Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Henry Coe State Park Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 8: Ride from Pacheco Camp to China Hole 31
I've never explored the part of the Park on today's route, so I'm looking forward to it. My route is simple enough: just stay on Coit Road (which becomes Mahoney Meadows Road) and then head down China Hole Trail to the bottom.
I've studied my maps well (it's a useful activity that can be done at night in a tent) and know that there is a fair amount of uphill riding that I hope the 10-ton bike will agree to. Still, I might have to drag the bike up a few segments, not sure. Also, the singletrack downhill China Hole might have some steep edges that require extra care.
- My second and last morning at Pacheco Camp.
It was cool again in this little valley last night and I slept really well. During the morning, a lone bicyclist rides by and stops to fill up on water. We chat and he tells me that he's been drinking the Pacheco Camp water unfiltered for years, even though he carries a water filter to purify water from other sources in the Park. That's reassuring, since I've drank a couple gallons of it already. Around noon, a ranger drives through and we also have a long and interesting chat. It feels strange to be social again, and I still feel hyper-talkative after not speaking to anyone for five days. I've run out of time and don't get out of camp until 13h45. So much for that shower I was hoping to take this morning! I've filled my 10-litre water bag (and my two-litre Camelbak) with Pacheco Camp water, which should be enough to get me to China Hole today, and then to Park headquarters tomorrow morning. There's still a bit of water left at China Hole at this time of year, but it would need filtering or boiling, neither of which I'm able to do. - At the top of the first ridge on Coit Road (around 2400 feet), I note a spur road leading to a look-off that is not on my map.
The ride up Coit Road from Pacheco Camp to the first ridge has passed surprisingly well (about 700 feet elevation gain in 1.5 miles). I pedalled most of it, except for a short stretch where it seemed easier to walk. The little road to the look-off appears to be well-used, so I'll go see why. - View from the look-off just off Coit Road.
Gorgeous view across Pacheco Ridge and beyond to areas that I haven't visited yet. Makes me want to go change my route and head that way instead. - A fun short descent down the next hill on Coit Road passes the Fish and Game Pond at the bottom of the canyon.
After the Fish and Game Pond, the road stays in the canyon for a short distance, passes Coit Lake, and then rises a third of a mile to the next ridge. - Coit Road crosses Willow Ridge Road on top of the next ridge at about 2250 feet.
The fairly easy climb from Coit Lake up to Willow Ridge Road here is only a third of a mile long and only gains about 200 feet. I haven't seen this end of Willow Ridge Road before. I won't be seeing any more of it today either because I'm heading down the next hill toward Kelly Lake. - The 3/4 mile drop down into the canyon to Kelly Lake, 450 feet below, was fun.
Now I'm starting the longer climb out the other side toward Mahoney Ridge. Ooo, there's actually some shade on this stretch of road, which means that this is good place to stop for a few minutes. It's not quite as hot as it was yesterday, probably just in the low-to-mid 90s. - I stop on this switchback on the way up Coit Road from Kelly Lake to look back on my route.
Looking back down to Kelly Lake, I can see the ridge in the background (with Willow Ridge Road on top) that I just rode over. - Higher up Coit Road heading toward the junction of Wasno Road.
Looking back toward Kelly Lake. This is a hot location for a break, with almost no shade. But I find the area really scenic, so I stop here and walk around a bit (and consume another energy bar). Gee, this part of the road is almost level, at least compared to all the hills out here. What's not visible in this photo is the steep drop-off all along the right-hand side of the road. I like those whitish dried flowers along the road, whatever they are. Some plants in this area are giving off a maple-like aroma under the hot sun, but I don't know which ones. - Regeneration of a previously burned area (perhaps a prescribed burn).
It looks like a lot of the burned brush may have been chamise, but I see a lot of young coyote bushes popping up. - Dried flowers and burn.
In the foreground are some of those dried white flowers, and just behind them, the dried greenish-brown plants are monkey flowers, beautiful in the spring, dormant in the dry season. Just to the left is a bright-green coyote bush youngster, doing just fine with no practically water in the dry season. The dead tentacles of the burned chamise carcass reach up into the air. - Standing on the road opposite the burned area, with a steep canyon, then Wasno Ridge, behind me.
I'm wearing my sweat band under my hat because I'm still sweating a lot, even though I'm on break and not pedalling. - I walk a short distance up the road to check out a buckeye grove.
This is on the side of the road facing Willow Ridge. - I ride up the road a little and stop again to look at the sculptural shadows of the trees on the next ridge (Wasno Ridge).
The afternoon sun is just right, and the trees there far enough apart, that their individual shadows can be discerned bending over the warped landscape. - Pinus sabiniana (grey pines) along Coit Road heading toward Mahoney Ridge.
This is quite substantial for a stand of grey pines, actually dense enough to provide some shade, which they often don't. I'm past the summit now and starting to go downhill now as I head toward Mahoney Ridge. Woo hoo! - Adjacent to that stand of grey pines, a lone manzanita grows in a field of chamise.
Sometimes manzanitas become big trees, and sometimes they seem to remain as shrubs. I wonder what this loner will grow into. Likewise, I wonder what the four manzanitas that I planted a few years ago on my property in downtown San José will become with age. - Coit Road descends toward the Mahoney Meadows area.
A bit beyond the oak grove ahead, Coit Road turns sharply and drops down into the canyon on the left, while Mahoney Meadows Road, my route today, continues along Mahoney Ridge. Park Headquarters, my destination tomorrow, is up in the direction of the high grassy ridge in the distance. - I pause along Mahoney Meadows Road to take in the view across the canyon to Willow Ridge on the other side.
It looks as if a very steep trail descends the face of Willow Ridge down into the canyon, on the right in the photo. Perhaps it's just massive erosion because I've not noticed any trail there on my maps. The more moderate (it didn't feel moderate!) Willow Ridge Trail that I had problems climbing on day two of the trip more or less rises up the slope in the centre-left of the photo. - Mahoney Meadows Road continues its descent along the ridge through the meadow.
There are a few short uphill segments along here, but it's mostly rather brisk downhill riding. - More picturesque rolling down Mahoney Meadows Road.
That short little hill just ahead turns out to be quite steep and I have a hard time dragging the 10-ton bike up it a few feet at a time. (My feet keep slipping back while I hold the bike in place with the brakes on.) Though I had to walk the bike on a few short stretches earlier today, this is the only demanding bike-dragging that I've had to do during the last few days. - The beautiful ride down Mahoney Meadows comes to an end when I reach the intersection of the China Hole Trail.
Actually, Mahoney Meadows Road continues down the hill to Los Cruzeros, where I crossed dry Coyote Creek on day two. But I'm not going that route now. From here at 1850 feet, the China Hole Trail drops down 700 feet over 2.1 miles. Though the ridge itself is quite steep, the many switchbacks along the trail make it a fairly gradual descent, by Henry Coe standards. At this intersection also begins the trail that leads down to Lost Spring. I'll camp tonight at the bottom of China Hole Trail. - A shady area on the upper part of the China Hole Trail.
This trail is popular with mountain bikers, yet I've never travelled it before, so I'm glad to finally ride it and see what it's like. I haven't come across any other visitors in the Park today, except for that bicyclist this morning passing through Pacheco Camp. - China Hole Trail pops out of the shady area and winds its way across an open meadow on the way down into the canyon.
Poverty Flat, which I rode through on day two, is in the canyon between the two hills on the left. - A few charming manzanitas further on down China Hole Trail.
I have a hard time resisting the urge to photograph manzanita trees for some reason. - The lower part of the China Hole Trail includes a number of switchbacks.
The shade here provides a nice cool-down cycle for the day's travels. - Another switchback on the lower part of China Hole Trail.
I walk the 10-ton bike around most of these switchbacks and on parts of the trail leading up to them. Even when walking the bike, negotiating them is sometimes a very technical exercise because they are tight, a bit steep, and there's hardly any trail width within which to manoeuvre. The unwieldy bike sometimes threatens to slide off the soft edge of the trail and down the hill, taking me with it, perhaps into a patch of poison oak as an additional bonus. This switchback here is really awkward to get down. Looking back, the short, steep and slippery rise suddenly levels out and turns sharply to the right just beyond the log on the ground. - A better view of that switchback in the previous photo.
It looks almost flat in this image. - The 10-ton bike waits a few feet above the rocky bottom of China Hole Trail while I look for a campsite.
The trail fizzles out somewhat near the bottom. Rather than risk getting the 10-ton bike stuck in the rocks on the way down, I'm down here seeing first where I want to bring the bike. - China Hole at sunset, looking northeast toward The Narrows.
Down here at 1150 feet, we're closed in by steep hills all around. This is mostly underwater during the winter months, but all that's left at this time of year are a couple of pools of water. Interesting fire-like reflection in the water. - Big grasses in the dry creek bed at China Hole, looking southwest down the canyon.
These grasses remind me of muhlenbergia, except that these have tall flower stalks rising up out of the middle. - After choosing a location for the tent, I bring the bike the rest of the way down to China Hole.
I've chosen to set up in front of those two big grasses that I like. It's rocky down here on the creek bed, so there aren't many spots where a tent should go. The best spot is right next to where the trail crosses the creek bed, so I may get a bit of traffic here. Hopefully not too much. This is a long weekend (Labour Day weekend), but the Park isn't so popular this time of year because it gets so hot up here. - Time to call it a day. The tent is set up at China Hole (looking northeast up the canyon).
Time to go in and relax a bit (and get away from the gnats buzzing around!) before making supper. Once I get inside, I hear voices, I think. No, it's not just leaves rustling in the breeze. I peer out the tent and see three or four backpackers further up the canyon, apparently looking to set up camp, which they do. There isn't supposed to be anyone else camping here tonight; there's just one site and I've reserved it. They stay out of sight, like good campers. After it gets dark and the gnats go away, I step outside to boil water for my last add-water-to-bag backpacker's meal; Mary Jane's Kettle Chili (vegan), supplemented by some spicy beef jerky on the side. The chili is really good, though I think of it more as a hearty lentil stew than as chili. I have an excellent sleep, again.