I have two points regarding the trip:

1) Doing it from west to east makes sense for the Bay Area folks. I really prefer this direction.

2) Going all the way to the east is not necessary. The most interesting part is the middle part. Actually, the most interesting part is the side trip to the Caruthers canyon. It offers gorgeous views and the only opportunity along the way for mild rocky 4-wheeling (the Mojave Trail itself is very easy), for hiking and for ancient mines exploration. And it has the great camping spots, too. From my point of view, this canyon is the best part of the trip.

I am still searching for my GPS tracks but I am sure I'll find them soon and I'll post them here.

Going from west to east make no sense to me. If you leave from the east, you will have a nice place to stay the night before, a great breakfast in the morning to start off the trip and there are reasonable food and gas prices just down the street in AZ. You have a well written book and many web site to guide you along the road. You do not have to read the information backwards or resort the way points.

I agree side trips are a great thing, but this is a Mojave road trip, it runs approximately 139 miles from the Colorado River to Camp Cady near Barstow, CA why cut it short?
The goal is to travel the Mojave Road. It starts at the Colorado River and finishes at the Camp Cady. You can stop at either Camp Cady or the Alton camp ground.



Les and I did this trip and we started it at the same time as a big group of jeeps (10-15) including a wagon master. We only saw them twice. Once at Fort Piute, near the start and another time somewhere on the trail the first day. Never saw them again. Total time about 15 minutes.

Holger and his group did the Road the same days. They started at the Alton Canyon area and we never crossed path.

So again I ask, why the change?

Les, you and me are just expecting different things from the trip. I do not follow the books or the guides religiously, I prefer getting maximum pleasure in the most convenient way with the group of friends. I had been in the Mojave area before my trips, I researched the area and I planned the best trip possible in the time available. The Mojave road is not the only attraction, and the people were not just passing the area. I perfectly understand that my approach may not fit other people. That was just my suggestion. Ray is the trip organizer and he will decide which way he wants to handle the event.

This was my second travel:

http://www.geocities.com/olegmoskalenko/misc/mojave/mojave_tracks.jpg

This is the MapSource file with my tracks:

http://www.geocities.com/olegmoskalenko/misc/mojave/mojave_tracks.mps

Just to clarify,
Les = LRJ4x4
Mike = GRASSCAT

But I do agree with Mike, the West to East is the historic way and you have the sun to your back in the morning.

I have no problem with Holger liking East to West, it's all GOOD <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

Something is wrong with this statement.....

unless the sun rises in the west now....

Opps, East to West !

Made perfect sense to me Les, but then again, I grew up on the East coast.

Thanks Les. I got it uploaded this weekend. All 9k+ waypoints! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

Only problem I have right now is Topo 4 is having hiccups trying to run w/ the cd's copied to the SD card versus loading each CD as required by Topo normally. I did install Topo 4 over my original install of Topo where I'm already running everything off the SD card. Hopefully my trouble call into Nat Geo will resolve this.

Once I do, I'll delete the other waypoints that are not needed.



Well, I frankly have no problem running it east to west. I was just realizing how long a drive it will be getting there on Friday night and I really don't have the extra days to take Friday off to drive there.

So Les, are you planning on doing this trip? You haven't confirmed but you certainly are vocal about taking the east to west route. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

Would it help sway you if I changed the route direction? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Ray put me in the interested list.