Mojave Desert - November 3-5, 2006
Weekender Ride Through the East Mojave Desert

Photos by Josie Morris

Motorcycle Touring Association California Chapter #3 just returned from a wonderful weekend trip out to California’s Mojave Desert that was organized and lead by Joe Enfield.  It is already early November and Mother Nature promised us excellent riding weather and did not disappoint!  We met Friday evening at the Motel 6 in Barstow where most of us got a good night sleep.  Saturday morning we went to the Bun Boy for breakfast where some of our members, who were not able to come up Friday night, joined us.  We had 14 bikes and 24 participants. Joe is active in the ‘East Mojave Heritage and Cultural Association’ and he had a brief pre-ride meeting describing what we were going to see.

We were off at 0900.  It was bright sunshine and about 60 degrees with no wind.  We headed east on old highway 58 crossing over the railroad yards past the restored ‘Harvey House’ and ‘Route 66 Museum’ to junction with Interstate 15.  At Baker we stopped for gas and snacks and then went south on Kelbaker Road toward Kelso Depot.  Along the way we passed over the old Mojave Road threading from the Colorado River to Los Angeles that was started in the 1860s long before the Interstate or even Route 66.  We passed high mountain peaks and ten million year old lava flows as we arrived at the restored Kelso Depot.  The Parks Department has a 12-minute film at the Depot describing the beauty of the desert and some of the human history of the area with mining and ranching as well as animal and plant life. We toured the depot/museum and hit the trail again going to Fenner on the Old National Trails Highway aka Route 66 for gas and snacks.

We continued on Route 66 to Goffs where the original 1914 one-room schoolhouse has been restored, using private funds, to its original condition complete with a little museum inside detailing the last hundred years of history.  It is remarkable what the volunteers have done to this facility. There are many displays and artifacts depicting the early life in the desert on the schoolhouse property. As we traveled along the little used 2 lane highway Joe would narrate on the CB about many of the geological and historical points along the way.

From Goffs we headed east to Laughlin where we had reservations at the Ramada Inn Express arriving about 4:30.  We all separated for dinner and some for entertainment at the tables and slots.

Saturday morning we met in the covered garage for 0900 departure and headed west for the two-hour ride to Mitchell Caverns and Providence Mountain State Park.  The cavern is about 16 miles off Interstate 40 on what is now a paved road.  The weather was ideal with temps in the 70s and almost no wind.  We arrived at 1100 and were given a 20-minute talk by the local ranger Daryl Bennett about the history and geology of Mitchell Caverns. We then had a brief meeting where Steve Morris gave the group ideas for upcoming rides for the next 5 months.  (see minutes elsewhere)

Our tour guide, Emily, was a local seventeen-year-old girl who actually was born and raised near the Caverns on the 71L ranch, which is the only remaining working cattle ranch on the East Mojave Desert.  The Caverns are at 4,200 feet elevation, which helped keep the temperature cooler for the one and a half hour tour.  Inside the Caverns it is a stable 65 degrees.  We were all impressed by the stalactites, stalagmites, drapery, popcorn, flowstone, shields and other cave formations.  And to think that most people in the urban Los Angeles area don’t even know about this beautiful natural formation only 200 miles away!