I used to go to the desert 1-2 times a year to make ALOT of noise,enjoy the wildlife, but most of all to embark on a 4 wheel drive expedition across inhospitable terrain! You may find things like Indian Petroglyphs, hawk nests, worthless bat guano, rare bird species, fresh coyote scat(eww), 1800's homesteaders carvings, relics form the early years, gold mines, and best of all, if your very lucky WATER! For me the trip has a sort of a spiritual meaning as well. It offers a feeling of total freedom surrounded by a perfect beautiful inhospitable land, and a chance to explore nature in its most pristine shape. Each year during the heat of the summer or during the freeze of winter we would venture far into and across the expanse of the desert to explore new untouched areas. Occasionally we would come across dangers such as rattle snakes, who if theygot too close the scraps of which got fed to the dogs, dangers like an unstable old broken down mine shaft that you did not want to get near, and even extreme dangers as obvious as a bad spot in the road that you DID NOT want to cross over without risking your life due to getting your vehicle stuck. Its mostly a trip to get away from the city and let out some negative energy in a positive environment, highly relaxing. The next trip is in the air. It's been a few years since I've been back to the pristine, diverse area.

Bacon Boy is here now :-) ( pictures are here). Bacon Boy is a marine who got his desert name from cooking a whole pound of Bacon then frying a few eggs in all the bacon grease and then eating that, then after breakfast deciding to threaten everyone by wielding his iron frying pan in rage and angerto vent his own frustrations. Of course, all this was done in respect for the others, I think, It wasjust a time to let it all out. It was a very ridiculously funny scene. I think the frying pan may served as another gun target later that day.

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Some of the less fun times we had were when I came back to camp only to find that there were a few bullet holes in my Bell Moto III motorcycle helmet, the ice in the chest had run out, the beer had ran out, there was a flat tire on one of the trucks and we were in the middle of the desert about a 100 miles from the nearest service station.

One of the Funnier times was was when Rabbit Killer drove his 4 wheel drive right through the middle of the wilderness, which was quite a few miles of nothing but deep rocky ravines, and huge fields of Cholla Cactus patches,sticker bushes("wait a minute bushes") only to come out victorious on the other endstill trucking in 4 wheel drive, but then at least 2 flat tires needed to be dealt with, and a massive amount of cactus spines yanked from the rubber tires.

Another funny or at least memorable time was When Rabbit Killer fell back on his chair then down the hill and then ran into his truck after he stood up because it was still dark, but this was all in fun and nobody was hurt.

Since then the area has been declared a California Wilderness area and we are limited to the areas we can drive through so we are respectful of this and appreciate the fact that the area is being protected so we can continue to enjoy the beautiful wild places that can be found in the remote areas of the desert.

One other eventful time was when backpacker's hammock came untied at the head end and he fell drunk on his head onto the concrete and didn't even notice. Don't drink so much may have been the lesson here. This was just hours after I was shooting out the window from inside the cabin to wake him up and he didn't even budge. Mind you, this 9th or 10th degree black belt martial artist was a seasoned drinker, and since then has quit drinking and is happily married now.

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