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It seemed like a good idea. Let’s take 40 friends and five support
vehicles and ride the ancient Indian trail known as the Mojave Trail.
Don’t forget, none of us had ever ridden this trail before. It looked
interesting on the map. It only takes two hours by car from Barstow to
Laughlin. How long could it take off road? The answer, two days and
two nights.
Like most trails and even today's superhighways, the Mojave Road was
first an Indian path, used as a trade route. The Mohave Indians, who
lived along the Colorado River, would travel to the coast, following
the path that guaranteed water. This trail is unique in that for most
of this 138 mile stretch it is in much the same condition as the
pioneers would have found it
We all gathered at noon on Friday at Peggy Sue’s restaurant outside of
Barstow. We will all take a group picture before we leave. Eliseo,
Jeff and I missed the picture; we went to Peggy Sue’s to get lunch
before we left. We knew the support truck wouldn’t find us at the
first stop. We sat at Peggy Sue’s for forty five minutes without
seeing a menu or waitress. We finally got up and walked to Jack in the
Box, where the line was out the door. We even order extra food, since
we know it will be a long ride. As we are walking out, Eliseo
remembers that extra food. Now which trash can did he empty his tray
into? There was only two to choose from. After digging through both of
them he finds the extra food and takes it with him.
We hit the road right on time and head towards Baker. First stop,
drinks and snacks are on the support truck, somewhere. We can’t find
him. We turn east and head for Afton Canyon. That hamburger in
Eliseo’s back pocket came in handy. First repair. Marty has a flat on
his quad. Good thing we had those support vehicles. The driver of the
Suzuki has a plug and pump for the tire. Then we found the water. All
of the quads, Rhino’s and dirt bikes cross with no problem. Then it’s
the support vehicles turn. The older Jeep blows up his engine, and the
Suzuki punctures his radiator. Down two support vehicles and it takes
two of the remaining three to tow them out. We hit the trail again.
Across the dry lake. Everyone kept asking, how much further. I just
kept hearing Don say “four more miles”. After twenty or thirty more
miles in the dark and seven falls from our fearless leader, Don, we
reach the campsite. Our support truck had been there so long, the
driver was too drunk to set up dinner.
We did have a good dinner of carne asada. Many of our riders retired
early. Our little campsite was safe from any wild life visiting during
the night. The snoring coming out of that area would have kept the
bears and anything else away.
The next morning started out well with a good breakfast and packing
up. A few minor repairs later for clogged air filters and many spark
plugs for the two stroke bikes and we were on our way. The Indians had
a great way to mark the trail. They placed stacks of stones about
three feet high on the north side of the trail. Someone should have
point those stacks out to Eliseo. We followed the stacks of stones on
our left for what seemed like a hundred miles. I actually rode
115, but three others put in well over 150. We all stopped to gather
up the stragglers when someone thought it was a good idea to convince
the female train engineer to flash us. We stopped at almost all major
turns. After one of these major turns, we noticed that three of our
riders weren’t with us. We waited and would see a cloud of dust coming
toward us. It was surprising how many others were out there riding the
trail. Since it was getting late and some of the riders appear to be
afraid of the dark, we decided to divide into two groups to find our
missing riders. I remember it stated many times that no rider would be
left behind. That appears to only be true during daylight hours. So,
the two groups formed, Robert and I in one group and everyone else in
the group that had to get to the hotel before dark. Robert and I took
off looking for Eliseo, Ludim and Jeff. After about a half hour
Eliseo calls Robert on his cell asking where we were. They figured out
they had gone too far when they hit Searchlight, Nevada. They headed
back towards us and found us 45 minutes later. As we headed back to
the trail the first of the shock mounts broke on our last remaining
support vehicle. Yes, the last support vehicle was now broken too.
That shock was removed; we were back on the road again, only to have
the other rear shock mount break a few miles further on. That was
removed and we were rolling again. The Jeep with no rear shocks and a
motorcycle on the rear rack merrily bounced down the trail. Now it
was dark and we had to find our way to the hotel. As we reached
Highway 95, there was no trail to follow anymore. We hit the highway
with two Rhinos, two quads and the Jeep. At one point I asked if there
were any cars behind me. The answer was no, just a semi. It wasn’t a
semi at all, it was a tour bus. It seems they weren’t happy going 39
miles an hour. They got by me, but could not get around Eliseo or
Robert.
We finally get to the Avi Resort. Everyone but me has checked in. All
the “No One Left Behind” group are showered and had dinner. I go to
check in and my ATM card has been blocked by my bank because I had
ordered a new one. I give them all but $6.00 of my cash. I finally get
cleaned up and realized I left my shoes in Robert’s truck. I finally
get to the banquet room. Awards were given out. I got the award for
the oldest participant. I was feeling pretty old until Ludim said I
still outride him.
After the Awards Banquet, we go to dinner. I ask the waitress if I can
charge dinner to my room. She tells me I can. Since I am starving,
where was that lunch stop anyway, I order prime rib. I sign my check
and as I am walking out with my $6.00, they stop me and tell me I
can’t charge it to my room since I paid cash. I ran out to catch
Eliseo to borrow some money.
Next morning, I check out early so I can get my deposit back so I can
have breakfast. Since I paid cash, I have to wait for someone from
housekeeping to inspect my room before they will give me back my
$100.00 deposit. Finally get it back and have breakfast. We get in
Robert’s truck to get gas. The gas station is out of diesel.
We are now on the road home. We pass Jeff with the broken Jeep
bouncing down the freeway. We are still laughing at him when the truck
quits running. Jeff didn’t stop. Robert calls Good Sam Club for a tow
truck. They will tow the truck, but not the trailer. Eliseo calls the
Auto Club. They will two both 100 miles for free. I check my GPS and
find it is 99.9 miles to Roberts’s house. Since there are five of us
in the truck, Robert arranges for someone to give the women a ride to
Roberts house. Robert says “send the old guy with the women”. Robert
and I aren’t friends anymore.
Ed Moore |
