The Mojave Road has come and gone for another year.  This time we had 17 vehicles with over 40 people and 4 dogs.  My 6-year-old granddaughter came along with my wife and I.  I opted not to pull my tent trailer this year so the Willys was well packed.  We decided to go up a day early this year to visit Oatman AZ.  On Friday we took in the sights of the town which is a gold strike town from 1900.  In town almost all the shops sell carrots to feed to the wild burros.  My Granddaughter Kayla loved feeding the burros and she got to take a pony ride up and down Main Street.  We then went 2 1/2 miles out of town to the Gold Road Mine.  It is the first mine in the town and is still in operation.  Now they give mine tours in the original section of the mine.  They charge $12 for adults and $6 for kids but it was well worth the money.  The tour lasts about 1-1/4 hours and is conducted by a real working miner, not some staged tour guide.

We met at the usual Gas station on Saturday morning and headed out.  There were friends from OC4Play, S.C.A.R.A. Ham Radio Group, and the 4Wheelers 4Christ club, and the Dirt Devils.  We headed out at 8am and headed to the trailhead to air down.  This year a lot of people had cameras so there are a lot of pictures floating around.  The day went well except for a large group of Range Rover drivers that had no clue as to trail etiquette.  Oh well, they probably thought this was a tough trail.  Grin.  We set up camp in the usual dry wash and had a great campfire.  The next morning everyone was ready to go on time and we started out taking our time for another great day.  The temperature was a little cool when we got up but soon climbed into the comfortable hi 70's.

The worry all the way across was what we would find at Soda Dry Lake.  When we got there the bushes where we make the pit stop at were surrounded by water on 3 sides.  This didn't look good.  But when we got to the mud area our pathway was dry and powdery.  Whew, heavy sigh, I was sure glad to see that.  When we got to Razor Road the wind started to come up and was blowing well when we got to the end of the trail but what the hey.  It was calm and the temp was great for almost the entire run.  I think everybody had a good time and am looking forward to next year.

Yours on the trail, Frank YoYo Hayes