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Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2010, Mojave National Preserve / Day 1: Baker, California to Kelso Peak area, Mojave National Preserve /

Once across the I-15 freeway on Kelbaker Road, this Mojave National Preserve trip is really starting

3240-kelbaker-road.jpg This morning, after breakfast buffet at the Big Boy, I ride the bridge over the freeway and enter Mojave National PreserveThumbnailsA few miles further up Kelbaker Road is the "watch for tortoises" sign; I still haven't seen one yetThis morning, after breakfast buffet at the Big Boy, I ride the bridge over the freeway and enter Mojave National PreserveThumbnailsA few miles further up Kelbaker Road is the "watch for tortoises" sign; I still haven't seen one yetThis morning, after breakfast buffet at the Big Boy, I ride the bridge over the freeway and enter Mojave National PreserveThumbnailsA few miles further up Kelbaker Road is the "watch for tortoises" sign; I still haven't seen one yetThis morning, after breakfast buffet at the Big Boy, I ride the bridge over the freeway and enter Mojave National PreserveThumbnailsA few miles further up Kelbaker Road is the "watch for tortoises" sign; I still haven't seen one yetThis morning, after breakfast buffet at the Big Boy, I ride the bridge over the freeway and enter Mojave National PreserveThumbnailsA few miles further up Kelbaker Road is the "watch for tortoises" sign; I still haven't seen one yet

The freeway noise is still nearby, but behind me now, as I start my way up Kelbaker Road, into the great expanse of unpopulated desert. It's a great feeling each time I begin a trip by riding up this road, slowly leaving the "real world" behind.

Next services: 76 miles (I won't be going that far today). This sign is rightfully intended to scare you into a reality check if you haven't been out here before. Do you have water? Do you know where you will get your next water if you get a flat tire?