Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2012: Mojave National Preserve bicycle-camping and hiking, Lanfair Valley loop / Day 5: Round-trip bicycle ride from Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine 45
Another sunny day, almost warm, I ride across Lanfair Valley to Hackberry Spring and back. It's a dark and chilly ride back to camp; I get home just before 9 p.m. 36.5 dirt-road bicycle miles and approximately 1500 feet elevation gain.
A bright and sunny morning overlooking Piute Gorge
I take a look down into the canyon at an old discarded truck before heading out on today's bicycle ride
Shortly after I start today's bike ride, I ride past an old circular corral
Inside the corral is a fire ring
Just before I start riding up the pipeline road here, I run into Bryan and his sons in their pickup, and we have a great chat
I have to walk the bike across several sandy wash crossings on the pipeline road
I ride west on the pipeline road toward the old Rattlesnake Mine area
I turn on the road to the old Rattlesnake Mine site
A few yellow flowers (Encelia farinosa perhaps) bloom at the old Rattlesnake Mine site
This part of the old Rattlesnake Mine site has great views over to both the Castle Peaks and the Castle Mountains
From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I have a clear view across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
A little further up Rattlesnake Mine Road, I decide to go for a short walk up to the top of the rooster-comb ahead
This unusual metal grate over a mine hole is apparently intended to keep the mine shaft open to bats
The views from the Rattlesnake Mine rooster-comb extend all the way across the Lanfair Valley to the New York Mountains
From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I still have views across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
I take a look at some crumpled structure remains near Rattlesnake Mine before continuing my bike ride
Everyone loves a good historic desert can dump, don't they?
Beyond Rattlesnake Mine, the old road gently climbs another 200 feet or so
The road almost becomes invisible in a few spots on the way up the hill
Now the fun begins, a bit of rough rolling-road mountain biking overlooking Lanfair Valley
One thing I enjoy about this road is the changing landscape
A scattering of Joshua trees dot this transitional Mojave landscape
Sunset will be a couple of hours from now; I'm trying to decide whether to go all the way to Hackberry Mountain, ahead at left
This private property in the Bobcat Hills area is marked by plastic pumpkins
My road ends, and I scoot across Ivanpah Rd to start riding the road into the Hackberry Mountains
The first part of the road into the Hackberry Mountains is a bit sandy and bit rough
I pass an old corral in the Hackberry Mountain foothills
Predictably, I have to walk the bike across this sandy wash crossing on the way into the Hackberry Mountains
It looks like signage has been recently re-erected to remind people to not drive their 4WD vehicles in the Wilderness area
This stretch of the road is pretty soft, and I have to walk the bike a bit
This short, steep and eroded piece of road makes me wonder if it will get worse
I come around a corner, and the sun is behind the mountains now
I reach a relatively smooth patch of the road and can ride again, looks like I may make it to the spring before dark after all
Rocky hills along the road into the Hackberry Mountains
Fine gravel!
I want this campsite!
I'm almost at the spring, but it's much easier to walk up this rocky stretch than to try riding up it
Just a few hundred feet further...
I arrive at the end of the road, happy to make it before dusk
I park the bike and go looking for the spring: I know it's here somewhere!
I start filtering water at Hackberry Spring at dusk, and finish just before dark
I've just finished filtering my water and it's getting dark; time to ride back to camp at Piute Gorge, in those distant hills
I ride 2 miles on Ivanpah Road before turning off on the Mojave Road to head back to Piute Gorge; I arrive home a bit past 21h
Round-trip bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine
Elevation profile of bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine