SCTA meets (general and annual SCTA thread)
Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:59 am
No hiking involved, I'm just going to hang out. Here is trip description I posted at the OCHBC. Anyone want to join me?
The Southern California Timing Association has been holding monthly meets out on Mojave Desert dry lakes since the 1930s. The El Mirage meets feature hundreds of vehicles running as fast as 300 MPH down a 1.3 mile course. For the last few years I have been going out there to camp and hang out with the old gearheads. Sometimes I wander around and look at the cars, sometimes I watch the races on Sunday, sometimes I just stay in my camp and drink beer and relax all weekend. There is no agenda.
The October 2008 meet will be the last one I can make this year (their last meet until next May will be in November). I'm going to go out there and hang out Saturday night, and I thought I would post it here in case any OCHBC people were interested in tagging along.
It will cost $30 per vehicle to get onto the lakebed.
Though there is hiking and exploring available in the Shadow Mountains to the north of the dry lake, I have not organized anything. For me this will be an easy weekend of relaxing in the dry desert air. It can be a fun time for anyone who enjoys the desert, but especially for motorheads, gearheads and other car guys.
Note: this is not the sort of camping where you will experience desert solitude. During SCTA weekend, the dry lake and surrounding area are teeming with motorcyclers and other noisy desert recreationists. It doesn't really die down until pretty late at night.
How to get there
The El Mirage OHV Recreation Area is located west of Adelanto, California, between US Highway 395 and the Los Angeles County line. Here are some directions to the entrance to the El Mirage OHV Recreation Area from Orange County. You enter from US Highway 395 near Adelanto by taking Chamberlaine Way (formerly Crippen Avenue) west to Koala Road. Turn right on Koala Road and follow the signs toward the town of El Mirage. At El Mirage Road, turn left. Just east of the town of El Mirage, take Mountain View Road north (right) to enter the El Mirage OHV Recreation Area. A sign located at this intersection will direct you to the dry lake.
Turn left onto the lake access road and drive down the center of the lakebed for several miles until you see orange cones separating the race course from the rest of the lakebed. Drive to either side of these cones until you come into the main camping and assembly area for the SCTA (lots of RVs and other vehicles parked there). Drive around the edge of the lakebed looking for my camp, with a 1998 black Yukon SUV (I will not be camped in the middle of all the cars and RVs, but a little ways away at the edge of the lakebed). There is often good cell phone reception on the lakebed, so use your cell phone if necessary.
I plan to be there before noon on Saturday, so folks can arrive any time after that. There is no meeting time. Try to get there before dark, though.
What to bring
This is basic car-camping, so bring whatever will make you comfortable. If it is hot, the most important gear will be canopies or flies of some sorts to keep the sun off during the day. Bring folding chairs (never enough of those), coolers, portable barbecues, etc.
The best way (maybe the only legal way) to build campfires on the lakebed is in a free-standing fireplace that sits above the ground. I will bring one I made from an old washing machine tub. I will also bring some firewood cut down to 18" long. If you have something similar (as well as some wood), feel free to bring it.
There is no water, so bring your own. Also, there are portable toilets available, but no other such facilities.
Bicycles are useful for getting around the assembly area, and I also sometimes bring roller skates.
If you have an RV, bring it along for some dry camping. The ladies especially appreciate the clean toilets.
An FM radio is useful for listening to the race results on Sunday.
What not to bring
Glass bottles are illegal on the lakebed, so bring canned beer, box wine (or transfer the good stuff into plastic bottles), etc. Fireworks are also illegal to possess on the lakebed.
Weather
This time of year, anything can happen in the high desert. It is usually very warm during the day and shockingly cold at night, so prepare accordingly. Most important, keep checking the weather forecasts so you can better prepare for conditions. If there was a recent rain, or rain is forecast, the SCTA meet, and this event, will be canceled. Please be sure to keep checking back here for conditions and changes in plan.
The Southern California Timing Association has been holding monthly meets out on Mojave Desert dry lakes since the 1930s. The El Mirage meets feature hundreds of vehicles running as fast as 300 MPH down a 1.3 mile course. For the last few years I have been going out there to camp and hang out with the old gearheads. Sometimes I wander around and look at the cars, sometimes I watch the races on Sunday, sometimes I just stay in my camp and drink beer and relax all weekend. There is no agenda.
The October 2008 meet will be the last one I can make this year (their last meet until next May will be in November). I'm going to go out there and hang out Saturday night, and I thought I would post it here in case any OCHBC people were interested in tagging along.
It will cost $30 per vehicle to get onto the lakebed.
Though there is hiking and exploring available in the Shadow Mountains to the north of the dry lake, I have not organized anything. For me this will be an easy weekend of relaxing in the dry desert air. It can be a fun time for anyone who enjoys the desert, but especially for motorheads, gearheads and other car guys.
Note: this is not the sort of camping where you will experience desert solitude. During SCTA weekend, the dry lake and surrounding area are teeming with motorcyclers and other noisy desert recreationists. It doesn't really die down until pretty late at night.
How to get there
The El Mirage OHV Recreation Area is located west of Adelanto, California, between US Highway 395 and the Los Angeles County line. Here are some directions to the entrance to the El Mirage OHV Recreation Area from Orange County. You enter from US Highway 395 near Adelanto by taking Chamberlaine Way (formerly Crippen Avenue) west to Koala Road. Turn right on Koala Road and follow the signs toward the town of El Mirage. At El Mirage Road, turn left. Just east of the town of El Mirage, take Mountain View Road north (right) to enter the El Mirage OHV Recreation Area. A sign located at this intersection will direct you to the dry lake.
Turn left onto the lake access road and drive down the center of the lakebed for several miles until you see orange cones separating the race course from the rest of the lakebed. Drive to either side of these cones until you come into the main camping and assembly area for the SCTA (lots of RVs and other vehicles parked there). Drive around the edge of the lakebed looking for my camp, with a 1998 black Yukon SUV (I will not be camped in the middle of all the cars and RVs, but a little ways away at the edge of the lakebed). There is often good cell phone reception on the lakebed, so use your cell phone if necessary.
I plan to be there before noon on Saturday, so folks can arrive any time after that. There is no meeting time. Try to get there before dark, though.
What to bring
This is basic car-camping, so bring whatever will make you comfortable. If it is hot, the most important gear will be canopies or flies of some sorts to keep the sun off during the day. Bring folding chairs (never enough of those), coolers, portable barbecues, etc.
The best way (maybe the only legal way) to build campfires on the lakebed is in a free-standing fireplace that sits above the ground. I will bring one I made from an old washing machine tub. I will also bring some firewood cut down to 18" long. If you have something similar (as well as some wood), feel free to bring it.
There is no water, so bring your own. Also, there are portable toilets available, but no other such facilities.
Bicycles are useful for getting around the assembly area, and I also sometimes bring roller skates.
If you have an RV, bring it along for some dry camping. The ladies especially appreciate the clean toilets.
An FM radio is useful for listening to the race results on Sunday.
What not to bring
Glass bottles are illegal on the lakebed, so bring canned beer, box wine (or transfer the good stuff into plastic bottles), etc. Fireworks are also illegal to possess on the lakebed.
Weather
This time of year, anything can happen in the high desert. It is usually very warm during the day and shockingly cold at night, so prepare accordingly. Most important, keep checking the weather forecasts so you can better prepare for conditions. If there was a recent rain, or rain is forecast, the SCTA meet, and this event, will be canceled. Please be sure to keep checking back here for conditions and changes in plan.
