At the last couple of rallies I’ve attended I mentioned that I would like to organize a rally in the Randsburg area. Well the time has come to either put up or shut up so I’ll be inviting any interested WTW members to join me on the weekend of October 15-16 for a weekend of camping and a historic desert tour.
For those of you not familiar with the area, Randsburg is a small desert mining / tourist town located in the Rand Mountains north east of Mojave. I have been hanging out in this area since the late 60’s and usually lead my 4x4 club on a run every year. There are many interesting things to see in the area relating to mining history.
My plan for the weekend is to set up a base camp in the Garlock Valley near Goler Heights. This is a large relatively flat area on a mesa overlooking Garlock Road which should be easy to find. A 2wd truck with decent ground clearance should do fine on the trails we will be driving. If anyone is not interested in the desert tour they are welcome to just hang out in camp.
On Saturday morning I plan on heading into the El Paso Mountains to visit Burro Schmidt’s tunnel, Bickel Camp, Last Chance Canyon, Bonanza Gulch, the Dutch Cleanser Mine and the Holy Ash Mine. We will then return to the base camp for a potluck dinner and refreshments around the camp fire.
Sunday will be a half day run to Randsburg. We will go to Government Peak which is the highest point in the Rand Mountains for a view of the Garlock fault, Yellow Aster mine and the tri-cities area of Red Mountain, Johannesburg and Randsburg. From there we will go down into Randsburg to wander around the town and maybe have a malt at the general store soda fountain. Baring unseen problems we should be done about noon.
If you are interested I would recommend you google these attractions to learn a little history of the area. The GPS coordinates for the base camp are N35 25.321 W117 44.907. The area for the base camp has plenty of room but parking is limited at some of the points of interest. It is also difficult to keep track of a large group so I would like to limit the number of vehicles on the trail to around 15. Hopefully we can double up if anyone has an extra seat. If you have a street legal off road toy bring it along.
If there is any interest I’ll put together a sign up list.
Dick
