Home 7119
- The sun is going down and it's time for another juicy hamburger at the Nipton café
- Tonight is laundry night, since I didn't get to it last night because of the festivities
- Inside the Nipton bathrooms: I end up not soaking in the outdoor hot tub after all, but I do take a shower in the quonset hut
- One of the shower stalls at Nipton
- Day 9: Mojave National Preserve map: Day ride from Nipton to Nevada State line and power-line road
- Snowfall on the Saline Range
- Before packing up, I inspect some crusty splatters on the back of my tent that I forgot about
- OK, everything out of the tent, time to pack up and leave Nipton!
- A semi-final visit to the Nipton quonset-hut shower building before heading out
- One of the final things to do before leaving Nipton is to replenish my water supply to full capacity at the outdoor sink
- Away again I go on the open road, leaving Nipton behind me
- I head west across the Ivanpah Valley on Nipton Road
- I've made my left turn on Ivanpah Road, which heads south for three miles
- Three miles down Ivanpah Road, I reach "the big curve"
- I'll continue straight past the junction here of Morning Star Mine Road
- Heading across the valley on Ivanpah Road, the road is big, empty and quiet
- A number of datura plants grow on the shoulder of Ivanpah Road
- I stop near the top of the Ivanpah Road hill just before the train tracks to enjoy the views behind me
- I approach the train tracks that cross Ivanpah Road
- The signs behind me warned that the road would turn sharply to the left after crossing the tracks
- A single abandoned house is all that remains here at the former settlement of Ivanpah
- A closer look reveals that the front door has been pried open
- This building...
- I've read that this house was once used as a general store and is now owned by the National Parks Service
- Other outbuildings, such as this antique trailer, are to be found on the property
- I ride another 2.5 miles up Ivanpah Road, climbing 400 feet in the process, and then the pavement ends
- Warning to me: "Rough Road Next 23 Miles"
- I stop to look at a road that leads into the former Vanderbilt Mines area
- A little further, I pull over to eat a Clif bar and enjoy the views; something on my bike has started to rub loudly
- Once I adjust whatever it is on the bike that needs adjustment, I'll ride up this gentle roller into the New York Mountains
- Ugh: my rear rack has broken, just above the bolt that attaches it to the bike frame
- I impress myself and cobble a vertical brace for the rack from two spare support bars that I've been carrying around for ages
- Well, after my one-hour delay, I've remounted my saddlebags and have decided to continue on 7 miles more to Keystone Canyon
- As I pedal my way gently up Ivanpah Road on the compromised 10-ton bike, I stop briefly at the little road to Bathtub Spring
- Another point of interest to my left on this stretch of Ivanpah Road is an old railway grade, abandoned long ago
- Some of the old railway grade near Ivanpah Road has been washed out
- I continue rising slowly up Ivanpah Road into the New York Mountains
- I'm almost at the summit of Ivanpah Road now as I enter a low pass in the mountains
- Ivanpah Road passes through a slot in the earth near the summit
- It's hard to tell from a distance if this property at Barnwell is still inhabited
- To my left is the settlement of Barnwell, once named Manvel
- Once over "the summit," Ivanpah Road heads straight toward the New York Mountains
- A mile after Barnwell, I turn right on the little road to Keystone Canyon, which immediately splits
- As a bicyclist, I can choose to ride on either side of the road to Keystone Canyon: do I choose sand or rocks?
- The sand that I liked for a moment on the road to Keystone Canyon disappears and the road is just rough now
- The road forks again after 2/3 mile and I stay on the right fork toward Keystone Canyon
- Some of the bumpy road is ridable, but I walk the bike because something is rubbing again in the area of the rear rack
- After about two miles on the deteriorating road up Keystone Canyon, I reach a wash-out
- The old road isn't getting any better as it makes its way up Keystone Canyon!
- I don't spot another campsite nearby, so I return to the 10-ton bike back at the wash out
- I drag the bike over to the nearby campsite and this happy camper calls it a day
- Time to unpack and set up camp in this high-desert area whose landscape I like so much
- Mojave National Preserve map: day 10: Nipton to Keystone Canyon via Ivanpah Road
- Making morning coffee at Keystone Canyon
- Today's day hike will take me to an old mine site not far away, below the crags of New York Mountain in the distance at right
- First, I go for a short walk around my Keystone Canyon campsite
- I prepare my supplies for the day and begin the hike up Keystone Canyon
- White primroses and orange desert-mallow flowers along Keystone Canyon Road
- I come across another campsite with a fire ring near the road
- The road shares Keystone Canyon with a wash and crosses it several times
- Along this stretch, the road is actually in the wash
- Road users have placed rocks in this gully to facilitate passage over it
- I'm delighted to discover the moist remnants of a recent trickle of water in the middle of the road
- The road is almost non-existent in this part of Keystone Canyon
- A fork in the road!
- I spot an old cistern along the road
- Another fork in the barely discernable road
- Ah, there's the pipe that presumably leads up to Keystone Spring
- I stumble across these little red flowers that I'm not familiar with
- The old pipe continues along the ground along the old road to Keystone Spring
- Keystone Spring?
- The water here at Keystone Spring doesn't look good, but..
- Further up the meadow, I reach a hole filled with water
- I cautiously approach the spring to test the yellow jackets, and then pump water to fill my Camelbak and water bottles
- My water supply refilled, I walk back down the hill from Keystone Spring and hike up the road toward New York Mountain
- After a bit more climbing, I turn around to see that I've risen quite a bit during the last half mile
- I continue hiking up what's left of the old road up Keystone Canyon
- A little higher, I approach a face-like rock formation in the foreground at my left
- I get my first view of the old mine site at the bottom of New York Mountain
- It appears that rock, silt and wood debris tumbles continually down into Keystone Canyon from the old mine site
- The eroding old mine site at the top of Keystone Canyon sits just a few hundred feet below the peak of New York Mountain
- Teal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right side
- A trickle of rusty, contaminated water exudes from a tunnel in the hillside above the mine tailings
- The old rails from the mine tunnel end at the edge of the tailings pile
- I climb a bit up the slope around the mine up and consider going all the way up to the New York Mountain ridge
- The views from up here are great, and I hate to turn back, but I'm turning back anyway
- I start the walk back down the old road to my campsite at the bottom of Keystone Canyon
- Here's a plant that I've never seen before
- I'm down at the bottom of the big hill and in the main part of Keystone Canyon now
- Looking closer, Keystone Spring seems to be semi-stagnant
- Bugs abound at Keystone Spring, as happy to have water as I am
- After refilling water at Keystone Spring again, I still have a bit more downhill on the old Keystone Canyon Road
- The road in Keystone Canyon descends a little more
- I'm down at the bottom of Keystone Canyon now and almost back home for the day
- A few primroses bloom along Keystone Canyon Road a bit west of my campsite
- I re-repair the broken bike rack by reinstalling my improvised brace under the rack, rather than on top of it
- Back at the tent, the job that awaits me is re-repairing my broken bike rack
- I take in the views of the surrounding hills while the sun goes down and I ponder my situation and exit strategy
- Quite a few desert four o'clocks are blooming around my Keystone Canyon campsite
- The last supper at Keystone Canyon
- Mojave National Preserve map: Day 11, day hike to Keystone Spring and Keystone Canyon mine
- Keystone Canyon hike as viewed in Google Earth
- After a couple of miles, I pass the Cima Store at 4200 feet, and it's actually open this time, at this late hour!
- I walk my bike down the mostly-bumpy two miles of Keystone Canyon Road
- Well, I've been riding Ivanpah Road for a mile now and am passing the settlement of Barnwell again; so far, so good!
- Ivanpah Road rises over the pass and begins its slow descent down into the valley
- I really like this area of Ivanpah Road where my bike broke down a couple of days ago
- As Ivanpah Road comes out of the hills, views into the valley open up
- I pass the worn sign to the old Goldome mine
- With relief, I'm back on the paved part of Ivanpah Road now and I'm letting the bike gain speed as I ride down the smooth hill
- The final slow descent to the bottom of Ivanpah Valley passes beautifully
- Good things do come to an end, and I reach the bottom of Ivanpah Valley and the beginning of Morning Star Mine Road
- I get up a bit earlier than usual this morning in preparation for the potentially unpredictable day
- The last items to be removed from the tent are a big rock and my water bag
- After a relaxing start to the morning, I empty the tent and begin packing up
- Last night's strong wind continues this morning and tries to push the tent around while I get ready to dismantle it
- All packed up, I begin walking the bike down Keystone Canyon; my tripod blows over and my camera lands face-first and dies
- I have about 10 miles of uphill ahead of me on Morning Star Mine Road
- Morning Star Mine Road keeps climbing slowly up the fan
- I stop a few miles up Morning Star Mine Road and look back to see how far I've risen
- I take a break on the way up endless Morning Star Mine Road (at the old corral) and see a bicycle speed down the road
- I'm glad to finally be on the top of Morning Star Mine Road, but the headwind pushing me back is even more ferocious up here!
- The six-mile crawl up Cima Road rises another 800 feet up to 5000 feet elevation and is quite pleasant with very little traffic
- On the way up Cima Road, I pass the little dirt road that leads over to Cut Spring
- After six more uphill miles, I reach the little plateau at the top of Cima Road and turn down the dirt road to the campsites
- There's a lot of rock in this area, and this juniper tree growing in a crack between rocks is striking
- The first campsite has this beautiful tree for shade, but is too close to the paved road for my taste
- A half-mile down the dirt road, I select a campsite to left of the big rock pile here
- Sunset in the Cima Dome area is always beautiful, and tonight is no exception
- Mojave National Preserve map: Day 12: Keystone Canyon to Cima Dome via Ivanpah Road and Morning Star Mine Road
- I walk across Cima Road with images of the loop hike around Cima Dome still fresh in my mind
- The dirt road ends and I walk across Cima Road to reach the Teutonia Peak Trail, looking back to Kessler Peak
- The two-mile trail to Teutonia Peak is one of just two official, maintained trails in the expansive Mojave National Preserve
- Interpretive panel ("Desert Woodland") at the start of the Teutonia Peak Trail
- Just before reaching Cima Road, I pass a point of interest: the "covered cross"
- I walk the last 1/2 mile down the dirt road to my Cima Dome campsite for one last night in Mojave National Preserve
- The road curves and aims toward Teutonia Peak as it heads back to the paved Cima Road
- After a lazy morning, I start hiking the half mile up the dirt road that leads from my campsite to Cima Road
- View of Teutonia Peak from the area of my campsite near Sunrise Rock
- I have the whole day to spend up here on Cima Dome, so I'll do a hike up to Teutonia Peak and beyond
- It's so windy up here on Cima Dome this morning that it takes quite a while to boil water for coffee
- View of Teutonia Peak from the Valley View Ranch area
- The 3-mile hike up the dead-end road to Deer Spring climbs slowly, then I hike over the summit of Cima Dome through joshua trees
- Cima Dome / Teutonia Peak hike route as viewed in Google Earth
- Mojave National Preserve map: Day 13: Cima Dome day hike including Teutonia Peak and Deer Spring
- About 1.5 miles before reaching the Cima Store, I pass that power-line road again that crosses Mojave National Preserve
- The six-mile ride down the Cima Road hill to the Cima Store, 800 feet below, is a blast
- To my left while descending Cima Road are views across the valley to the Butcher Knife Canyon area of the New York Mountains
- With a bit of sadness, I pack up and leave my Cima Dome campsite to mark the last day of this Mojave National Preserve trip
- Here it is: the final little hill at the top of which is the summit of Kelbaker Road between Kelso Depot and Baker
- I arrive at the Kelbaker Road summit at 16h15 and feel a bit pooped
- While at the Kelbaker Road summit, I take a look at the power-line road which I could have taken to get here from Cima Road
- I depart the Kelbaker Road summit at 16h30 and the final 22 miles down to Baker is as enjoyable as ever
- I'm so zoned-out on endorphins that I didn't even notice the junction of Aiken Mine Road that I zoomed by a few minutes ago
- After coming around the last big curve on Kelbaker Road, I have a final 10 miles (dropping 1000 feet) to ride across the valley
- Artless graffiti on the red pavement of Kelbaker Road approaching Baker
- Almost there...
- Just before arriving at Baker, California, Kelbaker Road crosses the I-15 freeway
- Baker, California has a sort of skyline with its "tallest thermometer in the world" and its motel and fast-food signs
- I check in at the Royal Hawaiian Motel for the night, which is an interesting example of kitsch from the 60s or 70s
- Retro 70s furniture in my room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel at Baker, California
- Back on the road at 14h30 to start the climb up to the summit of Kelbaker Road
- The climb is going really well, probably because it's the end of the trip and I'm stronger now after two weeks of this
- The pavement is wearing out on parts of Kelbaker Road, but that adds to the character of the area (we don't need a freeway here)
- I'm up out of Kelso Valley now
- The Kelbaker Road summit lies just ahead where the power lines cross the road at the left
- I stop in at Kelso Depot to buy a souvenir t-shirt and donate my half-full propane bottle to someone who can use it
- Just a few miles to go before reaching Kelso Depot...
- Mojave National Preserve map: Day 14: Cima Dome to Baker, California via Kelso Depot
- Shadow and stripe
- Well, well, there turns out to be a series of big rollers here on the way down. I've just come down the first.
- Enjoying the morning outside my tent at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
- Some of these rollers are steep drop-offs that are too slippery and steep for me to ride down or up
- Finally, I've come out of the mountains enough to see the entire Powerline Road and Kelso Dunes ahead of me
- The little six-site campground at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
- Another steep dip in the Powerline Road
- After breaking camp, I leave the Providence Mountains campground and coast down the hill to the desert floor on Essex Road
- Finally, I reach the end (for me) of the Powerline Road where it crosses Kelbaker Road and I get back on pavement. I look back
- About 3 miles down the hill from the Providence Mountains campground, I hear a big "clunk" and feel something dragging
- The Providence Mountains behind me, I stop at the abandoned Kelso Depot after a fast 8-mile downhill on paved Kelbaker Road
- At the bottom of the hill, at about 3000 feet, I leave the pavement of Essex Road
- I take on the 12-mile climb up Kelbaker Road rising away from Kelso Depot
- A beautiful sunset illuminates the Providence Mountains behind me as I climb Kelbaker Road out of Kelso Valley toward Baker
- The gravelly road toward Foshay Pass rises slowly
- At the top of Kelbaker Road at 3800 feet, the last 20 miles into Baker at 925 feet will be a gentle downhill (in the dark)
- Along the way to Foshay Pass, there are a few steep sections, but the grade is mostly moderate
- Back in Baker, California, I rent a room at the Bun Boy Motel, waiting for tomorrow's Greyhound bus back to San José
- A bit higher up the road to Foshay Pass, I turn around to take in the view behind me
- Before leaving the Bun Boy for my Greyhound bus, I take a final photo out my patio door across I-15 to Mojave National Preserve
- This short, rocky hill on the road to Foshay Pass requires that I drag the bike up the hill little by little
- Entering Foshay Pass now, the actual summit is still a little further ahead
- At the Foshay Pass summit in the Providence Mountains, looking back (east) at the desert behind me where I started my climb
- Still at the Foshay Pass summit, the road ahead passes alongside a few ridgetops before it descends to the other side
- Hmmm.. As the Powerline Road begins to "descend," it looks like I will first have another little uphill
- Late morning at my campsite at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
- Excellent views eastward from the ledge on which the campground sits
- Northeast from Providence Mountains Campground, one gets a view of Wild Horse Mesa
- After taking the tour of the Mitchell Caverns, I go for a walk up the hill behind the Park office
- Cholla cactus
- I've bought another box of fire wood from the Park office to have a campfire tonight