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Desert, Jeeps, Rock-Hounding

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  • Desert, Jeeps, Rock-Hounding

    With Gail having a week-off for vacation time and the season getting warmer every week it's time for one more trip to the desert before the temps hit 100-plus. We loaded up our CraigsList camper acquired a little while back for just this purpose and brought the Cherokee on a trailer along with firewood, awning and the rest of it. With the Cummins diesel, NV4500 manual and 4.10 Dana 80 locker rear the daily-driver Dodge will tow about anything and not flinch but being all stock the goings are a little slow sometimes. The Jeep's a daily-driver too of-course.
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    East from San Diego, around the south end of the Salton Sea then north near the AZ border, headed for the area west of tiny Palo Verde CA. See: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4566...14.7896652,11z We'll be in there in the center where it looks on the map like there's nothing at all.

    Curves in the desert highways are sometimes up-and-down as well as sideways. The very occasional flash floods form the terrain and the highway follows.
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    The Glamis sand dunes are nearly vacant now after Easter. It's just too hot. Still there were a few hardcores out there.
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    An hour-or-so beyond the dunes we met up with a small group we've camped with in the past who like to go out rock-hounding and looking over old mine sites, etc. Not hard-core four-wheeling or rock crawling but still some difficult spots and an adventure none-the-less. There is not another person between us and the mountains in the distance, or the same on either side or behind us. Our advantage for heading out this late in the year is having possibly hundreds of square miles to ourselves. Of-course that means having food, water, tools and spare parts along 'cause whatever you break you'll be dealing with yourself.

    Here we ride along the ridges with cactus, bugs and lizards being pretty-much the only thing growing.
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    Guide books and personal knowledge of the most experienced guy in the group brought us to a number of abandoned mine sites. This one below was said to be for perlite, used in plaster and morter, insulation and ceiling tile. Hard-to-say how well that paid, having to crawl this far up in the hills to dig it out. There were odds-and-ends of old equipment around, but the entrance was blasted shut as is typical once a facility closes down. That stock '10 Jeep slid around and scraped a bit but made it through...the very-short front and rear overhangs help a bunch to make it across gullies and washes.
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    Poking around a bit found us a number of interesting rocks, including these geodes. Ugly little round things, yeah, but hit at 'em with a hammer...
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    ...you never know exactly what you'll find inside. These were pretty nice with crystal-lined open areas.
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    I also found a good chunk of what may be petrified wood (not pictured), somebody with more knowledge than I is going to have to make that determination.

    This is "the road". It must have been in better shape than this when the mine was going. Rocks, rocks, bounce, bounce, along with the occasional gully crossing. Just pick your way through slowly and maybe have some cold drinks handy.
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    Another mine for different material. This is a geologically-interesting area no matter what they were after, all rocks below were found within a few feet of each other. The green stuff was as I understand the pay-dirt here, there was plenty more lying around.
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    I think we can still save it...what about you? Heavy items such as engines and frames were hauled out for scrap long ago, sheet metal was apparently not worth the trouble. The yellow item in front was a '50s International cab.
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    What-the-heck this, an old fiberglass sailboat hull covered with heavy steel tube is, would be anybody's guess. I thought perhaps some-sort military training device.
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    The red Jeep above is a mild build, 33" tires, a little lift and ARB air-lockers, front and rear. That gets him across most of what's out here.

    Having gone down into a valley via ridges, we head back up through a canyon. This got tougher and tougher the higher we went but slow going and a little extra effort at certain obstacles did it. Figure about an hour from here to the top.
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    Everywhere you go in the more open areas you see this; weird patterns across the terrain, like construction equipment did it (or maybe aliens, this is the desert after all). In this photo the light colored gravel in the foreground is flash-flood material, 50-100 feet beyond are rocks darkened with what's called "desert varnish", where clay dust blows across the land and rocks over time and then materials such as iron and manganese oxides adhere. This process may take from 50 years to thousands to occur and simply turning an undisturbed rock over causes a color change that may last for decades. Driving over it with a truck or off-road vehicle can do it, but these marks are from much heavier vehicles.
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    Who did it here? Answer: These guys...that's Patton's army training to go to North Africa in (yes) World-War II. This was once an important Army training area, and tracks made in the very-early 1940s, 75 years ago, still show clearly.
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    For more information, including contemporary photos of tanks in use compared with current photos which still show individual track marks, see the source of the above picture: http://www.deserttrainingcenter.com/9tharmored.html

    Here's more, virtually every flat area near a roadway was practice ground for taking that guy Rommel out. The desert preserves, these tracks may last for centuries.
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    There was no having to listen to neighbor's radios, but the sound of military aircraft and ordinance going off in distant training areas still used wasn't uncommon. At one point, two V-22 Ospreys flew over low; one going straight and the other banking along the hillsides so we could see the top of his wings. No time to get out the camera for that, unfortunately, but what a sight. American military machinery is still bad-ass.
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    We spent two-and-a-half days on the trails and stayed out three nights, most of the group in tents, having the campground and all surrounding area all to ourselves fee-free courtesy the U.S. Dept. of the Interior and the BLM. A sweet way to close down the winter desert season.

    -Loren
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  • #2
    Looks like fun!

    I hauled a 1995 Cherokee home Wednesday!

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    Life is short. Be a do'er and not a shoulda done'er.
    1969 Galaxie 500 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...ild-it-s-alive
    1998 Mustang GT https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...60-and-a-turbo
    1983 Mustang GT 545/552/302/Turbo302/552 http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...485-bbr-s-83gt
    1973 F-250 BBF Turbo Truck http://www.bangshift.com/forum/forum...uck-conversion
    1986 Ford Ranger EFI 545/C6 https://bangshift.com/forum/forum/ba...tooth-and-nail

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    • #3
      Like those rocks!

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      • #4
        Your desert trips are always fascinating! Those geodes are huge! First James gets me nostalgic for my old jeep and now this too, ahh!

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        Escaped on a technicality.

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        • #5
          More photos, from Gail; caption above pic. She's got the good camera now (while I'm still using my ten-year-old point-and-shoot).


          Golden Eagle tending young (heads of both barely seen at center), nest built in power pole. A rare sight...we kept our distance and used the long lens.
          Edit: There is some question now over what-type bird that actually is, possibly not eagle. Red-tail hawk? If so it's the biggest one I've ever seen. Click image for larger version

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          Yours truly looking the boat-thing over. Some bizarre graffiti on this one. Click image for larger version

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          Climbing a ridge heading out of the valley. Dick and Ellen are leading, Ann in the black is a first-timer w/ a brand new rig and adult son along in passenger seat, then Ron with Bentley-the-dog and finally us. Ann proved to be an excellent driver, but had the windows up and the A/C on the whole time, lol. Click image for larger version

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          Chuckwalla Mountains Click image for larger version

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          Namesake lizard Click image for larger version

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          View south Click image for larger version

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          Rock outcropping near a mine, couldn't say what-type rock that is. Click image for larger version

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          -Loren
          Attached Files
          Last edited by Loren; April 24, 2017, 04:33 AM.
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          • #6
            Great pics . One of these days I'll have my own 4x4 again. ( wifey has a 04 trailblazer daily driver )
            Previously HoosierL98GTA

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            • #7
              amazing place.
              that boat thing looks like a mold...to build boats.

              Previously boxer3main
              the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.

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              • #8
                Great trip report and amazing pics .. thanks for sharing with us !

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                • #9
                  I wonder of Barry has the right idea on the boat mold.

                  Love looking at your desert pics but if that has to involve camping I'll be content to just look at the pics (I HATE camping!).

                  I saw a camel on the Pet Talk TV show last night. One of Gail's sister's? I think the show is taped in CA so it seems like high probability.

                  Dan

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                  • #10
                    my grandpa lived in Tecopa Hot Springs and had a place "to get away from people" at Quartzite, Arizona - I never disliked the rock-hounding he did - can't say I thought it was 'fun', my brother liked it too.... and the older I get the more interested I get in it. That entire area has such cool stuff. I'm thinking this year at the Overland Rally doing a goldpanning demonstration. There was a lot of interest last year, maybe even more so then the 4 wheeling.... dunno. I knew I was starting to come around to rockhounding when I was looking at the sand in the creek behind our house and thinking "there's gold in there - the sand is the right coloration"....
                    Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                    • #11
                      Mom liked to rock-hound a little and encouraged it on the vacation/road trips we would take in the Southwest...aside from that it just seems to me, here we live on this earth that's getting so built-over, it's good to get away and engage it in it's original form when you can, however that might be done. For a gearhead/car nut, taking advantage of the deal where you've gotten to know your vehicles up-down-over, can modify to most any need and fix most anything that fails and have the resultant ability to be more self-sufficient than usual, heading out in a 4x4 is a great way to do it and there is a long way out to go if you choose so. Of-couse, you SBG already know all that. Besides trees and lakes etc., getting down on the terrain and looking into what's under it and imagining the history is fun, educational/soul-soothing, and doesn't have to cost much. This can be done hiking or on a mountain bike as well but besides my getting a little older/tireder, if I want my wife to come with me it's going to have to be in something with chairs and a roof. And these trips tend to be her idea anyway...

                      I am still a muscle-car guy first, but having fun this way also. The sailboat is kinda the same thing but jeez the other people out there are a pain (avoiding collision with fools/drunks in the bays is among the issues) and I'm a long way in skill and equipment from being able get out beyond all that.


                      Originally posted by DanStokes View Post
                      I wonder of Barry has the right idea on the boat mold
                      It looks like a mold but doesn't have the split in the middle, and peering inside there's remains of a rudimentary interior. Also the deck cap is sitting there but dis-attached and held off with blocks of wood for whatever reason.

                      I saw a camel on the Pet Talk TV show last night. One of Gail's sister's? I think the show is taped in CA so it seems like high probability.
                      I asked but didn't get an answer, they are out-of-town right now. I know NG has been there in the past. They are doing good business these days giving tours that are about half educational and half entertainment, both (sis and husband) love getting up in front of a crowd and are pretty skilled at it. Our youngest daughter has been there working and learning the ropes... Also there is the county fair circuit which is how Nancy and Gil met in the first place. Cameldairy.com for anyone wondering what-the-heck we're talking about.

                      We (the four of us) went out for the day in the Chero a few weeks ago, it was their first time in a four-wheel-drive going up/down serious trails, they loved it although freaking out a little at times. Happily when the car did decide to break (track bar) it was a few days afterward.
                      ...

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                      • #12
                        I got into 4 wheeling because it was so not like the hot rod culture. I like fast cars, I like driving fast and I like performance driving - but it seems like everyone has something to prove and that's just not something I'm interested in being around. 4 wheeling has gotten that way - but still, you're not limited to one or two tracks so it's a lot easier to get away from the idiots who want an audience.
                        Doing it all wrong since 1966

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                        • #13
                          Wow that looks like fun! I miss my
                          4-door Rubicon really bad, that's the kinda thing I would have loved to do but being in the mud capital you get tired of just plowing thru mud. That looked like a cool adventure. Glad you have the opportunity to enjoy it
                          Pt 2010, Long Haul 2011,12,13,14,15,16,17, 18, 19, 23
                          If you wait, all that happens is that you get older

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                          • #14
                            awesome pics Loren!

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                            • #15
                              EPIC thread Loren, thanks for sharing! It feels like we went for the bouncy ride ourselves. So very cool.
                              Charter member of the Turd Nuggets

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