Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007, Christmas: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping / Day 4: Mountain-bike ride across Devil's Playground to Sands, California and back, Mojave National Preserve 36
I have enough water to last into tomorrow, so I'll stay here today and ride over to the abandoned settlement of Sands. I had hoped to camp at Sands last night, but I didn't make it that far. 13.5 bicycle miles.
- The first thing I do upon waking up is peer outside to see where I am, without leaving the comfort of my hooded sleeping bag
- An hour later, I step outside for a short walk around my new surroundings at Devil's Playground
- This wavy-leaved plant reminds me of the "soap root" plant that grows in the Bay Area
- These plants look like a cross between a daisy and a milkweed
- My scenic morning cat hole with Soda Lake in the background
- Leaving my campsite at the bottom of Jackass Canyon to ride across Devil's Playground over to Sands
- And away we go toward Sands down the power-line road...
- I reach heavy sand a quarter mile down the road and a pile of paint cans that were recently dumped here
- Some of the old pavement on the power-line road still functions as originally intended
- A couple of miles down from my tent, a branch in the road to the left will take me to Sands
- A few low hills jut up from the relatively flat landscape along the road to Sands
- On the way to Sands is the remains of an old plank road, built ages ago to provide "permanent" traction in the sand
- The pristine sand layer on this segment of the road to Sands leaves the impression that nobody has come down here recently
- A few hoops like these are mounted on sturdy metal posts in a sandy area a short distance from the road
- A carpet of low, ground-hugging plants casts an almost lush green tint over this area near Sands
- Sands should be just over there where the road comes to an end at the railroad tracks
- The railroad tracks at Sands cross the wash on a bridge
- I cross the train tracks to Sands and check out the remains of an old corral
- Beyond the corral at Sands is an old ranch fence that heads off into the distance
- On the other side of the corral crumbles part of an old wall
- I see just one extant structure at Sands: a shed next to what looks like part of an old water tower
- Inside the well-built shed sit some serious-looking mechanics
- Etched into the sheet metal wall is an oil-change reminder
- A large trough just outside the shed looks like it was intended to collect water pumped from the well
- Before heading back to camp, I ride 3/4 mile down the service road alongside the train tracks toward Kelso Dunes
- I'm not seeing new points of interest along the service road, so I cross the tracks and ride back up to Sands
- Back at the road between Sands and my campsite on the other side of Devil's Playground, I re-enter Mojave National Preserve
- Crossing a dry mud flat near Sands on the way back across Devil's Playground
- I'm back at that area of virgin sand, which I walk the bike through again
- One of the rocky hills along the road tempts me, so I get off the bike and climb up it
- This little hill provides expansive views across the Devil's Playground
- To the east sit the Kelso Dunes
- I look north toward Old Dad Mountain, the power-line road and my campsite at the bottom of Jackass Canyon
- On the way back down the hill to the bike, I notice a few verbena-like flowers
- I head back up the power-line road to camp, looking back toward Sands
- I arrive back at the tent just in time to enjoy a perfect Devil's Playground sunset