Hodge Road Recap

For the third year in a row Clean-Dezert took on the challenge of cleaning up the Hodge Road Shooting area. This has always been a unique event for us as we schedule it during the summer in an attempt to “spread out” our events. Being that the temperatures in Barstow are consistently in the triple digits during the day, as well as the fact that we’re attempting to clean an area that’s an active shooting area, we schedule this event during the nighttime. This helps keep our volunteers safe from the unforgiving heat and John Wick wannabes, and the cool(er) desert night provides a different environment (than our normal events) and gives volunteers an event mid-summer when they’re itching to hit the dirt.

Our staff double and triple-checked our supplies, loaded it all up, and hit the road early Friday morning. We got out to Barstow about noon or so, and in typical fashion, we hit up Barstow Del Taco for lunch and to say thanks as they provided gift certificates for our raffle. After filling our bellies, we headed over to Hodge Road to set up and wait for the dumpsters to arrive. This is when we started to question if this was a good idea as the temperature was 106 degrees and our rotund bodies were already getting sweaty just dropping the jacks on the trailer. We all agreed that we never really have great ideas, but that either way they usually end up in lots of laughs and good times. Instead of sending out the loser of our rock-paper-scissor tournament to continue setting up in the heat, we all hid inside the trailer with the AC blasting until the early evening before continuing to set up. Our goal was to fence off most of the entrances near our intended cleaning area in order to push the people who were coming out to shoot further away from where we wanted to host the event. We pounded a couple dozen pieces of rebar into the concrete-hard desert floor and attached the bright orange snow fencing to them to cordon off our area. Our great friends and master chefs over at Bad Lines Good Times (who were going to be cooking the food for our volunteers) showed up early in the evening and the laughs immediately started. It was great to have a night of good conversations and laughs in the desert with friends while having a last-minute rolling magnet assembly party before hundreds of people would show up the next day.

Saturday morning came way too early as the sun rose and we started setting up our supplies. The goal was to get it all done before it was too hot out… we failed. Thanks to some quick thinking, a Clean-Dezert mutiny occurred and our team leader [Adam Filbin] was forced out of the AC’d trailer kicking and screaming to finish setting up by himself while the rest of us watched from the comfort of the cool and chilly trailer as we ate ice cream and laughed at the guy who wanted “tO hAvE aN eVeNt In JuLy” melt outside. We quickly realized our efforts to keep the cordoned-off area free from day-shooting enthusiasts were going to be harder than we anticipated. We had a few not-so-pleasant people pull down our fencing to gain access to the desert, a few people drive right through the middle of the camp, and a few people set up to start shooting right in the middle of our area. After a serious conversation amongst our group, we came to the conclusion that it’s true: common sense really isn’t that common. We had a few pleasant and unpleasant conversations that day, but we had it all handled and were able to keep the majority of the people out and away.

By early afternoon volunteers started flooding the area and sponsors came in with their booths. By 6:30 we couldn’t hold back the crowd of anxious volunteers and sign-ups started. Each participant got their choice of a hat or shirt which was graciously provided by Gravel Kings (if you don’t follow them you need to, they're the kings of giving back to our community), and koozies provided by PCI Race Radios. With sign-ups being so early, we still had to contend with 1 or 2 shooters in our immediate area and didn't feel comfortable sending out the volunteers with them around. The timing worked out great as the Barstow Sheriff's department showed up to help participate in the clean-up. They made a pass around the area and before we knew it they had closed down the entire area to all shooters. Not only did they keep our volunteers safe, but they also put in a ton of work to clean up the area as well, working alongside the rest of the volunteers. For the first time ever, we set up a hot wheels track for all the kids to pick out their favorite car and have fun racing them against the other kids (and possibly some kid-at-heart adults here and there too). Bad Lines Good Times set their sights on dinner, cooking up carne asada and al pastor for tacos, and even surprised us with pulled pork sandwiches and hot dogs too. The delicious feast of food was all provided by Deluxe Window Tint, and the waters to keep everyone hydrated were provided by the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. John Alagna. There are so many stories to tell from the night, but everything went so smooth and quickly that its hard to remember them all. By 10 pm the dumpsters were full and we started the raffle with a dedicated "kids raffle" with prices from Mint400, Heatwave Visual, Amain Hobbies and Dewalt Tools. Then it was off to our huge raffle where we raffled off just over $15k worth of prizes! It’s amazing to see volunteers winning such great products and being rewarded for their hard work.

This was our first event where we were able to provide full tools and supplies. Trail Trust provided trash grabbers, Harbor Freight provided magnetic rollers and buckets, and Total Chaos provided the trash bags. These tools/supplies are invaluable for this area as the amount shells/casings and small trash on the ground is outrageous and overwhelming. American Iron and Metal Recycling brought us 2 recycling dumpsters in addition to the 2 trash-specific dumpsters set up for the weekend. Sunbelt Equipment rentals provided us with a killer light set up this year that turned the dark desert night into day. Over 250 incredible volunteers came out to brave the heat and long night to fill 3 full dumpsters. We pulled out 7,640 lbs of metal and we’re still waiting on the total amount of trash. We also worked with Dirt Designs and Gravel Kings to collect over $2,000 for the family of the 2 young children who passed away due to a horrific hit-and-run accident that took place just over a month ago in Stoddard Wells OHV.

All in all we think this event was a success and the biggest Hodge road cleanup we’ve had to date. We can’t do any of this without the help and support of our volunteers and we appreciate all of you, as well as the many sponsors who take care of those volunteers and help make this all possible. At the end of the day everyone should be proud of what we've all accomplished and let’s keep the momentum going! We believe this to be a very important part of our sport and it feels so great to have the backing from everyone who donates their time and effort to this cause.