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
Do I really have to leave today? I really enjoyed my leisurely stay here yesterday, not doing anything too strenuous for a change. My evening campfires, thanks to the boxes of firewood that they sell at the visitor center, were awesome, and gave off lots of much-needed heat! Though still windy and chilly, it's a beautiful, sunny day in the desert and I'm looking forward to the climb over Foshay Pass shortly. - The little six-site campground at Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
The historic visitor-centre buildings are slightly more sheltered from the wind, being closer to the steep Providence Mountains. Would I come back to this tiny campground? Definitely. - After breaking camp, I leave the Providence Mountains campground and coast down the hill to the desert floor on Essex Road
Just before leaving, a bus-load of high-school students from Las Vegas arrives, which is an odd disruption of the tranquility of this place. (I've been the only camper here the past two nights.) I leave the campground at 4300 feet at around 10h45. The steep hill was tough coming up a couple of days ago, and I recall a ranger telling me that he saw me riding very slowly up the hill (at about 3 mph probably). So it's of course a lot of fun to go back down now. I reach 32 mph on the steepest part; gravity just pulls me down Essex Road. - About 3 miles down the hill from the Providence Mountains campground, I hear a big "clunk" and feel something dragging
Ooops, the brace holding my bike rack to the back of the seat post just snapped off! I pull over and calmly remove the broken rack adapter and bolt the rack directly to the bike's braze-ons instead. The rack is now a bit tilted, but it's more structurally sound like this anyway. Back on the road! - At the bottom of the hill, at about 3000 feet, I leave the pavement of Essex Road
I start climbing the sandy Powerline Road back in the general direction from which I just came. This road crosses the Providence Mountains in about seven miles at Foshay Pass, and is the most remote road I've tried riding out here so far. - The gravelly road toward Foshay Pass rises slowly
I'm very glad that the road is proving (so far) to be mostly rideable. The sand patches at the beginning of the road made me wonder if I might be getting myself into trouble by trying to ride this road. - Along the way to Foshay Pass, there are a few steep sections, but the grade is mostly moderate
After the fast downhill on paved Essex Road a short while ago, I'm still getting used to my new slow speed on this rough road. No more 25 mph downhill! But I've been out here on the 10-ton bike for 10 days now and I've gotten pretty strong. My legs are enjoying the gentle work-out on this rocky road and are happy that there's not too much sand here. - A bit higher up the road to Foshay Pass, I turn around to take in the view behind me
It's always fun to stop and take in the view behind oneself while climbing a hill and I need a few big slugs of water anyway. - This short, rocky hill on the road to Foshay Pass requires that I drag the bike up the hill little by little
Fortunately, most of the road hasn't been as steep as this part! - Entering Foshay Pass now, the actual summit is still a little further ahead
I'm more or less on top now, and it looks like I might reach an overlook down the other side after I cross this less-hilly stretch. - At the Foshay Pass summit in the Providence Mountains, looking back (east) at the desert behind me where I started my climb
I think this item here might be part of the gas pipeline that passes along this road. - Still at the Foshay Pass summit, the road ahead passes alongside a few ridgetops before it descends to the other side
I was expecting a big grand view of the Kelso Dunes down the other side, but I guess all the surrounding hills are in the way! - Hmmm.. As the Powerline Road begins to "descend," it looks like I will first have another little uphill
I'll have to drag my bike up that hill, it's pretty steep! - Well, well, there turns out to be a series of big rollers here on the way down. I've just come down the first.
Actually, I walked the bike most of the way down this hill because the gravel was slippery and I didn't want to risk losing control. - Some of these rollers are steep drop-offs that are too slippery and steep for me to ride down or up
Time for hike-a-bike! Even walking the bike down the hill requires some care and significant braking. I was expecting one of those awesome long downhills into the desert that makes a long hill climb worth the effort, so I'm feeling a bit cheated out of that by all these uphills on the way down! - Finally, I've come out of the mountains enough to see the entire Powerline Road and Kelso Dunes ahead of me
But I also see that I have more rollers to negotiate on the way down! At least I'm getting that great anticipated view of the Kelso Dunes now. From this vantage point, it's clear that this road is just cut across the terrain instead of following the natural contours of the land, which would have created an easier road with switchbacks. - Another steep dip in the Powerline Road
Obviously, I can neither ride down nor up this dip! I wouldn't want to be in a motor vehicle without four-wheel drive on this 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
It seemed like I would never make it to the end of those rollers! Gee, looking back, the road doesn't look too unfriendly at all... I consider riding over to Kelso Dunes and camping there one last night as planned. However, I'm running very low on food and that makes me uncomfortable. I would love to eat a snack right now, but all I have left is another add-boiling-water-to-pouch meal. So I decide to keep on going toward Baker and end the trip a day early. It's only another 40 miles further... and there's food in Baker waiting to be eaten! - The Providence Mountains behind me, I stop at the abandoned Kelso Depot after a fast 8-mile downhill on paved Kelbaker Road
Kelso Depot is slated to be restored as a Mojave National Preserve visitor centre during the coming years. - I take on the 12-mile climb up Kelbaker Road rising away from Kelso Depot
Kelbaker Road rises from 2100 feet here to a summit at 3800 feet, a long but moderate grade. I'm looking forward to arriving in Baker and eating a big meal! - A beautiful sunset illuminates the Providence Mountains behind me as I climb Kelbaker Road out of Kelso Valley toward Baker
Sunset is one of my favourite times to be out on a bicycle, but it also means that darkness will be here soon. - 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)
I'm glad I've made it to the summit by sunset so I can see that orange desert-sunset glow from above before it disappears. Now that I've finished climbing and sweating, I put on an extra sweater, my outer shell, and my booties, to keep my feet from freezing. Headlight turned on. A few big slugs of water, and I'm ready to go. I switch into high gear and pedal easily to keep up 25 mph, and then it gets completely dark. With no other traffic and no moonlight, my headlight is the only light on the road. Until, eventually a car does come up behind me and passes, its headlights casting a surreal bright light in the dark surroundings. A little later, the blinding headlights of a lone oncoming car make it hard for me to see where the road is, so I pull over until it passes. When the car gets really close, I feel like it's coming straight at me like a bullet, a very eerie feeling. And then it passes and I return to my blissful, solitary world until I reach Baker, and its little glow of city lights. Gee, that was fun. - Back in Baker, California, I rent a room at the Bun Boy Motel, waiting for tomorrow's Greyhound bus back to San José
I celebrate the end of the trip with a big Mexican meal at Los Dos Toritos down the road, some beer from the general store (I actually need all those extra calories right now), and smoke a couple of bowls of Patriot Flake to top it all off. - 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
I slept really well last night in my cell at the motel. I know they're probably supposed to be decorative, but those two palm trees behind the Bun Boy Motel aren't as alluring to me as what's on the other side of the freeway. Maybe I should come back here again some day...