Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 4: South Bristol Mountains foothills campsite to Broadwell Dry Lake by bicycle, with a detour to Ludlow for water 32
I pack up my campsite in the Bristol Mountains, ride back to Ludlow to fill up on water, and then down to Broadwell Dry Lake to camp.
A chilly, sunny day with a cold night ahead. 18.8 sandy bicycle miles. Pedaling the last few miles around Broadwell Dry Lake in the peaceful desert dark before moonrise is memorable.
- I sleep in until about 9h30 this morning and reluctantly peer outside, not really wanting to get up and start the day
- Oops! My unopened coffee packet falls into my cup of pomegranate-cranberry vitamin C drink while I prepare my breakfast routine
- Last night's winds surreptitiously blew a fine layer of sand into the tent which dusted everything laying flat near the door
- Outside in the tepid desert morning sun, I look at a still-life of those things that matter most right now
- The disorder inside my tent will be packed up shortly; perhaps I'll drink an extra cup of coffee as a way to procrastinate
- OK, enough procrastination after drinking extra coffee "Everything out of the tent!"
- The last job upon emptying the tent is to remove the large rocks I placed inside, in case the wind got really strong
- Everything has been packed into the saddlebags that will be attached to my bike, after I walk everything out to the road
- All packed up, I bicycle down the Bristol Mountains powerline road and reach the junction of the high road and the low road
- I look behind me as I push the 10-ton bike through the sand trap on the Bristol Mountains powerline road
- The sand accumulation comes to an end as the road rises up onto a firmer, more gravelly surface
- An hour later, past the bottom of the dip in the road, I look back at the Bristol Mountains powerline road
- A little further ahead, I'll make a left turn under the powerlines and ride the final two miles of dirt road back to Ludlow
- Approaching Ludlow again, the stop that I wish I didn't need to make today
- I ride up the subtle hill away from Broadwell Dry Lake, for my water stop at Ludlow, but I'll come back here around sunset
- Ludlow, California, seen from Crucero Road
- The 10-ton bike takes a rest behind the vacant outdoor seating (it's chilly today) at Ludlow's Dairy Queen gas station
- The Dairy Queen gas station doesn't have the large bottles of water that I want, so I visit Ludlow's other gas station
- It's the Thanksgiving holiday week, with an endless stream of cars and trucks racing past Ludlow on the I-40 freeway
- The Cady Mountains pick up the chilly orange-purple sunset glow on the other side of the freeway from the Ludlow Chevron station
- It's time for me to stop looking down toward Broadwell Dry Lake from the gas station parking lot and actually go there
- Here I am again, leaving the pavement of Ludlow on Crucero Road, just like I did two days ago
- Direct sunlight down at Broadwell Dry Lake (here I come) is already gone for the day, blocked by the surrounding hills
- I cross the powerline road that leads off to the right to my Bristol Mountains campsite of the past two nights
- I take a look behind me at the "city lights" of Ludlow, now two miles away
- I pass the Kelso Dunes Wilderness sign at dusk, enjoying the views toward the Bristol Mountains, where I hiked yesterday
- Darkness falls as I approach the southern tip Broadwell Dry Lake; it seems that the road is getting a bit better, not worse
- Crucero Road by the dry lake turns out to be firm-surfaced (but rough), so I happily ride the final 4 miles at a cool 7 mph
- 1/2 mile up the road to Old Dominion Mine, I start looking for a good campsite near another road that I also can't locate
- My flashlight and bicycle light headlight assist me in setting up camp in the dark valley; the almost-full moon hasn't risen yet
- Elevation profile of bicycle route from Bristol Mountains to Broadwell Dry Lake campsite via Ludlow
- Bicycle route from Bristol Mountains to Broadwell Dry Lake campsite via Ludlow