Over Presidents Day weekend, we got together with some friends and headed out to Laughlin, NV to do some runs out in southwestern part of the Arizona desert. On Saturday, we made our way up to the old mining community of Chloride, checked out some of the historic Roy Purcell rock murals and then did an unexpected but fun snow run up and around the Cerbat Mountains. On Sunday, we decided to a run out to the Moss Mining area which is located just east of Bullhead City and do a more technical run up Pass Canyon. Anyway, here are some pics from our fun filled weekend - I hope you enjoy...

Heading up to Laughlin, we decided to take a side trip and get our kicks on Route 66...


For some fun, we deviated from our course again to make a stop over at the Cadiz Sandunes and climb to the top of them...


This is a little known cemetery that we visited out in a very remote part of the Mojave Desert...


Making a stop over at the Black Metal Mine which is located near to site of the Old Woman Mountian Meteorite...




Taking some time to explore the depths of the mine...


With a big storm rolling in, it was time to head back to pavement and to Laughlin...


The following morning, we met up with everyone in our group and had some breakfast at IHOP...


Making a quick stop over at the Tourist Information Center in the town of Chloride...




Just outside of town, we make a stop over at the historic and psychedelic Roy Purcell rock murals...




With the trail ahead looking rocky and muddy and with the rain starting to turn into snow, it was time to disconnect and air down...






Time to head out and have some fun...




Not even a half mile up the trail, the snow really started to come down and started sticking to the ground...




Stopping at one of the many mines along the trail to check out the ruins and play in the deepening snow...




blazer4949 and brainchild exchange volleys of snowballs...


Pushing foward, the snow started to get even heavier...


Hidden by all the snow, we miss our turn off and end up at the Rainbow Mine which is a dead end. Attempting to turn around, Moochie finds that his bald tires have no traction and ends up needing to do a little winching to help him out...


For a moment, the clouds start to part and reveal a spectacular view of the valley below...


Moving on, we get up to the summit and find ourselves pushing through about a foot of freshly fallen snow....


Like the kid that he is, Moochie gets out, drops into the snow and makes a snow angle...


At the end of the trail, we air up with parting clouds overhead...


However, on our way back to Laughlin, we got hit with a hell of a hailstorm. If you look closely, you can see the marble size hail coming down and blanketing the highway like snow - everyone had to come to a crawl at this point to prevent slipping and maybe even possible windshield damage...


Back at our hotel before sundown and with the clouds parting once again...


It's HONEY TIME - Nice Driveway!!


More pics from our trip are posted below...

 

For Day 2, everyone met up at the top of the parking structure of our hotel...


Having some breakfast over at Perkins in Bullhead City...


At the Pass Canyon trailhead airing down...




Our first stop for the day was the Mossback Mine where WWII German prisoners apparently hid after escaping from a POW camp in Kingman. When we got there, we didn't find any Germans but, we did find some kids who had spent the night in the mouth of one of the mine shafts and needed our help as the battery on their Bronco was dead...


Here's Mituk and sm_rubi getting things ready to give these guys a jump...


On the move again, we skirt along the boundry of the beautiful Mount Nutt Wilderness and then finally come to the point along the trail where things start to get fun...






This obstacle was perfect for getting a nice opposing flex shot...


AMC Jeff taking it with his sway bar connected...


sm_rubi flexing out his EVO coil overs...


blazer4949 taking a different line down and getting some rear tire hang time...


Moochie getting twisted up...


Here's a shot of Mituk too...


brainchild having some fun keeping all four on the floor...


Coming around the next obstacle was easy so long as you took the line wide and out to the left...


If you come too far to the right, you just might leave a going away gift as you can see someone in the past has done...


sm_rubi taking on the next big obstacle...


Mituk giving it a go as well...


brainchild walking it...


Moving on down the canyon...










Stopping for some lunch in the canyon...




Making our way over to the Moss Mine...


Over at the Moss Mine checking out the shafts and cool ruins...










Taking some time just to be silly on top of an old stamp mill retaining wall...


Everyone giving Moochie crap for taking a call...


Enjoying the great scenery...


Reflecting on our fun filled day and filling our tires with air all at the same time...


To an outstanding weekend - CHEERS!!


Yes, we do like to be silly - our final dinner in Laughlin over at In-n-Out...


And yes, we did walk around all night with those hats on...


More pics from our trip posted below...

 

On our way home, we decided to take our friends back to some of the cool places we saw on the way up and make an overland trip across the Cadiz Valley. Our first stop along the way was in the old Route 66 town of Essex where we stopped at the old AAA well that was built for motorists back in the 1930's....


Here we are looking for the geocache hidden at the well...


The next stop we made was over at the Cadiz Sandunes where we spent some time climbing to the top...








Time to head back to the Jeeps....


Marissa helping Tessa drink some water...


On the move again, we made our next stop over at the old cemetary...




Our final stop was over at the old Chubuck processing facility to check out the ruins...








And finally, gasing up at Chiriaco Summit before heading home...


To see all the photos we took on this epic weekend excursion, simply click on the links below:

Project-JK Presidents Weekend 2011
Chloride Mine Trail Run Photo Gallery

Project-JK Presidents Weekend 2011
Pass Canyon Trail Photo Gallery

To everyone that joined us over the weekend, THANK YOU!! WOLette and I had an awesome time with all of you and hope to get back out on the trails with you again soon.

 

AWESOME!!!!! thanks for sharing

 

Another fantastic trip and it was especially nice to be able to bring 2/3 of the girls with us this time...all had a very memorable trip and hopefully sometime in their future the girls will remember the time we drove across the desert to get home instead of taking the hwy!

Our only regret was being exactly one day to late to make the snow run!

 

Had a great time!!! Let's go back soon. Thanks WOL.

 

Sweet Pics! Love the flex shots!

 

Awesome pics. Had a great time Oh and I love my I&O hat

 

Awesome pics! Looks like you guys had a good time!

 

Looks like a beautiful run a little bit of everything...

Brainchilds rig is sick as usual.....so is that cookie duster he was sporting should get a close up of that one