Gone2Baja
Adventurer
I started this trip early Monday morning with my first stop being Quartzsite then on to the area around Bouse{sounds like house} with a quick stop and 'the fisherman intaglio' its a roadside archaeological site that looked interesting. The reason for the trip was mainly to simply explore the area and a little rock collecting.
The site is on the North side of the road but on the South side of the road I spotted an older man walking to his truck parked in a large turn out. I pulled up to say hi and as we talked we got around to asking each other what we are doing, I told him just looking for rocks and generally exploring the area.
He showed me a few nice looking quartz he picked up just South into a large canyon and pointed out with my truck {A mild 4x4 Tacoma} I could easily drive into the wash.
That led to a two night stay in a beautiful area I would have never thought to explore. I began driving into the canyon and wash some of it very soft, I stopped and lowered my tire PSI to 15. That helped with the ride and made the soft spots much easier to get through.
As I drove further into the canyon the trail became very rough and slow, I stopped here and there to walk around and pick up some nice looking rocks and take a break from driving.
Because of the beautiful scenery and interesting terrain I continued further into this large canyon.
At this point I had gone through some difficult sections requiring 4low and very careful tire placement. It helped that the trail while steep and rough was mostly hard rock so even with my street tires as long as I was careful I had plenty of traction.
I had driven about 12 miles, it was about 3:30 and hot {mid 90's} to help keep the stress off my truck mostly because of the slow going and my use of 4low I kept the A/C off so I decided to stop for a brake in a small wash that had some shade.
I had a snack and a big bottle of water as I dozed in the shade, it really helped to splash my face and neck with water then just sit down to let the breeze dry and cool me off. After about an 1 ½ hours the sun had set a bit and it was noticeably cooler so I set off again.
I was going to head back but because of the time and scenery I decided to stay the night it was also going to be a small sliver of a moon so the stars should be awesome.
I continued down the trail stopping to check out a few old mines.
At one point I came around a corner to see a Ram {big horn sheep?} it had a full set of horns and took of like a shot! Way to fast to get a picture, it was interesting because it was brown not white like others I had seen in the past. I was happy I saw it and surprised how fast it was, when it hit a rocky section it never even slowed down.
By this time the sun had gone down behind the mountains so I drove a few more miles when I come across a wide, flat riverbed with a large hills on both sides. It was a very nice place to camp and the weather was cooperating to with no wind and nice temps.
I quickly setup camp took a quick shower and put on clean clothes {what a difference!}.
I woke up early and decided not to go back the way I came because of the rough trail but to continue on to Brenda {Only3.5miles according to my GPS}. If I knew what was in front of me I would have turned around!
It was easy going for a few miles and I thought I should be coming into Brenda soon but I wasn’t even close. I went up and down some really bad hills with off camber ledges and turns again luckily the trail was hard rock so I just let the truck do her thing in 4low while I made sure to keep my tires pointed the right way.
I then came to the toughest looking section yet, I couldn’t go back because on the steep hill I just came down and I'm not sure I could have even turned around. At this point I really regretted being alone..
As it turned out after some road building and careful tire placement and lots of sweat I was through it. I was very happy to have a front skid from PCI and a T-case skid from all-pro. Pictures really don't do it justice.
After another tough clime I was finally out of this difficult section, thankfully!
After a few slow miles I dropped into a large flat soft riverbed found a place to take an afternoon brake and after a few aspirin decided to just make camp for the night.
The next morning I got back on the trail spending most of it in 4hi because of how loose the riverbed rock/sand was.
After several miles the trail became a 2wd smooth road again and soon I pulled into the outskirts of Brenda. I aired up and hit the road home.
From where I first went off road to where I hit blacktop again it was only 12.2 miles in a straight line but according to my odometer I actually drove 39.6 miles.
Looking back it was a fun trip but I won't do something this rough alone again.
I would have felt much better if I had a better map or down loaded one onto my tablet and a small jump start pack because a dead battery would have been catastrophic.
A quick word about my truck, it's a 2006 Tacoma with LSD rear end, a 1.5 in lift and street tires. I've put a front aluminum skid from RCI metal works and a steel T-case skid from all-pro. She {Jen} has about 219,000 on her and runs great.
P.S. Sorry about being so long winded, I had the time so I just started writing...
The site is on the North side of the road but on the South side of the road I spotted an older man walking to his truck parked in a large turn out. I pulled up to say hi and as we talked we got around to asking each other what we are doing, I told him just looking for rocks and generally exploring the area.
He showed me a few nice looking quartz he picked up just South into a large canyon and pointed out with my truck {A mild 4x4 Tacoma} I could easily drive into the wash.
That led to a two night stay in a beautiful area I would have never thought to explore. I began driving into the canyon and wash some of it very soft, I stopped and lowered my tire PSI to 15. That helped with the ride and made the soft spots much easier to get through.
As I drove further into the canyon the trail became very rough and slow, I stopped here and there to walk around and pick up some nice looking rocks and take a break from driving.
Because of the beautiful scenery and interesting terrain I continued further into this large canyon.
At this point I had gone through some difficult sections requiring 4low and very careful tire placement. It helped that the trail while steep and rough was mostly hard rock so even with my street tires as long as I was careful I had plenty of traction.
I had driven about 12 miles, it was about 3:30 and hot {mid 90's} to help keep the stress off my truck mostly because of the slow going and my use of 4low I kept the A/C off so I decided to stop for a brake in a small wash that had some shade.
I had a snack and a big bottle of water as I dozed in the shade, it really helped to splash my face and neck with water then just sit down to let the breeze dry and cool me off. After about an 1 ½ hours the sun had set a bit and it was noticeably cooler so I set off again.
I was going to head back but because of the time and scenery I decided to stay the night it was also going to be a small sliver of a moon so the stars should be awesome.
I continued down the trail stopping to check out a few old mines.
At one point I came around a corner to see a Ram {big horn sheep?} it had a full set of horns and took of like a shot! Way to fast to get a picture, it was interesting because it was brown not white like others I had seen in the past. I was happy I saw it and surprised how fast it was, when it hit a rocky section it never even slowed down.
By this time the sun had gone down behind the mountains so I drove a few more miles when I come across a wide, flat riverbed with a large hills on both sides. It was a very nice place to camp and the weather was cooperating to with no wind and nice temps.
I quickly setup camp took a quick shower and put on clean clothes {what a difference!}.
I woke up early and decided not to go back the way I came because of the rough trail but to continue on to Brenda {Only3.5miles according to my GPS}. If I knew what was in front of me I would have turned around!
It was easy going for a few miles and I thought I should be coming into Brenda soon but I wasn’t even close. I went up and down some really bad hills with off camber ledges and turns again luckily the trail was hard rock so I just let the truck do her thing in 4low while I made sure to keep my tires pointed the right way.
I then came to the toughest looking section yet, I couldn’t go back because on the steep hill I just came down and I'm not sure I could have even turned around. At this point I really regretted being alone..
As it turned out after some road building and careful tire placement and lots of sweat I was through it. I was very happy to have a front skid from PCI and a T-case skid from all-pro. Pictures really don't do it justice.
After another tough clime I was finally out of this difficult section, thankfully!
After a few slow miles I dropped into a large flat soft riverbed found a place to take an afternoon brake and after a few aspirin decided to just make camp for the night.
The next morning I got back on the trail spending most of it in 4hi because of how loose the riverbed rock/sand was.
After several miles the trail became a 2wd smooth road again and soon I pulled into the outskirts of Brenda. I aired up and hit the road home.
From where I first went off road to where I hit blacktop again it was only 12.2 miles in a straight line but according to my odometer I actually drove 39.6 miles.
Looking back it was a fun trip but I won't do something this rough alone again.
I would have felt much better if I had a better map or down loaded one onto my tablet and a small jump start pack because a dead battery would have been catastrophic.
A quick word about my truck, it's a 2006 Tacoma with LSD rear end, a 1.5 in lift and street tires. I've put a front aluminum skid from RCI metal works and a steel T-case skid from all-pro. She {Jen} has about 219,000 on her and runs great.
P.S. Sorry about being so long winded, I had the time so I just started writing...
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