Trail Run: Nightmare Gulch, Last Chance

[womb raider 940]

Nightmare gulch run. Meeting at 9am at trailhead.

then some clay and target shooting later in the day.

then coming back thru last chance canyon. v notch fun on this trail.



some of us are camping out there. should be fun

[nwoods]

I'll be there...with a large Land Rover group. We are doing Nightmare, then Opal, ending up for the night near Bickle Camp. Sunday we'll take Last Chance on the way out.

[womb raider 940]

what time is your group starting? I see we have the same runs again at same times

[Schmo]

So what's up Dave . . . can we count you in on this one or what???

Unless something comes up, I'll be there. We campin' in the same place as last time or somewhere off the trail?

[nwoods]

what time is your group starting? I see we have the same runs again at same times

Not sure. My guess is we will probably be at the trail head around 10ish. We meet at Jawbone first. Probably about 12 trucks is my guess. We will let you guys pass through us if for some reason you are behind us. We move slow, but politely :-)

Please don't tear up the last hill, we have a hard enough time as it is!

[Schmo]

Please don't tear up the last hill, we have a hard enough time as it is!

Which hill is that? I don't remember any tough hills out there from the last trip.

[womb raider 940]

dunno any hills. plus all the people I know are respect tread lightly and we clean up our mess. we care about the trails. do you say this cuz I drive a jeep? you guys wih land rovers dont like us huh

[JJsKJ]

Figures.... the same day I already have plans. I still gotta get to NG one of these days.
Where is there a good, safe shooting spot at out there?

[nwoods]

dunno any hills. plus all the people I know are respect tread lightly and we clean up our mess. we care about the trails. do you say this cuz I drive a jeep? you guys wih land rovers dont like us huh

LOL, no no no. That's not what I am implying! I've been on this trail a number of times. On one memorable occasion, that last hill was in pretty good shape in our early morning reconnaissance. Later in the day as my group worked its way through, a small group of Jeeps and truggies past us and waved. When we got to the hill, it was destroyed. Huge holes were dug out by tires, and they had rolled some very large rocks down onto the trail. We had to do quite a bit of trail building to make it passable for us.

The hill is challenging because of the loose soil and large rocks. Our much longer wheelbase makes turning between the rocks difficult, and the holes are spaced almost perfectly so that all 4 tires have a small wall to climb at the same time, which is difficult if you are not locked which includes most of my group!

[Schmo]

Whew . . . you had me worried there for a minute nwoods . . . I thought you were talking about the hill on Last Chance!!!

[GrimJeeper91]

Which hill is that? I don't remember any tough hills out there from the last trip.

I don't think you guys climbed out of the canyon last trip. The upper end of Nightmare is closed and has been for 15+ years. The closure boundary is at the hill that climbs out of the canyon but unfortunately the sign is gone and the State Park expects visitors to know about the closure instead of replacing the sign. If you don't climb out you miss one heck of a hill climb and you would technically be wheeling illegally (which I blame the State Park for since they don't replace their signs). Please remember that the canyon is a sensitive area and wheel responsibly. Have a great trip, I'll be enjoying the trial the following weekend. Will all the rigs hitting the canyon the weekend before the hill climb out of Nightmare should be lots of fun!

[womb raider 940]

Figures.... the same day I already have plans. I still gotta get to NG one of these days.
Where is there a good, safe shooting spot at out there?

you can always cancel the other plans and watch the pics when you get back.


Shooting- well we try to find a safe area out of state park. I think is blm area. dunno where on map. But will figure it out when we get there I guess

[nwoods]

Whew . . . you had me worried there for a minute nwoods . . . I thought you were talking about the hill on Last Chance!!!

Nah, that one is a piece of cake!

[Dog Man]

nightmare is only open for vech. the last 2 weeks of the month the first 2 weeks are for hiking only the gates may still be locked up on the 15th. you will want to call the ranger station first to make sure you can run nightmare gulch that weekend. If the trail is open to offroad use then I will have to make this trip with you guys . NIGHTMARE GULCH is a great trail to run. Larry

[womb raider 940]

nightmare is only open for vech. the last 2 weeks of the month the first 2 weeks are for hiking only the gates may still be locked up on the 15th. you will want to call the ranger station first to make sure you can run nightmare gulch that weekend. If the trail is open to offroad use then I will have to make this trip with you guys . NIGHTMARE GULCH is a great trail to run. Larry

yeah they opened it on the 15th last month.

here is what their site says:

Open to motor vehicles:
July-January,
second half of month




I am gonna try to call them tomorrow.


here is thir phone if anyone has time as well. I am pretty stacked with work. I have alot of big projects that are behind.

Mojave Desert Information Center
(661) 942-0662