Blog Posts - LeicaLux

Another Solo trip...

5/1/2021

Covid-lockdowns has given me riches of vacation hours. There's no reason why they should go to waste. Two years ago, I took my first solo trip to the Trona Pinnacles, and I've been wanting to do something similar again. So I decided to take a few days off work and visit a few places that's 2-3 hours away from home that's been on my map for quite a while.

Fossil Falls was the first stop. I've driven past this place many times, but because it was always in the summer, and it just seemed too hot to visit. As soon as I reached the campsite that's right next to the trailhead, my neighbor, Fred, came over and chatted with me. Fred, who I guess was in his 70's, grew up in the area and had a wealth of information to share with me. He told me about the Little Lake Overlook, which I'm very glad to have visited. To thank him for his knowledge and company, I shared my dinner and breakfast with him.

Next day, after promising to see Fred "down the road", I headed west towards Lake Isabella. The original plan was to camp at this place called Rabbit Island that's close to the lake, but in researching for backup camp spots, I found this secluded spot that's next to the Kern River, and I had to check it out. Since it was Friday, I got in early, and expected to see a bunch of disappointed campers that this spot was taken. To my surprise, for the entire time I was there, no one came by. So I had a lot of alone time and did my best to find things to do to take my mind off the 90 degree heat.

Next morning, I woke up early to drive to Miracle Hot Springs for a good soak. Then it's time for the next attraction: Tehachapi Loop. You probably have not heard about this place if you're not a train enthusiast. It was built in the 1800's. Due to the train back then did not have enough power to climb the steep grades of these mountains, they designed a loop so the train can pull itself up over the Tehachapi Pass. It's great fun to watch the train loop over itself if that interests you, but alas this was my last stop before I'm heading back to reality. For the full set of images on this trip, [CLICK HERE]

Taking On The Mojave Road

3/15/2021

Even before getting the Winnebago Revel, I've watched many videos and blog posts of people overlanding on the Mojave Road. The road condition didn't look that bad, except maybe a few spots, and I've always wondered if the Revel can make it through. Well, wonder no more. This definitely checked off a box on the bucket list. We finally got a group of like-minded folks with capable vehicles and decided to take on the Mojave Road in March as it should be a good time for the desert before it gets too hot.

It turns out, mother nature had a different plan for us. As you see above, we started from mile-zero on a gorgeous sunny day in Arizona. However, after we passed Fort Piute and climbed up to Lanfair, it started to snow. We were planning to camp up in the New York Mountains for the first night, but since some of us were not prepared for the cold weather, we came back down to Rock Springs to huddle around the camp fire.

Next day, the desert proved its resiliency and gave us back the sunshine that we sorely missed. As we trek our ways through the Mojave National Preserve, we find the trail was not a technical run, but an endurance run. A seemingly straight dirt road cutting across the desert, but we couldn't drive faster than 10 mph due to the constant bumps and dips that'll really shake your car from side to side if you weren't paying attention. Finally, we reached our second camp site in the Aiken Mines, so we can visit the Lava Tubes next morning.

The best has yet to come. On the third day, after getting our "spotlight" in the Lava Tubes, we headed west again for the Traveler's Monument. We were concerned about the road across the Soda Lake since it was raining a few days before, but it was dry enough for us to pass, and we dropped off our rocks and looked at the famous plaque atop the monument. You'll have to visit it yourself to see what it says. Then, it's off to dash across the sand dunes, which was surprisingly fun. Afton Canyons provided many small stream crossings, leaving the biggest stream crossing for last. I heard due to railroad maintenance, they had filled in the famous deep water crossing with rocks so it was only 1-2 feet deep, which is not the next photo.

So, we've done it. I get the feeling that I'll be doing it again in the not so distant future. The desolation, the challenges, the comradery, the thoughts of "I can't believe people use to ride across in horse wagons", they all have a way of drawing you to come back again. For the full set of photos, [CLICK HERE].

Utah's Mighty 5...

11/29/2020

During this COVID-19 pandemic, it may seem a bit reckless to go on a week long roadtrip to visit "The Mighty 5" national parks in Utah. However, we stayed away from campground, cooked all of our foods, and practiced social distancing by boondocking in epic spots like the one in the photo above and below.

This late in November, most nights were too cold to hang out around a campfire. The briskly daytime temperature were great for hikes and kept the bugs away. We were lucky to not encounter any rain or snow storms. Canyonlands National Park was probably our favorite of all the parks we visited, and I think we'll be coming back to it to fully explore it.

The Winnebago Revel was really the perfect vehicle to this type of travel. It is nimble to traverse the forest roads and yet provided all the necessary amenities and kept us comfortable. Its off-road capability has taken us to incredible campsite and trailheads, the Espar heating system kept us warm all night, and the built-in shower and bathroom means we'll never have to wait in line anywhere.

[CLICK HERE] to see the full set of images.

Eastern Sierras...

8/14/2020

As an attempt of a "last hurrah" before the summer vacation ends, we packed up the van and headed up the Interstate 395 to the Eastern Sierras. It's sparsely populated with a diverse terrains of mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers, and forests if you climb high enough in elevation. And, that's the key, stay high up enough during the summer so the nights will cool you down.

First we visited the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at over 10,000 feet above sea level. The thinner air at that elevation really put a damper on the desire to hike more.

We had high hopes of finding a camp spot near a natural hot springs, but there were just way too much people out this weekend during the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems that people are tired of being cooped up at home, but many campground are closed, so they flock to the BLM lands. It was our family's first time at trying kayaking at Convict Lake. It was a lot of relaxing fun, and I can see it being a regular part of our future adventures.

For the last night, we travelled up higher for a nice camp spot in the pine forest. It was too bad that we couldn't have a campfire due to the fire restrictions, but we had a nice meal and a lively fire-side chat, without the fire. The summer of 2020 certainly has been different than the past summers, but we've made the best of it, and again, the Revel was a key contributor.

Prewitt Ridge, Big Sur...

7/13/2020

The Prewitt Ridge dispersed camping area overlooking Big Sur has been on my bucket list for a while now. With the offroad-capable Winnebago Revel, I finally got the chance to visit this place. The views were spectacular, although we did not get to witness the sea of clouds due to hot weather. The whole area was super crowded during this weekend, but it was the amount of bugs and flies that may detract us from coming back for another visit in the summer months.

To avoid making the 6+ hours drive all at once from LA, we spent Friday night on the ridges above Santa Barbara, which also had beautiful views of the city, night lights, and we did see the sea of clouds in the early morning from there.

What a great weekend filled with memories, amid this COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Here's a time lapse video of the sunset over Prewitt Ridge.

The Mojave Road...

3/29/2020

While California is shut down due to the COVID-19 Corona virus, we escaped out to the desert. The legendary Mojave Road is somewhere I've heard a lot about but never had a capable vehicle to experience. I thought I might push my luck and take the Winnebago Revel on it, but after this trip, I think that's probably not feasiable.

A must-visit place on the Mojave Road is Fort Piute. After a very rocky ascend into the mountain, we see the ruins of a fort that used to guard the spring waters in the 1850s.

We continued on from Fort Piute and reached Lanfair Valley. That marked the end our trip, but I do plan to come back and continue the Mojave Road from here in the future.

Solo Camping at Trona Pinnacles...

12/11/2019

I had a rare chance of having a few days to spend by myself, no wife, no kids. So naturally, I thought to myself, where is the one place that I've been dreaming about photographing and can also be an epic camp spot? Being about 3 hours from LA, Trona Pinnacles ticked all the boxes. So I set out on an adventure with all my camera and drone batteries charged.

I knew this wasn't peak season and there shouldn't be any crowds on a week night, but I had no idea I would end up being the only person in the entire area! In the afternoon, there was a few Jeeps, but they did not stay the night. It's an amazing feeling, alone, in a place like this. I rode my bike everywhere to take pictures, flew the drone without need to worry about bothering other people, and played guitar loud while the batteries charged.

This trip would not have happened if I didn't own the Revel. Having a 4x4 capable van that I can live comfortably in has encouraged me to go places that I would not have dared. It doesn't take any pictures, but I think I'd consider it a photographic tool :)

To see the full set of the images, [CLICK HERE]

Moonstone Beach Park...

11/17/2019

A bunch Winnebago Revel owners met up at the San Simeon Washburn Campground this weekend. It was nice meeting up with people who shares the same passions and interests. A lot has been talked about the down side to social media, but I think it's simply a tool, and it's about how you use it. There is quite a large group of folks on Facebook, and we all help each other by sharing mods, troubleshoot problems, and just share adventures. A meet up like this highlights the fact that sometimes it's just more fun seeing each other face to face and have a conversation in real life. On Sunday, once we departed from the group, we head into Cambria to get some deserts and visited the Moonstone Beach Park to have our breakfast.

One Hot Labor Day Weekend...

9/2/2019

Despite the excessive heat warnings announced between Los Angeles to Las Vegas, we visited one of the hottest place possible: Joshua Tree National Park. The weather was too hot to go on any trails, so we settled for a nice sunset at the Keys View.

The AirBnB was located in Yucca Valley, so we spent a day exploring around there also. There's a Giant Rock next to the hills and seemed very popular with the ATV crowds. It looked like a cool place to boondock next time. We also visited the Pioneer Town where there is a film set of old western town.

Maple Springs Trail...

7/21/2019

One of the drawback of owning a 4x4 vehicle is developing a taste for backcountry roads. I've been researching for trails around Los Angeles that might be suitable for the Winnebago Revel. I don't have the clearance and articulation for the gnarly trails, so I looked for easy to moderate trails that will hopefully lead to a nice view point. Maple Springs Trail is the first one I'm trying out. It passes through the town of Silverado in Orange County, and will lead you all the way to Santiago Peak, the highest peak in Orange County.

It took us about an hour going up a mostly single lane gravel dirty road. Once in a while you'll encounter people driving in the opposite direction and everyone's real nice about making ways for others to pass. We didn't drive all the way to Santiago Peak because my son and my mom, who were riding with me, was a bit tired of the bumpy roads. So, I whipped up a quick lunch and we rest a bit at the end of the Maple Springs Road and turned back. On this trip, I practiced lowering the tire pressure when we started on the dirt road and it really made the drive much more smoother. While coming back down, I engage the low-range on the 4WD and it helped me come down in a controlled speed without hitting the brakes too much. All in all, a successful first try at four wheeling, I'd say.