Rage to the Baker?

[theycallmeWALLY]

The Laughlin Rage At the River event is always a good race to go and spectate. @sdecurti and I started scheming to see if we could make the trip happen. Basically we had to ask our wives . With some puppy dog eyes they both said yes! Time to rally up some troops. Billy and Brian said they were down and the trip was set into motion.

Time for a little bit of prep on my end. I didn't actually prep anything under the truck but more of prepped the back of my truck for some Prelander Camping.

On Sunday night (the weekend before) I started making some measurements and put an order together for some material for my wife to pick up on Monday. Thanks dear.



Plan was to make a pretty simple but strong cage to hold my new to me GoFastCamper (GFC RTT Superlite).



A couple of nights of fab got me to this point on Wednesday night.



On Thursday night it was time to bolt everything down, put a strap on the cooler and load up some wood.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

All of us were busy on Friday which means we were getting a late start. The plan was to meet up at Barstow Del around 6pm. @sdecurti got held up in some traffic and we weren't able to hit the highway until 7:30 or so.



After we fueled up ourselves and gas tanks we headed out. We decided to only hit the tail end of the trail into Laughlin. We just wanted to get to the hotel and hang out honestly. We just jumped onto the trail just off of the 95 hwy.



About 10 min into dirt I get a call over the radio about my trasherroo dragging... It wasn't just the trasherroo haha, it happened to be my entire tailgate. Quick fix with a strap and she was fixed for the rest of the trip.



We had some reservations at the Riverside hotel and landed in their parking lot around 11pm. The drinks started flowing, dice were rollin', and somehow chips were stacking. I think I made $70 somehow. Billy bought us a round of shots that no one wanted and I think he spiked mine... that shot sent me over the edge and I ended up getting my dance on with the 40 somethings at the Losers Lounge.





Very soon after this (1:30am?) I dragged my sorry ass to bed.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

I woke up early around 7am and decided to get moving before a hang over could set in. I left the Riverside hotel and made my morning walk over to the Tropicana. I needed to meet up with the KP Racing team (team I have race with down in Baja) to get some wrist bands and pit passes.

Kevin was trying to get some things flowing first thing in the morning...



I helped out the team in the Hot Pits. Luckily we didn't have anything to do. The 1610 car had zero issues and ran a solid race. After their race it was time to sit back and watch the other classes.




At about 4pm we decided to gas up and head out. We aired down and made our way to the state line flag pole. We couldn't see diddly with the sun in our eyes up until this point, so we drove another mile or so over to Balancing Rock until the sun set below the mountain range.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Because nature...




Hazardous Conditions ahead...





The Road was trash. So many trucks traveling through it over the weekend seemed to have made the chatter bumps endless. We made it to the mail box and left our mark in Mint Green. Thanks @dwphoto.




Scott knew where our camp should be but at this point I was pretty over it all. The roads got the best of me and I just wanted to camp anywhere. I was probably annoying on the radio asking where we planned to camp more then once...

Luckily I don't plan much of these trips because my dumb ass would probably choose to camp in a flood zone like the one below.

Kelbaker Rd. was completely destroyed by a flood at some point. Probably January? I believe the below 2 pictures were at Black Tank Wash.






We pressed on just a few more miles down towards some hills near the town of Baker. It ended up being a rad spot and even had a fire pit already assembled. There was even a sand dune to play on right next to camp. Brian was ripping around in the morning on it.



This was my second time using the GFC Tent and I'm truly impressed. Doesn't flap much in the wind, comes with a nice pad to sleep on which also helps keep you warm and for the first time ever camping out of a tent... my sleeping bag/blankets weren't full of dust.



For the rest of these imbred's I think it was their first time camping. All 3 of them slept in their truck.

Brian who is like 13' tall slept in this little guy.

 

[DesertGoat]

rad photos bud
How did the GFC survive the chatter?
my RTT likes to yeet itself when the going gets rattly

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

rad photos bud
How did the GFC survive the chatter?
my RTT likes to yeet itself when the going gets rattly

Will add a little more to the story so stay tuned.

The GFC held up like a champ. I had to take it off the following week to paint the raw cage i built and nothing was even remotely loose.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

Day 3: Sunday

Woke up and all of us were fully surprised. It wasn't raining, windy, or cold as the forecast had predicted.





Brian started driving around in 2wd showing us all how soft the dirt actually was.



We continued our way down Kelbaker Rd into the town of Baker. We needed to feed the trucks their first meal of the day and then ourselves...

Good ol' Del Taco # 2 for the weekend.

 

[theycallmeWALLY]

We headed North out of Baker and onto a large dry lakebed. We found an opening on it that took us to a powerline road headed West.




This route is our North Route that takes you from Barstow to Primm. It's typically really fun and has you pass through a little mountain range. I say typically because of the chatter... it's rampod these days.





At this point it started to rain on us. The road's were just as shitty with the washboard we were running away from on the Mojave trail.




Finally got to a point where we could head back South towards Basin Rd. We had finally found a lesser traveled route that was super fun to drive. AKA chatterless.



Found a little drop off that I thought would be fun for my squishy suspension on the Prelander.




We came through an old cattle range area, turned right and saw this virgin sand dune. Scott and Brian were the first to have a go at her... She was a little blown out by the time we left…




At this point we were pretty close to Basin Rd.

Scott was over dirt at this point and decided to air up and head home... Karma got his ass for trying to ditch early and his air compressor left the chat. Brian's hand held race radio battery also said it has had enough of our banter.




Billy, Brian and I continued South on Basin rd and over to the Train Bridge. Hung out there for a min because it's what you do. We saw a jeep headed the opposite direction and asked how the water crossing looked. He said it was pretty full but we shouldn't have any issues. So we pressed on.



We made it to the water crossing. There was a little dipping point right in the middle that had water just to the top of my 33" tires (really 32" of height).




Second crossing was similar and I'd say it was on average about 2 feet deep.



At this point it was time to say our farewells and head out. I was kind of in a rush so I didn't really want to stop and air up. Tires were at about 18PSI. Screw it.... Made it home without issue. and now it's time to plan the next trip!

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!