Saturday and Sunday, March 24-25, 2001
Beginners welcome! Great trip for families; educational for the kids! Day Two may present optional short side-runs requiring higher skill levels for those who are interested.
Cuddeback Dry Lake is located east off of Hwy 395, about ten miles north of Kramer Junction. Kramer Junction is located at the intersection of Hwys 395 and 58, about 38 miles north of Victorville and 37 miles east of Mojave.
Distance to Kramer Junction:
There's no lodging, silly, we're camping!!!
We'll be camping en masse on the west side of the southern end of Cuddeback Lake, off the graded dirt Fremont Road, about six miles from Hwy 395.
Sunday Morning Breakfast:
Bring your own supplies for a campsite breakfast.
Sat & Sun Lunch:
Along the trail
Sat Dinner:
Bring your own supplies for a campsite dinner.
Saturday, March 24
Meet at the southeast corner (76 Station) of Kramer Junction at 9:00 am. Fill your gas tank here; external cans should not be necessary.
After brief orientation, the group will drive north on Hwy 395 about 10 miles to the Fremont Road. This well graded road will take us the six miles to the south end of Cuddeback Lake, where we will set up our base camp.
After setting up camp, we'll spend the day on the dry lake, and on near-by trails to old mining sites and hilltop vistas. Bring your video camera for fun shots of driving across the dry lake bed!
Sunday, March 25
After waking, sharing a group shower (Bruce's idea) and enjoying breakfast, we'll strike camp and load up all our stuff.
We'll then make our way via some convoluted route comprised of old burro paths and indian trails to the famous Inscription Canyon Petroglyphs, adjacent to BLM's Black Mountain Wilderness Area. This is one of the best collections of petroglyphs in the Mojave Desert, though the site has suffered some from vandals. Kyra Sundance will give a brief presentation about this site and attempt to explain the how's & why's of this sacred indian site.
We'll continue to explore the areas of Opal Mountain and Black Mountain. Near the end of the day, the group will return to civilization, if possible, across Harper Not-So-Dry Lake, to Hwy 58 at Hinkley (remember Erin Brockovitch?).
Topozone Map of Cuddeback Lake
BLM Info on Inscription Canyon Petroglyphs