Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Death Valley National Park bikepacking / Day 6, afternoon: Bicycle trip up Chloride Cliff Road from Monarch Canyon 13
Leaving my Monarch Canyon camp site at around 3300 feet elevation intact, I go for a ride up Chloride Cliff Road to about 4600 feet.
I don't pass any other vehicles during this ride and haven't seen anyone since leaving pavement yesterday afternoon. It's so nice to ride without the weight of all my gear!
I don't go quite all the way to the old Chloride City site, opting to park the bike and walk up a hill to take in the views of Death Valley down below. I also take a short walk in the area of the old trail to Keane Spring on the way back down to my camp site in Monarch Canyon.
10 round-trip bike miles (walked up the steeper sections).
- Interesting patch of reddish soil on the way up Chloride Cliff Road away from Monarch Canyon
A geologist would probably have a lot to say about what this is, and isn't; I don't. Before I left my Monarch Canyon camp site, the part of my speedometer/odometer system attached to my front wheel snapped off. Travel distances for the rest of my trip will be calculated as per mileage shown on maps rather than per actual odometer readings. - Looking back down toward Monarch Canyon to see how much I've risen
I think my Monarch Canyon camp site is roughly in the center of the photo down behind the small mountains in the middleground. - Switchbacks on the way up Chloride Cliff Road
I guess they decided that the road would have been too steep if it went straight up the hillside when they built it. - An off-camber section of Chloride Cliff Road on the way up
Photo breaks are a great way to give my occasionally sore right knee a rest. - Higher up after more switchbacks on Chloride Cliff Road
This road snakes around so much that it's easy to lose track of the direction in which you're looking if you aren't paying attention. - Near the top of this set of switchbacks on Chloride Cliff Road
The road has risen a lot in a short distance. It reminds me of some of the steep fire roads used as bicycle and hiking trails in the hills around San José. - I park the bike and go for a walk up the big hill to my right to take in the views of Death Valley below
The old Chloride City site is actually another mile or two up the road, up over the hills to my left. But this location is sufficiently enticing that I've decided to stop here. - Up at the summit of the hill that I just walked up, with Death Valley about 4500 feet down below
The Furnace Creek tourist area, where I camped two nights ago, is down in that large dark patch in the distance in the valley. There are more hills at the top of this hill and I could spend the whole day exploring these ridges, but I decide not to. - Me, up at the summit of the big hill I just walked up
The old Chloride City site is probably just beyond the hill behind me to the left (south). I'm tempted to get back on the bike and ride the rest of the way over there, just to say I was there, but I feel very satisfied having climbed up this big hill and sat for a while. - On my way back down Chloride Cliff Road
Chloride Cliff Road is quite rocky in places. - Further down Chloride Cliff Road on the way back to Monarch Canyon
Another rocky stretch of road. - Back down near Monarch Canyon, an old water tank sits near Chloride Cliff Road
In the background, Chloride Cliff Road heads up into the hills to the left (south). - I lock my bike to a wilderness sign along Chloride Cliff Road and go for a short walk toward the old Keane Spring
Do I really need to lock my bike? I don't see any green spots that might indicate the presence of a spring anywhere. I had read that Keane Spring is probably dry, so I'm not surprised. After my walk in the Keane Spring area, I return to the bike (not a 10-ton bike today!) at the wilderness sign, and coast back down to my camp site at the foot of Monarch Canyon Road. The howling wind at the camp site during the evening causes my tent walls to suck in and out, forever testing its strength. At least it's doesn't rain again! There's a crescent moon in the sky tonight, just big enough to light up the canyon a little under the clear, dark sky. Under the flashlight lamp in the tent, I get out my maps and study them, wondering if I should stay camped out here a third night, and do a day ride tomorrow to Beatty, Nevada. The wind doesn't die down like it did last night. As midnight approaches, I decide to stop waiting for some relief and quiet, and somehow manage to fall asleep anyway, probably because I'm so exhausted!