2014 KOH info

[justtorchit]

So, seeing as there is no KOH qualifier at rausch creek next year.....
I want to go to the real thing.

I know many of you have a good amount of experience when it comes to going out there.... so where do I start?

I'm planning to take the whole week off (2/1 - 2/9)
What airport do you guys depart from and land at?
Best site to book a flight???
best place to find a hotel???
do many people tent it out on the lake bed???

I'm going to have a lot of questions and I am open to all advice when it comes to planning out this trip.

Thanks in advanced!

[CumminsJeep]

-Depart from wherever is closest to you. For me it is Newark, NJ or la guardia
-Land in Ontario, CA or Las Vegas and have some fun for a night.
-I always booked flights with Expedia. I always found that they were the cheapest.
-The nearest Hotel is about 45 minutes away so its kind of a hassle if you want to hotel it the whole time. However, having a shower every few days is magical. The dust can be unreal out in JV. In that town there is plenty of fast food and supermarkets however.
- Do not, whatever you do, do not plan to sleep in a tent unless you want to be miserable. The best way to do it is to get an RV with 4-6 people max for the week. You can shower every so often, you have water, a fridge, power, etc etc. The wind out on the lakebed can be serious. I think everyone who has been there can attest to this. So sleeping outside can be bad. and it gets COLD at night, easily low 30s.
- We always rented a 4x4 truck or sub with some clearance to move gear and everything like that. and when you want to drive to spots like chocolate thunder or backdoor, you can do so. Also when you need to roll into town you don't need to load up the RV.
- My best advice to you is to just spend the few extra bucks. If you are trying to do this trip on the cheap you will only regret it. The place is a whole lot more fun when you aren't worrying about anything, even though that can be hard to do.
- A huge problem we had every year was the dumping/filling of the RV. The RV people were never there when we needed them and kept blowing people off. They said a lot of stuff to us in the beginning about refueling/mileage etc as well that ended us fucking us out of a couple hundred bucks at least at the end of the trip. Nicole can elaborate on that DO NOT USE CORONA MOTORHOMES. THE GUY SCREWED US AND A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE. When I went with Molten Motorsports last year we used Cruise America out of Las Vegas and it was SOOOO much better. I also had my Polaris out there last year which was amazing to have that sort of transportation out there.

WIth that being said, it is an awesome trip. And it is what you make of it. Every year with the groups I went with I spent maybe 1000-1200 and the most when everything was split up at the end. Thats with airfare (usually around 350-400 round trip), split up the rental car, and the rv which I believe was about 2k? (Nicole can give better numbers) for the week. and always expect to spend money on food/shirts/etc when you are there.

[Lawn Guyland]

Andy-I'm on my phone right now but when I get on my computer ill post up/PM you some info

[HeavyMetal]

feel free to msg me any questions you have, ive been to a few KOHs

after all my traveling i never use expedia or those sites anymore(other than searching for flights themselves all in 1 place) its almost always identical, if not very close, on the airlines website price wise and its much easier to handle issues that come up if you deal directly with the airline. expedia, travelocity, and all of those have screwed me differently a few times.

the only reason id ever fly into ontario anymore is if I needed to pick up an RV myself, or if the price was substantially different than Palm Springs, which is closer to Johnson Valley and still a legit airport. You wont likely find a direct flight to either from here.

all i will say more is x2 on what andrew said, dont get a tent unless youre some hard ass hippie that likes to punish yourself for no reason

[crosbike]

Tenting isnt bad....but my gf said no way this year. fml

[Buffalo Phil]

-Fruitcups
-Stock up at Walmart then head to the lakebed; buy lots of gatorade, water and beer.
-Chapstick, you'll need it, there is zero moisture in the air out there.
-There is a list of 'essentials' that is somewhere on pirate4x4, I'm sure someone will find it but ski goggles are one of those useful things I have yet to use because when I didn't need them I had them and when I did need them God only knows where the fuck I left them
-Get an RV so you can camp next to us, you'll find out at the end of the week if that was a good or bad decision
-No airhorns plz

[Pedro]

Don't cheap out. As rugged as you may think you are, you will want a shower, you will want out of the wind, and you will want a break from the dust. If you think you may need it (clothes wise) bring it. Pay the money to check a bag. The temp fluctuates so much it's unreal. Bring extra undies......and gold bond. You will walk a lot. You may be sweating your balls off in the middle of JV, then get to backdoor and have a hoodie on and be freezing.

Having an RV as they said is great. Make sure you ask every question you can think of and know exactly what you are paying from day one. As Andrew said, Corona fucked us one year. Keep fuel in mind and make sure they top it off. Corona told us the gauge only went to 3/4. Sure enough it went right to full when we filled it.

Did I mention gold bond?

Leave a bit of extra room in your bag. You will buy shirts. You will get stickers.

Don't expect to use a cell phone. Service sucks donkey dick. Prepare your girlfriend ahead of time.

Rent a car with the 4x4 feature. Then you can drive to back door, chocolate thunder, hell wherever you want in the valley. Saving the $100 isn't worth it when you can see 100x more of what JV offers.

Don't forget gold bond.

[Lawn Guyland]

i apologize for the massive PM i just sent you. LOL

[justtorchit]

thanks for all the info!

Ill have more questions in the morning.

[Zullock Holmes]

bring your big boy drinking pants.

36 packs of tecate are extremely cheap and last at a rate of sometimes less than 1 per day.

[HeavyMetal]

bring your big boy drinking pants.

and potentially big boy diapers

[Zullock Holmes]

and potentially big boy diapers

if your name is dizzy and you drink too much tequila.... I recommend adult diapers


There is a high likelihood of shitting yourself

[murdered out manche]

So, who all is going? Does anyone have RV room?

[HitItWithSomeSpeed]

bring your big boy drinking pants.

[Ruepart Hoaxley]

What his facepalm translates to:

"Don't get caught with an open beer in the bed of a truck by the Bureau of Land Management at 9:45AM..."