Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Henry Coe State Park Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 6: Jackrabbit Lake to Pacheco Camp 23
Another day of solitude. A very enjoyable 11-mile ride from Jackrabbit Lake (1300 feet) down Orestimba Creek Road (1080 feet), up over Mississippi Ridge (1950 feet), down into Mississipi Creek canyon (1600 feet), Pacheco Ridge (1950 feet), then Pacheco Creek canyon (Pacheco Camp) at 1689 feet.
I am expecting significant uphill segments to be unridable, but they turn out to be few and far between, so the trip doesn't take nearly as long as expected.
These trips are always much better after the first few days. One becomes much stronger and comfortable after several days of living outdoors.
However, I do get a bit of a scare when I have a crash on Orestimba Creek Road.
Jackrabbit Lake campsite, morning. Time to get out the iodine tablets.
The Orestimba Creek Trail veers off the Orestimba Creek Road to the right. I'll stay on the road.
Aha, here's the trail to Kingbird Pond.
I walk a few hundred feet up the Kingbird Pond Trail.
A bit further up Orestimba Creek Road, I notice Will's Pond.
Taking a breather at the Orestimba Corral to assess our condition after crashing on the way down the hill from Will's Pond.
Heading up the County Line Road grade toward Mississippi Ridge, stopping by a trap for wild pigs.
At the top of the County Line Road grade, it's time to begin the short descent down Coit Road into the Mississippi Creek canyon.
After climbing out of Mississippi Creek canyon to Pacheco Ridge, I look down into the canyon that will be home tonight.
At the bottom of the canyon, I arrive at Pacheco Camp, at 1689 feet elevation.
There's even a "shower building" at Pacheco Camp.
Will I get clean at Pacheco Camp?
I walk up to the shower building to check it out.
The seat in the shower.
The shower hose can be suspended from a pully and then raised or lowered.
Sheesh, I was getting excited about standing under a steady stream of water, but the water is so cold!
Pacheco Camp buildings as seen from just above on Coit Road.
Time to throw out the iodine-tainted Jackrabbit Lake water that I've been drinking all day.
The sign on Coit Road near the Pacheco Camp cabin says that it's 16 miles to Park Headquarters.
Pacheco Horse Camp.
92 degrees in the shade, according to the thermometer on the side of the shower house.
The modern, concrete, wheelchair-accessible outhouse just up the hill from the Pacheco Camp buildings.
The tent hides under one of the huge oak trees at Pacheco Camp.