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
It was chilly overnight, in the mid 40s, so this morning's breeze is cool. However, the desert sun is really hot, the first real heat I've felt since Nipton several days ago. A few chirping birds and wind gusts interrupt the morning quiet. A few flies come around my tent this morning, as does a yellowjacket wasp, which I eye carefully in case he decides to sting me, in which case I'm in trouble. - The earth is a bit easier to dig here near Button Mountain than over at Pachalka Spring
Tomorrow I'll enjoy the luxury of a real toilet and won't be digging any more holes in Mojave National Preserve land. - After one last camp breakfast and a pot of tea, I take down the tent while enjoying the Cima Dome joshua tree forest
I take the morning slowly, wanting to prolong it because it's my last until my next trip here. While packing up, a hummingbird buzzes by, stops to check out my bike, then hovers in front of my face for a moment comes before zooming away. Yes, that tent pole is bent, the result of a wind storm while camping at Mojave National Preserve's Butcher Knife Canyon last year. - 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
Even though I hate to leave, I do like to leave camp by noon, and it's noon! This is my first time camping in this area and I hope to return on a future trip. - I'm back on Aiken Mine Road for the next 12 miles, which will drop from 4100 feet here down to about 3100 feet
It will be mostly downhill for the rest of the day, though I'll have a few uphills along the way. I hope the road isn't too rough, so I can enjoy at least some of the downhill effortlessly. - On my left I pass the big corral at Black Tank
Black Tank Wash, which leads down from here all the way to Kelbaker Road takes its name from this corral. - The road ends unexpectedly at a gate to a cinder mining area that is still being used
I guess this is where all that dark red pavement in the Mojave Desert comes from. I see an inhabited mobile home in the distance and decide that this is not abandoned, so I turn back and check my maps. - 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 saw the intersection with this rough road before reaching the gate, but didn't realize it would be my route. - I pause briefly on the rough road to look back through the joshua trees at the Cima mining area in the background
Volcanic rock and ash is spread all over this area and it would be a scenic place to camp, if one could locate a good, flat spot without too many tent-damaging protruding rocks for a campsite. - From this area are excellent views across the joshua tree forest to Cima Dome, the subtle curve on the horizon
The small volcanic rocks on the road here are numerous and sharp enough that I walk the 10-ton bike along some stretches. Kessler Peak is the small mountainous outcrop at the distant left, near which I camped several nights ago. - The road eventually leaves the rough cinder area, crosses some light sand, then I find myself at a corral (Water Tank 3)
This looks like a good place for a short break and a Clif bar! - Tank 3 is dry, like most of the old cisterns I've seen in Mojave National Preserve
The outer ring of this cistern looks like fairly modern concrete, but some of the inner rocks look like vestiges from an earlier construction. - Riding south from Tank 3 on Aiken Mine Road, the road is slightly sandy with occasional volcanic debris
I'm heading toward two cinder cone hills that I recognize from views when riding up Kelbaker Road, but which I've never seen from this (the north) side before. - I reach another intersection and take the left road up the hill to the now-extinct Aiken Mine
The road is sandy here. I almost make it to the crest of the short hill before I decide it will be easier to just get off the bike and walk the last few feet. - From the top of the hill approaching Aiken Mine, I can see the Clark Mountain Range in the distance
This is likely the last view of the Clark Mountain Range that I will see until my next trip out here. - I arrive at the site of the abandoned Aiken Mine, park the 10-ton bike and go for a walk
This mining site is much bigger then I expected. - Signs on an broken old post once directed vehicles leaving Aiken Mine toward Cima Road or Kelbaker Road
The broken post almost looks like a saguaro cactus, except that those don't grow in most of Mojave National Preserve. - Weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
An abandoned mobile home sits behind, trying to get shade from a couple of small trees. - A scale sits inside the weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
Per Mojave Desert tradition, the scale has been damaged by shooting. - On the floor of the weigh station at the abandoned Aiken Mine lay old receipts and records bearing dates from the 1980s
Most of these are labelled W.M.K. - Behind the Aiken Mine weigh station, with Clark Mountain in the distance, rest the remains of two mobile homes
The one on the right is still largely intact, but the one on the left has been reduced to a pile of rubble and metal roofing sheets flapping in the wind. - The roof of the mobile home at Aiken Mine has departed, but the bedrooms and very narrow hallway survive
Curtains flutter in the wind while the cheap pressed-wood surfaces sag, buckle and collapse when exposed to the elements. - 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 wavy, water-damaged faux-wood walls in the dining room. - More remnants at Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
A tractor, a small pointy-roofed kiln of some kind (I think), and a dump truck. - A mountain bike rests in the cinder-rock pile near the old dump truck at Aiken Mine, Mojave National Preserve
The knobs on the tires are not too worn down. Who knows, maybe it would be rideable if it had a seat and some air in the tires... - I walk up the little hill to check out some of Aiken Mine's old equipment
Aiken Mine feels like a ghost town where everyone got up and left the same day, leaving everything behind. It's easy to imagine this place 25 years ago, busy with trucks lined up, ready to take away loads of cinder rock. - Indeed, Aiken Mine must have been a busy place not so long ago
What will this place look like after another 25 years? - I walk back down the hill from the Aiken Mine equipment to examine a rock wall on the flats
A building of some sort apparently once stood here, probably dating back to Aiken Mine's early days. - On the ground by the Aiken Mine rock wall lies an old roof truss
This was presumably part of the rock building's roof. The wood is in fairly good condition. - I return to the 10-ton bike and ride southwest across the red earth away to exit the Aiken Mine area
One could spend a lot of time exploring the details here; there's so much to see. - My exit from Aiken Mine is official when I cross a cattleguard and begin heading downhill
Aiken Mine sits just above 4000 feet elevation, so I haven't really done any downhill yet today. That's about to change starting right now. - During the first mile from Aiken MIne Road toward Kelbaker Road (southwest), the road drops about 300 feet
Most of this downhill is moderate and fun to ride down, despite the rough road, and a short segment reaches 20 percent grade. - In little time, I'm well below Aiken Mine, which is up in the red hills above me here
I've done a lot of bike-walking during the last two days, so it's a treat to be able to coast downward for a while. - 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
The Kelso Depot visitor centre has printed directions to the Lava Tube, but I didn't take one of their information sheets because I didn't plan to ride down this road during this trip. The Lava Tube is not marked on my maps. - I reach another fork in the road and follow the lesser right fork, hoping to locate the trail to the Lava Tube
Ironically, on day one of this trip, I gave directions to two guys on Kelbaker Road looking for the Lava Tube. They had an information sheet from the visitor centre with precise directions, but had missed their turn onto Aiken Mine Road. - The short side road ends at a T-intersection at a dry cistern and corral (Tank Five)
I turn right here to continue ringing around the hill in the hope of stumbling upon the trail to the Lava Tube. - 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?
Maybe I should just turn around and ride to Baker now, but the Lava Tube might be right here somewhere. - Patience pays off: after a few hundred feet, I arrive at a camping pull-out and a tiny sign indicating "Lava Tube Trail
I love the sole, discreet sign. Kudos to the Parks Service for preserving our sense of discovery by not paving the road to this landmark, not putting "Lava Tube" signs on Kelbaker Road, and instead handing out directions at the visitor centre. - The first couple hundred feet of the Lava Tube Trail is actually on rough road that is open to motor vehicles
Of course, not many vehicles would drive this rough, cinder-rock-ridden road. If I knew beforehand that the Lava Tube was on this side of the hill, I would have come down this road from Aiken Mine instead of coasting down the longer, smoother road. - The Lava Tube Trail leaves the rough road and becomes a short footpath in a Wilderness area (no mechanized vehicles allowed)
Down here around 3600 feet elevation, it feels quite a bit warmer than it did earlier today when I was a bit higher up. It may be in the mid 80s now, which is relatively cool for the Mojave Desert in June. - A recently installed sturdy metal ladder leads down into the Lava Tube
I've read that before this modern ladder, visitors climbed down a rickety old wooden ladder instead. The cinder hills in the background are the ones that you see when travelling Kelbaker Road. - Bright sunshine at the bottom of the Lava Tube ladder
So, what is this? The Lava Tube is just a big air pocket that formed when lava was flowing and cooling here. - A beam of warm desert light shines down through the ceiling into the main room at the Lava Tube
The light enters through a small hole in the ceiling. Too bad my cheap camera doesn't like it much down here. - Another view with light pouring into the main room at the Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve
Sheltered from the sun, it's nice and cool down here. - Another ray of sunshine on the floor of the Lava Tube, thanks to a hole in the ceiling
I haven't encountered any critters down here; I thought that I might see bats. - Here's the low section that you have to crawl under to get in and out of the main room at the Lava Tube
I easily get claustrophobic, so I thought this might be awkward, but it's no big deal. - At its shallowest point, the crawl-under inside the Lava Tube is only a few feet high
It's not as claustrophobic as it looks because you can see the light on the floor just beyond the wall. If it were a tunnel instead of a wide low-ceiling opening, it would be a bit more challenging. - 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
From here I can see my route down Aiken Mine Road leading off into the distance. - Aiken Mine Road winds around a couple of cinder cones on its way down to Kelbaker Road from the Lava Tube
Over the final five miles, Aiken Mine Road descends from about 3625 feet to about 3100 feet at Kelbaker Road, just enough to be slightly downhill most of the way. - The slight downhill on Aiken Mine Road is just enough that I can ride easily
However, I can't let myself accumulate too much speed due to the washboard surface and random sand patches on the road. - I often find myself riding in the furthest-left tire track on the road to avoid the bumpy washboard surface
It's an interesting, constant navigational exercise trying to maintain the smoothest ride possible. Old Dad Mountain ahead in the distance was part of my original trip plan, but this trip ended up being pushed ahead a month into hotter weather at the lower elevations. The track leading up the distant hill is the road to Jackass Canyon, which I rode during my late-2007 Mojave trip. - Close to Kelbaker Road, I make one last stop along Aiken Mine Road to check out Tank Six
Like the other abandoned corrals I've seen in this area, this one is also waterless. - After a final mile and a half of washboard on Aiken Mine Road, I reach Kelbaker Road's pavement
I take a break here and see a car for the first time since leaving asphalt near Valley Wells yesterday afternoon. I remember stopping here 15 days ago on day one, trying to recover from heat exhaustion that was setting in on my way up Kelbaker Road. - I begin the enjoyable 20-mile ride down Kelbaker Road to Baker, and stop taking photos because my camera has run out of memory
I'll drop down a bit more than 2100 feet during the next 20 miles. The temperature rises slowly as I decend; temperatures are in the low 90s this afternoon in Baker. - The last 10-15 miles into Baker on Kelbaker Road are always the most pensive on my bicycle-camping trips
I look at unnamed hillsides and think about life during two weeks of backcountry biking and hiking versus life in the city, and the rewards of each. Mojave National Preserve is enormous, and there's always an unexplored area nearby. I think about exploring some of these unknown hills and how I might arrange to carry enough water to do that. I think about bringing a motor vehicle with me some day to simplify matters and increase carrying capacity, but how much simpler will that be if it gets stuck in sand or breaks down and I can't walk it out, like I can walk a broken bicycle? Would I feel less sense of accomplishment if I used a motor vehicle on one of these trips? Probably, but if it allowed me to reach areas that are too awkward by bicycle, then the trade-off may be worth it. - I roll into Baker and grab a room at the Wills Fargo Motel again
Now that I'm in Baker, a big, ugly freeway stop, I'm less pensive. I get down to the reality of getting a big meal. I choose Los Dos Toritos, the family-style Mexican restaurant in town, whose food is never extraordinary, but always hearty and just right. - 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
Yes, it's all over, except for a bus ride to Bakersfield, a train ride from there to Stockton, then one last bus ride to San José. I'll be eating a lot of food during the next few weeks to catch up on the calorie deficit that I've accumulated! - Bicycle route: Button Mountain to Baker via Aiken Mine and Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve (Day 16)
33.9 bicycle miles, from 4150 feet down to 935 feet. - Bicycle route profile: Button Mountain to Baker via Aiken Mine and Lava Tube, Mojave National Preserve (Day 16)
33.9 bicycle miles, from 4150 feet down to 935 feet.