Wow, what a great trip! We just returned from our monthly(January) 4x4 trip, which was to the Redrock Canyon area. We'll definantly be going back to this area. The terrain was varied enough to provide interest to many, from our group of stockers, to several groups of modded CJ's(tj, yj...). We camped at the state campground, which was pricey, but nice. In the future we'll probably camp in a more remote area, but since this was our first trip there we went for the sure thing. Really glad we brought our own firewood, something I'm not used to doing, but the only real option here as there are no trees inhabiting the area to create forest waste. We set up camp first thing and got out onto the trails at about 11am. We started out with central mountains #23, Last chance canyon and the moved on to less planned stuff. The first day was relatively safe, we were only moderately lost once( well unless you count the other time too, but I don't...), though this didn't stop us from sharing what little knowledge we had by giving directions to others. In the interests of time we
avoided the Burro Schmidt(sp) tunnel, which is apparently quite the attraction 'round those parts. Told ourselves we'd see it next time. Returned to camp, started a nice fire and settled in for the night. Thankfully we brought plenty of wood... We started what may well become a tradition where every member of our group brought a six-pack of beer to try. It seems that my wife picked best with "Stans Red Sky Ale", though my "Arrogant Bastard" scored well (we won't mention the stuff Maggie brought). After we went to bed the temp dropped rapidly to somewhere in the mid 20's, but we slept through that with varying degrees of comfort. The next day we awoke and lolly-gagged around till about 10.00am, then hit the trails. We headed out into the same area, this time feeling cocky. The cocky feeling didn't last long as we soon found ourselves slightly lost(guidebooks fault, really). We had fun on the trails we were on, though they proved a bit more difficult than we were expecting. After managing to get back to a familiar area with only minor scrapes (gained going down a hill that the dirt bikes couldn't climb... I don't know, my
inclinometer only goes to 35degrees), we set out to find the paved road and head home. It took longer than expected, and along the way we found
many other great trails, but eventually we found our way out. All in all, not a bad trip... only minor damage, only one stuck... Look forward to doing this again, esp with some other XOCer's. Hope your trip to Joshua tree goes well, sorry we couldn't make it, but back to back weekend trips are tough on the household chores. We'll keep you posted on any of our trips down south, and if you ever want to head up to the Sequoia's and Kings canyon N.P. let me know, it's practically my back yard.
MV
P.S. look for our pics in the picture forum under "our jan. trip", by me, Ruger1022, I'm the green one...