly level, which I always appreciate.
Because there is no near by rock formation or trees, wind is a concern, but thankfully, it was a calm night.
What I Learned:
Ramona is so comfy that after two straight days of all-day driving, my body feels totally fine. Great even. If everything goes to plan, I have about 12 hours of driving planned for tomorrow, so we’ll see how I feel at the end of it.
I had always worried about night off roading, but I did almost an hour of that today, and it wasn’t bad at all. My LED-upgraded high beams lent more than enough light for me to navigate the Mojave Road.
While I was airing down my tires, I learned that my tires were at 50+ psi (max is 44 psi)! This means that my tire inflator’s reading was off by ~10 psi!
Media Consumed:
Crime and Punishment—finished!
What Happened?
I woke up and drove to the junction of Highway 95 and the Mojave Road. I air downed my tires to about 25psi and I then started the drive on the Mojave Road!
My first stop was at Fort Piute, which I found to be pretty boring. The road to the fort was in poor condition and dare I say, it wasn’t worth the extra drive. But I could scarcely focus on that though, as the drive to the Hole in the Wall Visitor Center was so fun! It was really fun because the road was perfect for high speed desert driving. I found myself safely driving 40+ mph and I had a blast.
At the visitor center, I was disappointed to find that they were not selling any t-shirts, but I did get to pick up the official park map, which is always nice.
Because I was making such good time, I decided to drive to Teutonia Peak. Right before I reached the trailhead, I stopped by the World War 1 memorial and ate a delicious lunch (ramen). I then hiked Teutonia Peak.
After the hike, I realized that because of my shenanigans I was now behind schedule. I quickly got back on to the Mojave Road and made excellent progress chasing the sunset. I almost stopped at Mojave Camp, located near an impressive mountain made with rocks—I had found a prime camping spot. I would have stopped there, but I wanted to drive a little past sunset, so I kept driving. After sunset, I found a few turnouts off the Mojave Road that could have served as a camping spot, but I kept on and found a great site with an official fire ring that I had all to myself.
I cooked myself a well-earned dinner, washed up, and retired to my tent.