Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 6: Broadwell Dry Lake to Ludlow by bicycle 27
I seriously oversleep this morning, which changes my plan to ride some miles on old Route 66 toward Barstow today. I pack up and ride back to Ludlow for a warm motel room instead, enjoying another desert sunset along the way. 10.5 bicycle miles.
Wow, I've really overslept this morning, just woke up at 11h30 after a rather sleepless (and cold, low 20s) night
I'm hearing noises, not too distant, and notice that it's coming from vehicles riding on Broadwell Dry Lake
If I zoom in on Broadwell Dry Lake, I see a number of ant-like items on the playa that might be a convoy of 4WD vehicles
I've already made two cups of hot coffee, but I decide that I need a more substantial breakfast today
The wind has picked up, and my water just won't boil, so I bring my propane burner closer to my tent, hoping to block the wind
I'm about to start packing up when I hear the two vehicles from last night driving down the road away from Old Dominion Mine
I don my hiking gear and go for a short walk toward the Old Dominion Mine site
I decide that it might be best to turn back since there were no gunshot sounds until I reached this area
I start walking back to my tent, wondering if maybe I should have ignored the gunshots and continued with my short hike
OK, there's my tent, today's abortive one-mile hike to Old Dominion Mine comes to an end
It's not my routine to be breaking camp late in the afternoon, but here I am
It's almost 16h and I'm just now starting today's bicycle ride out of Broadwell Dry Lake?
We're ready to ride the half mile down from the Old Dominion Mine area to Crucero Road
I ride down the faint road from the Old Dominion Mine site at sunset
Back down on "the main road," I look north on Crucero Road near Broadwell Dry Lake
I pull over to allow a car to pass by, the first one I've encountered down here by Broadwell Dry Lake
I watch the sun go down on the Bristol Mountains while I ride alongside Broadwell Dry Lake
This stretch of Crucero Road looks like it gets mighty muddy during rainy times
I see some pipes sticking out of the surface of nearby Broadwell Dry Lake, but I don't stop to investigate
What could this old sign be out here in the middle of nowhere by Broadwell Dry Lake?
Ha! This old sign announces a former proposal (from the 1990s) to place a toxic-waste site here at Broadwell Dry Lake
For further information on the review process for the proposed hazardous-waste site at Broadwell Dry Lake...
Relieved that I don't have to pass a toxic-waste dump here, I get back on the 10-ton bike and pedal onward toward Ludlow
Oh, another stray balloon to collect for disposal!
These last few miles up the gravelly slight incline toward Ludlow are slow, but I'm enjoying it
The sun has gone down for the last mile or so of the trudge up to Ludlow
I decide to spend another night at the Ludlow Motel to catch up on some needed sleep and avoid the cold