9 OCTOBER 2025 – THURSDAY

Early birds arrive and set up camp.

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All educational field trips are tentative depending on weather and road conditions. Scheduling subject to change or alteration.

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INBOUND to Goffs Educational Field Trip: Valley Wells, Mescal and Nantan
Educational Field Trip Leader: Debbie Miller Marschke

This is possibly a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive field trip.  The historic 1886 mining camp of Mescal, located at Mount Pass off the I-15, exists on private property.  The MDHCA has been granted permission from the landowner to see the historic ruins and artifacts, as well as the Nantan Post Office building. You will also be entertained to learn the bizarre circumstances that brought this mining operations to an instant end.  We will also visit Valley Wells aka Rosalie and the site of the Yates Ranch.  Attendees can then travel to Goffs on paved road. Dogs must remain in vehicles while visiting Mescal. Meet at 1:00 PM at Cima Shell Gas Station, 65845 Cima Road, Nipton CA. Expect to arrive at Goffs around 5:00 PM. Sign up directly with Trip Leader Debbie Miller Marschke no later than Wednesday evening October 8th by emailingdebmillermars@gmail.com
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

5:00 PM. Popcorn Social Hour at the Flywheel Café for early arrivals.  Bring your own beverages. Popcorn and butter provided.  

10 OCTOBER 2025 – FRIDAY

7:00 AM | Coffee available at Flywheel.

8:30 AM. – 4:00 PM | Registration in the Schoolhouse.
Registration per MDHCA Member is $40 (no charge for children under 12). Registration includes 2 door prize tickets per person, and our Saturday night BBQ. You can purchase additional door prize and raffle tickets and renew your MDHCA membership (only $50 per family.) You can sign up for one of our Educational Field Trips, space is limited.  Gift Shop will be open, and the Silent Auction begins. Check out the door prizes in the Schoolhouse and place your tickets in the can by the one(s) you wish to win. Door Prize drawing is Saturday 5:30 PM before dinner. You MUST be present to win a door prize.

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM |  Silent Auction opens in the Schoolhouse. Come place your written bids on these amazing prizes. Silent Auction closes Saturday night at 8:30 PM.

• AT&T Shed Open throughout the day.
• Little Danby Courthouse Open throughout the day.

EDUCATIONAL FIELD TRIPS. If you are interested in participating sign up in the Schoolhouse. PLEASE NOTE: Space on the Field Trips is limited. Also, review the trip requirements (see below). Many trips require high clearance 4-wheel drive vehicles.  ALL TRIPS ARE SUBJECT TO CURRENT ROAD CONDITIONS.

Field Trip: Mitchell Caverns: Beyond the Cave
Trip Leader: Debbie Miller Marschke & Andrew Fitzpatrick
Come and enjoy a tour of Mitchell Caverns – inside and outside.  We have arranged for an exclusive tour that has never been offered before and it’s been crafted specifically for MDHCA members.  We will see items of historical significance that sill exits around the grounds of the State Park that the general public does not see.  We will also focus on the life of Mary Beal, who arrived in the Mojave Desert in 1910 and broke the glass ceiling by becoming an accomplished self-taught botanist. This trip is divided into three tours as follows:

First Cavern Tour: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM |  Limit 15 people

Second Cavern Tour: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Limit 15 people

Lunch and Learn Program: 12:00 PM – 1:45 PM | Bring your own lunch, chair, and a hat.  Then the group will be guided around the property by California State Parks Andrew Fitzpatrick, highlighting historical features, buildings, and artifacts that are never included during the public tours. Sign-ups are mandatory for the complementary 2-hour Cavern Tours due to limited space: 15 people per cave tour. Participants can arrange this tour according to their own scheduling needs. Meet at the appropriate time at the Mitchell Caverns Visitor Center (Providence Mountains State Recreation Area). Budget yourselves 1 hour travel time if you depart for this tour from Goffs. Dogs are not allowed inside the caverns.

All Mitchell Caverns tours sign up with Laura Misajet by phone or text at 760-401-1475, email at MDHCA.goffs@gmail.com. Please indicate which tour; First, Second, or Lunch & Learn.
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Millmen Crew Team: Maintenance and Training on the American Boy Ten-Stamp Mill & Stotts Stamp Mill.
An introduction to those interested in joining the Millman Training Program, or just to observe.

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM  | Tour of the MDHCA Archives
Archeologist, Jim Toenjes will explain how he used the archives to research homestead patents and give a shortened version of his Saturday talk: “Black Homesteading in Lanfair Valley” by Jim Toenjes.
Location: The Library Depot

11:00 AM – 11:45 PM  | Talk: “Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad” by Larry Vredenburgh.
Location: Exhibit Hall

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch on your own.

1:30 PM – 2:15 PM  | MDHCA 30^th Anniversary Slide Show (for those who missed it). Come relax, get out of the hot sun and watch, or re-watch, the history of the Schoolhouse renovation, the expansion of the campus, and the people who contributed to making MDHCA what it is today. Slide show will run on a loop, so stop in anytime.
Location: Exhibit Hall

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM  | Talk: Desert Magazine and the Postwar Rise of Desert Recreation, by Austin Schoenkopf.
Location: Exhibit Hall.

3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Stamp Mill Demos. Running of the Gyratory Crusher & Stotts 2 Stamp Mill.

5:15 PM | Happy Hour in Flywheel Café.  Bring your own beverage of choice. This is a good chance for break-out groups to meet and discuss work projects. Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer for work projects.

6:00 PM | Potluck Dinner.  Bring a potluck dinner dish or hors d’oeuvres to share. Bring your own beverages & vessel. We need volunteers for set-up and clean-up.
Location: Flywheel Café

7:00 PM | The Annual Wagon Master Awards & Recognitions Ceremony. Will include the introduction of Rendezvous Grand Marshals for 2025.
Location: Flywheel Café

8:00 PM | Silent Film w/live piano accompaniment by Ryan Wishner.  Ryan will select a silent film for us to enjoy.  Please bring your folding chair or bring one over from the Flywheel. Location: Schoolhouse

Stargazing & Campfire in the evening if weather permits.

11 OCTOBER 2025 – SATURDAY

6:30 AM | Coffee available at the Flywheel.

6:30 AM | Breakfast in the Flywheel compliments of Bill & Marsha Moser.  Please contribute generously to their donation jar!

8:30 AM. – 4:00 PM | Registration in the Schoolhouse. Registration per MDHCA Member is $40 (no charge for children under 12). Registration includes 2 door prize tickets per person, and our Saturday night BBQ. You can purchase additional door prize tickets, raffle tickets, and renew your MDHCA membership (only $50 per family.) Three Educational Field Trips are offered on Sunday morning, space is limited.  Gift Shop will be open.  Place your bids on the Silent Auction items.  Check out the door prizes in the Schoolhouse and place your tickets in the can by the one(s) you wish to win. Door Prize drawing is today at 5:30 PM before dinner, you MUST be present to win a door prize.
Location: Schoolhouse

• AT&T Shed Open throughout the day.
• Little Danby Courthouse Open throughout the day.  

7:45 AM – 1:00 PM | Field Trip: Lanfair Valley and Bobcat Hills
Trip Leader: Debbie Marschke
This is a brand-new tour in the areas of the East Mojave that we have not explored during past Rendezvous. We will visit several mining sites, the American Flag cabin, Indian Well and Petroglyphs, and drive a section of the Mojave Road (including a stop at the Penny Can). High Clearance is a must but the trail can be done in a 2WD. Line up at 7:45 AM in front of the Schoolhouse.  Trip leaves promptly at 8:00 AM. This is a half-day trip and will not stop for lunch, so bring your own or wait until you return to Goffs at noon – 1pm. We encourage carpooling.  Desert pinstriping on your vehicle is a possibility due to the many creosote bushes along the trail.
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Talk: “Black Homesteading in Lanfair Valley” by Jim Toenjes. Tour the Archives afterwards.
Location: Library Depot

10:30 AM – 11:15 AM | Talk: “Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad” by Larry Vredenburgh.
Location: Exhibit Hall

11:30 AM– 11:45 AM | Talk: “Update from The Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep” by Arioch M’Greene.
Location: Exhibit Hall

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM.  Lunch on your own.

1:30 PM – 2:20 PM | Talk: “Environmental Intelligence” By Garret Baquet from 7ensor LLC & Morgan Rockwell from Mycosoft. They will be discussing their projects that use emerging technologies to learn about and protect the land, air and sea.  Mushrooms that eat sewage and talk to AI, Digital Noses smelling contaminants to protect fire fighters, Smart Air filters, Finding Pollutants in wetlands, genetic sequencing catalogs, and finding new forms of life on earth.
Location: Exhibit Hall

2:30 PM – 3:15 PM | Talk: “Traveling the Shell Trade Highway with Indigenous People, Francisco Garces, and Jedediah Strong Smith” by Lance Holter.
https://jedediahsmithsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Castor-Canadensis-Fall-2023.pdf 
Location:  Exhibit Hall

3:30 PM – 4:00 PM | Fort Piute Building Open. Meet exhibit curator David M’Greene. 

4:15 PM – 5:00 PM | Running of the Gyratory Crusher & Stotts Stamp Mill.  

5:00 PM – 5:15 PM | Dennis Casebier Monument Dedication.
Location: Schoolhouse Yard

5:15 PM – Raffle drawing begins in Flywheel Café.  Winners need NOT be present to win. Winners will be notified, and prizes mailed out to those not in attendance.
Location: Flywheel Café

5:30 PM | Happy Hour & Door Prize Drawing.  MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN DOOR PRIZES. Have your door prize tickets ready.  Winners, take your door prize with you please.

6:00 PM | BBQ Dinner, hosted by our Grand Marshals (to be announced Friday evening.)  Bill Slutter and our MDHCA volunteer team will prepare a BBQ for all. Bring your own beverages & vessels.
Location: Flywheel Café

7:00 PM | Keynote Speaker: Ramona Daniels, “250 Years of the California Desert.” Ramona has served with the Bureau of Land Management since 1999, shaping the recreational, visual, and ecological integrity of California’s desert landscapes.  She has authored more than forty interpretive panels, developed multi-tiered signage programs, and delivered presentations that connect communities to the land’s cultural and natural heritage. In her role as a restoration specialist, Ramona has led efforts across the California Desert District to heal landscapes impacted by off-highway vehicle intrusion, mining, and erosion. She has transformed century-old wilderness roads into hiking trails—reclaiming damaged terrain and inviting public enjoyment. Ramona holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from California State University, San Bernardino, and dual A.S. degrees in Environmental Science and Geography from College of the Desert. She inspired the creation of the Park Ranger Certificate Program and was nominated for Women in Science for her early desert tortoise research, which she co-published in Chelonian Conservation and Biology. She continues to champion cultural resource protection and innovative planning alternatives.
Location:  Flywheel Café

8:15 PM | Schoolhouse open for last minute Silent Auction bids.  Bring your after-dinner drinks and mingle while you place your final competitive bids.  Remember this is a fundraiser so keep raising those bids!

8:30 PM | Silent Auction Closes. Last chance to place bids. Winners can claim and pay for their prizes Saturday evening until 9:00 PM or Sunday, beginning at 8:30 AM.

Stargazing & Campfire in the evening if weather permits.

12 OCTOBER 2025 – SUNDAY

6:30 AM | Coffee available at the Flywheel.

6:30 AM | Breakfast in the Flywheel compliments of Bill & Marsha Moser.  Please contribute generously to their donation jar!

8:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Educational Field Trip:  Hidden Hills and Bighorn Mine in the Providence Mountains
Trip Leader: Danny Siler
The focus of this trip are these two gold mines and mill ruins.  This area was highly active in the years between 1894 and 1919, and work continued into the 1940s.  There are concrete and stone ruins, shafts, adits and remains of the mill works.  The cabin at the Bighorn Mine has been restored by the MPS. A high-clearance vehicle is required, and four-wheel drive is recommended.  Rugged tires are a must.  To see the best one of the mill ruins requires a bit of a hike.  It takes approximately 45 minutes round-trip to hike, walk around the ruins, and come back to the vehicles.  Plan on a full day and bring your lunch. This is an all-day trip that will return to Goffs around 4pm. Meet in front of Schoolhouse. Details to follow.  Limited to 7 vehicles.
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

8:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Educational Field Trip: Old Woman Mountains and Sunflower Springs.
Trip Leader: Steve Marschke
This trip is an old favorite that is requested frequently.  We will venture into the Old Woman Mountains on the EMHT to Sunflower Springs.  This is an all-day trip that will return to Goffs around 4pm.  Meet along Lanfair Road at 8:00 AM.  Details to follow.
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

8:00 AM – 12 Noon | Educational Field Trip: Carruthers Canyon – After the Fire
Trip Leader: Debbie Miller Marschke
We will visit Carruthers Canyon, which is now in recovery stages after being ravaged by the York Fire.  The July 2023 fire had catastrophic consequences, so expect to see an eerie doomscape.  However, less vegetation means that more of the picturesque geology is visible.  Recent monsoons have left the roads extremely rocky and sandy, so 4WD is necessary. This is a half-day trip expected to return to Goffs around noon. Meet in front of Cross. Limited to 7 vehicles.
Download the Field Trips PDF to get all the details.

8:30 AM – 5:00 PM |  Schoolhouse and Gift Shop open to pick up Silent Auction items.

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM | Stamp Mill Demo, Maintenance & Training. (Tentative)

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch on your own.

2:00 PM – 2:30 PM | Talk: Losing the Dark, and Why it Matters by Laura Misajet. Laura will share her talk from the Star Fest event at Big Bear Discovery Center. We are losing our dark skies, which not only impacts our ability to see the wonders of the Universe but also affects all life on Earth.
Location: Exhibit Hall

5:30 PM.  Leftover Potluck dinner in Flywheel Cafe. To help us reduce trash waste, please bring your own plate, cutlery, and beverage vessel.

HELP WANTED (Please call 760-733-4482, email mdhca.goffs@gmail.com or volunteer sign-up sheet on Flywheel Information Board)

We need volunteers to help with:

• Popcorn Thursday evening.
• Registration at the Schoolhouse for Friday & Saturday from 8:30am – 5:00pm.
• Schoolhouse Sunday for Silent Auction item pick-up & collection of payments from 8:30am – 5:00pm.
• Set up and clean up at the Friday night Potluck dinner and Saturday night BBQ
• Any IT & A/V needs for our guest speakers

Consult our bulletin boards at the Flywheel for printed changes to this schedule.

ENJOY YOUR STAY IN GOFFS AND THE ACTIVITIES OF OUR 46th MOJAVE ROAD RENDEZVOUS

Laura Misajet, Rendezvous Co-Chair 2025
Bill Slutter, Rendezvous Co-Chair 2025

Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association
Goffs Schoolhouse
37198 Lanfair Rd – G-15
Essex, California 92332

760-733-4482

COMMUNICATION AT GOFFS. MDHCA staff members carry FRS radios on channel 14-0. You can use a radio to call out to anyone if you need help. If you need routine information or assistance, ask for Laura Misajet, Bill Slutter, or Chris Wirth. Keep your communication short and to the point so the channel is open for others. Remember, everyone with an FRS radio can hear your conversation.

• WIFI Network: Goffs
• WIFI Password: 3107662450

**ONSITE EMERGENCIES** Contact a member of the Rendezvous staff on FRS channel 14-0:

• Laura Misajet (cell: 760-401-1475)
• Bill Slutter (cell: 310-766-2450)

AED & first aid equipment located inside Cookhouse.