Tecopah, CA is a tiny place in the middle of nothing. It’s claim to fame is the China Ranch Date Farm. According to available sources, a Chinese man named either Quon Sing or Ah Foo came to this canyon after many years of work in the Death Valley borax mines. He developed the water, planted fruits and …
Month: February 2026
Winter boondocking is all about stalling out in warmer areas and chasing sun. We run off solar so it’s important to have sun! After consulting weather apps we made a decision. Two weeks outside Vegas lets us get some maintenance done on the trailer (thank god for mobile rv techs). First up, we hiked Middle …
Down the sandy and rough road we boondocked on is a tunnel. Not just any tunnel. Burro Schmidt Tunnel. The historical Burro Schmidt Tunnel is a mining tunnel dug with hand tools and dynamite over a 38-year period by William “Burro” H. Schmidt (1871–1954). “Burro” Schmidt was faced with a dangerous ridge between his mining claims and the smelter to the …
I think everyone knows of the2,650 mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that runs from Canada to Mexico. We hiked just a small day hike from Walker Pass near Ridgecrest, CA as an out and back one day. During the Gold Rush of 1848–1855, Walker’s Pass led hundreds of pioneers into California. Years prior to the …
For being kind of remote, the trails at Rademacher Hills in Ridgecrest are fantastic. It’s pretty much just a locals thing and we found excellent riding that isn’t even on Trailforks. We’ve ridden here once before and it was nice to find new stuff. The trails out here are probably best rated as beginner to …
Whenever we scope out routes and spots to boondock we look for everything there is to do in the area. This time, coming from Joshua Tree on our way to Death Valley, we stopped over for a week near Ridgecrest. What did we find to do? California City Wait, first, have you ever heard of …
We visited Pioneertown back in 2021 on of our first passes through the area as full time rvers. This time we hiked at the Preserve. The 25,500-acre Pioneertown Mountains Preserve is an interesting area noted for granite rock formations, volcanic mesas, and riparian canyons There are great hiking options and we did a challenging Sawtooth …
The hike out to Eagle Cliff House was off the beaten path. We didn’t see any other hikers out there. It helps that it was a weekday – but also, since we are able to spend so much time in one area, we are able to do all the less popular hikes in an area …
Derek and I rode a version of this back when we were in Joshua Tree in 2021. That version was 22.5 miles with 2300′ of climbing. We remembered the start to be pretty sandy so we drove in further this time and cut off a few miles. This is a shortish ride that packs a …
This one! I loved our hike on the Maze and North View Loop Trails in Joshua Tree National Park. It was almost 7 miles and well worth the effort. We hiked counterclockwise to get the sandy wash section out of the way first. The maze wasn’t as maze-y as I thought it would be but …