Town of Nipton, Ca For Sale

 

We spent almost two weeks camped in the Mojave desert near Baker, Ca.  This allowed us to avoid the crowds and traffic during Thanksgiving weekend.  From our spot out in the desert, we could see miles of I-15 packed with sometimes slow moving bumper to bumper traffic, and a solid line of headlights and tail lights at night.  It was great to avoid all that.

 

In the town of Baker, midway between LA and Vegas, there are quite a number of E-V charging stations, where all the Teslas go to hang out!  Lucky all the vehicles on the road are not yet needing a charge, as there would have been a 20-30 mile line-up for a half hour charge.  But I guess it's a start! 

 Some days were rather windy in the desert, with some occasional blowing dust.  But there were some calm days as well, making an evening fire quite enjoyable.

On our last day there, a lone hummingbird finally showed up at the feeder.

 

Not much wildlife in the area to be seen in daylight, but there were several night time visitors!

With the long weekend behind us, Monday was the day to move out and find some new places to hang out.  We took I-15 to the east a bit, then turned off on 164 over to Searchlight, Nevada.  Along the way, we passed through the small town of Nipton, which is currently for sale - if anyone fancies owning a town!

 

Quick stop along the way, with some Joshua Trees for a backdrop.

We made a quick stop in Searchlight for some propane, then headed east towards Cottonwood Cove on Lake Mohave (Colorado river).  It's in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but in the past the entry gate has always been closed.  This time it was open, and the ranger told me that because Lake Mead was so low, they expected more visitors to this area - so they stayed open longer!

 

We didn't go down to Cottonwood Cove however, instead turning off down a six mile dusty, washboard road to Six Mile cove.  Last time we were there three years ago, the road in was horrible, but this time it was not nearly as bad.  Either that, or I'm getting used to it!
There were only two other rigs at the far end of the beach, so we were soon set up and enjoying the waterfront spot.  This rec site has three vault toilets (regularly cleaned), and two huge dumpsters.  Last time I was there, the dumpsters were wide open on top, no doubt resulting in a lot of trash blowing out, or getting scattered by wildlife.  Nice to see this time, they were all covered with secure lids.

Soon, Hailey was out exploring, and checking out the beach and the trees.

 

I took advantage of the trees as well, and hung up my hammock!

 

I slept in the hammock one night, and had some coyotes howling within about 40 yards, down by the water, then heard some rustling in the sand and spotted 4 raccoons walking right past my hammock.

 

Other times, it was just sit back and enjoy the view! (And listen to all the reports of storms, avalanches and road closures around home.  Dang, I miss that!)

 

Despite the dumpsters, there is still a serious garbage problem here, so each day my neighbour Max and I would be out with our long handled tongs picking up broken glass, bottle caps, rope, clothing, tinfoil, plastic bags, and yes, even used diapers and toilet paper in the trees.  I picked four bags of trash from the beach, parking area and bush in as many days.

I'm always surprised to see grasshoppers on rocky mountain tops, and deserts without a blade of grass for miles.  This one was too cool in the morning to fly, so I managed to get a closeup!

Thanks to friend and fellow traveler Ernie, they are  pallid-winged grasshopper (Trimerotropis pallidipennis), native to deserts of North America!

Mojave Desert, at last!

I didn't want to spend a lot more time at the hot springs near Bridgeport, Ca, as the amount of sunshine (therefore warmth) during the day was limited, and I also didn't want to deal with any weekenders that might show up.

To make sure I had enough fuel to avoid buying any at the prices in Bridgeport (below), I dumped in both of my 5 gallon cans of spare fuel, and we headed south on the 395.

Little consideration was given to stopping at all the hot springs near Mammoth Lakes for some of the same reasons as above.  As well, the ski hill there was now open for the season - which usually means that crowds of skiers descend on the pools every evening.  And lastly, several years ago, BLM decided to block off the spot near the springs where I often spent a few days camping and soaking.

So we carried on down to Bishop, where the Paiute Casino gas station provided us with fills of diesel, propane at reasonable prices, and water for free!

Daylight was showing signs of fading for the day as we approached Lone Pine, so it was an easy decision to overnight up in the Alabama Hills where we have spent a fair bit of time in the past.

The area was getting a lot of use and abuse from a variety of user groups, resulting in lots of trampling, dust, and most likely a lot of human waste spread around.  So, even at our last visit two seasons ago, BLM had started to rehab some areas, and re-planting some vegetation, and closing some questionable routes.  This has obviously been continuing.  Heading up into the hills from town, virtually all of the admittedly lousy, uneven, roadside spots are now signed as 'no camping' from the landlord, LA Water & Power, who own most of the valley.  Up on Movie road, most of the easily accessible (dusty) roadside spots are now marked as 'no camping'.  And, the entire area to the west, favoured by rock climbers in their vans, tents, VW buses, is now marked as 'day use only'!  I can imagine the climbers are not impressed.  Sure, they can still camp in the 'open' areas and commute to their favourite climbing routes, but ...

I headed for my own 'usual' private spot, but it was already occupied (dang it all), and I managed to add some new grooves to the truck box getting the 5th turned around on the narrow, uneven roads :-(.

There are still a lot of available spots for vans or truck campers, but much less so for bigger rigs, unless they like to crowd together in the area where the pavement ends?  I don't.  We spent a quiet night in a previously scouted area - generally on the way towards Tuttle Creek campground.  Again, the weather was not that inviting, so it was only an over-nighter.  We had warmer places in our sights!

 

Next day, after stocking up on fuel and food again in Barstow, we aimed for a spot in Mojave National Preserve where we have previously camped and enjoyed several times in the past.

 

Decent warmth - finally!  Time to kick back, relax, stop driving and enjoy the weather, the scenery, and the Mojave desert.  Hailey loves it too.  She was eager to get out, hunt for some kangaroo rats, and prove that 3-legged felines can still climb trees.

And enjoy the sunsets!

In fact, this is the spot we came to relax and rehab after having her leg amputated in Vegas two years ago.

My 'new' method of satellite dish stabilization has now been tested for two years, and I no longer bother bringing along any other type of support.  Usually, I clamp the plank under whichever corner jack of the rig has a southern exposure, but this time the front hitch got the nod.  Even in strong winds, that dish is not going to move - unless the rig tips over.  Simple, free, effective.

This area has a lot of potential for exploring old abandoned mines and structures, old trails, mountains, caves and dry lake beds.

No one else camped within view, or for miles, although one night a jeep and a tent appeared not 50 yards away despite a thousand square miles of other options.  But, they arrived in the dark, were quiet, and left first thing in the morning.

I had the new e-bike out - cruising for miles across the dry lake bed and trails.  I think it will prove very handy down here this year.

Hailey, doing her morning kitty-yoga routine.

California Coast to the Sierras

 As we headed southward, we enjoyed a few days just parked on the side of the highway overlooking the ocean along the northern California coast.

 

 But the weather was starting to get cloudier and cool, so it was time to continue on southward.

We stopped in Fort Bragg for some fuel, than took the Comptche Ukiah road from Mendocino to Ukiah.  While the road was well paved throughout, and quite an easy drive for the first half, the second part became very winding, and narrow with many switchbacks and steep grades, with few views, so won't be on my itinerary in the future.  From there, it was across the central valley to Williams, then down the I-5 to Sacramento before turning east again along highway 50 leading through the Sierras and Eldorado National Forest.  We were kind of aiming for a little roadside campsite at Sand Flat, where we have over nighted a couple of times in the past.  Unfortunately, a huge wildfire passed through the area in September.  The campground wasn't burned, but it was closed because it was an access point for an obviously massive salvage logging operation.  So we had to continue on in the dark, and eventually just parked in a viewpoint along highway 89, just south of Lake Tahoe.

It's a pretty scenic route from that point, with some 8000' passes and very light traffic.

 

We stopped here for about an hour to have a snack and let Hailey out for a look around.  I think only two vehicles went by during that time!

We picked up 395 going down east of the Sierras, and got to Bridgeport, where the fuel prices again topped anything I have seen!

             Nov 2021                                             Nov 2019

We got our 'usual' BLM camp spot near Travertine hot springs, and spent a few days soaking in the wonderful hot water in a variety of semi-natural pools.  It was the first time this trip to actually un-hook, put out the slides, and really relax.

 

Some nice sunrises from the pools.

Next - Lone Pine - Alabama Hills and further south.