Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 16: Button Mountain to Baker by bicycle via Aiken Mine Road, with a stop at the Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve 59
It's almost all downhill on this final day of the trip, with over 3100 feet of elevation drop (but much of it is slow riding due to rough road). Tourist visits to the Lava Tube and the abandoned Aiken Mine along the way make for a great day. 33.9 miles.
I wake up to a beautiful morning near Button Mountain around 8h, not a cloud in the sky
The earth is a bit easier to dig here near Button Mountain than over at Pachalka Spring
After one last camp breakfast and a pot of tea, I take down the tent while enjoying the Cima Dome joshua tree forest
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
I'm back on Aiken Mine Road for the next 12 miles, which will drop from 4100 feet here down to about 3100 feet
On my left I pass the big corral at Black Tank
The road ends unexpectedly at a gate to a cinder mining area that is still being used
After reaching the dead-end, I turn back and take a minor route shown on my maps that will skirt around the private property
I pause briefly on the rough road to look back through the joshua trees at the Cima mining area in the background
From this area are excellent views across the joshua tree forest to Cima Dome, the subtle curve on the horizon
The road eventually leaves the rough cinder area, crosses some light sand, then I find myself at a corral (Water Tank 3)
Tank 3 is dry, like most of the old cisterns I've seen in Mojave National Preserve
Riding south from Tank 3 on Aiken Mine Road, the road is slightly sandy with occasional volcanic debris
I reach another intersection and take the left road up the hill to the now-extinct Aiken Mine
From the top of the hill approaching Aiken Mine, I can see the Clark Mountain Range in the distance
I arrive at the site of the abandoned Aiken Mine, park the 10-ton bike and go for a walk
Signs on an broken old post once directed vehicles leaving Aiken Mine toward Cima Road or Kelbaker Road
Weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
A scale sits inside the weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
On the floor of the weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine lay old receipts and records bearing dates from the 1980s
Behind the Aiken Mine weigh station, with Clark Mountain in the distance, rest the remains of two mobile homes
The roof of the mobile home at Aiken Mine has departed, but the bedrooms and very narrow hallway survive
It looks like someone started to remove the stove from the mobile home at Aiken Mine and then decided it wasn't worth pursuing
More remnants at Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
A mountain bike rests in the cinder-rock pile near the old dump truck at Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
I walk up the little hill to check out some of Aiken Mine's old equipment
Indeed, Aiken Mine must have been a busy place not so long ago
I walk back down the hill from the Aiken Mine equipment to examine a rock wall on the flats
On the ground by the Aiken Mine rock wall lies an old roof truss
I return to the 10-ton bike and ride southwest across the red earth away to exit the Aiken Mine area
My exit from Aiken Mine is official when I cross a cattleguard and begin heading downhill
During the first mile from Aiken MIne Road toward Kelbaker Road (southwest), the road drops about 300 feet
In little time, I'm well below Aiken Mine, which is up in the red hills above me here
The road winds around another cinder-rock hill and I watch for a trail on my right leading to the Lava Tube, a known landmark
I reach another fork in the road and follow the lesser right fork, hoping to locate the trail to the Lava Tube
The short side road ends at a T-intersection at a dry cistern and corral (Tank Five)
Hmmm... I've done a 360 over several miles and am now heading up a hill back toward Aiken Mine, does this make any sense?
Patience pays off: after a few hundred feet, I arrive at a camping pull-out and a tiny sign indicating "Lava Tube Trail
The first couple hundred feet of the Lava Tube Trail is actually on rough road that is open to motor vehicles
The Lava Tube Trail leaves the rough road and becomes a short footpath in a Wilderness area (no mechanized vehicles allowed)
A recently installed sturdy metal ladder leads down into the Lava Tube
Bright sunshine at the bottom of the Lava Tube ladder
A beam of warm desert light shines down through the ceiling into the main room at the Lava Tube
Another view with light pouring into the main room at the Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve
Another ray of sunshine on the floor of the Lava Tube, thanks to a hole in the ceiling
Here's the low section that you have to crawl under to get in and out of the main room at the Lava Tube
At its shallowest point, the crawl-under inside the Lava Tube is only a few feet high
The Lava Tube was a fun visit; I climb back up the ladder and walk down the trail to the road where I left the 10-ton bike
Aiken Mine Road winds around a couple of cinder cones on its way down to Kelbaker Road from the Lava Tube
The slight downhill on Aiken Mine Road is just enough that I can ride easily
I often find myself riding in the furthest-left tire track on the road to avoid the bumpy washboard surface
Close to Kelbaker Road, I make one last stop along Aiken Mine Road to check out Tank Six
After a final mile and a half of washboard on Aiken Mine Road, I reach Kelbaker Road's pavement
I begin the enjoyable 20-mile ride down Kelbaker Road to Baker, and stop taking photos because my camera has run out of memory
The last 10-15 miles into Baker on Kelbaker Road are always the most pensive on my bicycle-camping trips
I roll into Baker and grab a room at the Wills Fargo Motel again
The morning after my night at the Wills Fargo Motel, I wait at Baker's Amtrak bus stop for a bus to officially end my trip
Bicycle route: Button Mountain to Baker via Aiken Mine and Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve (Day 16)
Bicycle route profile: Button Mountain to Baker via Aiken Mine and Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve (Day 16)