Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 8: Newberry Mountains to Barstow by bicycle on Route 66 52
Last night's wind storm continues today at full speed, so I begrudgingly decide to end the trip a day early and ride back to Barstow instead of staying here for the Newberry Mountains hike that I was looking forward to. 16.6 bicycle miles.
- Last night's wind storm, which is still alive, blew a dusting of sand into my tent overnight, and kept me from sleeping well
Awake at 8h, I'm a bit chilled, since the overnight temperature dropped down to freezing and the rain storm added some humidity to the cold air. Still, I'm looking forward to today's hike into the Newberry Mountains. I think. - I step outside to take care of morning business and it's just as windy as I thought here in the Newberry Mountains foothills
At least the rain clouds are gone. It's a cold, but cheerful, sunny day, except for the wind. - This desert wind storm seems to be getting a kick out of playing with my flexible tent, just to see what shapes it can make
It seems that the wind is getting worse. Given how many times I woke up overnight, I think I would have noticed if the tent got as flattened as this and threatened to suffocate me. - I've been up for an hour and a half now, and spent much of that pacing around outside, hoping that the wind will die down a bit
Nice views from here past the freeway below and across the valley. I check the weather forecast: strong wind all today and tomorrow. I don't mind hiking in the wind, but how much of this can my new tent take? Right now, the wind level is bearable. - Coffee time, I hope: I try heating some water and shelter the burner a little by placing it behind the tent
The windbreak of the tent isn't enough, so the flame keeps going out. I've been suspecting weak pressure in this propane bottle, so I switch to my spare one, and the flame stays lit. Phew, warm beverages and meals are important in cold weather. - The problem now is that if the tent does fail and blow over, it will surely land on the flame of my propane burner
So I stand outside on guard, pacing, watching my cold water heat up like a bird watching its egg. I'm starting to wonder if my tent will still be here after my planned hike up into the Newberry Mountains in front of me. - Every time I think the wind is lessening, and that the day will progress nicely after all, another big gust pummels my tent
Strong Mojave Desert winds are common and I expect to eventually encounter and tolerate them whenever I come out here. Wind in Mojave National Preserve's Butcher Knife Canyon bent my former tent's poles in 2008, but the fabric stood up (thanks REI). - After more than 30 minutes, my lukewarm water makes a good cup of Starbuck's instant coffee, the only instant I find acceptable
I really want something hot to drink, so I can't wait for my water to heat up more. I immediately put another pot of water on the burner in anticipation of a second cup, another 30 minutes or more from now. - I stand in the wind on the Newberry Mountains foothills, thinking (wishing) that the wind is dropping to an acceptable level
A few minutes later, another strong wind huffs and puffs, seeing if it can blow my tent down. - I retreat to the tent and consider packing up and skipping today's Newberry Mountains hike as the tent walls blow down at me
I have my usual dry breakfast and a second cup of lukewarm coffee, thinking that maybe I just need to wait just a bit longer. I need to start my hike shortly if I'm going to do it. - I hate my decision: I'm going to pack up and cancel my hike into the Newberry Mountains, even though I'm camped at my trailhead
I don't have a good feeling about this wind storm, perhaps because of the cold temperature. I just don't feel confident that my tent will be here undamaged upon my return in eight hours if I do my planned hike up into the Newberry Mountains. - The Mojave Desert is a dry place, but I see a lot of green sprouts, happier than me about last night's rain storm
All this rock and sand was wet and cold last night during the rain storm, yet no sign of the rain remains this morning, except for some extra humidity in the air. - While packing up, the tent wants to be a kite; I discover that one of my tent poles has been bent by the wind
Sometimes you can use the wind to your advantage when folding things, if you're careful, an interesting challenge. - OK, I'm leaving my Newberry Mountains campsite, but maybe I shouldn't wimp out like this
With the 10-ton bike packed up and ready to go, I take a last look up into the hills where I wanted to hike today. - I start riding down the Newberry Mountains wash road that I came up last night
It was dark when I came up this road, so now I get to better see where I am. - It's a winding, gravelly road; no wonder I had to walk the 10-ton bike up this hill last night in the dark
I think those footsteps in the gravel are mine from last night. No vehicle has driven over them yet. - On my way down this Newberry Mountains wash, I stop at a joining side wash that I saw last night on the way here
I remember wondering if this side wash might be a better route than the main one that I chose to follow. I'll park the 10-ton bike here and go for a short walk to see if anything of interest is up that way. - Hmm... If I had camped along this road in the Newberry Mountains foothills, I would have been more sheltered from the wind
However, had I camped here last night, I would have been really nervous during the rain storm about the possibility of a flash flood. - This little wash road in the Newberry Mountains foothills seems to end at the carcass of an old car used for target practice
A creosote bush, a car skeleton, and spent casings, what else could one ask for! - Wow, this must be the most shot-up thing I've ever come across!
I like how people have brought additional items here, such as the sheet of plywood and a window pane. - If there were ever a quintessential metaphor for the Amercian desert, this is it
Despite its stark beauty and opportunities for solitude, the American desert is often considered as a wasteland, a perfect place to build industrial junk that "has to go somewhere," such as garbage dumps and solar-power plants. - Apparently, this old car was once burned; the steering wheel looks quite melted and limp
The amazing thing is that there isn't much metal left here at all. In some spots, there are more bullet holes than metal. So where do all those shot-out metal fragments go? - I return to the 10-ton bike and coast down the gravel road past a recently built fence
The fence is perhaps necessary to better define the route here. The land to the left of the fence looks graded, as if structures once stood there. - I make it back to the pavement of Hidden Springs Road and roll happily down the hill under the I-40 freeway toward old Route 66
After half a mile, I'll reach Route 66 (National Trails Hwy) and make a left toward Barstow. - The headwind is so strong as I ride Route 66 that I can barely maintain 7 miles per hour
I had an awesome tailwind while riding this road in the opposite direction a week ago, but today the cold wind is making my eyes water and giving me a serious workout! - I stop several times along this stretch of Route 66 to take short breaks from the headwind and look to the Newberry Mountains
I'm feeling a bit disappointed about canceling the final hike of my trip and ending it a day early. - As I arrive in the area of the town of Daggett, I pass an old sign for a defunct service station
... and another endless freight train passes by. - While passing a trailer park along Route 66 near Daggett, my eyes notice an unusual mobile home
This mobile home has been stripped down to its simple structure. - I reach the official "Welcome to Daggett" sign and decide to pull in for a quick tour of the small, historic town
I'm only about 10 miles away from Barstow, today's destination, so I can spare the time for a short tourist excursion. - Daggett's old town is an interesting place with many modest older houses
Some of the old houses are well-maintained, while others haven't survived the years so well, being perhaps a bit too modest for today's tastes. - A small grocery store is the dominant living feature on Daggett's main street
Next to Daggett's "Desert Market" are two older, abandoned commercial buildings. I stop here to buy a soda with caffeine out of habit, and some potato chips, but the soda is too cold in this weather (I drink it anyway). - These two old commercial buildings in Daggett have been fenced off, perhaps with the hope of preserving them
The old stone building at the right was apparently once a two-storey hotel. - Nice antique tin paneling above the stone wall on the façade of the Daggett Stone Hotel
A Google search on "Daggett Stone Hotel" provides many links with information about this historic building, built in the 1880s. - An old metal-clad garage-type building sits just down the street from the Daggett Stone Hotel
An old cottage, still inhabited, is the across-the-street neighbour. - At the rear of the old wooden building is an addition that looks like residential quarters
...probably for the folks who operated the business that once occupied the premises. - The siding of the old wooden building is peeling away as the structure sags
This will be one heck of a restoration job! - Before leaving Daggett, I stop at a forlorn park bench to change the batteries in my GPS
There's no park here, although it looks like there should be one. Maybe there was a park here once upon a time. - I've seen several of these low-growing pink-budded plants during this trip
I don't know if they're weeds or native plants that like growing in disturbed areas. - After my side trip into historic Daggett, I get back on Route 66 and head toward the I-40 freeway and tonight's motel in Barstow
I'll need to ride on the freeway shoulder for a couple of miles on the way back to Barstow. - While riding the I-40 freeway past the military base on the way back to Barstow, my GPS mysteriously crashes
My GPS won't restart until I'm almost past the military base. What's this? The many passing big rigs create strong side winds that, mixed in with the headwind, threaten to pull me out into freeway traffic. Yikes, time for serious focus while riding here! - Off the freeway after a couple of miles, I know I've landed in central Barstow when I pass a liquor store
Beer and wine, credit card, we accept food stamps, am I in inner-city Detroit or downtown Barstow? I see my first pedestrian since riding through Daggett. - I remember passing the dead Barstow Mall at the beginning of this trip; I'm still intrigued by it
Before it died, this mall probably sucked traffic from the shops that lined nearby historic Route 66. Once bombastic, this mall now seems quaint and historic compared to the ugly Walmart with endless parking lot just down the road. - I ride through Barstow's motel district on my way to the old-school Route 66 Motel where I'll stay again tonight
A few blocks of Route 66 in Barstow have bike lanes. Not quite wide enough, but I think they do help here (in some places, stingy bike lanes are actually worse than none at all). - I have a delicious supper at Rosita's on Barstow's Main Street
Mexican-American can be bland, but they seem to do it well here. Homemade corn tortillas, generous spicy salsa on the side, Mexican rice in which you can actually taste tomato, and generous machaca portion, nothing over-salted (soup is blah, however) - On my sink at the Route 66 Motel is a bar of "Rain Breeze" soap
OK, it has rained here in the dry Mojave Desert a bit lately, so "rain breeze" is slightly more appropriate than the "coastal breeze" soap that was in my room at the Ludlow Motel. - I spend the evening on the round bed in my cabin room at Barstow's Route 66 Motel, watching TV
I hardly ever watch TV, so it's fun to check in once in a while to see this thing that is so important and formative for so many people. - Tomorrow morning, the trip over, I see a bit of ice in the gutter as I ride Barstow's Main Street to the Amtrak Station
The thermometer drops down into the 20s again overnight. This has been a brisk camping trip, and it's time to buy a warmer sleeping bag for my next cold-weather trip. - Barstow Station: I enjoy an early lunch in one of the refurbished train cars while waiting for the Amtrak bus
This has got to be one of the most interesting (architecturally) food courts anywhere, and it's in Barstow of all places! I pass on the McDonalds of course, but there is a Panda Express and a Filipino counter for us rice eaters. - The 10-ton bike waits patiently for the Amtrak bus outside Barstow Station
The Amtrak bus will take me to an Amtrak train in Bakersfield which I will ride up the Central Valley on the way back to San José. The bike goes in a baggage compartment under the bus, and the connecting train has a bike rack. - I see a dusting of snow as my Amtrak bus passes through the Tehachapi Mountains and its wind turbines; this was a good trip
I still wish I did my planned hike into the Newberry Mountains instead of ending my trip a day early due to the wind storm. But I'll be back out this way again some day soon. Until next time, à la prochaine, tạm biệt. - Day 8: Elevation profile of bicycle route from Newberry Mountains to Barstow by on Route 66
16.6 bicycle miles. - Day 8: Bicycle route from Newberry Mountains to Barstow by on Route 66
16.6 bicycle miles.