Singletrack, a Cabin and Christmas Tree Pass

with No Comments

P1080317

The Plan

Explore behind Christmas Tree Pass towards Lake Mojave. I found what looks like a house on Google Earth so that was reason enough to go exploring and riding.

The Riders

Mike B (XR650), Mike M (KTM 690), and myself (KTM 690)

 

Trip Report

Sunday morning we met up at the gas station. Mike B makes a few last minute adjustments to his XR650.

P1080269

Not a mile later Mike M has an issue with his KTM690.

P1080270

 

Bike Troubles

 

It flashed a code 37, ignition circuit DTC. He had just installed a steering dampener so we checked the wiring that was messed with. Nothing found. So we searched a little more and found a bad ground at the ignition coil. All fixed up! It started right up after cleaning some powdercoat off the frame at the connection.

P1080271

 

Nelson

 

We jammed through Nelson hitting one of my favorite canyon trails.

P1080273 P1080276

Quick selfie with Mike B

P1080274

Mike M recovering after some arm pump. He said if we do any more riding like this he’s going home to get his 450. lol

P1080275

Mike coming up the wash

P1080279

 

Powerline to Searchlight

 

We “powerlined” it to Searchlight to save some time

P1080280

P1080281

After we all grouped up, Mike B spotted something off the side of the powerline road.

P1080282

 

Singletrack Heaven!

 

Look at that beautiful gem of some singletrack

P1080283

It was singletrack heaven. It winded between Joshua Trees and cactus, flowed up and down into ravines and was flat out awesome. This one is getting saved permanently to my GPS.

P1080284

P1080285

 

Lake Mojave

 

After crossing the highway (Cottonwood Cove Rd), we headed towards Lake Mojave

P1080286 P1080287

 

Nellis Cove

 

There were several roads down to coves along the lake. We opted for this one. It would bring us down to Nine Mile Coves.

P1080300

We chose wisely. It was gorgeous down there.

P1080298

P1080292 P1080290 P1080289

Mike B went exploring down the shore a little ways. He came back with nothing exciting to report.

P1080291

We headed back up the road and continued away from Lake Mojave towards Empire Wash & Roman Wash.

P1080302 P1080305 P1080304

 

Blooming Desert

 

The colors were amazing. Everything was in super bloom.

P1080299 P1080301 P1080310

P1080308

Mike M coming up the wash. There were some cool rock formations.

P1080311

Along Roman Wash this dirt intrigued me so I took a pic. It was a dead end but looked interesting.

P1080312

 

Old Cabin

 

We arrived at our planned destination. It appears to be an old miner’s property.

P1080313

P1080316 P1080314

The chicken coop

P1080320

Water tank

P1080318

Kitchen

P1080330

Entertainment

P1080329

Rock climbing wall? Mike said there were some modern petroglyphs or graffiti up there. There was no hike in my plans today so I took his word for it.

P1080323

I saw Mike M taking a pic of me taking a pic, so I did the same to him.

P1080324

We did a little more singletrack exploring, dodging cactus and prickly bushes. I loved the dirt up there.

P1080331 P1080332

Crossing Mini Roman Rocky Gap. That’s my official name for this rock section.

P1080334

Mike M hit some loose rocks and took a nap.

P1080335 P1080336

Back up and at it.

P1080337

We crossed Loran Station and a ton of desert at a high rate of speed to get to Searchlight. Looking back at Christmas Tree Pass.

P1080338

 

Lunch in Searchlight, NV

 

We pulled into this terrible place for lunch. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t get any better since Terrible’s took over.

P1080339

P1080340

 

Working Off Lunch – More Epic Singletrack

 

After lunch we took the gas line road towards Nelson. Halfway there Mike B spotted another beautiful gem.

P1080342

It was 11 miles of singletrack awesomeness.

GoPro1

We stopped for a breather and waited for Mike M.

P1080344-2

We found out why he was lagging a little. Flat front tire. Oh. That’ll do it.

P1080346

 

Tire Repair

 

I helped Mike swap it out.

P1080351

5 Ways to Make Changing Tubes Painless

P1080352

Mike B supervised and took selfies with my camera. lol

P1080354

Couple quick nature shots before continuing on what would have been…have I mentioned 11+ miles of singletrack! wow!

P1080356 P1080357

Mike M watering some plants

P1080358

As we got towards Nelson, the moon started coming up.

P1080360

Not sure what this operation was about, but it looked hella suspect. lol

P1080361

 

Golden Hour at Nelson

 

Riding through Nelson at the golden hour = badass!

P1080363

Looking south

P1080362

Priceless

P1080364

Blasting through Nelson we were racing the sun because we mostly all had tinted goggles. I didn’t care. This sunset was worthy of stopping really quick for a shot or two.

P1080367 P1080368

We made it to the highway. We took the pavement home because we needed to get home asap.

P1080369

 

Ride Stats

 

Some ride stats on my GPS

P1080373

 

Video

 

Tracks

Comments

comments

Follow Pete:

Do more with less! That is my motto lately. I love getting outdoors and exploring new places, usually on my KTM motorcycle. My wife, Anna, and I recently bought and built out a Sprinter van to do more of the things we love. Traveling and seeing new places is always at the top of our to-do list.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *