The first is to the Mojave National Preserve, a huge desert area that we have been to many times. The beauty of this place is in large part due to the fact that nobody goes there. It is not like a National Park where there are places where people can park, walk 5 minutes, take photos, and then leave. There are no "photo spots" there. There are no lodges or motels or hotels. There is a (very nice) Visitor's Center and campground. That's it. Other than that, you are on your own.
Consequently, no one ever says "Hey! Let's go to the Mojave National Preserve!"
...well, except us.
and, in fact, this is where we have asked our children to mix our ashes together and spread them after we die. We want to walk through eternity in the Mojave Desert. It makes us very happy to think this way.
As we said, we have been there many times in our "Turtle" (our Ford 350 Dually with a Lance Camper). Although it can get to many remote places, and places where campers usually cannot access, there have been many roads that we couldn't explore because that rig is too large, wide, and heavy.
The Turtle:
But now we have the "Rat" and the "Quail" (our Toyota 4Runner and our off-road Teardrop). Now we can go anywhere. And we will.
The Rat and the Quail:
The second place we are going this spring is to Death Valley National Park. Once again, we have been there many times in our Turtle, camping in dispersed areas that are not accessible by most vehicles or RVs. However, we could tell that as well as our Turtle can get us into remote areas, it is limited by its size, length, width, and weight. Last April we took our 4Runner to the back areas of Death Valley and loved it.
That trip was cut short by notification that our home had sustained wind damage. So this year we will be planning on being in the back areas for about two weeks. We will take the Rat (4Runner) and the Quail (off-road Teardrop). One of the areas we hope so much to see is the Saline Valley, an area that even our rugged 350 Ford couldn't get us to, and a place that we have looked at longingly for several years.
The final trip this spring will be back to the Grand Canyon, a trip that was cut short last fall because a windstorm destroyed our tent and equipment. Now, though, we have the Quail, which is built for just this kind of thing. We will, once again, hike the rim of the Grand Canyon in areas that can only be accessed by rugged vehicles like ours.
Because we have only taken one one-night trip in the Quail, we decided to take a "dry run" in it this coming week. We are packing as if we are going to one of these longer trips, but are actually only going about an hour from home. We will learn a lot, and that's the goal. (and, in fact, we anticipate having a lot of fun camping in a place where we anticipate almost no one else being, and taking many fun hikes).
We make lists, review them. We have to plan food that can be easily prepared over a propane stove. We need all of our medicines. In Death Valley we will not have any place to restock water, so need about 35 gallons of water for two weeks. For our practice run, today we bought several gallons of water in the size of container that fits well into the plastic containers we will use on our long camping trips. While checking out at the grocery store, the woman behind us asked, curiously and good-naturedly, "Was there a sale on water?"
It is exciting to be planning for these adventures. We anticipate finding places on them where we will perhaps not see a single soul for several days. Just us, the desert mountains, the stars, the coyotes serenading us at night, interesting and beautiful hikes, and peace.
Below are photos that show our previous camping spots in the Mojave National Preserve, Death Valley National Park, and the Grand Canyon:
We are not easy to see in some of these photos, so look hard. We are in all of them. In the Rat/Quail this spring we will be even more difficult too spot!!!
Copper Cove, Mojave National Preserve:
Death Valley National Park:
The Grand Canyon:
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