Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Death Valley National Park bikepacking / Day 0: Amtrak train and bus ride to Baker, California from San José to start the trip 20
A very short bike ride from home to the San José Amtrak train station, followed by an Amtrak bus ride to Stockton, then a train from Stockton to Bakersfield, then finally another Amtrak bus from Bakersfield to Baker, California. 1.3 bicycling miles.
To my surprise, a woman on the bus gets off with me at Baker to take a short break and asks me if I remember her from last year.
Suddenly, I do! She's the woman that I mentioned in last year's Mojave National Preserve bicycle camping travelogue, who was on the same Amtrak bus route with me last year.
I wasn't convinced last year that she thought I was totally sane to do a bicycle trip like this, but this year she's more supportive, seeing me return excited to the Mojave Desert. Gee, will I see her again next year?
After our conversation, she gets back on the bus to continue her trip, and I have a short ride from the bus stop to the Royal Hawaiian Motel just down the road in "downtown" Baker, with a stop at Alien Fresh Jerky along the way.
The 10-ton bike is all packed up in my backyard at 5h45
Waiting on the train platform at Stockton after the Amtrak bus ride from San Jose
The train from Stockton to Bakersfield makes a stop
Inside the train from Stockton to Bakersfield
The train approaches the end of its route at Bakersfield
The Amtrak bus out of Bakersfield climbs over the mountains
On the Amtrak bus from Bakersfield to Barstow (and then Baker)
The Amtrak bus stops briefly at the town of Mojave, California
An old art-deco building in Mojave, California
Main street in Mojave, California
Next stop on the Amtrak bus to Baker is Barstow, at "Barstow Station"
The men's washroom at Barstow Station
After leaving Barstow, heading toward Baker (and then Las Vegas afterward)
Desert hills
In Baker, I check into a tacky 1970s room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel
The motel pool below my balcony and Baker's skyline beyond
Plush green carpet in my room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel
A period set of drawers in my room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel
Shower stall in my room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel
Pretty curtains and dinette suite in my room at the Royal Hawaiian Motel