[FrankB]

SCCX's January run took us through Joshua Tree National Park and out into the southern part of the Pinto Basin. We travelled about 50 miles from the meet spot to our campsite in the Black Eagle mining district east of JTNP. Starting at about sea level, we gradually climbed to about 2,800 feet. The weather on Saturday was great, lots of sun, low 60's. The rain started, lightly at first, at around 9:30PM, was pretty heavy during the night, and continued pretty much all day on Sunday. We had a great turn-out, 12 trucks on Saturday, a big carne asada fest bbq, and 8 us camped.

Snaking our way through Thermal Canyon.

Rolling on down the trail.

The trail got a bit narrow in spots, I picked up a bit of desert pinstriping.

We stopped to explore a few old mine sites, then continued on down Black Eagle Mine Road, until we came on this boulder blocking the trail. Funny thing was, this rock really looked out of place. It did not appear to have rolled down the hill above, and the trail clearly continued on past it.

We decided against trying to get around it, and instead set up camp just down the hill from it.

Maybe it was something we said, PaulXyZ set up out by himself.

 

[FrankB]

The food fest was great. We had carne asada (Bobby brought 12 pounds of it), Paul's critter-on-a-stick, Oz made fresh corn on the cob, and all sorts of side dishes. For dessert, I brought 3 fresh Julian apple pies.

Here's Bobby's latest project, a hitch-mounted gas bbq grill. It works great.

Leave it to PaulXyZ to have the high-tech grill. All it needs are some blue LED lights on the hood.

Around the campfire.

Headed out on Sunday morning. Who says it doesn't rain in the desert?

With all the water coming down, it's going to be a great year for wildflowers in the desert. Here are few that are already out.

You can see some of the other pics at www.sccxterra.com

 

[Midnightblue54]

Awesome photos man, thats some pretty hardcore pinstriping. Im lovin' that grill!

 

[cornick]

That pinstriping sent chills down my spine....eek!

Looks like you guys had fun!

 

[KillJoy]

Great shots as always Frank. Was the heavy rain any reason for concern overnight?

 

[IZVERG]

Nice run, guys. Can't wait to get off these crutches and finally hit the trails again!

 

[FrankB]

Great shots as always Frank. Was the heavy rain any reason for concern overnight?

We made sure to camp up out of the washes, even though that meant being up on rocky ground instead of soft sand. You really don't want to be in a sandy wash if there's any chance of water coming through. The really big flash floods are not usually this time of year, though.

I sleep in the back of the X, so no problems at all. The vent shades allow me to keep the windows cracked a bit for fresh air, no water gets in.

A few of the tent folks had some problems, there was a bit of wind, and that mixed with the rain caused I think 2 tents to saturate.

The road back out in the morning was fine, just a little muddy in places. The wettest we got was when we stopped to air up, it started coming down heavy just as we were finishing up.

All in all the weather was not a problem, and Saturday was actually really nice. Sitting around the campfie it was not at all cold.

 

[FrankB]

That pinstriping sent chills down my spine....eek!

Looks like you guys had fun!

Between the wind and rain Saturday night that was pretty much all cleaned up, then add 3 more hours driving home in heavy rain, the truck looks pretty clean now, except for a bit of mud still stuck to the top of the sliders.

 

[Mark]

Ive had "pin striping" wores than that photo, its more like scratches in the dust than the paint. My truck looked totaly phucked after a dry weather run once, but after washing and waxing it looked like brnad new paint. So dont let the dust fool ya!

Frigging great photos and scenery though. Wish i had places like that to wheel near me!

 

[ADMAN]

Jashua Tree Park??? Hmp. That's nothing...

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