With all the rains we've been having, it was time to head out to the Mojave Desert with the hopes of finding some of the dry lakes filled with water. This is a rare occurance but, when they are full, they are breathtaking to see. And, if you can believe it, even though we only gave two days adavnced annonced for this very first run of 2011, we still managed to have over 30 JK's show up ready to go. Anyway, here are some pics from our day out on the trail...

Meeting up at Bravo Burger in Victorville, CA...


So many JK's showed up for this run, we quickly filled up their parking lot front and rear...




I don't think Bravo Burger knew what hit them as we literally ended taking up every seat in the house and then some...


Here we are airing down at the trail head near the town of Hinkley, CA...




Even though the sun was shining brightly, all the water around us was still covered in ice...


Pulling into our first stop of the day, Signature Canyon...


Examining and pondering the meaning of the many petroglyphs left beind in this area....


One of several signatures you can find in the Mojave Desert left by an A.Tillman of San Francisco back in 1874...


Our next stop was over at the old Black Canyon Well...


This well is about 10 feet deep and on a typical year, you can see down to the bottom of it. However, on this day, we found that it was filled nearly to the top...


Back in the day, there was a windmill that pumped water into this stone trough but on this day, it served as a nice relaxing bench for our group...


When wheeling with Inyo JK, you know there are going to be some tasty homemade treats to be had sometine during the day...


Nothing like some hot coco on a cold day - CHEERS!!


Some cool looking frozen water we found nearby...


On the move again and heading over to our next stop...


Pulling into Scouts Cove, an old mining camp that the Tiffany Coporation of New York used to operate to extract high quality fire opals....


Checking out the cool cabin that the miners here dug out of an old tuff tower...


08YELLO-RUBI peaking up through one of the two chimneys in the cabin...


Taking some time out to do some rockhounding....


PoorDad's daughter suprised that the fire opals were't "hot"....


The fire opals you can find here are tiny but, they are everywhere...


Looking for parking at our next stop, Inscription Canyon...




Filing into Inscription Canyon to see the hundreds of petroglyphs left behind by people living in this area a long time ago....






Our final destination was a lake bed that on most years is bone dry 365 days a year. But, with crazy amounts of rain we've been having here in SoCal, it was full again and an outstanding sight to see....




Taking in the view along the shoreline of this ancient lake born again...


With temps in the 30's-40's by day and in the low 20's by night, the surface of this lake was frozen with ice an inch thick...


Time to do what we came out to do - drive out into the middle of the lake and take a shot...


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!








And there off!! The race back to shore....




Some of our group go back out to play a bit...






Watching the sun go down...






With the sun down and temperatures dropping well below freezing, we start heading back to pavement but, not before we run into a couple who had gotten stuck in the mud and were attempting to hike out on foot. Needless to say, part of our group take them back to their truck and begin working on getting them out...




And she's out!!


Back on pavement and back in town, we find an empty Home Depot parking lot to air back up...


If you would like to see all 561 pics that we took (yes, there really are a TON more to see), simply click on the link below:

Project-JK New Years Day Desert Dry Lake Run 2011 Photo Gallery

For all those who were able to join us for this awesome first run of 2011, thank you and Happy New Year!! WOLette and I had a great time with you all and hope that this was only the first of many many fun trips to come

 

Nice pics! Looked like a good time!

 

Looked like fun! Great pics, as always

 

I have to say that this was a great way to spend 1.11.2011. I really enjoyed the first day of this year with the Jeepers of Project JK, and I will post my pics when I get my chores done! Cause I've o.ly gotten so far as the car wash...and then it started raining!

 

Hundred pounds of mud on a JK, make's for a JK-DAY that like's to play !

OH the driveway what a mess

GREAT PIC'S

 

I just rinsed all the mud off of mine. Washed the mud off the driveway into the gutter. Cleaned the gutter as far down the street as I could.
Now it's raining so hopefully the rain will finish the job because my neighbors won't be happy.

 

I couldn't dare wash my Jeep in my driveway. I'm the second to the last on our street and water flows downhill. Lol, my neighbors were looking at me kinda weird so I took her to a self serve car wash. Now I feel bad to the attendant that has to clean the mess I left

 

just finished hosing down our jeep as well and boy oh boy what a mess. i literally had to sweep whatever mud i could into the gutter and then hose as much of it as i could. hopefully the rain will take care of the rest - me, i needed to get out of the rain.... aaaachoooo!!

 

Thanks Eddie and Cindy, we had a great time. As Inyo JK said, I couldn't think of a better way to have spent New Years day!

 

Man that was some fun! Finally got the mud off the jeep...only took a rinse, then pre-wash at the self car wash then a car wash followed by more detailing when we got home. Mud was everywhere! Thanks again for the great memories!