President's Day visit to Joshua Tree NP Part I

Over the President's day weekend Bundu Trek journeyed to Joshua Tree National Park to do a quick two day tour of the park.  We accompanied two other rigs with crews, stayed in Yucca Valley and traveled to the park each day.

The weather was cool and sunny, very pleasant.  The park itself was busy but not crowded.  It was also free in honor of President's day!

JTNP does have some challenging off road designated trails but for the most part everything we traveled on could have been done in a high clearance 2WD vehicle or even a standard automobile.  Many paved roads exist in the park.

We had a great time and hope to go back again sometime soon.

Our lunch spot in Yucca Valley.  Great burgers and our waitress was from the Pittsburgh area, and added bonus for us!

This is why it is called Joshua Tree National Park.  We bought a Joshua Tree seedling at a shop in town.  We think it is still alive although it is hard to tell since it looks like a weed.

The co-owner of Bundu Trek

We visited the Desert Queen ranch on the first day.  This point of interest requires advance reservations and a cost of $5 per visitor.  Access to the area is controlled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keys_Desert_Queen_Ranch

Look carefully...the ranch building can just bee seen in this image.

Walking from the parking area to the ranch.

Our very nice and patient park ranger who led the tour. 

The ranch area is in a state of 'arrested decay'.  Note the WW2 M3 scout car chassis in the picture.  The armored body was cut off and the chassis used for less militaristic purposes

The Keys ranch house

Anyone home?  

Another stuck drill bit!  This is about the fourth or so stuck rock bits that I have come across in the desert.  I guess once it is in, it isn't coming out.

A trusty Willys Jeep.

A chain drive Mack truck with solid tires.  My father drove one like this in the 30s when he worked for his brother in law.  This one still had remnents of the San Bernardino County Public Works wording on the doors.  The story is that the ranch owner found it in the desert buried to the frame, dug it out and drove it home.  I guess the county never went looking for it.

A pleasant place on the day when we were there.  I imagine in August the temperature will be a bit higher.

The school house on the property.

This house was down the street from our hotel.  We walked the neighborhood in the evening and thought that this place looked somewhat middle earth.

WECSOG Part II

http://citizengrouch.blogspot.com/2015/07/wecsog-part-ii.html

A discussion of my latest efforts in the school of Wiley E. Coyote School of Gunsmithing.

Lockwood Valley trip

Two weekends ago Bundu Trek toured Lockwood valley, near Frazier Park California.  The weather was sunny and cool, perfect for a day trip.  We stopped just outside of Frazier Park to visit the Ridge Route museum.  Unfortunately the museum is not open on the weekend or at least not the weekend that we were there, but there are plenty of things to see outside of the museum on display.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_Route

http://rrchs.org/museum.html

We have driven sections of the remaining Ridge Route from Castaic to Gorman.  It twists and turns and circles and can make you dizzy if you aren't careful!

This is a road flare from prehistoric times - such as my childhood.  I  remember these around road construction sites with their small flame burning to warn motorists.  No one else in the group had ever seen one before and were stumped as to what it was until I enlightened them.

Pump the fuel up into the bowl and then let gravity feed it into your vehicle.  One of our group said that they bought gas from a pump like this once.

Who knew that this is an historical artifact?  I have two of them hanging in my garage and I used them for desert trips pre A/C Jeep days.  The water does stay cool but tastes a bit dusty when left hanging on the front of the vehicle.

This cabin dates from the 1850s.  I think it is a tesseract portal to the fourth dimension.  Look how small on the outside...

...and spacious on the inside!  How else to explain?

A horse drawn concrete mixer used in the construction of the Ridge Route.

Airship support at the large ranger station on Lockwood Valley road.  We chatted up the crew at the station.  Very nice young men and very supportive of  offroad users of the forest.

We took an easy trail of the of the main road.  The forest service map we had was useless as it did not match the marked trail at all.

We climbed this steep hill and then the lead vehicle stopped at the top.  Time to recce a bit.

Looking back up from the other side of the hill.  The crossing at the bottom was washed out and the banks of the creek were too high to try without the risk of burying the nose of the lead Jeep in the bank.  The downslope was very loose and crumbly which would make extraction of the Jeep difficult.  Very difficult actually.  We exercised common sense and turned around and had lunch.

Headed back out after another great trip!

Happy Birthday to the WW2 Willys Jeep

The contract for prototype Jeeps was issued in November of 1940.  Happy birthday to the Willys MA jeep!

Big Bear Labor Day Weekend Trip

Bundu Trek was in the Big Bear CA area on Labor Day weekend and took an easy one day trip on one of the forest service roads accessible to the public.  Most of the trip could easily be done in a moderate ground clearance vehicle in two wheel drive but a side trip to a mining claim definitely required low range 4WD and even a locked rear differential at one point.

As always, we traveled with a minimum of two vehicles.  A solo vehicle trip is not a good idea as a simple mechanical issue could leave you stranded for hours until another off roader came along.

Our lunch spot before the trail started dropping in altitude and the forest gave way to open brush.

A closed road leading from our lunch spot.  It looks inviting for a stroll someday.

The area burned sometime in the last five years or so but it is coming back to life.

Trees gave way to brush and very interesting boulders.

Kind of other-wordly looking!

How that boulder ended up there would have been an interesting thing to see!

Big Bear's version of the Easter Island totems?

We spied a chimney in the distance but couldn't reach it from the trail without doing some brushbusting on foot.  Neither of us was dressed for pushing through the brush, nor did we have sticks to warn rattlers that we were coming so we tried another trail that seemed to parallel the location of the chimney.  We hoped to walk in through a less brushy area.

I set off on foot to find the homestead site.  Look closely in the middle ground and you will see the vehicles and my expedition partner.

From this location a marksman could command the area for miles!  Good thing there are no armed bandits skulking here...

The area burned out even more so than our lunch spot but even here the trees are making a comeback.  I never did make it to the chimney as I found another ridge ahead of me after climbing the ridge I was standing on.  My partner was anxious to move on so I headed back.

Driving up to mine site.  Loose, slippery rock and steep inclines

Still climbing!

Almost to the mine

My partner at the end of the road.

Rough Rider parked below

Looking down towards the trail with the chimney and rock face.  A long way off!

It looks like this mining operation was a heart-breaker.  Two twisted and broken drill bits were stuck in the rock.

I'd hate have have been holding on to the drill when this got twisted like this.  Hope the operator wasn't hurt.

Broken bit #2

Looking down from the rock cracking site.

Time to start back down!