Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2000: Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping Trip #2 / Day 11: Providence Mountains State Recreation Area to Baker via Foshay Pass and Kelbaker Road 24
There was a lot of wind last night again, but not as much as the night before and I didn't feel like my tent was going to get ripped apart like the night previous. It turned out to be colder after all, approaching freezing temperatures.
It's a beautiful dry, sunny day and the ride over Foshay Pass is remote, peaceful and satisfying. I don't see a single person or vehicle during the afternoon climb over Foshay Pass.
I end up skipping a planned stop at Kelso Dunes and continue riding all the way back to Baker, California, ending the trip a day early.
62.2 miles, 5:37 hours, 32.0 mph max speed. From 4300 feet, I drop to 3000 feet on Essex Road, climb over Foshay Pass at 4500 feet, drop to Kelso at 2100 feet, rise over the Kelbaker Road summit at 3800 feet, and end the ride at Baker, California at 925 feet.
Enjoying the morning outside my tent at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
The little six-site campground at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
After breaking camp, I leave the Providence Mountains campground and coast down the hill to the desert floor on Essex Road
About 3 miles down the hill from the Providence Mountains campground, I hear a big "clunk" and feel something dragging
At the bottom of the hill, at about 3000 feet, I leave the pavement of Essex Road
The gravelly road toward Foshay Pass rises slowly
Along the way to Foshay Pass, there are a few steep sections, but the grade is mostly moderate
A bit higher up the road to Foshay Pass, I turn around to take in the view behind me
This short, rocky hill on the road to Foshay Pass requires that I drag the bike up the hill little by little
Entering Foshay Pass now, the actual summit is still a little further ahead
At the Foshay Pass summit in the Providence Mountains, looking back (east) at the desert behind me where I started my climb
Still at the Foshay Pass summit, the road ahead passes alongside a few ridgetops before it descends to the other side
Hmmm.. As the Powerline Road begins to "descend," it looks like I will first have another little uphill
Well, well, there turns out to be a series of big rollers here on the way down. I've just come down the first.
Some of these rollers are steep drop-offs that are too slippery and steep for me to ride down or up
Finally, I've come out of the mountains enough to see the entire Powerline Road and Kelso Dunes ahead of me
Another steep dip in the Powerline Road
Finally, I reach the end (for me) of the Powerline Road where it crosses Kelbaker Road and I get back on pavement. I look back
The Providence Mountains behind me, I stop at the abandoned Kelso Depot after a fast 8-mile downhill on paved Kelbaker Road
I take on the 12-mile climb up Kelbaker Road rising away from Kelso Depot
A beautiful sunset illuminates the Providence Mountains behind me as I climb Kelbaker Road out of Kelso Valley toward Baker
At the top of Kelbaker Road at 3800 feet, the last 20 miles into Baker at 925 feet will be a gentle downhill (in the dark)
Back in Baker, California, I rent a room at the Bun Boy Motel, waiting for tomorrow's Greyhound bus back to San José
Before leaving the Bun Boy for my Greyhound bus, I take a final photo out my patio door across I-15 to Mojave National Preserve