One of our good friends is Tom Severin over at Badlands4x4 Training. Tom is a super nice guy with a ton of background in off roading and exploring. When he called upon me to run support for his next trip i couldn't turn him down. He was about to take a large group out into the Mojave desert, starting from Los Angeles and ending in Baker Ca. There would be 8-10 vehicles and 17-20 people. The trick was, camp was in a new location each night spread out over the Mojave desert. He would need help. This is where the fun begins...
Our job as support was to provide anything and everything a group this large would need over a desert landscape with no facilities and over a 5 day period. This meant that we would carry 86 gallons of water and 65 gallons of fuel (enough for us and them), several ice chests, two fridge freezers, pack out unwanted trash and carry enough firewood to last a lifetime. It was no easy task, but the Duo Landcruiser and Adventure Trailer could live up to the test.
The plan of attack went like this. We'd rendezvous at a different camp each night with pre-set GPS coords. During the day, our job was the re-stock the water tanks, firewood, ice and whatever the group needed. If they need vehicle parts , our job was to get that. If the group wanted two bottles of high quality Vodka, we'd get it.. no questions asked. *snicker *snicker
The first day we left , the group had already been on the road for 2 days. So i guess they were happy to see us, couldn't really tell. We had cold beer on ice waiting for them at camp (as requested) and it was accepted well. Everyone basically clung to our basecamp setup for good reason. Heck, was comfy and thats where the beer was, could you blame them?
I guess now is as best time as any to show the beer shot. I think at one point we were hauling around 168 beers. Yes, i know, crappy beer.. waste of space, heavier than its worth. We didn't choose the brand, it was "supplied". Plus we could build a fort out of them if need be.
Our job was simple, be the pack mule and "show up".
Of course it didn't take long to run into our first mechanical issue. One of the Jeep TJ's fuel pumps stopped working. Thankfully we had some mechanically inclined Jeep enthusiasts out with us to diagnose. They had it up and running in no time. with some shade tree trail fixes.
First nights camp on Means Dry Lake in Johnson Valley CA.
A hint as to who we were running support for. That's about all i can say.
The sun started to set and the moon started to rise, the desert is epic.
Each night our job was to get the fire going before the group arrived. We were in radio communications via 2 meter radio so we knew how early to start. They wanted hot coals when pulling into camp so they could cook dinner on it. They cooked for us, which was nice. First night was T-bone steaks, about 20 of them. The drylake smelled like heaven.
After some good eats most of us relaxed around the campfire, the rest enjoyed their peace and quiet in the great outdoors.
The next morning bright and early, breakfast was cooked by the group and everyone started packing up. The convoy of Jeeps headed onward deeper into the Mojave desert.
That just left us to fend for ourselves. Remember , support 101. Support has no support.
We headed into the nearest town where we had an agreement with a land owner to use his well water. We refilled all the water, and grabbed tons of ice and 10 bundles of firewood. The Landcruiser and trailer at this point weighed in at 10,200 lbs. We were happy to support the local economy and local weight scales.
We arrived at the next GPS coord earlier than expected. This was the next camp. More of the same, unforgiving dry hot desert. Only this time we had swarms of bees.
We finally figured that the bees loved our water, so we set them up with their very own NATO can hot tub. Away from us.
The group had run into a problem getting slightly off course and having another mechanical issue with another Jeep. This time i was a brake line on the rear of a Grand Cherokee. It was repaired on the trail and they limped it into camp. By that time it was dark and the moon had greeted us once again.
After a long day, dinner was prepared and most hit the sack pretty early. All i remember is that it was real windy this night and i was thankful i slept inside the rig instead of the roof top tent.
The next morning came way too early as it had been and they were off.
As they headed north and we headed the long way round south and ended up finding this memorial. It's a recent memorial of the off road race (California 200) where some race fans were killed when one of the trucks collided with the crowd. Very sad.
There's an organization that helps racers and their families at times like this. To donate yourself click here FAST-AID
After paying our respects and leaving the memorial as we found it, we headed on our way and back into civilization to re-stock the truck.
Talk about major weight. It was scary top heavy and i drove very carefully.
As my co-pilot predicted we had to drive many more miles than the main group today. They were cutting straight across the desert and we had to go all the way around via highways, plus re-stocking, grabbing a brake line for the Jeep and getting a bite to eat for lunch in Barstow. Needless to say, we arrived at camp about an hour after the main group. Which didn't much matter. It was still early. This gave everyone time to relax, take showers and run a few geocache hunts in the vehicles.
We were now in no mans land in the sand wash area just south of Rasor Rd. If you get stuck alone out here you are pretty well screwed until you find someone driving by and that doesnt happen often at all.
The moon came up once again and it was beautiful and looked larger than life.
At this point the group decided instead of heading to the last night camp we'd stay at this camp the final night. Which was fine by us, because we could head into town for supplies via the Landcruiser and leave the trailer at camp. So the next day, we ran into Baker, grabbed water and whatever else was requested of us and headed back for the final night. The truck felt great without having the trailer in tow and i could get out and back much quicker. We arrived back at camp and the group was still out.
That night we all relaxed and enjoyed our last night together. Pork chops were cooked over the open fire and there was a plethora of leftovers from previous nights. We were stuffed. Staying up as late as possible because we never want a trip to end was my co-pilot and i making sure all the firewood was rightfully burned and well extinguished before hitting the sack.
In the morning we awoke dark and early and headed for pavement. Airing up and fueling up, we hit the road and headed for home. It was a great trip and we successfully produced our end of the deal.