Hot. Sweaty. Dusty. Hot. Great words to describe traveling the six stages of the Nevada Backcountry Discovery Route. A 908 mile dirt-road route that takes you from Oatman, Arizona all the way north to Jarbidge, Nevada. Average time to complete all 6 stages is 6-9 days. We did it in 5. On purpose? Nope. But we'll get to that later.
STAGE 1- Oatman, AZ to Pahrump, NV
Day 1 actually started with a short day drive through Joshua Tree National Park. For some weird reason, I find these trees fascinating. The drive from Joshua Tree NP to Oatman, AZ took us part way on the historic Route 66 and through the Mojave National Preserve.
We rolled into Oatman, AZ (the start of Stage 1) around 5pm and our timing was perfect if you wanted to drive during a thunderstorm and worry about flash floods. The small town itself looked like a scene from an old western movie. It was just the right amount of worn down (with obvious general maintenance) to give you the feeling that you've stepped back in time.
But the most exciting part of Oatman is the town herd of wild burros! The friendliest bunch of wild animals will greet you as you exit your vehicle and will happily lead the way to the nearest open business, where you can purchase burro food for them to snack on. These are a well fed herd of asses.
After a quick stop at the only open saloon, we piled back into the Jeep and went on our way. At 6pm, we knew we had a few short hours to make some headway and find a place to camp.
The drive out of Oatman to Bullhead city was less than exciting. The wide, well travelled gravel road was littered with garbage. Fortunately, we were able to keep our speed up and get through this section quickly.
One of my "must stops" was about 10 mins past Bullhead City, the Grapevine Canyon Petroglyphs. We pulled into the trail head of the canyon as the sun was starting to hide behind the rocks. With the threat of rain and flash flooding finally over, we made the short hike to the mouth of the canyon.
Back in the Jeep within an hour, we hit the dirt road to find a spot to camp along Christmas Tree Pass. With a race against the setting sun, we found an open spot to quickly set up camp.