Leaving home for adventure was a little different this time. Looking back now, as we headed south out of the Seattle area, we were leaving behind what would turn out to be one of the early epicenters of the Covid-19 outbreak, just before more info on the severity would come to light and large-scale cancellations and closures would become part of our world's lives. This was a trip like no other - and not for the normal reasons.
Join us as we head south to spectacular hikes in the red rocks of St. George Utah. Follow along as we make a run for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before heading west into Nevada to explore Gold Butte National Monument and the Fire Wave at Valley of Fire State Park. And don't miss our exploration of the Bittersprings Backcountry Byway as we push deep into the Muddy Mountains.
Hikes, petroglyphs, and hidden tinajas - this was a trip we'll remember for a long time.
Mojave East (Mar 2020) #1 - Preface You'll note pretty quickly that this trip took place right near the beginning of what has become a worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. At the time of the trip, there had been approximately 600 cases and 24 deaths across the USA. 18 of those deaths were from the Life Care assisted…
Torrential Rain Sends us to Gold Butte | Mojave East #2 - The rain that had started just as we crawled into bed persisted throughout the night - a consistent patter on the tent, its rhythm never letting up. This was no surprise, really - near enough to town that we had cell service, we'd seen that several flash flood warnings were…
Falling Man, Kohta Circus, Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs | Mojave East #3 - While camping in a wash less than 12 hours after the national weather service issued a series of storm warnings for the area may seem foolish to any normal person, it actually turned out to be one of our most pleasant nights of the trip. Of course, I was reasonably…
From Valley of Fire to a Flooding Buffington Pockets | Mojave East #4 - As you may recall, we'd just cancelled our flight home due to the unknowns of Covid-19, but were still in exploration mode as we entered the Valley of Fire State Park in southeastern Nevada. Our trip to the Valley of Fire was somewhat opportunistic to say the least. A year…
Hidden Valley's Secret Tinaja | Mojave East #5 - Even with earplugs, sleep was hard to come by with 20mph winds buffeting the tent and shaking the truck. That meant that as the light outside started to change, we were both already awake and it was no trouble at all to hop out of the tent to capture what…
Rig Review - Mojave East - What worked and what didn't? - March 17, 2020 Back from the eastern Mojave, it's time for another look at how the truck performed over the course of the last 5 day's adventures. If you haven't read those - and want to - go right ahead, I'll wait. Removed from previous Rig Reviews The…