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- Sunset at Kelso also means removing the tent's outer flap to let the hottest air escape through the screen
- Sunset at Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve, with Kingston Range in the background
- Sunset at Pinto Valley inevitably results in another tent-advertisement photo
- Sunset back home at the tent near Twin Buttes, I fix the broken rack piece on my bike (glad I brought extra parts!)
- Sunset fades into dusk, then darkness joins me while I enjoy the final 12 miles of the ride into Baker
- Sunset finally approaches like I knew it eventually would; I've been imagining its arrival from inside my tent for a while now
- Sunset glows around the distant Clark Mountain range tonight
- Sunset haze drifts over the Ivanpah Mountains and the Clark Mountain Range beyond
- Sunset in the Cima Dome area is always beautiful, and tonight is no exception
- Sunset is approaching, so it's time to turn around and start the mile-long walk back to the tent
- Sunset near Eyeball Rock
- Sunset on Pinto Mountain, Mid Hills, Mojave National Preserve
- Sunset on Steer Ridge near Willson Peak, January 2019
- Sunset on the Kelso Dunes power-line road is nice, and the road starts out being OK for riding
- Sunset tonight at Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve, is quiet again, but not quite as spectacular as last night's show
- Sunset went away half an hour ago, and I arrive back at the tent just past 17h30
- Sunset will be a couple of hours from now; I'm trying to decide whether to go all the way to Hackberry Mountain, ahead at left
- Sunset, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
- Sunset, my favourite time of day, on the middle fork of Globe Mine Road, approaching my campsite
- Sunshine
- Sunshine warms a chilly Death Valley canyon
- Supper tonight is Mountain House Chicken and Rice, a flavourful and oily 800-calorie "meal for two"
- Sure enough, rock art is to be found up there
- Sweet! I stumble across another, smaller, general store and gas station that carries the propane bottle I want!
- Swirling hillside
- Switchback on Poverty Flat Road on the way down
- Table Mountain and Twin Buttes take on a postcard-photo aura as I ride slowly up Black Canyon Road
- Table Mountain hike route
- Table Mountain is getting a bit closer now; I didn't expect to come this far up
- Table Mountain on the left, and Twin Buttes: a classic Mojave National Preserve view that I usually see from Black Canyon Road
- Table Mountain Wilderness, Nevada
- Tailings from the mine at the end of the middle fork of Globe Mine Road
- Taken east to west, Cedar Canyon Road is a slow route due to its occasional deep wash crossings, and ever-so-slight uphill
- Taking a break in the shade in Keystone Canyon, Mojave National Preserve.
- Taking a breather at the Orestimba Corral to assess our condition after crashing on the way down the hill from Will's Pond.
- Taking a Joshua-tree break on Walking Box Ranch Road
- Taking a short rest on Dunne Avenue in one of my favourite shady spots on the way to Henry Coe State Park.
- Taking another short break, an excuse to stop and stare at the scenery
- Tank 3 is dry, like most of the old cisterns I've seen in Mojave National Preserve
- Taylor Spring should be somewhere around the next bend
- Teal-blue rocks are scattered around the mine site while "Sleeping-head Rock" keeps watch from the right side
- Tecopa Hot Springs campground is not very busy right now
- Tecopa Hot Springs just a few miles away!
- Tecopa off in the distance
- Tent is set up at the Yerba Buena campsite, home for the night.
- Tent supper tonight is instant Mountain House Beef Stew, one of my favourite dehydrated backpack meals
- Teutonia Peak Trail bends and heads toward the northeast
- Teutonia Peak Trail, Mojave National Preserve, elevation gain
- Teutonia Peak Trail, Mojave National Preserve, hiking route
- Textures
- Thamnosma montana (Turpentine-broom) in Saddle Horse Canyon
- Thanksgiving 2019 snowfall melts away
- That old house at Barnwell that I always notice with all the junked vehicles around it: the gate is open
- That patch of buildings ahead is Nipton; I'll take a break there in a few minutes
- That rock outcrop on the ridge line at far left looks like a hawk's head
- That was fun; I'm down in the valley now at Orestimba Creek and it only took 15 minutes to get down the hill.
- That wild horse stood there watching me for over an hour while I explored the area
- The "cold storage house" at Lost Burro Mine
- The "dreaded steep part" where I must remove my heavy saddlebags from the bike and walk them up the hill separately.
- The "good road" that is not on my maps turns out to be very short and dead-ends at a guzzler
- The "road" to Bolder Spring narrows
- The "Shortcut Road" is only 3/4 mile long; soon enough, I'm approaching Cedar Canyon Road, that horizontal line ahead
- The "shortcut" ends at a junction with the middle fork of Globe Mine Road
- The "shortcut" road dips down into a wash as it connects from the south fork to the middle fork of Globe Mine Road
- The "world's tallest thermometer" displayed 93 degrees F (33C) when I got here yesterday
- The 'core' of Essex, CA is the old post office house at left and the abandoned café straight ahead
- The 1.5-mile-long road to Blue Jay Mine rapidly deteriorates, but makes for a fun ride on a mountain bike
- The 10-ton bicycle leaves Ivanpah Road for the Sagamore Cut-off Road
- The 10-ton bicycle rides down New York Mountains Road alongside Watson Wash toward Cedar Canyon Road
- The 10-ton bike and I are ready to leave downtown San José and head to Mojave National Preserve again!
- The 10-ton bike and I wobble up Nipton Road away from the campground and pass a few antique buildings while leaving town
- The 10-ton bike and its sore knee take a break at the Shoshone general store and gas station
- The 10-ton bike awaits departure at Nipton's outdoor sink after the final, heavy addition of my water supply
- The 10-ton bike breaks briefly under the train trestle at Brant Road
- The 10-ton bike enjoys the rest while I sign in for eight nights of backpacking using the Park's self-registration system.
- The 10-ton bike enjoys the rocky backdrop at Hole-in-the-Wall one last time while my cell phone recharges
- The 10-ton bike follows the tire tracks through the creosote bush scrub
- The 10-ton bike has been rebuilt and is ready to leave Kelso Dunes
- The 10-ton bike hides in the shade of the trestle at Joshua siding while a freight train rumbles overhead
- The 10-ton bike is all packed up and we're leaving Hole-in-the-Wall Campground, Mojave National Preserve
- The 10-ton bike is all packed up in my backyard at 5h45
- The 10-ton bike is all packed up; after a few final sips of water, I'm ready to head down Pachalka Spring Road
- The 10-ton bike is back to weighing 10 tons and I ride up Button Mountain Road to rejoin Aiken Mine Road in a moment
- The 10-ton bike is now packed and assembled, ready to leave the Royal Hawaiian and spend two weeks in Mojave National Preserve
- The 10-ton bike is packed up and ready to go to Mojave National Preserve on Xmas day
- The 10-ton bike is ready to leave downtown San José to head for Henry Coe State Park.
- The 10-ton bike is ready to leave Furnace Creek
- The 10-ton bike is ready to leave Mid Hills campground for Nipton
- The 10-ton bike packed to go, I start the trek back up Jackass Canyon toward Kelbaker Road
- The 10-ton bike packed up, off I go down the hill toward Ivanpah Valley
- The 10-ton bike pushes ahead on The Lost Road, with significant GPS assistance
- The 10-ton bike reassembled, I'm ready to put my helmet on and start riding up the Kelso Dunes power-line road
- The 10-ton bike slithers down Cornfield Spring Road at 5-7 miles per hour toward Kelso Depot
- The 10-ton bike takes a break at the junction of New York Mountains Road so I can check out an old OX Ranch corral
- The 10-ton bike takes a break for a few minutes under the train tracks on the road leading up into the New York Mountains
- The 10-ton bike takes a rest behind the vacant outdoor seating (it's chilly today) at Ludlow's Dairy Queen gas station
- The 10-ton bike takes a short rest by the Cima store before the final six-mile ride up Cima Road to Cima Dome
- The 10-ton bike takes another brief break at the Devil's Corn Field
- The 10-ton bike waits a few feet above the rocky bottom of China Hole Trail while I look for a campsite.
- The 10-ton bike waits at the Amtrak bus stop at the San José train station
- The 10-ton bike waits for me back on Indian Springs Road
- The 10-ton bike waits outside the doors to the Kelso Depot visitor centre
- The 10-ton bike waits patiently for the Amtrak bus outside Barstow Station
- The 10-ton mountain bike slowly gains altitude on Cedar Canyon Road
- The 10-ton's bike driver is also ready to go to Henry Coe.
- The 12-mile gradual descent to Kelso is fun, but I usually have a headwind that slows me down considerably, like I do today
- The 13-mile ride back to Mid Hills Campground up Black Canyon Road starts on pavement
- The 2.5-mile hike back to the tent is pleasant, and I'm enjoying the gentle downhill as I sweat under the hot sun
- The 2005 brush fires passed through Saddle Horse Canyon, but a few juniper trees survived
- The 2007 Henry Coe Park fire grew significantly in the hours since I left the park
- 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
- The 3/4 mile drop down into the canyon to Kelly Lake, 450 feet below, was fun.
- The 8.5-mile descent down Kelbaker Road to Kelso Depot is always fun
- The abandoned Henning Motel in Newberry Springs appeared in the famous Bagdad Café movie years ago
- The Aguereberry cabin and outbuildings are in fairly good condition
- The Akins Cottage, 2151 Brunswick Street (formerly 285 Brunswick), Halifax, 1982
- The Amargosa Opera House complex is really quite large and parts of it are not in use
- The Amargosa Opera House is the main building in Death Valley Junction
- The amazing 11.5-mile downhill on Morning Star Mine Road abruptly ends at a T-intersection and stop sign at Ivanpah Road
- The amount of rock strewn about in "South Broadwell Wash" increases as I continue hiking
- The Amtrak bus deposited me yesterday at Barstow Station, just before sunset
- The Amtrak bus leaves me at Baker, California at around 20h30, gateway to Mojave National Preserve
- The Amtrak bus left the 10-ton bike and I in Baker, California, gateway to Mojave National Preserve, near the end of the day
- The Amtrak bus out of Bakersfield climbs over the mountains
- The Amtrak bus stops briefly at the town of Mojave, California
- The animal trail ends at Black Diamond Spring, Mojave National Preserve, just as expected
- The area here below Teutonia Peak is also known for its big boulder outcrops
- The back side of the cabin near Copper World Mine
- The back side of the main house at Death Valley Mine viewed from the corral
- The badlands along Highway 127 near Shoshone and Tecopa always get my interest
- The badlands let up as Highway 127 enters the village of Shoshone with its restaurant, post office and general store
- The Baker Country Store ran out of tea bags, so I go to the ridiculously expensive Baker Market to see if they have any in stock
- The Barber Mountain Loop Trail climbs slowly from the Rings Trail summit
- The Barber Mountain Loop Trail rises up a short, steep hill overlooking the hidden valley
- The Barnwell and Searchlight Railway grade is a great mountain-bike ride today, 100 years after the rail line was decommissioned
- The basin at Chicken Water Spring is mostly full, though the water may not be the freshest
- The beautiful ride down Mahoney Meadows comes to an end when I reach the intersection of the China Hole Trail.
- The beauty and serenity of a desert sunset tends to recompense for any hardships incurred during the day's work
- The beginning of the hill on Mahoney Meadows Road that I'm about to descend.
- The beginnings of a nest in one of the igloos near Cave Spring
- The Bert Smith rock house has a low ceiling and dark-colored surfaces
- The Bert Smith rock house has an excellent view from the front door
- The Bert Smith Rock House sports deeply recessed windows and an unusual lack of a roof line
- The big rock outcrop ahead at the top looks insurmountable to non-rock-climbers, but I'll continue upward to see how close I get
- The big rock piles here above Watson Wash are even more impressive up close than they are from a distance
- The bike all packed up, I begin the 5.5-mile trek down Old Kelso Road along the east side of Devil's Playground
- The blossoms on this tree look almost like the flowers of a Palmer's penstemon; hummingbirds probably love these
- The board-and-batten structure of the old Cima store hasn't been whitewashed in a very long time
- The bottom of Bear Mountain Road crosses Coyote Creek, which is dry at this time of year.
- The bottom of Cima Road exits Mojave National Preserve; I take a break by the monument that folks see upon entering the Preserve
- The bottom of the road in the canyon at Coyote Creek becomes visible.
- The Boulder
- The bovines along Gold Valley Road look at me for a moment
- The boxcar cabins at Rex Mine have a board-and-batten exterior
- The boy drops me off at the Hunting Hollow entrance to Henry Coe and we bid each other goodbye for a week
- The break helps a lot, and I get back on Kelso-Cima Road for the last few miles to Cedar Canyon Road and watch a train pass by
- The brilliant pink Mojave Desert sunset is reflecting in the clouds to the east of me
- The Bristol Mounatins powerline road is looking good again, with a just bit of kitty litter on its surface
- The Bristol Mountains behind me pick up the gorgeous gold of sunset as I hike down the rocky fan toward Broadwell Dry Lake
- The Bristol Mountains low road has a nice coating of kitty litter on the surface in many places
- The Bristol Mountains powerline road splits here into a high road and low road, which rejoin each other beyond the hill
- The Broadwell Natural Arch area is fun because of the mini-caves everywhere that invite exploration
- The Broadwell Natural Arch formation has the shape of a horse's saddle when viewed from the southeast
- The Broadwell Natural Arch formation is full of eroded little caves in the rock
- The bugs seem especially fond of these plants
- The bumpy Nipton-Desert Road is starting to give me a headache, so I'm happy to take a break by this prickly poppy
- The cabin at Arnold Horse Camp sits in the shelter of a big tin roof
- The cabin has no floor other than the natural gravel, and no apparent foundation
- The cactus garden in front of the Hotel Nipton is artfully built of multi-coloured rock
- The cactus, rock, yucca and brush obstructions in the canyon are mostly easy to get around
- The Cady Mountains pick up the chilly orange-purple sunset glow on the other side of the freeway from the Ludlow Chevron station
- The Cady Mountains powerline road cuts a straight line across this part of the Mojave Desert
- The café at Nipton is closed right now due to plumbing problems
- The cairn here serves to identify a survey marker, "$250 fine for removal," it says
- The cans are all food cans; full, upright, different from each other, and only slightly weathered: could this be a food cache?
- The canyon climbs over more rocks and seems to be heading toward a plateau above with open sunshine
- The casinos at Primm are quite a visual spectacle, with brilliant lights everywhere
- The challenge right now is to hike to my left and get over to that middle ridge without descending down into Eagle Rocks wash
- The China Ranch bakery and store at the end of China Ranch Road
- The Cima store is closed today, or at least right now; the hours posted are basically meaningless
- The Cima Store property also serves as a graveyard for many expired motor vehicles
- The cistern at Rock Tank has two layers: a brick inner layer and a stone outer layer
- The clay soil on Crucero Road as it skirts the shore of Broadwell Dry Lake has big cracks
- 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 climb up Black Canyon Road toward Mid Hills only lasts a mile until I reach an almost-flat plateau (Round Valley)
- The climb up Cedar Canyon Road into the Mid Hills starts out well
- The climb up County Line Road isn't steep, but I just can't seem to get any energy going on this hot day
- The climb up the old road over the tailings pile is steep
- The climb up to Pacheco Ridge brings with it more excellent views of the ridges beyond
- The climb up to this Castle Peaks saddle is about 500 feet elevation in about 3/4 mile from Indian Spring down below
- The climb up Wagon Road becomes more moderate after the initial steep section out of Hunting Hollow
- The clouds to my right and behind me are picking up some nice lighting as the sun starts to set on Route 66
- The cold I caught last night is pretty bad, but I'm up by 8h making coffee anyway; today I pack up and leave Devil's Playground
- The cold sun starts to set behind the Cady Mountains on the far side of Broadwell Dry Lake
- The colourful yellow lichen on these rocks is quite painterly
- The conductor of an oncoming train toots his horn and waves at me at Joshua siding, Mojave National Preserve
- The constant incline isn't all that steep
- The cool rocks formations in the Castle Peaks area are endless; this one harbors a small natural arch
- The Copper World Mine cabin is quite modest, but has one luxurious feature for a desert dwelling
- The corral at Government Holes, Mojave National Preserve