Crossing the Mojave Desert on Cadiz Road - Ghost Towns, Sand Dunes, & Closed Route 66
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- More than a century ago, Cadiz Road, a road that cuts through the heart of the Mojave Desert, was part of the main highway between Los Angeles and Phoenix. Once the highways started getting paved however, the road lost out and was bypassed. Once a popular route, the road is now little traveled.
That doesn't mean there is nothing to see however. Over the years, two towns sprung up along Cadiz Road, only to disappear again. But the mark they left is still visible along the road.
The road also travels through the Mojave Trails National Monument and provides access to the Cadiz Dunes, said to be the most pristine and hard to access sand dunes in the Mojave Desert.
Cadiz Road also links California State Route 62 (also known as the most desolate highway in California) and Route 66. Even though Route 66 is one of the best known highways in the world, the section of Route 66 where it intersects with Cadiz Road has been closed for years and very few people get to see it nowadays.
In this video we travel the entire length of Cadiz Road through the Mojave Desert, talk about its history, and and see what there is to see along the way.
00:00 Intro
02:17 Milligan townsite
06:58 Chubbuck ghost town
15:53 Cadiz Dunes
20:26 Cadiz
21:28 Chambless on Route 66
22:43 Damaged Route 66 bridge
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I once lived out in the California desert region, in the 1960s. I loved and still miss it. Life has moved me far away in the ensuing years. You can take the kid out of the desert but can't take the desert out of the kid. It's really nice to be able to revisit and rediscover so many old familiar places through your expeditions, much appreciated sir. Also wanted to mention your background music is always excellent.
Yeah I am thinking about going back too.
@@CarsandCats I hope to do the same, but all of my kids and grandkids would have to come as well...but you know hope springs eternal as the saying goes.
I'm a old Mojave Desert Rat too. I'm from Las Vegas and Mom lived in Joshua Tree. Always loved turning right off of 95 on to 66 through Goffs to Amboy then south. Many childhood memories. And yes I still enjoy the summers if I have shade.
I agree with the music bit. Subtle, non-intrusive, relaxing and fitting.
@@milt6208 Maybe just me, but I hate the humidity of the southeastern US. We had swamp coolers living in the desert, that worked for me.
God I love this channel, a REAL person narrating, not an AI voice bot. Keep the faith, and boycott the AI!
This is AI fooled you!
NEVER, EVER, worry about going too long, the more video the better -- Thanks!!
Absolutely! He makes me feel like I'm an old friend!
Fallout vibes on that… also got chills picturing the sign light up, with a bunch of classic cars and a living restaurant on a warm summer night
Maybe a nice hotel and champagne on ice!😀😮
A twenty four minute side track adventure?! Yes, please!
Simple, well paced lovingly presented. Ha haha we're easily pleased, happily. UK
I grew up in the Mojave, i miss exploring the desert. Thanks for the memories!
Oh, the Cucurbita palmata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family known by the common names coyote melon and coyote gourd. Not pumpkins. 😉
Thank you for this information.
Appreciated. 😊
Are they edible for wild life. The deer here in Pennsylvania will at times eat gourds.😊
I think they are poisonous
@@williamsullivan1349 Nope, you can eat them, but they're very bitter. Coyotes, hence the name and deer eat them.
@@martharunstheworld They are wild gourds I would not recommend eating them.
So happy you're willing to expose your vehicle to the dust and rocks of desert driving, while I get to sit back and enjoy the journey from the comfort of my recliner!
I rode my bicycle to Missouri from Hemet, CA & I have to say that there was absolutely nothing from Amboy all the way to the gas station in Fenner. I rode thru in 2021 & 66 was closed but I rode thru anyway. Only 2 bridges were out but you just rode thru the wash. I went thru in May & it was already hot as hell. I was so happy to see that Chevron gas station off the 40 near Fenner.
That's bravery....
In December 1942, a Santa Fe passenger train hit an Army M3 tank crossing the tracks at about midnight in a dust storm. This occurred between Salt Marsh and Milligan. The tank was knocked updside down and the the trurret came off. Two crewmen died. The train came off the tracks but stayed upright. No passengers were seriously hurt. I used to have wreck photos and an official report, but now in the Goffs history museum.
I've been exploring and researching this area since the 1950's. @@GAVACHO5150
I wish they didn't take out that old gas station on where 66 and 95 intersected on the south side of the Railroad tracks. As a kid I always looked forward to seeing it.
Yes, on the triangular piece of property in the center the traffic roundabout. I miss that too. It was a landmark.@@milt6208
Could have been one of Army Gen Patton’s tanks. Patton had established a training area here to get ready for the Africa campaign.
By December 1942, General Patton was long gone to North Africa. The M3 tank was part of the 3rd Armored Division, not one of Patton's units. The 3rd was based at Camp Iron Mountain, southwest of the collision site.@@robertgeorge4064
Hi Steve, what a great video. Those buildings a 12:11 are lime kilns. The raw rock mined was crushed and then placed inside and fired with wood. This sintered material would be mixed with water and sand/gravel to create concrete later...I have explored the Mojave for more than 40 years, but never been down Cadiz road.....good show!
Thanks Steve! Lime is always fired with wood to extract the material, the Spanish planted eucalyptus trees for that purpose and were making cement way back, thank you for pointing that out, I also have never been down this road, but plan to do so in the next few years, all the best!
Lime mixed with dried crushed hemp stems appears to be great for making bricks without heat to dry and harden. Dirt bricks with lime pressed together is another way on CZcams demonstrating cheap building materials with great insulation. Ocean water into desert like Salton Sea, Death Valley and Laguna Salada with Eirex Technology is ideal including Agess Inc.
@@joeldude1 If you don’t burn the lime’you don’t remove the CO2. This is how concrete is made. All concrete.
This is how cement is made, one of the ingredients of concrete. I expect they brought in coal to heat the kilns. Not enough wood to do the job. I would guess the railroad hauled in coal and hauled out cement.@@MrCountrycuz
Living here in New Zealand, you've shown more interesting area's of America than what we get in tourist ads. I've said it before, you would be a great tourist guide. You obviously take a lot of time to research information before going to places. Thank you from New Zealand for showing us (well me actually) places that never get mentioned here. They certainly beat places like the big cities
Thank you, I appreciate it.
desert is super interesting because stuff gets preserved compared to wet areas, check out the desert drifter video, he finds tons of 1000 year old native ruins and pictographs, they are all over the place in certain parts of the south west US
I don't often comment on videos, but love yours! My grandfather was John Gilbert Bisbee, owned a huge pear orchard in Tehachapi CA He lived till age 89, passing in 1984. In the 1960s we'd travel through the Mojave Desert to visit with him. I hear the whole orchard became a parking lot. Anyway, great memories of going through that desert and hang out with granpa at the packing shed. Thanks so much!
This was so much fun to watch. I imagine the silence as you turn off the car engine and walk the open desert must be incredible.
there is a point where silence almost hurts! In a beautiful way though ... being Swiss I find this not in deserts, but on days with fresh snow,. You don't need to get far away from the road to hear - I mean not hear! - it, especially when it is still snowing 😍.
Watching from England - hello. Has to be the most beautiful film on the vanished places of America I've ever watched. You have a wonderfully measured and almost reverential delivery, and your affection for the places just shines through every word. Absolutely wonderful (I'd say awesome, but we don't really ever say that!).
Thank you.
What is the British aversion to the word awesome?
@@percyfaith11 Only the posh ones don't. Its used quite often tbf.
@@percyfaith11Smashing! 😁
Mellon's
The endless vistas, silence troubled by wind sounds, and far off purple hills that turn into rocky brown/gray Rocky Mountains on closer examination captivated me as a kid, and the awe and feeling has not diminished 80 years later. Thanks for the memories.
I spent 5 hrs stuck in the sand one mile north of Milligan back in November. I definitely plan a revenge trip back to Cadiz Rd.
Oh yeah, another fantastic video.
On the road or off it?
On it! The truck I had back then was 2wd and it didn't handle the deep sand very well. I've seen upgraded to a Ranger FX4.
Those “watermelons” are actually Coyote melons, or gourds as many call them.
Great video.
Thanks.
@@ANewDawn353 Had one on my property outside of Lancaster in the SoCal desert. They're supposed to be an annual but what I had was definitely coming back from roots, every year for the 12 years I lived there (never saw a seedling). -- I understand the 'melon' is poisonous. Definitely hard enough to use as baseballs...
According to DesertUSA, coyote melons are native to the Western US. It’s highly unlikely they are “citron melon”.
@@ANewDawn353 I think we're talking about two different species. These are definitely poisonous, and the fruits are fibrous, rock-hard, and very very bitter. There is no juice or flesh in them to speak of.
@@00Mandy00 They grow all over the SoCal desert. I think what they've got in Florida must look the same but is a different species.
Thank you! I was born in 1935. I find it interesting learning about things that have come and gone during my own lifetime.
It's amazing how fast some of these towns come and go.
I was an 80's kid. I'd say the last 150 years is a trip.
@@SidetrackAdventures
6 were found out there murdered recently. If I went out there exploring with my Jeep would you recommend to only go out in the day? Are some areas known to be dangerous?
@@xmo552 The place where the 6 people were found is pretty far from here. I doubt that was a random killing too.
@@xmo552 Stay strapped or get clapped.
I drove from LA to Lake Havasu and back last summer. GPS had us go through Rice on CA-62 both ways; I've driven to the lake before but never on this route. At night it's a little scary, pitch black and a lot of random steep dips that give you butterflies. At night, headlights can't illuminate the bottom of the dips so you can't tell how deep it is lol. But during the day its beautiful and desolate. There's a good amount of railroad that follows the highway, didn't see any activity on it though. What was really cool to us was that in the track ballast (gravel under the train tracks) there were messages and words left written into the side of them facing the highway. People have been pulling over in their cars and drawing messages with lighter colored rocks and stones. As we drove by, you could see some of the messages were dated back to the 90's and early 00's. Stuff like "C+J 99" or "Jones 2008", very cool to see so many messages left behind and that they've lasted all those years undisturbed.
I so enjoy your desert videos. Spent 79 years in CA, now in FL. I miss the desert more than I thought possible ❣️
I believe that car to be a 65-67 Plymouth Belvedere. Could be wrong, but that taillight assembly is a give-away.
Came to the comments for this comment 😂
Looks really close to a 65 Plymouth Belvedere like you said but the creases around the rear wheel well don't match up. Really there are a lot of cars that look just like this in that era, too.
13:05 I'd have to say it looks most like a ~1963-65 Dodge Custom 880 2 door, but that front bumper looks a lot bigger than the photos of restored cars I've found.
It sure does look like a 2 door 1963 Dodge 880 Custom.
I came here to see what people might have to say about the car, too.
@@holybatwingsbatman I think you are right. Rear bumper is 62-63 Dodge Custom 880.
It is amazing how interesting absolutely nothing can be.
Hey I love your videos! About 15 years ago we did some Archaeological and Paleontological surveys around Chambliss because they WERE going to put in a solar farm but I guess they changed their mind. I remember reading that historic placque. There were still WWII tank tracks out there when Patton was training his army for fighting in N. Africa. Thanks for the great video!
This is amazing! I just came across this video. My brothers and I own property about 4 miles north of Hwy 62, on Cadiz Rd. And the property runs up to the railway. I drove out there about 9 yrs ago. Thanks for posting this!
Good morning Steve. I'm just an old guy born and raised in Pomona. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and superior efforts in research of all the information provided in your videos. I'm sure you enjoy making them as much as your viewers like watching! Stay safe out there.
I was raised in West Covina. I'm 69 and remember the 10 frwy as you passed Ontario seemed like the end of civilization. I now live in Fontana, known for kaiser steel and the hell's angels.
@@IEchuckie I had newsrack out towards San Bernadino and did the work at night. In the middle of nowhere in the early 70's Id see a Circle K on a corner open 24 hours and a Naugles breakfast burrito place! Now it's all housing! Miss the stars at night.
Tried to find the old large Pomona tropical fish shop visiting El Monte in 2018. I guess they're all long gone?? End of an era.
@@IEchuckie I'm almost 68, I remember Cucumonga and all those vinyards!
PHS survivor here...
Great trip. We’ve driven a section of Cadiz Road but need to go back for a full day run. The gourds are Coyote Melon - native to the area and while not edible were used for soap and rattles for dances by the Native Americans
We also call them stink melons, you can find them throughout the Southwest.
Somehow I haven't seen them before. Do they only appear after recent rain?
I usually see them come up in spring after rain and have found them scattered throughout the Mojave. I think they like the dry and hot climate but need water to push.
Coyote mellon? My guess was bitter gourd from imported seed or fruit from the Middle East or Aftica. I'd bet the two hybridize well and probably aren't too dissimilar to begin with.
@@SidetrackAdventures I've seen them all over the Mojave Desert - from where I live St. George Utah to Palmdale Calif. We've seen them in the Colorado Plateau region too.
I spent most of my childhood in Lancaster. Every other year our summer vacation trip was to Oklahoma to where my mother was raised. We traveled Route 66 as far as Elk City, so we saw that last town on the trip during the fifties and sixties.
Point is, your video brought back good memories. Thanks for taking the time to film it and put it together.
Very enjoyable to watch. Thank you for posting. I went to college in AZ and had a girlfriend in LA, so I drove many times across the Mojave. Eventually, I got off the freeways to explore Route 66 and the vast interior of the deserts. This was before GPS and Google Maps, so it was much more of an adventure back then! Really enjoyed this. Thank you.
Those are lime kilns. Lime is made by first burning chalk or limestone to form quick lime (calcium oxide) and then slaking the quicklime with water (forming calcium hydroxide).
So the brick lined area will be the burning kilns and the concrete reservoirs would have been the water stage.
Nice. I was hoping someone else was going to explain so I didn’t have to. 😂😂😂 Good job.
Agreed. That was my conclusion as well.
Mistress of the Salmon Salt - Quicklime Girl
Fascinating trip! I was always intrigued by the Cadiz Road, having spent some time near Kelso in the mid 90s, but always a little intimidated at the vast stretch of featureless desert with no services. Hats off to you for braving the desolation and showing us what it is like!
The really cool thing for me is knowing that, as a kid, I rode past these places in my parents car on a trip from San Antonio, Tx, to L.A. in 1961. Good work, Steve, and thanks again!
Love, love, love it. California has such a bad rep these days. But 99 % of the public have no idea about the unique , rich history of the Cali desert. In the 60's and 70's me and my friends and family camped and criss crossed the desert on our dirt bikes and dune buggies. It was one of the best times in my life. Until you camp out and explore this fabulous part of our country it is not possible to understand the feeling one gets, enjoying the vast expanse and the solitude of the desert
Coyote Melons - Cucurbita palmata is a sprawling vine with the above-the-ground part of the plant rough to the touch usually owing to short, stiff hairs. The stiff, curling yellow flowers are 6-8 cm wide. The plant bears smooth spherical or almost spherical squash fruits 8 to 10 centimeters wide. The fruits ripen from green with greenish-white stripes to bright yellow and then pale gold when the gourd is dry.
I grew up first twelve years of my life on route 66 between Barstow and Victorville and flash floods took out bridges over the Mojave river constantly !
Hey how are you I grew up out there also I lived on Delaney Road my name is Wayne Delaney I lived about 3 mi from Hinckley Road don't live there anymore but I was born there
Route 66 between Victorville and Barstow is like going back in time. After you drive past Oro Grande and the cement plant you’re on a different planet.
The auto, in my opinion seemed close to a ‘61, or ‘62 Plymouth Valiant, or Dodge Dart. Rear wheel wells, and the hint from what remains of the front grille support this guess. Thank you Steve. I have moved to south central Texas, after living in California for 34 years and love the lack of graffiti and destruction levels we enjoy here. Californians seem committed to destroying the historic structures. The painting seems like a lot of work to me just to create eyesores. My dad taught me: “ if it’s not yours don’t mess with it.” 😊
I wondered about the car.
Wow, Dodge Dart was my guess too, I was going by the shape of the roof, at least the part you could see.
I concur with the possible Plymouth Valiant. We bought a '65 ton days after our wedding. Loved that sedan. We traded it for a Toyota Landcruiser a couple of years later. We spent many vacations in the Anza Borrego Desert. Missed the Valiant but could only afford one vehicle. Worth it!
As someone from the mid-west, it's hard to believe places like this really exist. This is "movie" stuff to us. Ha! Love your videos.
What a great country ! I really enjoy these trips off the beaten track US of A. It's so interesting. Thanks very much. Colin UK .
Your saying the video is getting a little long made me check the length of the video. Most other videos of the same length require me to come back to them. For yours, the time flies. If your videos were even longer I doubt I would mind. They’re always so interesting and informative. Having only been to Arizona and California once, I find these videos incredibly interesting.
Thanks for posting this video on the Cadiz area of the Mojave Desert. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I lived in the Antelope Valley for many years and as a kid had fun adventures exploring things out in the desert. Many wonderful memories for me associated with the upper Mojave desert. The area has a fascinating history for sure. Also, In the early 60’s my family traveled Route 66 from SoCal to Chicago and back a few times, and I remember the many cafes, motels, and tourist road stops along the way. Your video reminded me of those week long trips where I sat in the backseat of the old Rambler between my brother and sister. BTW, nice Padres cap Steve!
This has kept me up all night mulling it over. The car in question is definitely a 61 or 62 chrysler and I agreed in the comments it must be a 62 because of the lack of tailfins. Rroblem is the taillight area is wrong for a 62, this one is very pointy on the top corner where the 62 was more rounded.and the cylindrical protrusion below it matches the 61 design. After studying a lot of pictures of both years, I believe this car had fins but whoever mutiladed the body smashed them flat. Based on the pictures available here I would say it is a 1961 Chrysler. If I lived within 500 miles I would make the trip in person (to settle this in my mind and because the whole trip you have shown looks like an awesome experience, Thanks by the way) but unfortunately its over 1,800 miles so this is an unlikely bucket list addition...
The abandoned car in Chubbuck looks to be a 57 or 58 DeSoto. Definitely one of the “forward look” cars of the late 50s at least. Great video as always Steve!
No fins, I'm betting Vegas money that's a '62 300.
You're totally right. Can see a bit of the passenger side headlights when he pans to the front@@kellyscars
@@kellyscarsAgreed on '62 Chrysler something or other.
I came here to see what people might say about the car.
Steve, I have limited knowledge of the area, but my mom was born in Yuma, and they ended up in Salinas, near Monterey! Loved driving past John Steinbeck's residence while visiting!
Your posts are so good, with the calming background music and your excellent verbiage delivered with your beautiful speaking voice!
Please continue these marvelous posts, they are definitely YT's best!
Thanks!!
Bob from Boise!
The Steinbeck Museum in Salinas is pretty cool. They got his actual pickup that he and Charlie drove around the country in.
Bob! I was a boy in the desert of Southern California, my folks took my brother's and I out there on weekends saying there were fewer things we could break.. living in Montana for 44 years and still miss the sandy places hot 🔥 places.. 8 degrees outside right now. LOL..
I always keep my Billy Bob teeth handy for when I pass other cars in remote locations. I wave and give 'em a big smile and chuckle. Gives them a great story for years to come.
Great episode thanks, my wife remembers this area as a kid back in the 50’s . Her family would drive from Chicago to LA
I have always enjoyed the "emptiness" of some of the locations you bring The Sidetrack Adventures Posse to Steve! And for me personally, I always look forward to you saying "there is not much to see", but I'd like to think many riders in this community immediately jump into "imagination mode" as you tell about certain aspects of living there while our minds fill the physical void with our own "idea" of what it would have been like. I had to laugh instantly @ 9:00 when you mentioned "you can find everything but the kitchen sink"...and I thought wait for it, here it comes! And right on cue you Delivered The Goods..."Oh wait...never mind" LOLOLOL Wonderful trip Steve and Family and Thank You for making room for The SA Posse! MOO From COW-lumbus, Ohio
Thanks. You should have heard the hroan my wife made when she heard the kitchen sink joke.
@@SidetrackAdventures 🤣🤣🤣 Those eyes rolling and a slow shaking of the head with the inevitable grin! Classic!
"The Silence and the Sun" one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read about this area. It's "An historical account of people, places and events on old Route 66 and railroad communities in the Eastern Mojave Desert, California." Very detailed, lots of old tyme pictures, maps etc. He interviewed a lot of people who lived in this area as children and adults. Author is Joe De Kehoe. I'm sure you've probably already read it but if not I think you'd enjoy it.
Thanks for posting this recommendation! I’ll have to look for it. Amazon has one copy for $100. Hopefully I can find other options.
The Mojave River Valley Museum book store (in Barstow and online) has the 2nd edition for sale at $30. @@cbh76
Came here to say this too, and I think there are a few photos or at least a map of Chubbuck in that book, along with a few other towns along that road (Archer comes to mind). I love that part of the Mojave, it does something good for the soul to be out there. I was fortunate to go on a Desert Explorers trip with Joe De Kehoe back in 2009 along this route, it was an amazing experience.
Whole chapters on both Chubbuck and Archer. Beaucoup pictures of both. Lucky Dog meeting the author.@@bretthenrich3331
I need to check this book out. It's pretty pricey online, so I'm going to have to hunt it down.
That was absolutely fascinating. For us folks back East, it's like a different world. Thanks for sharing places most of us will not have to opportunity to travel.
Great Video, you may want to contact the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office and send them the video of the Bike, shack and fresh grave in Chubbuck at 15:30
I was thinking the same thing! Knowing me if I found that I’d dig it up lol
Creepy that bike there looked pretty new. I'll agree with you
I looks like shoes sticking out of the grave.
I'll bet it is just a fake grave with the shoes sticking out.
😂 nothing gets a bigger laugh from me than the old kitchen sink joke😂
Nothing gets a bigger groan from my wife either!
@@SidetrackAdventures 🤣🤣🤣
@@SidetrackAdventuresIt’s a classic.
Yep ! I thought it was coming too! LOL!
I saw it too but I didn’t even smile. No biggie.
A few years back when they lit the Roy's sign at Amboy, I saw or found something about the owner of the Road Runner deciding to see what's still lit up on the sign. First time was a bust cuz they did not have a big enough generator. Second time sign made an awful buzzing noise but a few of the neon lit up on it. As for route 66 they really need to redo that whole road just for a bypass on interstate 40 when there's accidents make it a nice wide two lane All the way to the Goffs exit
I wish they would redo Rt. 66 since it seems like there's still a lot of interest regarding Rt. 66. I remember taking it years ago on family trips.
Very cool adventure video! Thanks for putting that together. Great job sir!
In 2011 I rode my 1980 KZ 750 N to South on Kelbaker Rd through the Mojave Desert Preserve out of Vegas. Rode thru Kelso & loved the scenery through there. Wanted to ride to the dunes W of Kelso but the road was soft sand and realized I wouldn't make it as tires were trying to sink in. Had limited amount of fuel & made it to a station on Hwy 40 with little to spare. It was about 120 mi trip though the Preserve. After fueling up I took a short detour on 66 off of 40 but realized it was better suited for a jeep & not a motorcycle lol.
Very cool. I drove through there in 2012 before the closure. Stopped in Amboy for a break (110 degrees). Never been on Cadiz Rd. Nice to see. Thanks for sharing…!
Another great video!!! I love rural So Cal! And thanks for taking us to places I can never go! the Route 66 suff was great. When my family moved from La Palma in 1969 we drove most of 66........thx
Your videos are never too long. I really enjoy watching. There are a lot of forgotten place and I appreciate you finding them.
I've always wanted to head out on Cadiz road but never have. Thanks Steve for driving it and taking us along with you! I still want to head out there, and you have put that bug right back into me! can't wait until next Wednesday to see where you take us next!
Thank you for having this. We really appreciate all the work you do. Having grown-up first, visiting my grandmother's property way out in the outskirts of Joshua tree Homestead. Then a 5 acre partial in Yucca Valley and finally having a home on the other side of the valley it's just amazing. However, our age and circumstances don't allow us to explore like this and we really appreciate seeing these areas. Thank you so much.
I'm glad you enjoy them.
All of these town's have a Boot Hill. I'm glad you got to 66. I just go around on the dirt roads along side the bridges like everybody else. You still can get to I-40.
Unreal how you find these out-of-the-way locations! Always a treat to see your travels. Haven't see 'the family' for awhile.
They are camera shy but if you look close you can see my wife in one of the drone shots.
Easy to find these places. You just need to travel with the journey in mind. Not the destination.
How many times have you passed a road and wondered what was there and continued on? Next time, take it and see
LOVE your narration and history story telling. You go to some really cool places, Steve. Thank you for taking us along.
Sorry I don't comment as much anymore as I've been going through some rough times, but your videos do bring me so much joy.
It's no problem. Hope your rough times don't last too long.
🙏🏽
@15:29 The sneakers sticking out at the grave site....creepy.
Great video- the expanse with mountains in the distance, just breathtaking, and those dunes are spectacular! Thank you for braving the drive and the trek to such fascinating places. I'd love to see 66 get reopened through there. Also, I bet the night sky out there is amazing. Thanks again!
Thanks for the ride! My son and I made a camp at Milgan three winters in a row starting in 2014 I believe. That spot you filmed with the cement holes around the trees is where we set up camp. We stayed part of the winter, a month or two. Train came by AZ & CA line about twice a day and one or two during the night. Got to know the railroad
guys that inspected the tracks, they would give us water when they went through also told us a lot of stories. Just down the track was a working salt mine, we became friends with the owner. The flats below the tracks had a large underground ( 35’) salt brine lake, they would pump
the brine up and let the sun evaporate the water leaving dry road salt. We explored the Old Woman Mountains to the north and found where they had prospected in the old times. No snakes,coyotes but I did see wild deer or goat tracks up in the canyons. We loved our time there. Camping in one place you really get to know it. Thanks for the film, chow
I hope that Steve sees your comment, but he is getting many comments as his channel is growing now so he may not get to see it.
This is a weird story forsure.
Thank you for sharing, and thank you for showing everyone the ECV Billy Holcomb monuments. We do our best to try and let everyone know about the history of these places.
I want to go check out those dunes and hear that silence. Thanks for this!
The silence is deafening, and the stars are spectacular.
I had to pause you earlier, finished my chores and then I had time to sit, like I do every Wednesday, and go on my next 'sidetrack adventure'. I love the desert tours and history. You do a great job on prep and narration, and the background music is perfect. Happy Humpday. Thanks Steve.
Thanks. Glad you enjoy them. This is the time of the year to get out to the desert for sure.
to see a neon light in this desert would be amazing! Another professional and most entertaining trip, thanks Steve!
Dude. This is RAD! I've been driving by this all my life! I actually drove down to the orange groves a few years ago just to see what was down there but I didn't go as far as you did. I'll do what you did the next time I roll through. Thank you so much for this! You're the best!
Another great trek into areas we never will ! Thanks for taking us along Steve.
I love your work Steve. Born and raised in Socal but now living in Maine, I enjoy seeing so many of the sights I never knew existed. Keep up the good work!
I grew up in Southern California and loved going on camping trips to the deserts and mountains around there with my dad.
I'm loving all of your coverage of California's deserts. Please keep up the good work!
Thank you!
Steve, I enjoy your videos very much. I don't expect to be able to travel to the locations you show and the history you share. They have been quite interesting to me. These are sites I will never have the opportunity to see. I have felt like I was along with you. Thank you for your efforts and professionalism. God bless you and your family. I am a faithful subscriber now that I found you a few weeks ago. 😊
Thank you, and welcome aboard!
You know it's harsh if even the "Salt Cedars" are struggling to hold on.
I drove that road in 1977. Lots of things that were there, then, seem to be barely visible, now. Need to dig out my photos. Thanks for the video.
In the mid 70,s I traveled that dirt road hauling salt from the dry lake. Sometimes twice a week and times twice a day. The road was always a challenge. Sometimes underwater due to flash flooding or beach sand from run off. Standard salt had contracts with rendering companies and power plants with cooling systems.
Watching your desert videos is like a breath of fresh air. The open sky is so liberating! I've seen the sand dunes at Buttercup Valley (off the I-8 East, which were actually used in the filming of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back. I went out with friends back in the day and watched the "Second Unit" filming of R-2 D-2 and C3PO on Jabba the Hutt's sand ship) and those off the 78 at Glamis. Interesting to see where dune seas appear amidst the flat, rocky desert. I was just imagining the wind and rain obliterating your footprints, like you were never there. Such is the magic of the desert. That shack was so bizarre! It almost like an art installation, with the shoes sticking out of the grave. As always, thank you for your efforts to show us new (old, lol) and interesting things here in the southwest. :)
Another excellent video 🤠
Thank you.
Thoroughly enjoyed this adventure through the desert. I lived in Midland, California for about 8 years in the 1950's and 60's. I remember my dad driving my mom and I to Rice and to Needles. Usually we drove to Blythe to go shopping. Fun memories!
Another gem! I love the desert landscape! I'd been through RT 66 back in 2001 on a motorcycle. It's a shame that the road closed in that area. Traveling RT 66 is still iconic! Thanks & safe travels!!👍
Wild melons. When I lived on the central coast of California we had those growing in some of the sandy fields. Thanks for the cool tour!
Thanks for this great video! It is so fantastic that you show us this history. I think that they would crush the limestone in the mill, then it was cooked in a giant kiln. That is what the brick lined building was. Be safe on your travels! I love to see the desert as my late brother lived out around Apple Valley, California for 35 years. I know that he explored the desert too. I haven't been out west for many years, so I love seeing your channel.
i’ve spent a little time in that area so this was fascinating to watch. there’s a piece of blm land on kelbaker road that i use as one of three way points between the bay area and lake havasu city. from my camp there, i always looked out to the south at the beautiful, desolate desert landscape wondering what was out there. in dec 2023 i got a bit of a more detailed look at the area when i traveled from palm springs to the kelbaker site via amboy road. 55 mph down a nicely paved two-lane road. it was a great, fairly lonely ride, if a bit rollercoastery. thanks for further expanding my knowledge of the area.
It is so beautiful and peaceful in that part of the state. It is amazing how quickly you can get from the concrete jungles to total isolation.
My boy! 💋 Love to you and your family! Thanks for sharing these old places!! ❤
Thank you Steve, I love a good road trip. Many interesting finds. Great one.
Fantastic video! Thanks for making it!!
It's 35 years ago since I took that Route 66 ox-bow cut-off from I-10. Absolutely unforgettable, the ghost towns along there. I remember being surprised, given the sparsity of traffic, to find a California Highway Patrol officer staked out to catch speeders along there. Sadly (for him) I am not a speeder.
The other wonderful 66 "cut-off" is between Williams and Kingman. In a bar-room on that stretch I once met a couple of native Americans who gave me some cooking tips on rattlesnake recipes!
Some years ago ma and my ex drove from vegas to lonepine and independence California. We went by way of the death valley junction. In a van with no air. October. 90° . We drove 90 miles an hour to get thru that stretch and when we got to California we were happy. The desert is no place to fool around.
When I was much younger I lived in Prescott AZ. I recall people talking about the "old Senator highway" which ran from Prescott to Phoenix. The only thing I remember is that it was a dirt road. Maybe something for another adventure.
Also, as someone who has gotten stuck in the sand while driving in the desert, use your vehicle's mats under your tires for traction. If I know I'm going on a desert adventure, I'll have a foldable shovel and some bigger outdoor mats just in case 😊
If your floor mats get you out, you were never really stuck to begin with 😂
Thanks for taking us along 😊
REALLY EXCELLENT!!!!! have not been to Cadiz, but been through Chambless on my way to the Amboy crater/volcano flow...... it is sooo peaceful out there...thank you for doing this!!!
Thanks Steve for such an interesting video. I enjoy your videos because they're well paced and your narration is so good.
I saw this posted this AM and saved it for after dinner. I was not disappointed! (Never am).
Thanks for another interesting adventure, Steve!
Thank you!
They are not watermelons lol very cute though. They are desert squash also know as I gourd , also Indians and Hispanic use them for Marcaras. I really enjoy your videos my kids and I have traveled most of what I watched. That is places they grew up knowing from to active to deserted. You are doing an awesome job of letting people know about what there and how are lands were built. I will continue to watch you. My oldest daughter who is now 38 giggles everything I show her your videos. Please keep me young with the the videos. We have traveled from Quartzite AZ and Tombstone to Anza calif to Amboy and beyond . Thank you
I traveled this road with a couple friends in 1969 and 70, came up from Desert Center ( abandoned now as well) and up to Amboy. At that time there were still a number of buildings standing and even more in Cadiz with lots of debris around including coke bottles from around the 1920s that were still complete. We were in a 1956 Pontiac and as I recall only got stuck once but managed to get ourselves out.
We always called those little gourds .... mexican cucumbers.. They grow from California to Texas down thru the deserts... Love to grow on tge fence rows south Texas
Great video!! Thanks for sharing your trip. I lived for a time in the Yucca Valley / 29 Palms area off HWY 62 for a few years. Those gourds grow wild in that part of the Mojave. Every spring, especially after heavy rain, these gourds grow on very long vines…. you see them everywhere.
It always amazes me how isolated some of the once thriving mining and manufacturing old towns in America were. Interesting that the railroad that made those communities possible still remains operational despite the towns being long gone. Living in a small country like the UK you only see that kind of desolation in some parts of the Scottish highlands but that whole desert area in the states is a huge expanse.
Thanks Steve for sharing your adventures!