2014 MogFest and the Mojave Road

Off-road in the Mojave Desert

20131010-14


Back to Bill Caid's Home Page.

Joe O's custom mog-based rock crawler gets ready to assist a Pinzgauer with mechanical issues up a steep portion of trail.

All photos copyright, Bill Caid 2014. All rights reserved.

The Trip

Every year for the past 14 years there has been a MogFest gathering of Unimog enthusiasts.  These gatherings are focused on the attraction to specialized off-road vehicles and off-road trail driving.  The 2014 gathering was held at Calico, CA.  Calico is a nice venue because there are plenty of trails that are close to the camp areas.  This year for the third time we used the KOA campground as mog central.  The KOA facilities were more appropriate than the nearby county park and included plenty of full hookups for those moggers with RVs.

Trail runs were conducted each day and the photos below tell the story.

We elected to bum rides with other folks because Thor is a bit big and it would have been a tight fit (or impossible) on some spots on the trails.  But, when MogFest broke up on Sunday, Kathleen and I decided to do the Mojave Road that runs from Afton Canyon to the Colorado River - most of the width across the Mojave desert.

Trip Details

The link table below contains links to the photos and dialog for each of the days of the expedition.

Links to Daily Adventures
Part Dates Adventure Locations
1
20141010
 Day 1
2
 20141011
 Day 2
3
 20141012-14
 Mojave Road Trail

 

Conclusion

The group had a great time at Calico.  The KOA folks were very nice and accommodating.  Indeed they "bent over backwards" to get our business.  The weather was great and the trails were sufficiently challenging. 

Our trip on the Mojave road was interesting.  Some portions were tight going between the Joshua Trees, but in general aside  from some deep sand, the road is easy.  But, the J-Trees got their pound of flesh from Thor and the camper.  We dented our fenders, lost light covers, cracked plastic cowlings and ripped weather stripping.  I think that this trail did more damage to the truck than any trail we have been on so far (which is saying a lot).

Top

Back to Bill Caid's Home Page.

Copyright Bill Caid 2014