Sept 7 and 8th Joshua Tree National Park

I thought it a good idea to re-post this in a new thread as this trip was originally planned for Labor Day. Link to other thread here

The plan is to spend two days exploring, and if for some reason we cover most of it in one day (I doubt it) we can spend Sunday either doing Mojave, or cruise back to Borrego Springs via Bradshaw trail, Salton Sea, Ocotillo etc

So this is what we have so far:

Saturday Sept 7, 2013

Since folks may be traveling from both OC, LA and SD I thought a good spot to meet would be a place to fuel up - Breakfast etc. Beaumont and Banning are right after the 60 and 10 merge after the pass between Gorgonio and San Jacinto Mtns.

Google liked a place called:

Patsy's Country Kitchen
300 S Highland Springs Ave
Banning, CA 92220

So barring any better suggestions, lets meet up there and be ready to leave by 8:30. So if you want to eat get there early enough...

Now if we need to drop wives, significant others at hotel, please let me know now as we can easily change plans.

From there it is an hour and a half to the trail head in Joshua Tree National Park. (Geology Tour Road and Park Blvd) I don't have any trail maps loaded in my Lowrance Nav, but have mapped a 4 WD route using a Harrison Topo map. I will be making a Lowrance Trail as we go if there is a next time...

Please let me know if you are coming for one or both days, If you have a VHF radio, we will also likely have to use hand held radios as My friend doesn't have a vhf.

Some of the trails I would like to explore are marked as primitive access, so having more than one spare, tools and the usual assortment of recovery and E-gear will be helpful. Extra Gas for the Scabs would be a good idea, and always lots of water.

Snacks and Lunches for both days would be a good idea, although it is likely that we may find some places not far off the beaten path. I plan on eating at restaurants for breakfast and dinner.

I was checking out some places to stay at 29 Palms which is 12 miles away from the park.

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Twentynine Palms 2.5 stars
6333 Encelia Avenue, Twentynine Palms, CA, 92277 United States ‎1-855-239-9483‎ $84 and got (4.8) top reviews from Hotels.com

Or a little further away (24 miles) and if any wives will be hanging out a much better choice:
Desert Princess Palm Springs Golf Resort 3.5 stars
67967 Vista Chino, Cathedral City, CA, 92234 United States ‎1-866-539-0036‎ $76.00 got 3.7 review although it is ranked as a 3.5 star so it should be nicer. Great price right now on line.

So if you are coming along...
1. Let me know - PM me, include given name, cell phone
2. Radio?
3. Wives, sig others needing to be dropped off?
4. What days you will be joining us and preference on Lodging
5. Suggestions - hey I am totally open, never been there....
6. Am I missing anything?

I'm in for Saturday.

PM coming now

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Have you ever been up there? Last weekend the wife and I went up Berdoo Canyon Road from Dillon Road. It is a very challenging road in the Raptor as some sections can get narrow but, very do-able, very scenic, and very fun. Four wheel drive is a must but no winching required. As an added bonus there is no gate, so you can get into and enjoy the park without paying. Once in the park, you are right at a one way only road. I'm sure you can do it in a Honda Civic, but because its one way only it is very fast and very fun.

I haven't done many areas in the park but I saw a guy and his wife doing Geology Tour Road on his bicycle. I don't know about Park Blvd.

I'm not sure if I can make it, but I would recommend the "back way" in.

More Details

figjamy said:

Have you ever been up there? NO Last weekend the wife and I went up Berdoo Canyon Road from Dillon Road. It is a very challenging road in the Raptor as some sections can get narrow but, very do-able, very scenic, and very fun. Four wheel drive is a must but no winching required. As an added bonus there is no gate, so you can get into and enjoy the park without paying. Once in the park, you are right at a one way only road.(Interesting, my Map makes no such distintion, but it does indicate one way on other roads...) I'm sure you can do it in a Honda Civic, but because its one way only it is very fast and very fun.

I haven't done many areas in the park but I saw a guy and his wife doing Geology Tour Road on his bicycle. I don't know about Park Blvd.

I'm not sure if I can make it, but I would recommend the "back way" in.

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Very good points, in fact John Palmero has spent quite a bit of time in the area and made similar suggestions. He has offered to play Tour Guide! It is now looking we will take your suggestion and start at the Berdoo Canyon off Dillon Road, loop south through Thermal Canyon, then north up Pinkham Wash/Canyon road, and chose a route to the heart of the Park for some tourist type stuff, then exit the park thru main entrance and re-enter Gold Crown road off the 62. Then finish the other half of the park to complete the day.

John also suggested we stay in Palm Desert along with several great suggested places to eat nearby. He is looking into some lodging options. It may be possible to just wing it without reservation this time of year.

He is suggesting we do Ocotillo on day 2, which I am in favor of, it will allow for higher speeds, more Raptorish intensity if that is even a word.

"Once in the park, you are right at a one way only road"

I should correct myself here. It's not to you get around the Geology Tour Road and the Fried Liver Wash Corridor where there is a "One Way Only" loop. By then you have been in the park for some distance. Berdoo Canyon Road is NOT one way and one should be cautious there. We did come upon some opposing traffic in the canyon and found spots to pass. But there were some areas where I said, "damn, I hope we don't meet someone right now!"

By no way did we go everywhere in the park itself, but most of it looks pretty tame. Find Berdoo by using your GPS on your smart phone and just follow it up the hill. You will go past a little shooting area then into the canyon. In spots there are various roads all leading back to the center of the canyon. Just pick the one that fits your level of driving ability. In spots the road appears to split into other directions. Someone has done a good job at placing rocks discouraging that direction of travel and forcing you to keep going in the right direction.

I'm at a funeral Saturday but keep me posted on Sunday plans and maybe I can come out and join.

Sounds fun. Gordon, someday we are gonna rock the same run together. Maybe get ya out to TRR... You are the OG lol!

figjamy said:

"Once in the park, you are right at a one way only road"

I should correct myself here. It's not to you get around the Geology Tour Road and the Fried Liver Wash Corridor where there is a "One Way Only" loop. By then you have been in the park for some distance. Berdoo Canyon Road is NOT one way and one should be cautious there. We did come upon some opposing traffic in the canyon and found spots to pass. But there were some areas where I said, "damn, I hope we don't meet someone right now!"

By no way did we go everywhere in the park itself, but most of it looks pretty tame. Find Berdoo by using your GPS on your smart phone and just follow it up the hill. You will go past a little shooting area then into the canyon. In spots there are various roads all leading back to the center of the canyon. Just pick the one that fits your level of driving ability. In spots the road appears to split into other directions. Someone has done a good job at placing rocks discouraging that direction of travel and forcing you to keep going in the right direction.

I'm at a funeral Saturday but keep me posted on Sunday plans and maybe I can come out and join.

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Yes, that was the loop I saw right at Pleasant Valley. A few questions for you:
How was Fried Liver Wash?
What was your favorite spots, say if you wanted to show a friend some cool places in the Park?
What areas were not worth the trouble and should be avoided or skipped?

I will post up where we end up staying, right now it is leaning towards a cluster of hotels and restaurants in Palm Desert, near Indian Wells Resort Hotel, and a Marriott across the street. Walking distance to a couple BBq places, Tilted Kilt etc.

---------- Post added at 03:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------

MotuMute said:

Sounds fun. Gordon, someday we are gonna rock the same run together. Maybe get ya out to TRR... You are the OG lol!

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OG? - I had to look it up, 66 definitions for this abbreviation and none made sense. Then it hit me, "Original G"? doubt it, but thanks. Yes, one day we will Rock the same trail!

I'm not a Joshua Tree expert but if I recall correctly, the wheeling there is not what I would call the kind that Raptor owners would enjoy.

Perhaps there are trails that are more favorable to the Raptor but I'd highly recommend Ocotillo Wells or Anza-Borrego Desert State Park instead. It doesn't get better than those places.

MagicMtnDan said:

I'm not a Joshua Tree expert but if I recall correctly, the wheeling there is not what I would call the kind that Raptor owners would enjoy.

Perhaps there are trails that are more favorable to the Raptor but I'd highly recommend Ocotillo Wells or Anza-Borrego Desert State Park instead. It doesn't get better than those places.

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I agree with you, but that is not the only purpose of this run. I have never visited Joshua Tree Park but have been all over Anza. Day 2 we will shred Ocotillo and into Anza.

Me and a few others are going to Joshua so we opened it up to others that wish to go. You are more than welcome to join us for day 2, may be more your liking. For me I enjoy all sorts of terrain. Seeing places I have never or could never see, high speed twisties, getting air, killing it through the whoops and challenging occasional rock crawls (realizing my Screw is no Jeep, even with my Sliders...) This trip will never equal SVTBlue's Death Valley trip, but its closer, shorter and a new adventure.

I should mention the latest weather reports for next weekend 20-30% chance of thunderstorms, so besides the high temps and high humidity rain may present additional challenges for both our trucks and passengers. I am not a fan of mud, I prefer my dirt dry thank you, besides it kills time pulling the other guy out and its a bitch to clean the undersides, but a Raptor gotta go where the trail takes us, good weather or not, well within reason.

Should me and my stock(other then mid perch and ADD bumper) be worried?

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