DESERT ROAD TRIP #1: THE MOJAVE MARCH 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012 at 4:54PM 
I like to tag along with my friend Beth as she travels all over California for her work, but this trip had extra special allure for me as a road trip through the desert. Beth had to work in Las Vegas for a few days and at this time of year we must drive around the Sierra Nevada to get there. You cruise the 15 through the Mojave desert on the way to Sin City, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to seek out the California State Reptile, the Desert Tortoise, as they emerge in the spring from their underground burrows. Listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, the tortoise is losing its habitat to desert development. Some public lands protect tortoise habitat, so we planned an overnight in the Mojave National Preserve before tackling three nights in Las Vegas. Sort of an aesthetic retreat before the excess. First stop was the Desert Tortoise Natural Area just north of California City, maintained by the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, where we hoped to catch a glimpse of this:
From mojavephonebooth.com
Though the Natural Area has an interpreted trail and lots of burrows, we failed to spot a tortoise, so we plan to return on a day where we can patiently wait for the tortoises to appear - perhaps with a lawn chair and picnic lunch. We cruised back toward Barstow, where the 15 and the 40 highways comprise the norhtern and southern borders of the Mojave National Preserve. We opted for the 40 as we planned to stop at the Kelso Depot, where the historic train building has been converted into the preserve's visitor center. You can enter the preserve on the Kelbaker road from either highway, but you'll pass the Kelso Sand Dunes on your way to the depot from the south. At the exit for Kelbaker, we realized we were only 70 miles from Joshua Tree National Park and the preserve's terrain is much the same. However, the Mojave National Preserve is home to the largest Joshua Tree forest in southern California and Beth confirmed that the trees here are actually biologically different from the trees at JTNP. We made it to the depot just before they closed and the NPS staff was more than happy to stay open so we could take a quick look around.
From terrylbeck.com
From NPS
From blog.kurtlawson.com
From panaramio.comWe left the depot with evening coming on and headed for our reservation at the Hotel Nipton. Nipton, CA (population: 38) resides on the very border of the preserve and consists of the hotel/eco-lodge/campground, general store, restaurant and a handful of residences. The hotel building was built in 1910 and offers five rooms, while the proprietors recently installed yurts for the environmentally conscious and is now promoting itself as environemnetally friendly. The rooms are basic but the people are friendly. We arrived at 6 PM just as the store was closing to find that the restaurant was closed too, so we ate Lunchables out of the store along with dates and nuts from our road trip stash. Thankfully, we were also able to purchase beers. The other party in the hotel had planned ahead and were contentedly dining on barbecue in the hotel's common room. The most important aspect of overnighting in Nipton is knowing that the train still runs right through the Mojave, just like back in the day, and that Nipton is located right on the Union Pacific line. The hotel thoughtfully provides earplugs for when the train rolls though in the middle of the night, but they don't help.
Whilst researching for the trip to the Mojave, I came across this interesting tidbit: the Mojave Phone Booth. Back in the 60s, a phone booth was installed by the phone company in the middle of the Mojave to serve the isolated mining communities whose original number was 714-733-9969. No charge to dial out, but still set up as a phone booth proper. In 1997, someone noticed the symbol for a public phone in the middle of the Mojave and set out to determine the source. Later Godfrey Daniels began posting about the booth on the internet and a cult was born. People from all over the world began calling the booth just to see if someone would answer and sometimes they did. Pilgrimages were conducted and the National Park Service became uneasy about the weirdos attracted to the booth (like me) and had it removed in 2000. But the legend lives on, even inspiring a Hollywood film in 2006, Mojave Phone Booth. I've got the GPS coordinates, though I didn't force Beth to take her hybrid car onto the backroads of the Mojave just to satisfy my curiosity. That's a Mojave adventure for another time. Since I love all desert oddities with a passion, I created a board for the MPB on Pinterest.
From laundelles.wordpress.com
After the fortifying "continental breakfast" provided by the hotel - which consisted of choosing some items from the store - we headed back out into the desert on our way to Las Vegas. We stopped in Primm, NV at the Starbucks in the Largest Chevron Station on Earth to rectify the breakfast scene and then rolled into town to get Beth to a meeting at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. While Beth mentored youngsters in the environmental fields, I enjoyed the scenic loop at my leisure. Having lived in Las Vegas for a brief time 17 years ago, the scenic loop is memory lane as I spent a great deal of time hiking Red Rock Canyon in 1995. I enjoyed my lunch at the Willow Springs picnic area and then took a little hike on the Oak Creek Canyon trail in the salubrious desert sun. But first we saw this:
That's right, Mission: Desert Tortoise was accomplished! That beautiful creature is Lucy who resides at the Red Rock Canyon visitor center tortoise habitat. Lucy belongs to the harem of Mojave Max, the resident male tortoise, a mascot for Mojave Desert preservation. We timed our visit just right as Lucy emerged from her burrow to slowly scout out some vittles. And when I say slowly, I mean like geologic era slow. Feeling satisfied with our accomplished goal, Beth and I left Red Rock Canyon to check into the LVH (the Las Vegas Hotel, used to be the Hilton, but don't tell that to LV cabbies). And then the magic of Lost Wages commenced.
Junket Ratings:
Hotel Nipton: Junk-O-Rama
