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Sun Feb 02, 2014 11:13 pm

Syncronauts,

I still have a few items to pin down, but want to get registration going anyway.

Cost will be $150/Syncro and includes
- Camping at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park in Nevada Sunday, April 6th
- Camping at Mid Hills Campground, Monday & Tuesday, April 7th-8th
- Donation to Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association to provide a volunteer speaker and pay for their travel expenses
- Camping at the Desert Science Center at Zzyzx. Wednesday & Thursday, April 9th-10th
- Camping at Owl Canyon Campground, Friday, April 11th
- An allotment for some firewood and other miscellaneous expenses.

If you'd like to attend, here's the process:

Registration is now open.
It works like this: Five easy steps.

1. Check out the information about this trip in this email and past Syncro Safaris on the web at www.SyncroSafari.org Decide that you'd like to attend and have a great time .

2. Tell me via email at [email protected]
that you would like to attend and you'd like one of the available spots.

3. If a spot is still available, I will let you know and email you the following:
A. Registration Form
B. "Bring List - Personal Items"
C. "Bring List - 4x4 Items"
D. "Don't Bring List"
E. My mailing address
If all the spots are already taken, I will create a waiting list of others
interested in attending.
(Steps 4 & 5 would then be "on hold" for waiting list entries.)

4. You print and complete the Registration Form and mail (old fashioned snail mail) me two things:
A completed Registration Form
B. Deposit for your share of the costs. $150

5. I will email you confirmation that I've received your form and camping fee and that your spot is secured.

Cancellations:
Please consider your deposit as non-refundable. However, if you must cancel, and if a replacement participant is found, your money will be returned. You do run the potential risk of no one else wanting to take your space and then your money can't be refunded.

Hope to see you on the trip!

Jim Davis

Previously announced about the trip:
================================
Syncro Safari, Mojave Road ‘14 Announcement

Check out www.SyncroSafari.org for additional information and links to the places we'll visit and stay at.

This year’s Syncro Safari adventure will be a springtime event to take advantage of the nice spring weather in the Mojave Desert. The dates are Sunday, April 6th through Saturday, April 12th.

The venue will be the 140+ mile trek along the historic Mojave Road. While some have done the Mojave Road in just 2-3 days or even at near-race pace in a single day, our adventure will spend five days traversing this route. This will afford us a relaxed schedule and the opportunity to see all the most significant sites along the route. We’ll spend three of the five days traveling along the route allowing a couple additional days for sight-seeing, hiking, bird-watching, “wildflowering”, and photography.

Preliminary Itinerary:
------------------------
Sunday, April 6th: Gather and camp at Big Bend of the Colorado State Park in Nevada, south of Laughlin. This site is right on the Colorado River and if you arrive early enough, there would be time for some water recreation in the river if you'd like. We've arranged with the management there to allow our group to camp in the day-use area right along the water!

Monday, April 7th: Travel a short distance south along the Colorado River to “Mile 0” where early travelers crossed the river. From here, our westward trek will take us to a number of sites along the way including Fort Piute and Rock Springs. Monday’s 61 mile journey will take us from the warmth of the Colorado at an elevation of 487 feet to the cool altitudes among Pinion Pines and Junipers to Mid Hills Campground. Mid Hills is between the Providence Mountains and the New York Mountains at an elevation of 5,600 feet.

Tuesday, April 8th: Recreation and relaxation around the New York and Providence Mountains. Maybe take a nap! Nowhere to “get to” this day except to be at Taco Night at “Camp Syncro, at Mid Hills a second night. Some will probably want to take a little side trip south to Hole-in-the-Wall to see the unique rock formations and hike the “Ring Trail” where there are iron rings placed into the rock to help your descent and ascent through this narrow canyon. We working on arrangements for a volunteer Mojave Road expert to conduct a talk on the history of the Mojave Road.

Wednesday, April 9th: Continue our expedition westward descending out of the mountains to Marl Springs, take a side trip to walk through the underground Lava Tubes and then cross “dry” Soda Lake. At least we hope it’s dry. Recent storms can sometimes make this section impassible as a few previous Syncronauts have found. On the west side of the lake, lies our destination, the Desert Science Center at Zzyzx, 50 miles (+side trips) from Mid Hills. We’ll camp at the center and have use of their facilities including showers!

Thursday, April 10th: We’ll be treated to a tour of the Desert Science Center facility and an educational session at the DSC on a topic to be determined such as desert wildlife, petroglyphs, or Native American history. The balance of Thursday is open for recreation and relaxation and we’ll spend a second night at the DSC, probably including a screening of “The Bus Movie”.

Friday, April 11th: Our trek will continue westward across the Rasor Off Highway Vehicle area and up the Mojave River wash through scenic Afton Canyon. We’ll take a hike in a slot canyon called “Spooky Canyon” (flashlights required believe it or not) and continue to the western terminus of the Mojave Road Recreation Trail at the historic Camp Cady site (Mile 140), about 40 miles from the morning’s start. From there we’ll continue northwest out of the Mojave River area, visit the very scenic Rainbow Basin loop road and camp at Owl Canyon Campground.

Saturday, April 12th: The trip’s officially over so we’ll say our goodbyes and part ways to see other sites in the area (Black Canyon, Calico, etc.) or head home.

Mojave Road? What’s that? Why would you want to go there?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So, if you’ve read this far, you either already know smoothing about the Mojave Road, or you’d like to know why we’d pick this route. Here’s a little overview…

Long before the first white man saw the Mojave Desert region an ancient trade trail crossed the eastern Mojave. It connected the tribes of the Mojave Indians with other tribes in the region and ultimately the California coast. This significant Indian trade route was first used by someone from the “old world” when Spaniard explorer and missionary Francisco Garces traversed it in 1776 on his way to find the Mission San Gabriel. The next famous traveler on the route was Jedidiah Strong Smith in 1826. Other early travelers included John Charles Fremont and Kit Carson. In the min 1800’s a mail route was needed for the US government and the area was surveyed (using imported camels!) and eventually outposts and forts were set up along the route to safeguard the mail. Later mining and cattle enterprises dotted the Mojave, all using this important east-west route. Eventually a railroad and more modern highways were established along different routes and the Mojave Road was nearly lost for good. That is until the 1970’s, when Dennis Casebier investigated the route and first published a book on the subject. In the early 1980’s a group formed known as “Friends of the Mojave Road” and dedicated themselves to reopening the route for recreational, educational, and inspirational purposes. The latest editions of Casebier’s “Mojave Road Guide” now include GPS coordinates and clear directions and maps to follow making access to the special, scenic, and historic spots along the route more accessible than ever.

While a number of Syncros have traversed the route (or at least parts of it) in the past, we’re planning on making this adventure the most complete, educational, and enjoyable Mojave Road trip ever. The number of historic sites, interesting geology, scenic desert vistas, sand dunes, volcanic craters, petroglyphs, and interesting canyons and formations is simply too many to list here. There are literally a couple of book series, each with at least two volumes about interesting sites in this region.

Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:46 pm

Adventurers,

While we were full, we just had one of the people signed up for the event have to cancel, so this now leaves one spot open. If you're interested in going, please email me and request a registration packet.

There's some preliminary info below, but it's partly outdated. Most up-to-date information is at:
http://www.syncrosafari.org/mojave-road-14---overview.html

Changes to the initial plan include a side-trip to Goffs to visit the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association museum and have a presentation for our group by author of the Mojave Road Guide (and many other Mojave Desert books), Dennis Casebier.

Jim Davis
[email protected]

Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:12 pm

Full again. :-)

Jim Davis

Thu Mar 20, 2014 5:48 pm

I hate to keep doing this, but we've had another cancellation and we have ONE SPOT OPEN AGAIN for Mojave Road '14.

www.SyncroSafari.org

Email me at Syncrohead at aol.com if you're interested.

Jim Davis

Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:03 pm

Well, we've completed another Syncro Safari adventure! Starting with nine Syncros and finishing with seven, here's some of what our group of intrepid Syncronauts did in our 220 miles crossing 140 miles of the Mojave Desert...

- Swimming in the Colorado River
- Slot canyons so steep we needed rings & ropes to climb
- A slot canyon so narrow, that it was pitch black at the bottom without flashlights
- Bighorn sheep
- Nighttime scorpion hunting
- Several natural desert springs
- Wildflowers
- Moderate 4-wheeling that had only three wheels on the ground a few times
- Both ancient history and American Western history - close-up & personal
- Native American petroglyphs
- A private desert swimming pool
- A visit and stay at the Goffs Schoolhouse and museum
- A presentation on the history of the Mojave Road given by author of the Mojave Road Guise, Dennis Casebier
- The story behind Zzyzx and the Desert Studies Center now there
- A presentation on Desert Wildlife by DSC Manager Rob Fulton
- Underground sunshine inside a lava tube
- Campfires, tall tales, and laughter
- Photo contests
- Two taco nights! (One just couldn't contain it!)
- Native American intaglios
- Mining and Ranching relics
- Ruins of army outposts
- Mountains and pine trees
- Views that stretched into tomorrow
- Rattlesnakes
- A 3.5 mile crossing of Soda Dry Lake
- A deserted desert bus
- The Mohave Mailbox, the Frog Shrine, Penny Can, and Travelers Monument
- A session in Binocular Astronomy
- Two water-crossings of the Mojave river
- Two trips under railroad trestles in the riverbed
- The passing of a freight train over a trestle, feet from our Syncros
- Getting lost - twice! (sort of)
- One tire blowout
- One axle replacement
- One starter failure
- One transmission failure
- Friendship, camaraderie, and perseverance by the vanful!

It will likely take a couple of months to get the website at www.SyncroSafari.org updated, but I'll let you know when it's ready with the photos & stories from our adventure.

Regards,
Jim Davis

Sat Jan 31, 2015 9:37 pm

I've finally selected and posted photos of our 2014 trip, Syncro Safari, Mojave Road '14.

There are tons of photos (though about 90% didn't make the cut) and also plenty of information for others to use to plan their own Mojave Road trip.

The photos are at:
http://www.syncrosafari.org/mojave-road-14-photos.html

The Syncro Safari, Mojave Road '14 overview page is here:
http://www.syncrosafari.org/mojave-road-14---overview.html

Also - You'll find new information at the site about Syncro Safari, Tahoe '15 coming this July. More about that in another post though.

Jim

Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:01 pm

This is bad ass.

I also like that OD green mil-spec Syncro. Any details on it? Good idea putting the tent on the roof with those creepy crawlers

Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:20 pm

wonderful pics!

Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:40 am

Thanks for the compliments on my olive drab Syncro.

Though it started life as a regular 1987 GL passenger model, over the year's it's had its share of upgrades. Early on I removed the forward facing middle passenger seat and replaced with a pair of removable, rear-facing WLE seats and started a long string of customizations.

In 2005 I did the military-look makeover replacing the Wolfram Gray Metallic paint with the olive green, replaced the interior panels with olive drab as well and replaced all the carpet with black diamond plate vinyl covering all the floor areas.

Now it sports Recarro front seats, LED lighting upgrades, custom bumpers front and rear (with integral attachment points), and "sliders" like Das Mule makes long before Das Mule existed. (By the way, love theirs!) Underneath, it's powered through a 2.3L GoWesty upgrade engine, and sits on GoWesty adjustable Fox shocks and progressive springs setup all the way around. Too many other things to mention.

Oh, lest I forget, custom computer-controlled windows with auto-up, auto-down functions with pinch-protection, and controls from both door panels. Fun!

This Syncro has been my companion on Syncro Safari adventures since 1998. More pictures of the Syncro Safari events (and many other vans too) at:
http://www.syncrosafari.org/photos.html

Jim Davis

Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:42 pm

I've just added some (11) videos to the photo page here:

http://www.syncrosafari.org/mojave-road-14-photos.html

Hope you enjoy!

Jim