Matt's New Mexico (Formerly Airstream) Adventure

[Manticore]

Great shots @Matt ! Always drive near Oatman on the way to/from Flagstaff from LA when heading out to Overland Expo. Good offroad options around there. Great shots at Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree, a family favorite for us and our girls love that place - we used setup Easter egg hunts for the kids amongst the rocks.

[Matt]

That’s awesome!  I’ll have to keep that in mind around Easter.  Not sure where we’ll be then but an epic Easter Egg Hunt at a cool park is a great idea.  We checked out Kingman today but didn’t stay long.  I think we’ll go back since it’s close so I’ll get some photos then.

[Aetas]

Thanks for every update @Matt !!!

[motojobobo]

Good stuff @Matt ! I was already missing your reports during the week-long silence since the 15th.
Never been to that area.
Please keep them coming.

[Matt]

Hoover Dam…

[Kasi]

Nice photos  nice view

[Chris]

There's a Thanksgiving turkey trot that starts in Boulder City called the Six Tunnels To Hoover Dam. It runs along the historic rail line the construction crews used and goes through, as you might guess, six tunnels.  It's a really pretty race, though I haven't done it for about five years.

[Matt]

We checked out the Lake Meade visitor center to plan the rest of the week.  That trail is on our radar.  Lake Meade has about a million acres so we may have to save some for one of our future  destinations.  We’ll be on this area for a while.

[Matt]

Lake Mead - Grapevine Trail…

[Matt]

Things changed a bit over night…

[Matt]

Hualapai Mnt Pk in Kingman…

[Matt]

I just did some research on that woodpecker and I think it might be a yellow bellied sapsucker.  Not supposed to be here right now but has been seen in this region in rare occurrences in the winter.  If there are any birdwrs out there with an opinion please jump in.

[Matt]

Today’s hike in Lake Mead was on the Historic Railroad Trail.  It was the rail line from Boulder City to Hover Dam that they built to transport the building materials to the dam site. The workers and their families lived in shanties along the  water at the bottom of the canton.  It was apparently brutal.  The hike was nice though.

[Matt]

Checked out the Mojave National Preserve’s Hole-in-the-Wall area today.  The road we took in was a 20 mile dirt road that was pretty rough and covered in snow.  The dirt was heavily grooved from the dozer treads that created it so at 10 mph it took us a while.  So glad we made it.  The Rings Loop Trail has portions that go up out of Banshee Canyon using metal rings mounted into the rock walls.  Awesome hike…

A wildfire in Aug came through and decimated the entire side of this Joshua Tree forest.  It didn’t cross the road.  No one lives here so it didn’t get fire today hunting crews.

Our first jackrabbit sighting!

[Matt]

Here’s a better shot of the rings…

[Matt]

It was cold but I managed in an IHSW-23, IHSH-178 and some 634SR…

[Matt]

[steelworker]

Knockout photos @Matt  you and  your wife have given your children a great gift

[scooter]

Death Valley at a balmy 47°F. Any plans to return when it's 47°C ?

[Matt]

Negative @scooter  We almost missed this one and Joshua Tree because of the very small window during which one can visit and not burst into flames.  Thankfully we figured out how to see them without staying in CA.  CA is open now but the campsite in DV cost the same as the RV park we found just outside the park in Nevada and this place has full hookups and free WiFi.

I’m excited to find some of the spots where Star Wars filmed.  We drove through one today but it was a scenic drive and we didn’t get out to poke around.  It all did feel very Str Warsy though.