I was jolted awake by the unmistakable crowing of a rooster followed by the sound of voices and the rumbling of engines. A bit confused and a lot hungover, it took me a moment to recall exactly where I was. Stumbling out of my tent, I moseyed over to the main hub of the event grounds for some much needed coffee, and what I hoped would be a greasy breakfast.
The day prior, I’d ridden roughly three hours southeast of Los Angeles for AETHER Apparel’s 8th Annual Rally in Pioneertown, a weekend long campout, meetup, and celebration of all things adventure and off roading, held in the desert of Joshua Tree. I’d admired AETHER long before I started working there. I’d reviewed their moto gear, always impressed by the quality, but even more by the way they told stories. Their photography, their branding, their whole vibe made it clear the people behind the curtain weren’t just desk jockeys. They were out there. Racing vintage Porsches. Building Alfa restomods. Getting dirty.
That’s what drew me in. And that’s why I was here, hungover and bleary eyed in the desert, staring down one of the best weekends I’d had in many years.
The AETHER Rally in Pioneertown has been held annually since 2016, though there was a two year hiatus during COVID. A celebration of all things adventure and off roading, the weekend long event sees AETHER take over the entire grounds of the Pioneertown Motel, offering rentals of its cabins, and transforming two massive dirt areas into the rally’s moto camping and car/truck/van camping sections.
Tickets for the event start at a little under $200 and grant you access to a gift bag, a limited edition Pioneertown Rally hat, a camping spot, unlimited drinks all weekend, two gourmet catered dinners, two breakfasts, a sandwich lunch, a live music performance, and a ton of on site activations and other amenities, including various freebies and demos from event partners and sponsors. When you consider everything you’re getting for the money, it’s legitimately a bargain. And even if you camp, you still have full access to the motel’s bathrooms and showers. Between those amenities and the catered meals, you’re far from roughing it.
Though it appears substantially older, Pioneertown only dates back to the mid 1940s when a group of Hollywood actors and investors, including singing cowboy Roy Rogers, had it constructed as a Western movie set, as well as a destination to relax, party, and unwind far from the public eye. The entire Pioneertown grounds include a motel and a local watering hole known as The Red Dog Saloon. Surrounded by a slew of incredible trails and paved driving roads, the locale makes for an outstanding venue for a weekend long party and rally. The atmosphere is unmistakably laid back and friendly, and even if you show up alone, you’re practically guaranteed to make some new friends before the weekend is over.
While you’re welcome to show up at the event from anywhere, a great many attendees opt to meet up at AETHER’s flagship brick and mortar store in Los Angeles, myself included, and depart from there. Once kickstands went up, we took a scenic and twisty route, leaving LA and heading out onto the Angeles Crest Highway. From there it was onto the Angeles National Forest, followed by the San Gabriel Mountains and then the Rim of the World Highway before finally dropping down into Joshua Tree and arriving in Pioneertown.
Now on its eighth iteration, the latest Rally in Pioneertown drew over 300 attendees. It attracts all walks of life from across a diverse age range, though the event is 21+. Over the weekend I met everyone from a photographer to a notable Hollywood actor to an automotive designer to a venture capitalist to a graphic designer to a Porsche factory driver. Regardless of age or career, pretty much everyone at the rally shares a passion for adventure and motorsport, whether on two wheels or four.
The rally also saw a huge variety of vehicles show up, from dual sports to adventure bikes to MXers to Harleys to 911s to a Ferrari to Meyers Manx buggies to pickups to SUVs to adventure vans, many of which have been heavily modified for off roading and overlanding. In fact, the grounds of the event ended up turning into something of a car show with one area for cars, trucks, and vans (the car camping section), one area for bikes (the moto camping section), and one area for classic and exotic cars (the Porsche parking section).
After checking in and setting up camp, I was greeted by a sea of familiar faces. Though I’ve been working at AETHER since late last year, I’d never previously been to a Pioneertown Rally. Despite that, there were plenty of people I recognized and knew from various bike shows, press launches, and cars and coffee meetups. Not long after the drinks started flowing, and then we were treated to a dinner of freshly baked pizza from chef Mario Vollera, who I later learned holds a Guinness World Record for making the longest pizza ever made, 1.2 miles in length and 8.85 tons of dough, a feat achieved on a racetrack in Fontana of all places. Despite being of average size, the pizza was pretty stellar.
Once I got my fill of pizza, it was off to the campfire to pass around a few spliffs and then hit the hay. Somewhere along the way, I had a few drinks, and then a few more. Before I knew it, my plan to crash out early had gone out the window and I soon found myself taking shots of mezcal inside The Red Dog Saloon until late into the night. I awoke the next morning to the sound of a rooster crowing, still very much hungover, but luckily no longer drunk from the night before. As much as I wanted to stay in my sleeping bag, I realized my phone had died along with my watch’s power reserve, and I didn’t know what time it was. Fearing I’d miss the group rides, I scurried up and made my way to the main event grounds, only to discover I was several hours early.
With some free time on my hands, I grabbed some breakfast and then went to check out a few of the vendor and sponsor booths. Stark Future was one of the official event partners and was onsite with a fleet of its Varg dirtbikes and dual sports that rally goers could demo, either around the motel and campgrounds, or via an extensive network of trails just a stone’s throw from the motel. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity, a buddy and I took a pair of Vargs out on the local trails. Now I’m by no means an expert off roader, but I have piloted my fair share of MXers and enduros, from little 85s to full size 450s. Despite my prior experience, I was still utterly blown away by just how insanely powerful these two wheelers are, even compared to two stroke models. With nearly 700 lb ft of torque on tap, at the rear wheel, mind you, my back tire was constantly stepping out, making for what was unquestionably the most squirrelly ride I’ve ever experienced. As my more seasoned (and skilled) friend put it: "if you’re in full control, you’re probably doing it wrong."
The Vargs are ridiculously quick off the line and keep pulling just as hard once you get up to speed. The handling is razor sharp and everything feels incredibly dialed in, from the chassis to the ergonomics to the ride modes to the suspension setup. Without any gears or the sound of a gas engine to audibly clue you in, it was legitimately difficult to gauge how fast I was going at times. So, when I lost the front end while throttle steering through a long increasing radius right hand sweeper, I wasn’t expecting to be fully thrown off the bike and over the bars. Fortunately, the deep sand did a decent enough job of cushioning my fall and preventing the bike from taking any damage, though the sudden deceleration instantly knocked the wind out of me. An hour later, we rolled back into camp with two still fully functioning Vargs. While I’d later be sore from going down so many times, the only pain I felt while riding into camp was due to sore cheek muscles from smiling ear to ear under my helmet for such an extended period.
The proverbial headliner of the event was the four different predetermined group rides and drives. The first option is the Desert Blacktop Run, which consists of an approximately 200 mile loop in and around Joshua Tree held entirely on paved roads. Starting in Joshua Tree and climbing around 4,000 feet in elevation before culminating in Big Bear, the second option is the Desert To Mountain Run, which is a roughly 20 mile all terrain excursion that’s reserved exclusively for experienced riders on off road capable bikes. The third option is the Rivian sponsored 4x4 Off Road Drive, which sees participants negotiate a myriad of trails and terrain types, including traveling through a massive dry Mojave Desert lake bed and spending a few hours at Coyote Lake, kicking up some dust and getting sideways.
Thanks to the morning I spent ripping around on a Varg, I’d already gotten my off roading fix for the day, plus my shoulders were growing increasingly sore by the minute. So when the group rides lined up, I opted to embark on the fourth and final group drive. Dubbed the Vintage Porsche Drive, this option is exactly what it sounds like; a procession of mostly vintage Porsches and a few other classic cars, exploring some of the best paved roads the region has to offer. Because I’d ridden up to the event on a press loaner bike from BMW, I ended up sitting shotgun in the lead car, a G body 911SC Targa belonging to the head of AETHER’s Special Projects Division Davide Berruto. The last group to leave the event grounds, we pulled out of the motel a little before 11:00AM.
Conditions were perfect as we departed the event grounds, though within an hour of leaving, we entered a surprising amount of fog and storm clouds. After all, we’d be gaining several thousand feet in elevation by the drive’s end. As we passed through Idlewild, the sun came out again, though the air was still crisp and cold. After a quick lunch in Idlewild, we continued. Not long after we found ourselves driving down through the high desert where we were greeted by a sandstorm. Continuing south to Mecca, we came up on what was almost certainly the best part of the drive. Known as Box Canyon, this cinematic road boasted an amazing amalgamation of long sweepers and tight technical corners that all link together to make up a very racetrack like experience behind the wheel. Passing by white rock mountains, Box Canyon eventually spat us out at the back entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.
It’s by no means a debaucherous environment, but the rally definitely possesses a distinct party vibe. Other than Saturday morning before the group rides, I saw people openly walking around with drinks and joints in hand pretty much all weekend. And that’s because the entire event is all about kicking back and having fun, an objective that AETHER absolutely nailed on pretty much every level. From the meals to accommodations, all you really have to do is show up and pitch a tent, and AETHER takes care of everything else.
By the time I opened my tent on Sunday morning, about half of the attendees had already packed up and departed. So, after a quick breakfast, I broke down my camp, and then went to go help coworkers start loading up the multiple U Hauls that we rented for the rally. While I am an AETHER employee, I genuinely mean it when I say this was unequivocally one of the most fun weekends I’ve had in years. If you enjoy off roading or motorsport and live in or near California, I highly recommend making your way out to the next Rally in Pioneertown as you will NOT be disappointed.
And, if you weren’t able to make it out to the 8th annual event in 2025, fear not as the company has already locked in dates for the 9th Annual AETHER Rally in Pioneertown from May 15 to 17, 2026.
Photography: Jonah Smith
www.aetherapparel.com | @aetherapparel
