Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2008: Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping and Hike / Day 12: Keystone Canyon to Sunrise Rock near Cima Dome, Mojave National Preserve 28
My destination today is not set because I don't know if my rear rack repair will hold up or not. All I know for sure is that I'm riding toward Baker and need to get on pavement as soon as possible to reduce vibration on the bike.
I ride from Keystone Canyon at 5300 feet, down to Ivanpah Valley at 2650 feet. I ride up Morning Star Mine Road and end up taking a detour and camping at Sunrise Rock off Cima Road at 5000 feet due to strong wind. 40.3 bicycle miles.
- I get up a bit earlier than usual this morning in preparation for the potentially unpredictable day
- After a relaxing start to the morning, I empty the tent and begin packing up
- The last items to be removed from the tent are a big rock and my water bag
- Last night's strong wind continues this morning and tries to push the tent around while I get ready to dismantle it
- All packed up, I begin walking the bike down Keystone Canyon; my tripod blows over and my camera lands face-first and dies
- I walk my bike down the mostly-bumpy two miles of Keystone Canyon Road
- Well, I've been riding Ivanpah Road for a mile now and am passing the settlement of Barnwell again; so far, so good!
- Ivanpah Road rises over the pass and begins its slow descent down into the valley
- I really like this area of Ivanpah Road where my bike broke down a couple of days ago
- As Ivanpah Road comes out of the hills, views into the valley open up
- I pass the worn sign to the old Goldome mine
- With relief, I'm back on the paved part of Ivanpah Road now and I'm letting the bike gain speed as I ride down the smooth hill
- The final slow descent to the bottom of Ivanpah Valley passes beautifully
- Good things do come to an end, and I reach the bottom of Ivanpah Valley and the beginning of Morning Star Mine Road
- I have about 10 miles of uphill ahead of me on Morning Star Mine Road
- Morning Star Mine Road keeps climbing slowly up the fan
- I stop a few miles up Morning Star Mine Road and look back to see how far I've risen
- I take a break on the way up endless Morning Star Mine Road (at the old corral) and see a bicycle speed down the road
- I'm glad to finally be on the top of Morning Star Mine Road, but the headwind pushing me back is even more ferocious up here!
- After a couple of miles, I pass the Cima Store at 4200 feet, and it's actually open this time, at this late hour!
- The six-mile crawl up Cima Road rises another 800 feet up to 5000 feet elevation and is quite pleasant with very little traffic
- On the way up Cima Road, I pass the little dirt road that leads over to Cut Spring
- After six more uphill miles, I reach the little plateau at the top of Cima Road and turn down the dirt road to the campsites
- There's a lot of rock in this area, and this juniper tree growing in a crack between rocks is striking
- The first campsite has this beautiful tree for shade, but is too close to the paved road for my taste
- A half-mile down the dirt road, I select a campsite to left of the big rock pile here
- Sunset in the Cima Dome area is always beautiful, and tonight is no exception
- Mojave National Preserve map: Day 12: Keystone Canyon to Cima Dome via Ivanpah Road and Morning Star Mine Road