Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007, Christmas: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 1: Baker to Indian Springs, Mojave National Preserve 37
Indian Springs is an area of usually dry springs at the end of a short dirt road off Kelbaker Road that I've never gotten around to visiting because it's so close to Baker.
I'm always on my way to destinations further out from Baker, or on my way back to Baker itself, when I pass this area.
18.5 bicycle miles today, climbing slightly from 930 feet elevation at Baker to about 2800 feet at Indian Springs.
- The 10-ton bike is packed up and ready to go to Mojave National Preserve on Xmas day
- Damage to the corner of one of the motel units
- Leaving the Royal Hawaiian Motel in Baker to start my Mojave National Preserve trip
- Baker's "world's tallest thermometer" says that it's 50 degrees F this morning
- Leaving Baker on Kelbaker Road and crossing the Interstate 15 freeway to enter Mojave National Preserve
- Freeway traffic behind me now, I enter Mojave National Preserve
- The first ten miles of Kelbaker Road into Mojave National Preserve out of Baker looks flat, but it actually climbs 1000 feet
- After ten miles, Kelbaker Road bends sharply away from civilization
- After 13 miles, I reach the little dirt road to Indian Springs and turn off here
- Indian Springs Road: the road surface is a bit rough and rocky
- A drainage rut across Indian Springs Road
- After about three miles, Indian Springs Road turns toward the hills up a sandy wash
- About a quarter mile before the end of Indian Springs Road, I notice a fire ring and a possible campsite
- An ugly pile of debris sits on the hillside just above my chosen campsite near Indian Springs
- I begin dismantling my rig and setting up camp
- Camp is set up near Indian Springs!
- With an hour of daylight left, I walk up to the end of Indian Springs Road to explore a little
- Wow, there's a trickle of water here at Indian Springs
- There's just enough water at Indian Springs that I'll be able to use my water filter to get extra drinking water here tomorrow
- I continue walking up the Indian Springs wash in the glow of the setting sun
- There are a lot of barrel cacti on the surrounding hillsides, which isn't apparent at a distance
- Indian Springs wash enters a small narrows
- A little further beyond Indian Springs, I notice a side wash that looks interesting
- This rock formation immediately catches my attention
- This side wash near Indian Springs gets narrower
- I notice a little cave up on the hillside on the way out of the side wash
- Rock layers in Indian Springs wash
- Hillside cactus garden at Indian Springs, Mojave National Preserve
- Looking back down the Indian Springs wash toward my campsite
- Barrel cacti catching the last light of day on the hill above Indian Springs
- The sun sets on me at Indian Springs
- After supper, at 21h50, it's time to start my Indian Springs Xmas campfire
- Woohoo, the fire is starting to burn!
- Trying to warm up in front of the fire
- I add another piece of junk plywood to the fire
- The fire is burning nicely, but it's getting late, so I'm thinking about letting it die down and retreating to my tent
- The heat feels great, but it's time to let the fire burn out and prepare for sleeping