Mojave National Preserve

October 15-17, 2016

The weather in Boron was tolerable but temps further along the highway looked uncomfortably warm.  I decided to spend most of the day in the semi-shade and head out towards the next rest stop in the evening.  The plan worked reasonably even though the temperature at the rest stop near Ludlow was actually hotter after dark than Boron was when we left before sunset.  Still, I managed to get some sleep and we left early the next morning to head for the hills.

Mojave National Preserve has enough elevation to escape the worst of the desert heat in many places.  I spent the rest of the day at a pullout in the preserve, wandering through the desert a bit before relaxing into the lack of pulsing heat.  It was glorious.  The desert is all kinds of amazing and this was the first of my "how have I spent my whole life not knowing how beautiful this is" epiphanies.

Yeah.  I used to think John Muir was kind of a nut job since he drank tree juice and all that, but no, I think I'm beginning to understand how the beauty of the land affected him and wanting to become more like a sequoia now seems like a more logical next step when seeing what the world has to offer.

I went next to the information center at Kelso and based on recommendations from a ranger I headed to Teutonia Peak for a hike.  It wasn't quite as flat as he seemed to remember but only the last 1/3 of a mile was more of a climb.  The path to the peak passes through the densest Joshua Tree forest on the planet.  The trees were named by early Mormon settlers who thought the trees (really yucca plants) looked like Joshua reaching up towards the heavens.

I want some of whatever those settlers were on.

Joshua Trees gave way to beavertail cactus when the ground started sloping upwards

and at the top there was only a scattering of cactus and other vegetation.  The real draw was the view.

Another excellent place to spend a night.

Off into the Desert

October 9-14, 2016

Fresno was fun not because it's Fresno, but because I was able to meet with an internet friend there.  Seeing someone in real life that you've interacted with online is a little like meeting a first-time friend that you've known for years.

After a day or so I headed down to Bakersfield and discovered that the small leak in the transmission had become something closer to a steady trickle.  Rather than add a quart of fluid every 100 miles I decided to get the leak checked out.  I googled the reviews for nearby shops and chose what seemed to be the best one.

It turned out well although he didn't have the space to lift my rv, he knew the 'sister garage' across town did.  He gave them a call and sent me off with directions.  When I got there I found that they were holding the lift open for me so they could do an inspection to figure out what was leaking.  The answer was "everything".  Fearing they would need to pull the transmission and knowing they were about two weeks out they called another shop they trusted and sent me over there.

Brandon was fabulous.  He pointed out all the places that Rigadoon was leaking and said it could be repaired without pulling the tranny - a one day fix.  I left, he ordered the parts and the next day they put new gaskets in.  Although hanging around the shop for two days wasn't much fun I did get to chat with another customer who told me about his time in the war and as a trucker.  Very cool.

A couple days later and I was on my way over the Tehachapi Mountains.  The one cool thing about this route is that it takes you near the Tehachapi Loop, and engineering marvel that allows trains to climb a steep grade by make a shallower loop around a hill.

Yep, more hills.  I was so worried about the transmission that I missed the exit to the truck stop where I was planning on spending the night.  No worries, right?  It's late in the day and I'll just stop at the next one - it should be cool enough by the time I get there....

So I don't why it didn't occur to me that the desert is going to be hot in October, I mean, it's October!  Leaves are falling, the jackets come out, it's autumn for heaven's sake.  Except that autumn in the Mojave Desert hovers happily around the 90 degree mark.

I am baking while driving into the sun and can only hope the cats have found a cool place to ride.  There is no shade and no way was I going to stop and sit in the sun to do anything so I soldiered on to Boron and the next truck stop.

As I was pulling in desperately hoping for shade I realized that those big semi trailers provide more than enough respite from the sun for a tiny little camper.  We tucked into a spot next to a big rig and settled down for one of the loudest nights yet.

Did you know that trucks run all night?  Yeah.  And they continuously come and go as well.  Butch was terrified but a long, loud night was much better than sitting at 100+ degrees for several hours.

At least we had a nice sunset.

What the Hell Was I Thinking?

October 6-8 or so, 2016

National Monuments are amazing places and a unique resource that allows everyone to experience the world as it was before modernization.  Modernization such as internet access.  The kind of access you want to have when you've put off getting a paper map and rely on your phone for directions.  Without this access you resort to finding the nearest big road and hoping you choose the right direction.

And you end up in unexpected places.  Like Susanville California.  There is nothing wrong with Susanville but the road to get there goes through farm and hilly territory with no services along the way.  And you don't find this out until you pass the closed gas station in Adin (population ~300) and see the sign that says 'next services 67 miles'.

Yeah.

So I look at my gas gauge and decide I can go just about 67 miles before I'm out of gas.  Shortly after this decision I discovered the "hilly" part of the journey.  Yeah, 67 miles on flatish land - I'm less confident about the mileage when going over mountains.

Happily I made it and discovered that I have about two gallons left when the tank reads "empty".  Still, not a risk I care to take often.

From Susanville I went towards Yuba and eventually ended up in Sonora.  This is where it gets really stupid.  From Sonora I drove towards Oakhurst along Highway 41 intending to go to Yosemite.

Highway 49 is an insane road full of serious ups and downs as it travels through the foothills of the Sierra Mountains.  Pretty as all get out but at 20 mph much of the way that was one of the longest driving days I have had.  There aren't really any places to stop since the towns along the way are tiny and wouldn't welcome an overnight camper even if I could find a parking lot big enough and level enough to stay in.  Beautiful drive but I think this was the beginning of the end for my transmission.

I got to Oakhurst, add fluid to the tranny and started up the hill into Yosemite.  After about a half hour of creeping upwards I decided that I wasn't having fun and regardless of how beautiful the park might be, I would be tense and unhappy the entire time I was going up and over mountains to get to the lovely places - if I even made it all the way to the gate.  I turned around and headed towards Fresno.  There were still a lot of hills in the way but they got smaller the farther I went towards the ocean.

OK.  Time for a new plan.

The Back Roads to More Volcanoes

October 2-4, 2016

When you leave Crater Lake through the southern exit and head towards Lava Beds National Monument you end up going through small towns with a lot of farmland.  At one point I thought maps was sending me down a farm driveway but Google came through and the funky little road took me to a slightly bigger road that went through Tulelake National Wildlife Refuge to Lava Beds.

Lava Beds is a supercool region created by half a million years of eruptions from a shield volcano.  There are swaths of black lava with little vegetation, fields of sage and hundreds of lava tube caves.  They are actively protecting the bats from White-Nose Syndrome and cavers should be prepared to offer up equipment for disinfecting.  None of my stuff has been in any caves so I headed in to explore.

The monument has no restrictions on overnight parking and I saw no reason to rush through my visit.  The advantage to staying put in a nice place is the spectacular sunrises and sunsets that just aren't the same when seen from a truck stop.

Truck stop also don't seem to have drawings and carvings from ancient peoples.  The pictographs are within caves, protected from the elements and although there is a lot of speculation about sacred areas vs convenient place to post some graffiti, seeing the drawings is an amazing experience.

                            

The petroglyphs are at a separate site on a rock that previously jutted out of the lake.  The lake has been mostly drained for farming and the images are protected behind fencing instead of the lake.

Tule Lake was also the site of the Modoc War in 1872 as the indigenous peoples tried to protect their homeland from the settlers.  They lost, but hiking through the fields dotted with lava formations, caves and hidden pits points out how the small band of resistors were able to hold out against the U.S. army for many months.