Staying a Little Longer in Jawbone Canyon OHV Area

 Well, after a somewhat rest last night with OHVs and their bright light bars shining their lights as they careened around in the dark, too loud explosions around midnight, and just crowded conditions I decided to change plans again. 

Instead of leaving immediately for Death Valley, I took the CRV and did a recon off the actual Jawbone Canyon road which is paved and which I missed due to faulty map recon. I took it further into the canyon and found several sites that were much quieter and no people seemingly around for quite a distance sometimes. 

Turns out my faulty map recon worked in my favor aside from the fact the access road I use was quite sandy. The road was marked closed due to flooding and it would have dissuaded me from even trying this area!

Though it remains blocked by signs, theres mini trucks and camping rigs past the signs over just a few miles, so I think I'm okay.  In fact, during the recon, I passed the deputy sheriff doing his rounds and we waved at each other.

After an hour of doing this I finally decided to return to the RV, finish breaking camp and hooking the CRV backup to go back to one of the sites I found. 

Being Sunday the area is still seeing evidence of people coming in for the day trailering their OHVs and motorcycles; I'm taking a chance and hoping that by this afternoon things will have quiet the down considerably and perhaps stay not only the night but a day more here in this area as it is quite nice in a way.

Late afternoon, have to relaxing all day at the new campsite, I drove the CRV closer to the highway to take pictures of the aqueduct pipeline used by the LADWP to funnel water to LA. 

It must have been pretty interesting laying this pipe across the tops of the hills. 

Tonight's sunset verified I made a good choice in staying here longer.

Altitude: 2562 ft.

Back on the Road

 I spent the last four days staying with my brother Carlos and doing day visits to my parents.  They're getting on in age and my guilt levels are increasing more frequently.

The folks are going Ok for being in their late to mid 80s.  I'm glad I came but I'm also glad to be back on the road.

The above is my brother and I enjoying some Bibimbap at a Korean joint on my last evening there.

Shortly after 8 AM, caffeinated, I was driving out of the overcrowded Bay Area on the 101, eventually turning onto I5 near Gilroy.

The rest of the day was smooth interstate driving towards Mojave once past Bakersfield.

About 18 miles from Mojave, I drove into the Jawbone Canyon OHV area as it was almost 3:30pm.  It was time to setup camp for the night and I was tired.

I spent the next hour or so locating a large flattish area where several other RVs and trucks hauling OHV trailers were parked.  Setting up camp took a bit as it wasn't quite flat and I didn't want to be close to the main RV grouping.  I'm only staying one night so being in a crowded area is a burden to bear.

Bonus, a group of ass wipes camping in the main grouping of RVs was thoughtfully sharing their musical preferences with everyone else in the area.

Like I said, only for one night and I have my noise cancelling headphones on as I type this, listening to an audiobook.  I don't hear the inconsiderate bastards.

I hope to find a nice spot in "the pads" on the eastern side of Death Valley.  Then a few days exploring the valley again.  Last time I was there, in 2018, I was with Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol.

Sunday, October 19 update:

Change in plans, staying in the area a bit longer....more in next post.

Now Boondocking in the Lahontan State Recreation Area

Sunday, October 11

I woke up to outside temperatures of 30° f, a bit chilly. Still with the heater running it was just fine. I rapidly broke down camp and was on the road by 7:38, by 14:30 I was at the Lahontan state recreation area and have figured out how to pay for a site, I think. 

It says $20 per night for camping and entrance fee for designated campsites, however how do you classify primitive beachside camping? I went ahead and paid for 2 days what the hell. 

The temperature here is much warmer at 69° according to the thermometer, with a low of only 44°! 

Nice and sunny as you can see, and basically no wind just a gentle breeze once in awhile. 

Altitude: 4150 ft.

Monday, September 13

I woke up to cloudy skies and they would turn out to be pretty much gray and slightly chilly.  There's apparently some winter storm warnings being issued for the West Sierra Nevada region.

I did take Yagi, my TW200, out for a little ride just to check things out near me. 

I had spotted a small herd of wild horses in the distance, so I returned towards camp to get closer to them for this video: 

A view of camp from the access road:

Not much else happened, I did spot and prepped to help some guy get unstuck from the sandy beach across the lake from me; however by the time I got there the Park's representative had shown up to tow him out.

I'll be heading into California tomorrow, assuming the winter storm doesn't shut down I-80.

A Drive to the Ghost Town of Hamilton

A drearily cloudy, windy and chilly day today with infrequent sightings of the Sun.

In the afternoon I took the Honda CRV out and decided to drive the 10 mi or so along Forest Road 401 to the ghost town of Hamilton. 

The Forest Road was in pretty good condition so traveling was fine, though the weather looked worse and worse as I approached the town's location. 

It started raining/hailing soon after I got there but I got these pics before I made it out of there just in case the road conditions got bad. 

Yeah the big shed building isn't of the same era.  Not sure what it was put up, perhaps later mining efforts?

As you can see I didn't spend a lot of time in the town, as I was leaving to get ahead of the worsening weather. 

Some more info:  Wikipedia 

Made it back to the campsite with no issues, though I did get hailed on as I drove along. I'm glad I did not take the TW! 

Spent the rest of the afternoon inside the RV out of the steadily cooling weather. It's supposed to get to 32° tonight as a low. I'll be moving out tomorrow towards the Fallon, Nevada area.  Not finding Nevada very scenic in terms of leading me to spend more time in between stops.

I'll probably be in the SF Bay area Tuesday evening.