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So after asking around about camping on the Colorado River a friend from the Myjeeprocks forum (Russ Chung)(I posted on another forum) told me about a great place called Lake Mojave. So after doing a little research I decided that this was the place for me. After a few last minute fixes on my newly built Off Road Trailer I thought it would be a great idea for a canoe. After shopping every craigslist location on the west coast I found a killer deal on a 15 ft Coleman Canoe with life vests and paddles.
After trying to figure out where I was going to put this canoe I decided to just tie it down on the roof of my Jeep TJ. Off to the lake we went.
After driving for about 1hr and 45 min we made it to a small town called Nipton, Ca.
Then finally into Nevada, once in we stopped at the Terrible Herbst on the 95 for some Micky D's what's a camping trip without McDonalds right.
This stop turned out to be crucial for I had no idea what was in store. Although I didn't need gas and never went in the store i checked out my trailer and canoe and all seemed good. Once we arrived at the Lake Mead National Park and paid my 20 $ annual fee 5 $ for one time visit. A quick turn right onto power line road and let the adventure begin.
According to the map it looked like an easy 15 mile drive .......... not that lucky. They are about 7 coves out there 4 x4 accessible and we knew where we wanted to go and that was as far away from a crowd or bathroom as possible. Needless to say the roads sucked a mixture between Calico and a gravel plant. Should of aired down. After shaking and baking for an hour, yes an hour we figure lets check Nellis Cove. That was a big mistake that road was worse. It was fun though making it down to the bottom the cove was crowded so we turned around and continued on. A little frustrated I started driving a little faster and then we hit a big bump and the Jeep just died. I had power to the radio but none of the gauges or ignition would turn on. Just imagine first day of vacation, your hot and alone in the middle of the desert I tried not to drop any F bombs in front of the family. Since the Canoe was tied down over the hood it was a little difficult to open the hood but I managed to check the engine fuses and the ignition fuse was blown. We hit so hard that the whole engine fuse block broke and was loose.
We continued on and every once in a while the jeep would loose power but we kept driving on. Another 30 minutes plus some wrong turns and we made it. A little late we let a couple of vehicles pass because i wanted to take it easy and they got in before us and a grabbed a great spot. After looking around I drove back north along the cove and found our own little area which turned out to be perfect. My wife and I agreed it was definitely worth the drive and frustration.
After a few hours of getting everything the way we wanted it we where able to enjoy our own little paradise, until. I asked my wife wheres the beer? Oh, she said, Oh yeah I said, no beer no bueno. Oh well right I guess its water and capri suns for 3 days. Here are a few shots from the canoe. You can see to the left the next group a little aways separated by trees.
Saturday I was up at 3:30 a.m. too excited to sleep and wanting to do a little fishing and it was great.
Me and my boy fishing!
Later on in the morning I looked at my watch and it was only 9:30 a.m. my wife and I decided to take the hour long trip to the marina for some beer and break up the day. Once there I decided to top off and also get some beach slip on shoes because of the amount of rocks out at the cove, worth every penny!
Got back put the canoe in the water and just enjoyed the weekend here are some more pics.
Saturday night was a little rough the group at the entrance grew to a big size party and boy did they party all night. wasn't a really big deal put my ear buds in and went to sleep. Sunday however turned ridiculous when a party barge with slides and DJ equipment showed up a few hundres yards up river. This turned out to be to much for me. My little get away was not going to be ruined by a bunch college kids playing mariachi music over a p.a. system. We decided that we would slowly pack up and enjoy the rest of the day but leave late in the evening avoiding the monday traffic and allow us to rest. Definitely worth it we where both dead and burnt pretty bad.
The good and the bad:
Considering it was a holiday weekend the crowd didn't show up until sunday late afternoon. We had already occupied our area and no one was going to be too close to us.
Would of been great on just a regular weekend maybe thursday thru sunday.
Wish some of our friends could of made the trip.
Water was so clear it was great to be swimming in or on the canoe, perfect.
Not the everyday joe is driving all the way out there, most people drive the boats from the marina and look for day spots.
Hearing the water crash against the shore at night from the tent is very calming and was a joy to experience.
Very very very hot not too many big trees out there so bring canopies more then one if possible.
No cell service (thats a good thing)
Dont forget the beer!
2 thumbs up for this trip we will be doing it again.
Mike
After trying to figure out where I was going to put this canoe I decided to just tie it down on the roof of my Jeep TJ. Off to the lake we went.
After driving for about 1hr and 45 min we made it to a small town called Nipton, Ca.
Then finally into Nevada, once in we stopped at the Terrible Herbst on the 95 for some Micky D's what's a camping trip without McDonalds right.
This stop turned out to be crucial for I had no idea what was in store. Although I didn't need gas and never went in the store i checked out my trailer and canoe and all seemed good. Once we arrived at the Lake Mead National Park and paid my 20 $ annual fee 5 $ for one time visit. A quick turn right onto power line road and let the adventure begin.
According to the map it looked like an easy 15 mile drive .......... not that lucky. They are about 7 coves out there 4 x4 accessible and we knew where we wanted to go and that was as far away from a crowd or bathroom as possible. Needless to say the roads sucked a mixture between Calico and a gravel plant. Should of aired down. After shaking and baking for an hour, yes an hour we figure lets check Nellis Cove. That was a big mistake that road was worse. It was fun though making it down to the bottom the cove was crowded so we turned around and continued on. A little frustrated I started driving a little faster and then we hit a big bump and the Jeep just died. I had power to the radio but none of the gauges or ignition would turn on. Just imagine first day of vacation, your hot and alone in the middle of the desert I tried not to drop any F bombs in front of the family. Since the Canoe was tied down over the hood it was a little difficult to open the hood but I managed to check the engine fuses and the ignition fuse was blown. We hit so hard that the whole engine fuse block broke and was loose.
We continued on and every once in a while the jeep would loose power but we kept driving on. Another 30 minutes plus some wrong turns and we made it. A little late we let a couple of vehicles pass because i wanted to take it easy and they got in before us and a grabbed a great spot. After looking around I drove back north along the cove and found our own little area which turned out to be perfect. My wife and I agreed it was definitely worth the drive and frustration.
After a few hours of getting everything the way we wanted it we where able to enjoy our own little paradise, until. I asked my wife wheres the beer? Oh, she said, Oh yeah I said, no beer no bueno. Oh well right I guess its water and capri suns for 3 days. Here are a few shots from the canoe. You can see to the left the next group a little aways separated by trees.
Saturday I was up at 3:30 a.m. too excited to sleep and wanting to do a little fishing and it was great.
Me and my boy fishing!
Later on in the morning I looked at my watch and it was only 9:30 a.m. my wife and I decided to take the hour long trip to the marina for some beer and break up the day. Once there I decided to top off and also get some beach slip on shoes because of the amount of rocks out at the cove, worth every penny!
Got back put the canoe in the water and just enjoyed the weekend here are some more pics.
Saturday night was a little rough the group at the entrance grew to a big size party and boy did they party all night. wasn't a really big deal put my ear buds in and went to sleep. Sunday however turned ridiculous when a party barge with slides and DJ equipment showed up a few hundres yards up river. This turned out to be to much for me. My little get away was not going to be ruined by a bunch college kids playing mariachi music over a p.a. system. We decided that we would slowly pack up and enjoy the rest of the day but leave late in the evening avoiding the monday traffic and allow us to rest. Definitely worth it we where both dead and burnt pretty bad.
The good and the bad:
Considering it was a holiday weekend the crowd didn't show up until sunday late afternoon. We had already occupied our area and no one was going to be too close to us.
Would of been great on just a regular weekend maybe thursday thru sunday.
Wish some of our friends could of made the trip.
Water was so clear it was great to be swimming in or on the canoe, perfect.
Not the everyday joe is driving all the way out there, most people drive the boats from the marina and look for day spots.
Hearing the water crash against the shore at night from the tent is very calming and was a joy to experience.
Very very very hot not too many big trees out there so bring canopies more then one if possible.
No cell service (thats a good thing)
Dont forget the beer!
2 thumbs up for this trip we will be doing it again.
Mike
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