Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Death Valley National Park bikepacking / Day 5: Furnace Creek Campground to Monarch Canyon, Funeral Mountains

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Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2007: Death Valley National Park bikepacking / Day 5: Furnace Creek Campground to Monarch Canyon, Funeral Mountains 30

After the slow, scenic ride up to about 3700 feet near Daylight Pass, I descend a few hundred feet into Monarch Canyon on dirt roads.

Today I'm experiencing intermittent pain in my right knee that I've never had before. Perhaps it's caused by yesterday's hike (I don't usually do much walking).

I'm carrying two gallons of extra water in case the spring in Monarch Canyon turns out to be dry, which is making the uphill ride more demanding.

31.7 mostly uphill paved miles

I pack my Furnace Creek camp site into the saddlebags of the 10-ton bike
The 10-ton bike is ready to leave Furnace Creek
Leaving Furnace Creek campground and heading north on Highway 190
I'm here at the beginning of the Beatty Cutoff
A couple of motorcycles speed by
Starting up the Beatty Cutoff, the gradual slope of the road makes it look flat
A few dips in the road create very brief downhills on the way up Beatty Cutoff
A sharp turn in the Beatty Cutoff road on the way up
Looking back down to Death Valley from around 1000 feet elevation, near Keane Wonder Mine
I'm getting a few raindrops from the clouds passing over the mountains ahead
The rain clouds are moving around quickly
I look back down behind me again to Death Valley
Getting closer to Hell's Gate (where Beatty Cutoff ends at Daylight Pass Road)
Hurray, I've made it to Hell's Gate at 2000 ft and look back down into Death Valley
I walk up Daylight Pass Road a bit to get a view of the Hell's Gate entrance to Death Valley National Park
I begin the trudge from Hell's Gate up Daylight Pass Road
A bit above Hell's Gate, I turn back to see how much I've climbed since my rest stop there
An old rock wall along Daylight Pass Road
Sign for Corkscrew Peak, a popular climbing destination
Higher yet above Hell's Gate, I look back behind me again as I approach 3000-feet elevation
I know I'm very close now to the road toward Monarch Canyon (Chloride Cliff Road)
Ah! There it is, the gravel road toward Monarch Canyon (Chloride Cliff Road)
Signage at the entrance of the road toward Monarch Canyon (Chloride Cliff Road)
I'm so relieved to reach "the crest" on Chloride Cliff Road
The final two miles or so of today's ride are downhill
Riding down Monarch Canyon Road in search of a camp site for a night or two
Just before the end of Monarch Canyon Road
Home for the night is Monarch Canyon
A side canyon just around the corner from my camp site in Monarch Canyon
Though concealed in this view, the tent sits behind a small rocky outcrop in the centre of this photo in Monarch Canyon