dryfj.com / drycyclist.com (kevin cook)

The vegetation on the foothills of the adjacent Kelso Mountains is striking with its silver-grey brush against yellow flowers

Rainy Day Mine Road is the location of my next short break

OK, back on Kelbaker Road, I'll tackle a little more of this slow, hot hill

Aiken Mine Road/Jackass Canyon Road junction is the next stop on my Kelbaker Road death climb

I pace back and forth with my arms extended for maximum air flow, like a cat stretched out on the floor on a hot day

I remount the 10-ton bike and continue my trek up Kelbaker Road as it winds around the edge of lava flows

A faint hum oozes out of the lava, and it's not the spirit of the rock art whispering at me through the silence

Staying away from the yellowjackets (I'm highly allergic), I walk back down to the 10-ton bike at Kelbaker Road

Obligatory tourist photo at the Mojave National Preserve entrance on Kelbaker Road

It hasn't taken long for the hot sun to fry me; I stop for several short breaks on this nearly flat stretch of Kelbaker Road

The first 10 miles of Kelbaker Road upon leaving Baker is long and straight and rises from 925 feet to 2000 feet

At the 10-mile point on Kelbaker Road, "the big curve," it's time for another break.

At the Kelbaker Road curve, I pull out on a dirt road and suck back more of my warm water

A bit further up Kelbaker Road: near mile 12, an oncoming pickup brakes and its driver shouts, "I love your web site!"

Energized by my chat with Brian, I start thinking about taking another short break, this time by the lava flows

I park the 10-ton bike at the edge of the lava flow and go for a walk up the hill

Sure enough, rock art is to be found up there

Antique graffiti?

I get up early this morning and walk down the road for the breakfast buffet at the Big Boy restaurant by the big thermometer

After breakfast, I walk over to the Starbuck's in town to pick up a pound of coffee for the trip

I also need to fill up on water before I leave Baker, so I make a stop at Alien Fresh Jerky

Non-descript Baker is mostly gas stations, fast-food joints and convenience stores, but here's an old boxcar in a vacant lot

It appears that the old Baker boxcar is being used as a storage shed

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

All stocked up, I get on Kelbaker Road and leave Baker, crossing the I-15 freeway before entering Mojave National Preserve

I stayed at the Wills Fargo Motel last night instead of at the tacky Royal Hawaiian Motel down the road

Yesterday morning I left home and rode to the San José Amtrak station for my rides to Baker, California

Another bike shared the bike rack with me aboard the Amtrak San Joaquin train yesterday

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 "world's tallest thermometer" displayed 93 degrees F (33C) when I got here yesterday

After I get home next week, I'll get a detailed USGS map and try to map today's hike in the Indian Springs and Cane Spring area

Joerg and Elke and I have a fun desert chat for a good half hour; they visit Death Valley frequently and are on their way home

Photographer [url=http://www.joergboetel.com/]Joerg Boetel[/url] snaps one last photo of me as I ride away up Kelbaker Road

After 45 minutes of slow uphill, I see someone ahead in the road. Stranded? No, he's taking photos of the area, and of me

The Kelbaker Hills behind me are busy absorbing every last bit of colour they can get before calling it a day

The pretty ceiling above the shower stall in tonight's room at the Royal Hawaiian invites me to step inside and get clean

I've settled in with a full tummy and celebrate by catching up on my travelogue notes, drinking beer, and watching some TV

At midnight, as I prepare to go to bed, I notice that "Royal Hawaiian" is written on my pillow--happy 2008!

The deep glow of sunset intensifies with the passing of each minute

The road belongs to me; I've only seen two cars since starting down from the summit

Today's Mojave National Preserve festival of pink, purple and orange is probably the best I've experienced on this trip

I take a quick break at the Kelbaker Road summit to put on my winter jacket and scarf in preparation for the downhill ahead

Baker, California: 23 miles and 2900 feet below the Kelbaker Road summit

Pedalling down past those famous Mojave National Preserve cinder cones

About eight miles down from the summit, I fly around the curve near the Kelbaker Road lava flows

My focus cuts across the slanted world of motion to the hills behind the Indian Springs area, where I camped the first two night

Rounding "the big curve" on Kelbaker Road, I begin the 10-mile home stretch toward Baker

To my surprise, a strong tailwind has kicked in and is pushing me across the valley

Enough chatting; it's time to get on with the day's business of riding up out of Kelso Valley to Baker

A discarded Bud Light beer can at roadside is a sign that I've re-entered "civilization"

Climbing up the sometimes-rough pavement of Kelbaker Road; those who have ridden it know it

Ah, my 12-mile climb up to the Kelbaker Road summit ends just ahead at the power lines...

National Parks Service did an excellent job restoring Kelso Depot

The 10-ton bike waits outside the doors to the Kelso Depot visitor centre

At the end of Kelso Dunes Road, I rejoin the pavement of Kelbaker Road

A car passes while I descend Kelbaker Road toward Kelso Depot

The further I descend this hill toward Kelso Depot, the stronger the headwind

The little town of Kelso is now visible down in the valley below, as are the low mountains beyond that I will ride over later

On the last few miles before Kelso Depot, the wind is so strong that I can barely maintain 7 miles per hour

The strong wind pushes my empty sardine can around while I eat lunch outside Kelso Depot

It's time to make some coffee using a toilet-paper filter and get started

While sipping my coffee, I notice that the water bottles which I left outside last night have quite a bit of ice in them

Breaking camp on the final morning of a trip produces mixed emotions

The 10-ton bike has been rebuilt and is ready to leave Kelso Dunes

I ride away from the campsite up Kelso Dunes Road toward the Providence Mountains

All bundled up, I go for a short walk around the campsite in the cold sun to warm up a little

Frost on my bicycle this morning near Kelso Dunes

At this time of day, Kelso Dunes look like earth rather than huge piles of sand

My dirt road from Coyote Springs ends at dusk when I reach the Kelbaker Road "highway"

I descend Kelbaker Road 3/4 mile to reach Kelso Dunes Road

In the last vestiges of daylight, I rattle four miles down the Kelso Dunes Road washboard back to my tent

Yep, it's getting darker by the minute

Cholla cactus along the old Coyote Springs Road

I exit the Wilderness boundary and return to my bike at the Coyote Springs campsite

The day is spinning its finale even though I don't want that; I ride away from Coyote Springs

Five minutes later, the pink sunset light has dimmed a little

A little higher upstream, I realize I'll have some rock scrambling ahead of me if I want to continue upward

I walk back downstream to look for a good location to stop and filter some water

Just a few steps further around a small bend sits a nice wide pool of water that looks promising

OK, the stream isn't exactly deep here, but it's deep enough

After refilling my water, I notice a faint road rising slowly to the right of a hill ahead of me

I leave the Coyote Springs stream and climb up one of the low rocky hills along the old road on the way back to my bike

Looking back down at the old Coyote Springs Road from the little hill that I've climbed up

Another one of those pink-flowering buckwheats that I've been noticing on this trip

Lo and behold, I've just reached a full-fledged desert stream!

I decide to walk upstream to explore the extent of the stream and see if its beginning can be easily identified

At another junction on the way to Coyote Springs, I pull out my map to look for this fork in the road

This final piece of the road to Coyote Springs is a little rocky, but has fresh tire tracks

The road to Coyote Springs ends at a cul-de-sac, a small stone fire ring, and Wilderness-barrier posts

The old Coyote Springs Road obviously continues beyond the Wilderness-barrier posts, so I park my bike here and walk onward

The old road toward Coyote Springs rises up a low hill

Just beyond the dip in the old road, I find myself facing a rugged, rocky hill

The Coyote Springs area becomes more picturesque as I continue up the old road

Heading up this sandy road, I notice a plastic pipe along the shoulder

The soft sand on this road results in my walking the bike for about a mile, leaving nice tire tracks behind

This sandy road-in-a-wash ends after a couple of miles and the rest of it ahead is blocked Wilderness barrier posts

On the road to Coyote Springs at the base of the Granite Mountains

Back at my campsite near Kelso Dunes for a few minutes, I stuff a few items in my saddlebags for the ride to Coyote Springs

I mount the bike and ride the 1/4-mile shortcut at the end of Kelso Dunes Road to the nearby power-line road

Eastbound on the power-line road toward Providence Mountains, I see that somebody suffered a tire blow-out here

After a couple of miles on the power-line road, I locate the nearly invisible road that leaves on my right toward Coyote Springs

Heading back to Kelso Dunes trailhead, I have time for a short day ride; I randomly choose Coyote Springs as the destination

Getting ready to climb down the steep face of Kelso Dunes, with Granite Mountains in the background

I figure I might get a better experience if it sit and slide down the Kelso Dunes as if I were on a toboggan

I'm coming down! The guy from Saskatchewan ran all the way down the dunes ahead of me

On top of Kelso Dunes, I'm taking in the views of this end of Mojave National Preserve

To my northeast is Kelso Valley, with Kelso Depot just barely visible in the middle

Looking down toward my campsite at the the end of the road from the top of Kelso Dunes

A nice touch at the Kelso Dunes trailhead is a modern outhouse that's even equipped with toilet paper

I lock the bike to the fence at the Kelso Dunes trailhead

I begin the walk toward Kelso Dunes

There are a number of people hiking Kelso Dunes today

The Kelso Dunes sand is soft, and one does sink in with each footstep, but it's not as difficult as I thought it might be

Excellent perspectives of the surrounding mountains come into view as one climbs higher up Kelso Dunes

Approaching the top of Kelso Dunes, this final stretch is the steepest part

Kelso Dunes feels very sculptural as one approaches the summit

Awake, I peer out the back of my tent to see a sunny day, Kelso Dunes, and a creosote bush poking me in the face

I take a short walk to warm up and get used to today's surroundings (it was dark when I got here last night)

Large dry clumps of animal dung are everywhere around my tent

I ride back up the road 1.25 miles to the Kelso Dunes trailhead

Near the Kelso Dunes trailhead, I pass an unoccupied roadside campsite

Getting darker as I climb Kelbaker Road toward Kelso Dunes Road

I'm just a couple of miles from Kelso Dunes Road

My race against time is over when I reach the gravel of Kelso Dunes Road and head toward the camping area at the end of the road

I start the 12-mile downhill to Kelso Depot after a short break to eat a Clif bar and put on my sweater and windbreaker

Most of this Kelbaker Road descent is fairly gradual as it drops into the Kelso Valley

Once in Kelso Valley, the silo near Kelso Depot comes into view

At Kelso Depot, I'm happy to learn that they do sell AA batteries, and I chat with Preseve staff

It's a race against time as I ride up Kelbaker Road toward Kelso Dunes

Looking at the final few hundred feet of elevation gain in front of me on the main Jackass Canyon Road climb

A happy-Mother's-Day balloon rests deflated near the road

Excellent views of the cinder-cone landscape from the road that links upper Jackass Canyon Road back to the power-line road

Despite old residual pavement on this road, surface sand and gravel makes it impossible to ride up the gentle slope

Proud power-line boy reaches the de facto crest of his climb for the day

The power-line road crosses Kelbaker Road and I get back on pavement here

My miles of walking the bike through kitty litter come to an end when Jackass Canyon Road rises out of the wash

I pass by an area of subtly colourful hills

To get out of the sandy wash, I opt for a "high road" that looks like a short bypass

I pass a short-cut up over Rocky Ridge that follows the power lines to the ridge top where I'm going

The 10-ton bike packed to go, I start the trek back up Jackass Canyon toward Kelbaker Road

Heading up Jackass Canyon Road, I see a car coming toward me!

As I'm drawn into the canyon ahead, I look back to Devil's Playground one last time and say goodbye

Gravel on lower Jackass Canyon Road

These plants are quite abundant here in the wash

Looking back down Jackass Canyon Road as I walk the bike up the gentle grade

Hike-a-biking through sand on the way up Jackass Canyon Road

I step outside into the bright sun of a chilly morning at Devil's Playground

It's time to dismantle the tent and pack up the bike, while making and drinking coffee

Many of these flat primroses dot the sand around my campsite, but this is the only one that's flowering

On the way back down the hill to the bike, I notice a few verbena-like flowers

I head back up the power-line road to camp, looking back toward Sands

I arrive back at the tent just in time to enjoy a perfect Devil's Playground sunset

To the east sit the Kelso Dunes

I look north toward Old Dad Mountain, the power-line road and my campsite at the bottom of Jackass Canyon

This little hill provides expansive views across the Devil's Playground

I'm back at that area of virgin sand, which I walk the bike through again

One of the rocky hills along the road tempts me, so I get off the bike and climb up it

Etched into the sheet metal wall is an oil-change reminder

A large trough just outside the shed looks like it was intended to collect water pumped from the well

Before heading back to camp, I ride 3/4 mile down the service road alongside the train tracks toward Kelso Dunes

I'm not seeing new points of interest along the service road, so I cross the tracks and ride back up to Sands

Back at the road between Sands and my campsite on the other side of Devil's Playground, I re-enter Mojave National Preserve

Crossing a dry mud flat near Sands on the way back across Devil's Playground

I cross the train tracks to Sands and check out the remains of an old corral

Beyond the corral at Sands is an old ranch fence that heads off into the distance

On the other side of the corral crumbles part of an old wall

I see just one extant structure at Sands: a shed next to what looks like part of an old water tower

Inside the well-built shed sit some serious-looking mechanics

A few low hills jut up from the relatively flat landscape along the road to Sands

On the way to Sands is the remains of an old plank road, built ages ago to provide "permanent" traction in the sand

The pristine sand layer on this segment of the road to Sands leaves the impression that nobody has come down here recently

A few hoops like these are mounted on sturdy metal posts in a sandy area a short distance from the road

A carpet of low, ground-hugging plants casts an almost lush green tint over this area near Sands

Sands should be just over there where the road comes to an end at the railroad tracks

The railroad tracks at Sands cross the wash on a bridge

These plants look like a cross between a daisy and a milkweed

My scenic morning cat hole with Soda Lake in the background

And away we go toward Sands down the power-line road...

Leaving my campsite at the bottom of Jackass Canyon to ride across Devil's Playground over to Sands

I reach heavy sand a quarter mile down the road and a pile of paint cans that were recently dumped here

Some of the old pavement on the power-line road still functions as originally intended

A couple of miles down from my tent, a branch in the road to the left will take me to Sands

An hour later, I step outside for a short walk around my new surroundings at Devil's Playground

This wavy-leaved plant reminds me of the "soap root" plant that grows in the Bay Area

The first thing I do upon waking up is peer outside to see where I am, without leaving the comfort of my hooded sleeping bag

I climb up the high road, but it dead-ends at a transmission tower

Back down in the Jackass Canyon Road wash, I resign myself to walking the bike through the kitty litter for a while

After a mile or so, the road rises out of the wash and I have just enough traction to resume riding

Returning to the main road, I decide to call it a day and set up camp by the power lines around 18h30

Hmmm... it's extremely sandy on this part of Jackass Canyon Road

Bla, I can't ride through this deep kitty litter, it's getting dark, and I'm not down at Devil's Playground yet

Fire ring at a roadside campsite on Jackass Canyon Road about 1.75 miles in from Kelbaker Road

Heading down Jackass Canyon Road, it's not as nearly as steep as I was expecting, at least not yet

Bigger sandy drainages cross Jackass Canyon Road on the way down

The impending sunset illuminates the distant power lines

This four-wheel drive sign is the first sign I've seen on Jackass Canyon Road

Uh oh, a fork in the power-line road; I have to make a choice that I didn't realize I'd have to make

I complete my seven-mile climb up Kelbaker Road and reach the junction of Aiken Mine Road and Jackass Canyon Road

The start of Jackass Canyon Road

Small ruts on the uppermost part of Jackass Canyon Road