2018 - Trip Reports - Desert TOADS

Desert TOADS

by Bob and Sue Jaussaud

The adventure began with a call from Marian Johns: “I know this is last minute, but can you meet us in Baker tomorrow? We are going with the Harders to try and find a cabin we have never seen in theMojave.” Sue and I couldn’t pass up an invitation like that.

A friend of a friend had told Neal and Marian about this wonderful cabin near the Old Dad Mountains and they wanted to find it. We didn’t know that such a thing existed, namely a cabin in the Mojave that Neal and Marian had never seen. We hadn’t heard of it either. Turns out that it does exist and is in fine shape due to the efforts of a jeep club that has adopted it.

The cabin is located near the Brannigan Mine, where gold was discovered in 1905. The mine wasn’t a big producer, but it seems the Herrod family occupied the cabin until the 1970s. Recently the cabin has been adopted by the Desert TOADS, “The Old As Dirt & Sand” jeep club. Many thanks to theTOADS for preserving this unique piece of Mojave history and to Marian for including us in this adventure.      ~ Bob & Sue