Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007, Christmas: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 6: Late-morning hike up Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve 20
On my fourth trip to Mojave National Preserve, I'm finally doing the popular Kelso Dunes hike. It's not a long hike, but it will break up the short winter day such that I won't have time for a longer day trip afterwards.
I'm camping just down the road from Kelso Dunes, so it's easy to get there, but it will break up the short winter day such that I won't have time for a longer day trip afterwards (which is why the dunes hike never got scheduled into my previous trips).
Awake, I peer out the back of my tent to see a sunny day, Kelso Dunes, and a creosote bush poking me in the face
I take a short walk to warm up and get used to today's surroundings (it was dark when I got here last night)
Large dry clumps of animal dung are everywhere around my tent
I ride back up the road 1.25 miles to the Kelso Dunes trailhead
Near the Kelso Dunes trailhead, I pass an unoccupied roadside campsite
A nice touch at the Kelso Dunes trailhead is a modern outhouse that's even equipped with toilet paper
I lock the bike to the fence at the Kelso Dunes trailhead
I begin the walk toward Kelso Dunes
There are a number of people hiking Kelso Dunes today
The Kelso Dunes sand is soft, and one does sink in with each footstep, but it's not as difficult as I thought it might be
Excellent perspectives of the surrounding mountains come into view as one climbs higher up Kelso Dunes
Approaching the top of Kelso Dunes, this final stretch is the steepest part
Kelso Dunes feels very sculptural as one approaches the summit
On top of Kelso Dunes, I'm taking in the views of this end of Mojave National Preserve
To my northeast is Kelso Valley, with Kelso Depot just barely visible in the middle
Looking down toward my campsite at the the end of the road from the top of Kelso Dunes
Getting ready to climb down the steep face of Kelso Dunes, with Granite Mountains in the background
I figure I might get a better experience if it sit and slide down the Kelso Dunes as if I were on a toboggan
I'm coming down! The guy from Saskatchewan ran all the way down the dunes ahead of me
Heading back to Kelso Dunes trailhead, I have time for a short day ride; I randomly choose Coyote Springs as the destination