Last Chance Canyon 2025

On Saturday, April 5, seven vehicles and 9 people met at the new Albertsons at 830am for a run thru Last Chance Canyon. In attendance besides myself were Bill Dorey; Bill Martin; Byron & Patty Self; and guests Scott Frastaci; Chad & Jason Marxsen; and Ward Minnick.

We had an uneventful drive to the trailhead off of Garlock Road. We had hardly gotten stopped to air down when another group of 5 to6 vehicles from Thousand Oaks pulled in. I talked to their leader and he offered that since we were there first we could lead in. I counter-offered that if they were ready to move, to go ahead of us, as we were in no hurry. He took me up on it & said they would “boogie” on thru the canyon.

We gave them a 10 to 15 minute head start and then proceeded up the canyon. Wouldn’t you know that we caught up with them in nothing flat (boogie?). After following them for a few minutes, they graciously pulled aside and let us drive on. The canyon has really been torn up by the storms over the last few years. There were only a few super-difficult spots and they all had bypasses, but there were still a lot of rocks to crawl over and around. Nobody tried the V-notch. I did note that there was a lot more sand in it than in previous years. The day was cool and breezy, but we found a nice lunch stop out of the wind. We took the scenic Red Buttes bypass to get around the Cudahy closure area, dropping back into the upper end of Last Chance.

Some of the folks with us had never been to Bickel Camp, so we stopped off for a look around. I spent most of my time talking with the caretaker who has been there for 15-years. We also stopped at 2 small rock art sites and an adopt-a-cabin in Bonanza Gulch that I had never been in. I think it was Bill Dorey that noticed that it had a “Mad Dog” stove made by deceased member Bill Maddux. From there, we drove over to the rock house high above the north end of Last Chance to admire the view, and then took the Red Rock – Inyokern Road home.

Thanks to all who attended. I hope you enjoyed it.