Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 11: Nipton to Sunrise Rock on Cima Dome, Mojave National Preserve 41
Bike ride to Cima Dome (Sunrise Rock) at 5000 feet from Nipton, back up Morning Star Mine Road, the same way I came down two days ago. 32 bicycle miles with 2630 feet elevation gain, average speed 6.8 miles per hour.
It's a warm morning down at Nipton (low 80s), so I'm looking forward to the cooler air higher up.
I leave Nipton with 12-13 litres of water: my four 1.5-litre water bottles and two-litre camelbak are full, and my 10-litre water bag is about half full.
- I'm up early this morning to have breakfast at the Nipton café and pack up the tent
I slept well last night, except for the feeling that I was about to be run over by a train that passed through Nipton at 1h. The odour of the leach field under the boards by tent tent is fairly strong this morning. - I walk over to the Nipton café and Bill cooks me another tasty omelet with Asian vegetables and shrimp
Breakfast is long and relaxing and I have two cups of decent, but not espresso, coffee. Bill and I chat a lot. I'm the only diner on this quiet Tuesday morning. - In front of the Nipton store is a Mojave National Preserve information kiosk; the Preserve begins just beyond the train tracks
The pass straight ahead in the distance is the top of Morning Star Mine Road near Cima, my route today out of Ivanpah Valley, and it's also the way I came here two days ago. - I take a another shower before leaving Nipton (probably my last one for a week) and brush my teeth
The Nipton shower building is baking hot inside and today's sweat has already begun. It's already 83 degrees, but this is actually a reasonable temperature for the Ivanpah Valley in June. It was hotter here a couple of weeks ago. - After filling up my water supply and stopping at the store for a cold iced tea, I'm on my way down Nipton Road just after noon
I hang out at the store a bit before leaving, chatting with the clerk and a customer. I'll ride seven miles across Ivanpah Valley, slightly downhill, then turn left on Ivanpah Road just before I reach the mountains ahead. Today I'm carrying 12-13 litres of water: my four 1.5-litre water bottles and two-litre camelbak are full, and my 10-litre water bag is about half full. Nipton Road is not in Mojave National Preserve, but all the land to my left is. - I turn south on Ivanpah Road and am welcomed by this flash-flood warning sign
I have just over three miles of almost-flat road ahead of me, so I had better enjoy it while I have it! - Also near the beginning of Ivanpah Road is one of those "entering Mojave National Preserve" monuments
Crap, I have a really strong headwind, which I have had in this area on previous Mojave National Preserve trips. It feels uphill already, even though I haven't even started the day's climb yet! - I reach the junction of Morning Star Mine Road and turn right
Great views from here across Ivanpah Valley to the New York Mountains, which I need to revisit one day. - OK, the long, slow, dreaded climb up Morning Star Mine Road is officially on
I've been at it for about half an hour now. It's not steep at a grade of one-to-two percent, but the relentless headwind and the heavy bike make for slow meditation as I move upward against gravity. - Morning Star Mine Road rises over 11.5 miles from 2750 feet elevation to about 4285 feet
Morning Star Mine Road is a lot of fun to ride down, but is somewhat boring in the uphill direction. With a speed limit of 55 miles per hour, traffic on this road is fast and demands that a bicyclist remain attentive. It's not a really busy road, but it is probably the busiest in Mojave National Preserve. It's best ridden during the week when traffic is lighter. - After almost two hours of climbing, I reach the corral, my favourite landmark (one of the only ones) on Morning Star Mine Road
I took a short break earlier, and now it's time for another. I'm having some heartburn (maybe I shouldn't have put so much hot sauce on my omelet this morning), but I eat half a chocolate-mint Clif bar anyway because I need the sugar and caffeine. While taking a break here during my 2006 Mojave National Preserve trip, I met a generous pipe-smoking man who was camping here and gave me my first Camelbak (and even filled it with ice and water from his RV). - I go for a walk around the Morning Star Mine Road corral to cool down a little
After 940 feet of elevation gain and 8.5 miles of slow uphill, I'm about 2/3 up the hill. The faint coolness in the wind at this elevation feels great and efficiently converts my generous sweat into salt residue. But my water is hot. - Behind the Morning Star Mine Road corral is a dirt road that crosses the fan to the base of the New York Mountains
This road might be a good route earlier in the year when there's still a chance of getting some water over there at Garvanza Spring at the base of the New York Mountains. - Onward and upward on the final three miles of climbing of Morning Star Mine Road
I'm ready to tackle this hill, this headwind, this heartburn. Intermittent crosswinds are mildly destabilizing, but still better than the headwind. The grade is a tad steeper here, mostly three-to-four percent, and occasionally five. - I divert my attention away from the climb by staring off into the distance at the Butcher Knife Canyon area of the Mid Hills
I camped two nights near Butcher Knife Canyon during last year's Mojave National Preserve trip and really enjoyed that area. Howe Spring, which I visited last week, is on the other side of Butcher Knife Canyon. - Finally I've made it to the top of Morning Star Mine Road
The road bears left here at the summit, then I'll have 3.5 miles of almost-flat downhill before I reach the Cima store. I've never been up the dirt roads that depart here to my right, one of which leads to the old Billy Boy Mine site. - Two miles before the Cima store, Morning Star Road passes under one of the big power lines that cross the Mojave Desert
I could shave a few miles off my trip by taking the shortcut road that follows the power lines up to Cima Road, like I did during my 2006 Mojave National Preserve trip, but I want to see if the Cima store is open. - Oh well, Cima store is closed, but I wasn't really expecting it to be open
Cima store isn't supposed to be open after 16h, but when I passed by here last year one day around 17h, it was open. One never knows what to expect here, so I'm carrying enough water such that I won't die of thirst if the store is closed. - The 10-ton bike takes a short rest by the Cima store before the final six-mile ride up Cima Road to Cima Dome
I'll rise 800 feet over six miles on Cima Road to Sunrise Rock on Cima Dome, but it will be easy because I'll have the wind pushing me from behind now. - On my way out of "town," I'll check out these collapsing old houses just up the road from the Cima store
I've passed by these structures a few times during previous Mojave National Preserve trips, but never bothered to stop and explore them. - An old stove is crushed beneath the collapsed roof of this house at Cima, Mojave National Preserve
Though abandoned and collapsed today, someone once, perhaps 80 years ago, meticulously nailed all these boards together. - Old hardwood-flooring slats peer out from beneath the debris of this abandoned house at Cima, Mojave National Preserve
From this view of the corner of the old house, it looks like it had no foundation. - It always amazes me that houses like this one at Cima can be left to decay literally to the point of collapsing
I guess I've lived too long in expensive urban areas where even modest houses are usually still worth maintaining in a livable state. - Old refigerator in the back porch of an abandoned house at Cima, Mojave National Preserve
The back porch doesn't have exterior walls anymore. - Inside one of the rooms of the collapsing house at Cima
There's no plaster left on the walls at all; maybe there never was any. - The front exterior of the collapsing house at Cima
The house has three front doors, an unusual arrangement (one of the doors is hidden by the post in the photo). - I get back on the 10-ton bike and start riding up to the top of the Cima Dome hill
Teutonia Peak, the small mountain ahead, sits on Cima Dome off to the left of the summit of the road, while larger Kessler Peak lies to the right. - I turn around for a view back down to Cima while climbing up Cima Road
Panoramic views of the Mid Hills from here. Eagle Rocks, where I hiked last week, is the small pointy, light-grey outcrop on top of the hills. This photo makes the Cima area below look like a valley, when it's really a pass. To the left, the terrain drops slowly down to Ivanpah Valley (I just came up that way). To the right, the land slopes down into the Kelso Valley, where I spent the first two nights of this trip. - A little further up Cima Road is the Kessler Springs Ranch property, which is inhabited and off-limits to Preserve visitors
The ranch does contain water from Kessler Springs, but it's unfortunately not made available to bikepackers or backpackers passing by. A beautiful location for a ranch. - Across Cima Road from Kessler Springs Ranch is a dirt road that leads to Cut Spring
Cut Spring may, or may not, have water. It's just under two miles down the road and I'm tempted to check it out. However, the road could be slow, and I want to camp near the Cima Road summit tonight to facilitate tomorrow's ride to Pachalka Spring. - At the summit of Cima Road, I pull in at Sunrise Rock and go about selecting a campsite
The "blank sign" atop the rock here has been the subject of much controversy. It's actually a cross that's temporarily covered by a wooden box because religious promotion (the cross) is not permitted on national park lands. - I ride down the sandy road by Sunrise Rock to choose a campsite
There are a number of campsites to choose from in this scenic area, the main disadvantage being that a couple of them are close to the paved road. Sunrise Rock is easy to drive to, so it's probably not the best place to camp on a weekend. - A half a mile beyond Sunrise Rock, I choose a campsite next to a rock pile where I camped last year and set up my tent
I guess this is my favourite campsite here since I've returned to it without intending to do so. Nobody else seems to be camping in the area on this Tuesday evening, which is fine with me. - Cool winds up here on Cima Dome at 5000 feet have dried my sweat; crunchy salt stains remain
Though expensive, these lightweight merino-wool T-shirts are excellent and don't get nearly as smelly as my cotton shirts after a day or three of hot and sweaty activity. - From my tent on Cima Dome, I watch a jackrabbit hop around a lot, digging small holes along the way
The jackrabbit doesn't notice me at first. I'm not sure what he was looking for, but it doesn't look like he found it. - I'm really hungry, so I get out my pot and propane burner, but decide to take sunset photos instead of cooking supper right away
Though I'm not quite on the summit of Cima Dome itself here (I'd have to hike a couple of miles west to get there), this site offers excellent views of the setting sun in the west. - I hop around the rocks that surround my Cima Dome campsite and catch the pre-dusk orange desert glow
Gusty winds up here make a lot of noise, but occasionally they stop for a few moments, and then everything is quiet and peaceful. I can even hear a train six miles away passing through Cima down below. - When I think of the Cima Dome area, I think of gorgeous sunsets, and tonight is no exception
Whenever the wind dies down for a moment, I hear crickets singing. A bird whistles so perfectly a few times that it sounds like a human nearby. Aren't I the only human around here right now, except for the occasional passing car on Cima Road? It is a bit chilly tonight. Chilly in the Mojave Desert in June? Yes, because I'm in the desert mountains. I would need to put on my long pants and sweater if I were spending a significant amount of time outside tonight. Spring evenings are beautiful up here at 5000 feet, but it can snow sometimes during the winter months. - Sunset glows around the distant Clark Mountain range tonight
I'll visit that area tomorrow; Pachalka Spring to be exact. I finally cook my add-boiling-water-to-bag supper, Mountain House Beef Stew. Delicious as usual. I hear a noise outside my tent, can't decipher it at first, but it proves to be a kangaroo rat playing hide-and-seek with me. This has happened previously while camping in this area, so I bring my Camelbak inside my tent, knowing that they are attracted to the moisture on the drinking nib. For dessert I listen to a pack of yipping coyotes a few miles away very busy with something. I also hear an occasional car speed by on Cima Road a half mile away. A few moths flit against my tent, but there are almost no flies tonight. The moon is bright tonight, illuminates the land, and rocks me to sleep, and it's not even a full moon yet. - Nipton to Sunrise Rock (Cima Dome) bicycle route (Day 11)
32 bicycle miles, 2630 feet elevation gain. - Nipton to Sunrise Rock (Cima Dome) elevation profile (Day 11)
32 bicycle miles, 2630 feet elevation gain.