Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 13: Nipton to Brant Hills, New York Mountains, Mojave National Preserve 79
Maybe this should be subtitled "The desert mallow trip," since I saw so many of those flowers. "What do you do, just ride around all day until you get tired," one person asked, feigning interest. Yeah, I wish it were that simple!
I'll hike and bike in several areas that I haven't visited before. Mojave National Preserve is a huge park with endless nooks and crannies. For late May, I'm extremely lucky and only contend with a couple of uncomfortable hot days.
I'll camp two nights near the powerline road near Kelso Peak, five nights at Mid Hills campground (an excellent home base for hiking/biking day trips), two non-consecutive nights at Nipton general store, three nights near Malpais Spring, and one night above Mojave National Preserve's Ivanpah Valley, near Brant siding.
Water will come from from stores in Baker and Nipton, the Kelso Depot utility closet, Mid Hills campground, and Indian Spring in the eastern New York Mountains.
- I enjoy the morning shade at Nipton; it makes packing up so much easier
I slept well in last night's pleasant temperatures (except for the trains passing 100 feet away from my tent!) I drink coffee from the general store and eat a couple of their industrial muffins, which give me an unwanted sugar buzz. - I roll the packed bike up to the store at Nipton and stop in for another bottle of iced tea before I leave
My heavy and full 10-litre black water bag is bungeed on to my front rack; I can't count on finding water again until I reach Baker tomorrow evening. The Cima Store may be open when I pass by tomorrow, but it's not always reliable. - The day's travels begin as I ride south on Nipton-Moore Road, a dirt road that hugs the Ivanpah Valley train tracks for miles
Signs remind me that this road is not maintained and that I'm entering Mojave National Preserve again. Nipton is on the Preserve boundary, but is outside the Preserve. - After close to three miles, I approach the power-line road that crosses Ivanpah Valley
This is the farthest up Nipton-Moore Road I've previously ridden. I was reluctant to go further due to the possibility of a poor road, but a fellow working at Nipton gave me the excellent advice that the road is quite passable. - This route across the Mojave Desert gets a lot of freight-train traffic
The first of several trains of the day rolls by, slowly climbing the gentle one-percent grade. - I take a look at the power-line road that heads southwest across the Ivanpah Valley
I haven't ridden this part of the power-line road yet, but I did ride the portion of it behind me during a day ride while camping at Nipton in 2008. - About six miles down Nipton-Moore Road, near Moore siding, I look back and still see Nipton in the distance (the green patch)
A snow-topped peak, perhaps Mount Charleston near Las Vegas, peeks out above the mountains at the distant left. - To the west, down in Ivanpah Valley, sits reclusively a lone habitation
A road from here leads down there, and another road, Saddle Horn Road, connects it to Ivanpah Road. - Nipton-Moore Road is mostly straight and almost flat, but it occasionally dips down to cross drainage washes
The erosion shows that a lot of water passes down these washes during heavy rains. - Large culverts beneath the raised train tracks in Ivanpah Valley prevent the tracks from washing out during heavy rains
This one, dated 1926, is in pretty good shape considering its vintage. - Yellow creosote bush flowers, barbed wire, Ivanpah Dry Lake, and that white peak in the distance
I'm over eight miles away from Nipton now, and have risen just enough (400 feet) to have a good view across Ivanpah Valley. Elevation here is 3400 feet. - I'm also just high enough now above Ivanpah Valley to see a few flowers in addition to the creosote-bush scrub
This tuft of buckwheat blooms is one of the first I've seen today, but I'll probably see many more as I gain elevation. - Some yellow flowers add to the predominately dull-green landscape
These might be desert sennas. - Another freight train passes by as I ride up Nipton-Moore Road, Mojave National Preserve
With the New York Mountains in the background, the train seems rather slow because it's climbing a one percent grade, but it's still faster than me on the 10-ton bike. - This train is hauling an endless number of tanks of a presumably deleterious substance
"Vent tank when unloading" and "In case of emergency call Chemtrec" are ominous warnings concerning the tanks' contents. The generic "Renewable Products Marketing Group" label is especially unreassuring. - I'm happy to see this train and its cargo pass by quickly on its way toward Los Angeles
I wonder what's inside those tanks and what its use is. - Nipton-Moore Road dips down to cross another drainage area just before it arrives at the paved Ivanpah Road
The train tracks stay above the wash on a bridge with big concrete footings. - I've reached the pavement of Ivanpah Road, cross the tracks, then ride over to the abandoned house nearby
The 10-ton bike has been here several times in the past, but this is the first time that we took the dirt road along the train tracks to get here. - I park the 10-ton bike against the old house on Ivanpah Road and go for a walk around the property
I've read that this building once housed a general store serving the area. - Today, the valuable historic house at Ivanpah is an attractive nuisance, too close to paved roads travelled by bums and thugs
Signs warn that visitation could be penalized. This is a essentially a ghetto area of Mojave National Preserve, a national park without enough funds and staff to fully protect every property within its boundaries. - View of the rear of the old house at Ivanpah, Mojave National Preserve
The back corner of the house looks like a later add-on that isn't aging so well. On the other hand, the fireplace and chimney appear to have been built to last. - One of the outbuildings at the Ivanpah house is clad with plywood from a sign that once advertised a "ranch resort"
The chicken-wire enclosure suggests that birds were once kept here. - Another outbuilding at the Ivanpah property contains recent fabric and clothing remnants
People have probably taken shelter here recently, despite the menacing "no trespassing" signs. - Old corrals and a decaying outbuilding at Ivanpah, Mojave National Preserve
Some of the debris on this site has been removed since the last time I visited Ivanpah, which was in 2008. - Another shed behind the old house at Ivanpah, Mojave National Preserve; let's take a look inside
Someone decided to partially paint this tin-clad shed with white paint, without finishing the job. This would serve as a nice illustration for some old Gang of Four lyrics: "My ambition was to have ambition." - Inside this tin-clad shed at Ivanpah is an old set of shelves
These shelves don't look all that old; maybe it's just the dry desert air keeping them young-looking. - Someone has removed a board from a small window on the back side of the old house at Ivanpah, Mojave National Preserve
Other windows of the house would be easier to break in, but this one is perhaps less conspicuous. - Next to the crumbling exterior of the add-on at the rear of the house at Ivanpah is an open window
What's inside? - I take a peek inside the open window at the abandoned house at Ivanpah, Mojave National Preserve
Make-up, shoes, mattress: looks like squatters still use this house. When I was here at Ivanpah in 2008, the board had been removed off the front door. - I remount the 10-ton bike, cross the tracks, and get back on the dirt road (now called Brant Road on some maps)
I see a few buildings ahead. - Across the Ivanpah Valley creosote bushes, I see an old trailer and what looks like a garage
That snow-capped mountain is still visible in the distance. - The road leading into the property is marked with fairly fresh "no trespassing" signs, but the gate is open
It's hard to tell at a glance if anyone lives here; the collection of trailers looks rather abandoned from here. - I continue riding up Brant Road and notice that a section of the barbed-wire fence along the tracks has been cut
Wondering why the rather new fence has been cut, I think about reports I've heard of train cargo robberies that have happened along here while the trains are slowly climbing the slight grade. Hmmm... - On the far side of Ivanpah Valley, I can see a distant dirt road squiggling up into the Ivanpah Mountains
That might be the road to the old Morning Star Mine; I haven't explored the Ivanpah Mountains over there at all. - I come across a collection of cans along Brant Road
At first I think this might be another routine case of someone dumping trash in the desert, as if it would all somehow disappear. But then I take a closer look... - The cans are all food cans; full, upright, different from each other, and only slightly weathered: could this be a food cache?
Who would want a food cache here except train robbers who would cut through a barbed-wire fence to get to the slow-moving trains? Hmmm... - Just beyond the food cache on Brant Road is a small intersection and a sign declaring "Lawler Lane"
There must be some private property down there, but I can't see any buildings from here. - Someone lost a hubcap here on Brant Road
Oops! I haven't seen any vehicles on Brant Road today, but it appears to be travelled regularly. - I reach the first of two roads that lead up toward the New York Mountains off Brant Road
This one passes through a sandy drainage under the train tracks and doesn't look like much of a road, so I ride on further to see if the second road is any better (it can't be much worse). - I continue riding up the road toward Brant siding, where there is supposed to be another road leading up into the hills
Brant siding is probably that little grey box up ahead. - I reach what is indicated on my maps and GPS as Brant siding, but find no road crossing over or under the tracks
I climb up over the tracks to assess whether or not it's feasible to bring the bike over the tracks and connect to the road that's supposed to exist on the other side. Nice view of the Castle Peaks turrets looking back down the tracks from here. - I discover an old structure and corral on the other side of the tracks at Brant siding
The chicken wire suggests that this may have been a bird pen. I quickly decide that climbing over the tracks at Brant siding with the 10-ton bike would be more difficult than riding the sandy road I passed a while ago. - Scattered old trash is also found on the other side of the tracks at Brant siding
A datura blooms. - From what I can tell, Brant siding has been moved down the road since the time that the maps I'm consulting were made
I hop on the 10-ton bike and backtrack the 1.25 miles to the sandy road that goes under the tracks. - The 10-ton bike takes a break for a few minutes under the train tracks on the road leading up into the New York Mountains
A couple of yellowjackets buzz around; they must have nests somewhere in the protection of the bridge. The beams protruding crookedly from the bridge structure appear to be in poor condition. - After I walk the bike through the sandy area under the bridge, the road rises up to a somewhat firmer surface
There aren't any really recent tire tracks here. - I pass some Wilderness markers blocking an old road on my way toward the New York Mountains
Ruins of an old corral exist up that road, according to my notes. - The old road winds across the fan, then turns sharply left to begin its climb into the New York Mountains
I manage to ride most of the road here at a slow speed, but it is sporadically quite sandy. - The road is discernable, but obviously not used very often
Onward and upward we go! - The uphill road isn't steep, but it's too rocky for me to ride on the 10-ton bike, so I get off and walk
I start looking for a campsite since I can't ride any more and the road is likely to get worse, not better; how far will I go beyond here? - On the way up the hill, my front tire goes flat despite my Slime-filled inner tube
I would continue walking the bike up the hill, but I don't feel like fixing a flat tire right now. Instead, I look for an open spot to become my campsite for the night. - Finding a campsite is tricky in this area above Ivanpah Valley because there are hardly any open spaces between plants
I end up cautiously pitching my tent tightly between two yuccas and try not to crush the flowering buckwheat in front of my tent as I go in and out. - After a short rest in the tent and an energy bar, it's time for a walk up into the nearby New York Mountains foothills
Sunset is approaching, the best time to be outside in the Mojave Desert. It's a bit warm in the tent from the sun shining on it, but the temperature is otherwise perfect; I put on my sweater for the walk. - Some pinnacles and rock piles make for another classic New York Mountains landscape
The presence of junipers here makes it quite different than just down the hill at my tent. - An interesting find is this old rock wall
This might be remnants of some kind of shelter, or perhaps a small corral. - The top of this rock pile reminds me of a vulture's head
Rock formations can be quite evocative. I clearly remember "Sleeping-Head Rock" on the other side of the New York Mountains in Keystone Canyon. - I walk around the old rock wall and look down across the Ivanpah Valley
That should be Kessler Peak over there at centre-left. I've camped several times on the other side of the peak in the Sunrise Rock area off Cima Road, but have never seen it from this viewpoint. - Upon further inspection, a scrubby shrub looks like it might be some kind of oak tree
I've read about a species of oak that lives here in the desert mountains, but haven't learned to identify it. - I continue my walk up the old road, which is increasingly grown-in
The road is the area to the right of the line of rocks in the middle-right in the photo. - Lo and behold, a pool of water!
I know that water sometimes exists here, but I wasn't expecting to find any so late in the year. - Actually, a couple of pools of water remain in the rocks
Algae is growing in the upper pool, but the lower pool is incredibly clean. The wildlife in the neighbourhood must be happy. - Water trickling down the rocks creates a small brook
I wonder if there's always so much water here, of if it's usually dry here at this time of year. We had some extra rain this spring. - I notice another small, clean pool of water in the rock just below
This is probably a big stream during the winter when this area receives runoff from melting snow in the New York Mountains above. - An even larger pool of water sits in the shade a little higher up
It's a fun change to be hopping across rocks in the water during a trip in the dry Mojave Desert. - A long freight train slowly crosses the Ivanpah Valley below
It seems so far away in the open space of the Mojave Desert, but it's only a couple of miles away. - I look at these rocky hills and think it would be fun to climb one of them during the brief time I'm here
My itinerary allowed for a possible extra day here to explore this area, but I have to be back at work in a few days. - Sunset is approaching, so it's time to turn around and start the mile-long walk back to the tent
I brought my flashlight in case I would continue my walk after dark. - This crossing of the old road over the stream is still in really good condition
After several decades, and perhaps a century, that's quite remarkable. - I pause to take a look at a mature pinon pine along the old road
The hills of the New York Mountains are radiant with the golden glow of sunset. - I walk down the old road, enjoying the sunset
This is a transition zone, where the cholla cacti and buckwheats common down below, mesh with the pinon-and-juniper forest above. - A fire ring exists for those who come up here to camp
Someone had a campfire here not too long ago. - I look back up the dry creek bed and at the hills behind collecting the sunset
I wish I had more time to explore and know that I'll be back here some day during a future trip. - I pass the last of the pinnacles as I descend down the fan toward my campsite perched above Ivanpah Valley
In the distance, the crest of the Clark Mountain Range peers above the Ivanpah Mountains on the far side of Ivanpah Valley. - A few barrel cacti grow in the transition zone here between creosote-bush desert and the woodlands of the New York Mountains
... and a lot of pinkish-white buckwheat flowers as well. - A Wilderness marker blocks an old road on the way back to my campsite above Ivanpah Valley
The former road is barely visible... - I make it back to my tent overlooking Ivanpah Valley just before dusk
The 10-ton bike with its flat front tire rests peacefully along the road. - The final moments of sunset cast red across the New York Mountains hilltops
After my instant meal, I spend a lot of time standing outside my tent under the nearly-full moon, listening to the quiet and enjoying the moonlight. Falling asleep is so easy tonight. It hasn't been a really strenuous day, but I'm tired. - Bicycle route from Nipton to Brant Hills
19 bicycle miles and over 1000 feet of elevation gain. - Elevation profile of bicycle route from Nipton to Brant Hills
19 bicycle miles and over 1000 feet of elevation gain.