Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / Fall 2010: Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping / Day 2: Ludlow to Bristol Mountains foothills by bicycle 38
I don't get as far as planned due to the sandy road, but I have a nice campsite in the Bristol Mountains foothills and catch a soothing sunset. The temperature only reaches the mid 50s. 10.6 bicycle miles and 600 feet of elevation gain, some of it walked.
- I'm up early (for me) and walk over to the Ludlow Café next door to the motel for breakfast
- I'm not disappointed by my leisurely breakfast at the Ludlow Café
- After I shower and repack my saddlebags, I quit the Ludlow Motel
- Before leaving Ludlow, I go for a short ride around the old Ludlow ghost town just south of the freeway
- This old car is parked permanently in old Ludlow, California
- I stop at the corner of Elliot and Main in old Ludlow to take in views of what's left of this town
- This old house along Ludlow's Route 66 still stands, but for how much longer?
- Almost all of the buildings on old Route 66 east of the Ludlow Café are abandoned
- Old Ludlow's commercial strip consists of three buildings today, all abandoned
- This old house in old Ludlow on Route 66 is almost hidden by the surrounding athel trees, presumably planted as a wind break
- After my brief tour around old Ludlow, I stop at the gas station store to pick up a couple more bottles of water
- After riding under the freeway at Ludlow, I pass "the other gas station," which also houses the Dairy Queen
- No more pavement for me today, nor tomorrow!
- I pass a "Limited Use Area" sign on Crucero Road shortly after leaving pavement
- After a mile or so on Crucero Road, I notice a turn-out and decide to check it out
- After two miles on the unpaved Crucero Road, I arrive at a billboard advertising the Kelso Dunes Wilderness Area
- Something doesn't feel quite right on the 10-ton bike, so I pull over on the sandy power-line road for a moment
- I plow ahead on the powerline-pipeline road that separates the Kelso Dunes Wilderness from the Bristol Mountains Wilderness
- I look behind me to check my progress as I slowly ride up the Bristol Mountains powerline road into the foothills
- Ugh, the Bristol Mountains powerline road is getting rather sandy!
- The Bristol Mountains powerline road splits here into a high road and low road, which rejoin each other beyond the hill
- I knew I'd find a happy-birthday balloon sooner or later out here in the wilderness...
- The Bristol Mountains low road has a nice coating of kitty litter on the surface in many places
- A wave of optimism strikes when I reach this rather smooth, and very ridable, stretch of the Bristol Mountains powerline road
- As I enter the Bristol Mountains foothills, I've been noticing swaths of a small brick-red plant
- It's time for an energy-bar break to power up for whatever might be ahead of me
- The Bristol Mounatins powerline road is looking good again, with a just bit of kitty litter on its surface
- Uh oh, another sandy area on the Bristol Mountains powerline road, and the sand looks deeper than anything I've seen today
- Well, it looks like almost a mile of this sand lies ahead of me, and it would take some time to push the bike through it all
- I start backtracking a little, looking for a good campsite here in the Bristol Mountains foothills
- I choose a spot about 150 feet in from the road; I don't like to be too close to the road in case visitors should pass by
- I go for a short walk around my campsite in the Bristol Mountains foothills to enjoy the glowing end-of-day light
- The end of sunset in the Bristol Mountains makes the creosote bushes appear in a darker, lusher green than usual
- The sun is setting here in the Bristol Mountains foothills, quickly
- After dark, the moon rises in the background and I boil water for tonight's add-water-to-bag meal
- While walking around, I notice a lot of these small animal burrows around my campsite
- Bicycle route from Ludlow to Bristol Mountains campsite
- Elevation profile of bicycle route from Ludlow to Bristol Mountains campsite