Went for a hike in the desert

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
03/05/2019 at 20:26 • Filed to: None

I’m in the Mojave desert and got out of work early so I figured it was time for a quick hike. I hiked up a trail to Five Fingers Peak which was about 2.5 miles round trip and 1300 or so feet of elevation gain. So a quick 1.5 hour jaunt including some time for taking in the views at the top and trying to get some pictures. Got rained on a bit and it was super windy but considering it’s regularly 110F+ out here in the summer, this was pretty pleasant in comparison.

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Completely different biome up here than I am used to at home down near the Ocean. Sure we have plenty of desert plants and similar terrain but this was much more exaggerated toward pure desert. What little vegetation that was around was definitely adapted for living a life of little water and brutal heat. This winter has surely been kind and brought an unusual amount of water though. So the bit of flowers blooming were definitely a nice touch to find on the trail. Looking forward to heading home tomorrow and then off to Mammoth for the weekend! Lots of driving but that’s okay, Subaru will keep getting me wherever it is I’m going.

DISCUSSION (23)

MM54 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 20:31

Check out Pisgah Crater if you’re ever in that direction, it’s neat. I like the desert.

412GTI > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 20:46

Your car looks so right in that environment. Rally things!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > 412GTI
03/05/2019 at 20:54

It was a fun little dirt road to get up to the trail. And technically the trail was a road as well. But it was a bit too steep and ground clearance for sure would have been an issue. Either way, the car is properly dirty right now due to the dirt and rain.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > MM54
03/05/2019 at 20:56

I like the desert until it's hot. And seeing as that is most of the year, it's hard to appreciate it usually. And as soon as someone says "but it's a dry heat" I can't listen to their shit anymore. Like sure, it would be worse if it was humid but 115 degrees with a nice steady breeze making it feel like a convection oven feels like death would be more pleasant.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 20:56

Ah, the Mojave... Nothing like a good reminder of my time spent in 29 stumps. Actually, being a native desert rat I found the differences to be interesting from the Mojave to the higher and cooler deserts I’m from in the form of the Chihuahuan deserts of Southern NM and the high desert of central/western NM.

Just watch for little holes in the ground. Actually, they’re all over the place, but watch out for when you start seeing groups of them together in a small area. You might find the ground starting to give out beneath you, and you probably don’t want to piss off whatever made them in the event they’re not empty.

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 21:05

You have no idea how badly I want to ship my Miata down there for some rallying

MM54 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 21:06

When I was there (at the crater) it was about 95 and sunny. I was comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt, but another 20 degrees on top of that is hot no matter how you cut it!

(*looks out the window at fresh snow in the 10 degree night*)

I should go to the desert.

JeepJeremy > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 21:09

Awesome photos!

CRider > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 21:13

I hope I’ll get a chance to go out to the Anza Borrego area soon, all this rain is going to give us a " super bloom" this year.

promoted by the color red > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 21:30

There’s been a lot of rain this winter and it has made driving a Miata a rather thrilling experience as the storm drains on the roads near my place often get clogged and I have to drive through some rather deep water .

If you have time for a scenic drive I recommend the Caliente Bodfish Road: Starts in Lake Isabella, winds through some rolling hills, and drops you off in Tehachapi where you can get some baked goods at Kohnen’s.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion
03/05/2019 at 21:53

Haha I mean Idk how you deal with the ground clearance issue. That's pretty unfixable without making the car into a monster truck which basically ruins the handling anyways. I don't go too fast in dirt since there's always dips and crap, don't feel like bending a rim or causing body damage or worse, ripping a hole in my oil pan. My Miata has issues on paved roads with too many bumps or divots, I bottom out super easily. At least in the Subaru smooth dirt roads are fun. But yeah I'm just way out of my element most of the time.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > CRider
03/05/2019 at 21:55

Definitely planning on checking out the super bloom once it happens. Hoping the wildfire areas near home bloom as well, then it's a sub 30 minute drive to check it all out which would be nice! It's unfortunate though that the weather could swing to hot weather and ruin it all depending on timing.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > JeepJeremy
03/05/2019 at 21:57

Thanks, I think I should get a better camera some day but it helps to take a hundred photos and eventually hope a few look okay. The rain in the distance always impresses me and I really couldn't capture that but it looked so neat from up there. My car is also super bright which only kind of shows up in the photos. It surprises me every time when I'm like holy shit that white looks so good!

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/05/2019 at 22:06

Honestly I don’t know either. Between the xidas and taller winter tires, I’m still a bit lower than stock. Just kinda send it and hope for the best lol. I’m hoping the aluminum skid plate I installed helps. My frame rails are a bit beat from getting high-centered. Twice...

Hmm maybe I’ve just been lucky with somewhat flatter dirt roads? There are definitely holes and bumps, but I can normally find a clear-ish path through.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion
03/06/2019 at 00:27

I guess it depends if it's a service road that is maintained a little bit versus "nature is the only maintenance". I've gone down some sketchy dirt roads in the Miata and was surprised to not get stuck or fall off a cliff. While entertaining, my FM coils damn near vibrate me to death even on "smooth" dirt. At least the subaru on my snow tires feels quite soft and compliant. I definitely am able to just enjoy dirt roads more in the Subaru. While there is less "drama", it's kind of fun to just haul a bit any time it gets straight and feel in complete control of what's going on underneath me. I'd like to play with it more but I don't come across that many dirt roads.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
03/06/2019 at 00:29

Oh yeah I was very sketched about any of the piles of rocks as well as the holes I found around. Always waiting for a snake to pop out and surprise me.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > promoted by the color red
03/06/2019 at 00:32

Eeeeeek I turn around and find another way when it comes to water. I ain’t trying to ford any puddle lakes! The shit I’ve seen people trying to cross freaks me out. I definitely need to explore the roads up here more. I’m sure there’s interesting stuff similar to CA 58. That road gets amazing in parts and there's gotta be other roads around.

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/06/2019 at 00:35

One day I hope to join you and o wn an Sti. I was honestly shocked at how much fun it was to hoon my neighbor’s i n the snow this past winter.

You're fixing up your Miata right?

promoted by the color red > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/06/2019 at 00:51

Try 178! Parts of that road are right out of Initial D and the locals are crazy. Had some dude in a lifted Z71 pickup fly past me one time.

I’ll report back on the Sherman Pass Road when it opens in spring. It’s being repaved right now so it’s pretty nasty, but you can tell it’s a great road.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion
03/06/2019 at 00:55

If I can ever find the time, step one is get the car to the shop at work to work on it when I find time. Step two is find said time to get that work done. Step three is remove the engine and assess how bad the rust is in the engine bay. I then can determine if it’s a fools errand to do anything other than chuck the car in a dumpster lol. I hope that it’s usable enough with a large amount of ignoring crash safety. But I don’t have high hopes! Either way, I’ll then work on rebuilding the engine so that at least I have a shiny “new” engine. I’d then be up for buying a sub $1000 shitty nonrunning turd of a Miata and having my nice new engine in there. All it has to have is no rust and then it’s bound to be a good idea. I kind of like the idea of doing my NB2 engine into an NA but I kind of also like just making it easy and sticking with an NB. I guess it would depend on what sort of shell I found.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > promoted by the color red
03/06/2019 at 01:05

It’s unfortunate in the summer time how hot it gets though because trying to take my Miata up here is brutal. Top d own is just frying me like an egg the whole way and using the AC with the top up is a pitiful way to be “less hot” and make the car absurdly slow. That’s why I enjoy my STi up here, not to mention the higher speed roads you can find. But having AC that doesn’t cut my power in half and a real roof and ceramic tints is pretty nice. Miata on some roads like that would be great on a milder day, just need a teleporter to get through the rough parts of the long drive.

CRider > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/06/2019 at 01:47

Hopefully the temps stay consistent for the next few weeks- I just hope Zeus give us a weekend without rain.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
03/06/2019 at 10:12

I love the desert, but I take the basic position that everything in it is tougher than you are. I follow the maxim of don’t fuck with the wildlife.