Calipidder

Mother Nature has had some kind of grudge against me lately. It seems that every time I plan on getting out to the snow or backpacking conditions are anything but favorable. The trend continued last weekend, with a massive storm pounding the Sierra on yet another weekend I had planned on going out on a [...]

As part of our trip to the desert we decided to join the Southern California 4×4 Geocachers on a run. The target was the Dale Mining District, just north of Joshua Tree, and the run was suitable for our stock 4×4 (though it pushed its limits at times!) The district has a huge number of [...]

Our last full day of the annual Thanksgiving Trip to the desert was an adventure! We decided to do the run up Warm Springs canyon into Butte Valley, but instead of continuing through the valley and up towards Mengel Pass, we turned off towards Arrastre Springs to explore that area. The day was primarily spent [...]

You heard me - Zzyzx. Pronounced Zi-Zix. The last entry when all geographic place names are listed alphabetically. Anyone who has driven the I-15 stretch from LA to Vegas knows that mysterious, middle-of-nowhere offramp to ‘Zzyzx’. It finally tempted us and this time we took the exit to explore all that Zzyzx has to offer.

It’s that time of year again, time for me to play desert rat for a week. Thanksgiving is a great time to head to the desert. Temperatures are mild to cold and crowds are generally light (except on the freeways). As usual, we hopped into the car on the Friday before Thanksgiving and headed south, [...]