Home 7119
- Just enjoying the view...
- Rainbow
- Dry lake storm brewing
- On-stage
- Tic tac toe
- Sundown over Poverty Flat
- Miller Field, Henry Coe State Park
- Dusk, Wagon Road
- Cattle pond near Wagon Road
- Tree of vultures, Center Flats Road
- Unexploded ordnance
- Slow burial
- We were here
- Not quite random
- Historic fencing
- Space between two houses, Bodie Ghost Town
- Arriving Primm, end of dirt road, entering the new suburban wasteland
- Time to get acquainted with my tent cabin at Nipton where I'll be spending the night
- I ride a couple hundred feet on pavement, then pull over into the Nipton parking lot to rent for tent cabin for the night
- Next stop Nipton!
- 10 beautiful-but-bumpy miles of riding along the train tracks from Ivanpah Rd to Nipton
- I zoom down the short paved stretch of Ivanpah Rd between Slaughterhouse Spring and the train tracks
- Ken and I chat for a while on the side of Ivanpah Road while his dog discovers roadkill nearby
- Time for some fun: downhill riding on Ivanpah Road toward Ivanpah Valley, leaving the inner part of Mojave Preserve
- I'm packed up and ready to leave my Ivanpah Road campsite near Bathtub Spring
- It was cold overnight, but I wake up to one last beautiful desert morning in Mojave National Preserve
- After our hearty chat, Ken drives away and I remount the 10-ton bike for the ride down Ivanpah Road on my way to Nipton
- Back on the 10-ton bike, riding down the dirt of Ivanpah Road, the pavement starts by that sign just ahead
- Back on a dirt road (Nipton-Moore Road): straight ahead are the McCullough Mountains; I wish I had time to head up there today
- Gotta love the bureaucrat sign here: This road is not maintained by San Bernardino County, etc
- My dirt-road riding comes to an end today as I arrive at the highway that is Nipton Road
- I can see the New York Mountains peaks from the porch of tonight's tent cabin at Nipton
- The other tent cabins on the Nipton property are vacant tonight, so it should be a quiet evening
- The nearly full moon is up already over the New York Mountains, waiting for the sun to go down
- After a good meal at the Nipton Café with good company, the real luxury is a shower for the first time after 8 backcountry days
- I get a good fire going in the stove in my Nipton tent cabin, but it takes me a while; I'm in bed before midnight
- I leave the bliss of my Nipton tent cabin before sunrise for the 12-mile ride to Primm, purposefully, as if it were a work day
- After passing Desert siding, no more pavement, and the final 7 miles to Primm will be on this bumpy surface
- As the sun begins to rise, the Clark Mountain Range catches a nice pink light
- I'm enjoying the sunrise glow, but anxious for the sun to rise completely and warm up my cold fingers!
- As the sun rises, the light cast on the Clark Mountain Range slowly morphs from pink to orange
- Pink and orange morning light have disappeared; now it's merely golden light
- At Primm, I stop for breakfast at the Mad Greek, and follow up with coffee at the Starbuck's; see y'all next year...
- It's so quiet up here on Ivanpah Road at sunset; I'm hoping the quiet lasts the whole night
- Therapeutic repetitious motion: riding into the Joshua tree forest on Ivanpah Road
- It's great to be riding up Ivanpah Road's smooth surface after walking the bike a few miles
- I take at break at the junction of the Mojave Road and Ivanpah Road
- I stop at the Mojave Road tollgate and deposit a few pennies
- Another short break on the Mojave Road, to refill the water in my bottle
- Vietnamese-deer-jerky break on the old Mojave Road
- OK, I'm now officially on the sandy part of the road; time to get off the 10-ton bike and push it!
- I make a stop at one of several junctions on the old Mojave Road, another decision point
- I pack up and begin riding westward on the old Mojave Road from Piute Gorge
- I'm up bright and early this morning to pack up camp and catch some sunrise glow on the Piute Gorge hills
- I hate packing up, but it's always fun to see all my stuff packed into the relatively small size of my saddlebags
- On some parts of the Mojave Road, I have nice views across Lanfair Valley to familiar areas like Table Mountain
- I ride past one of the many cairns that mark the Mojave Road
- I ride around a corner and discover more solid road surface on the old Mojave Road ahead
- I like these little rollers on the Mojave Road
- A long straight segment of the road waits for me ahead
- Oh, I like this: I get out of the sand for a short stretch
- I arrive at another 4-way intersection, thinking it's the Mojave Road, but it isn't
- I decide to try this rarely used road, but it quickly degenerates, so I turn back and decide to follow the main road again
- I turn around for a moment to look at my tire and foot tracks in the sand
- I stopped at this old corral when I rode past here a few nights ago
- Here I pass the only motor vehicle I'll see between Piute Gorge and Ivanpah Road
- I pass another intersection and I'm on the Mojave Road again (there's a bit of firm ground for me to ride on here)
- I pass a few early Desert mallow flowers along the Mojave Road
- A few segments of the Mojave Road, like this one, have essentially turned into a drainage channel
- I arrive at the junction of Lanfair Buttes Road, ride it a little, then turn back as soon as I reach more sand
- I know I'm getting close to Ivanpah Road when I can zoom in for a close-up of a nearby radio facility
- This stretch of the Mojave Road provides an off-camber driving experience
- It's always fun to pass by the old OX Ranch site on Ivanpah Road
- I ride over to the old windmill and corral at the OX Ranch site and spend a moment looking around
- It's that great time of day in the desert when the sun starts to go down
- I take a break here to watch the Joshua tree forest on Ivanpah Road turn orange
- Looking behind me (south) on Ivanpah Road, the lighting is a bit pinker
- The sunset colors change subtly, minute by minute, at this time of day
- The orange light has just stopped lighting up the Joshua trees, but still casts a glow on the Castle Mountains over there
- Two minutes later, the orange glow on the Castle Mountains is fading into pink as the belt of Venus forms
- A lavender glow continues to illuminate the Castle Peaks for a few more minutes
- On the Ivanpah Road, the belt of Venus has become the defining light
- Five minutes later, the belt of Venus still persists, stolid, colorfast
- I take one last look toward Hackberry Mountain into the fading sunset, put on my sweater, and ride away
- In less than an hour, I complete the gentle climb to the top of Ivanpah Road (4900 ft elev.); I stop to change my GPS batteries
- Almost 4 miles down Ivanpah Road, I pull into a wash and set up camp 1/10 mile in, concealed from the road; it's still cold here
- Elevation profile: Piute Gorge to Bathtub Spring by bicycle via Mojave Road and Ivanpah Road
- Route: Piute Gorge to Bathtub Spring by bicycle via Mojave Road and Ivanpah Road
- I climb up the hill a little, hoping to get around some of the brush along Piute Creek
- A little bit of bushwhacking as I explore Piute Creek, looking for a nice spot to sit down and filter water
- Another morning at Piute Gorge; strong winds this morning, and I try to sleep in a little
- Elevation profile of Old Government Road day hike to Piute Spring from Piute Gorge campsite
- Route of Old Government Road day hike to Piute Spring from Piute Gorge campsite
- A bird feather is stuck in this cholla cactus
- I arrive home at the tent just as it's getting dark; my first job is to add chlorine tablets to my water, to make if drinkable
- I drop down a final 150 feet with views across the entire Lanfair Valley to the New York Mountains
- I pick this spot in the shallow stream, just deep enough to filter water; lots of cottonwood leaves floating around
- Ooops, my water filter has clogged, so I resort to dipping my 10-litre water bag in the stream
- My water bag is 3/4 full now, so it's time to leave the quiet babbling brook and walk back up the hill to my campsite
- It's about 30 minutes before sunset, perfect time to be climbing a big hill in the Mojave Desert
- I end up off-trail for a short distance on my way up the hill
- I'm on the Old Government Road again here (the old alignment of what we today call the Mojave Road)
- Another view of the Old Government Road roadbed
- I turn around on my way up the Old Government Road to take in the sunset
- Almost at the top!
- The sunset and belt-of-Venus view at the top of the Old Government Road is as good as it's going to get
- There's a moon in the sky!
- I walk back down to the canyon floor: big rocks, willow trees and cottonwoods along Piute Creek
- Layers of roots, dropped foliage and sand drainage in this dry part of the Piute Creek bed
- I walk through a few cottonwood trees to get back to the stream that emanates from nearby Piute Spring
- I cross through some of the riparian brush at Piute Creek
- I don't find any of the old road, but I do find parts of a trail here in Piute Canyon
- I follow the trail a short distance up a hill, but this is headed away from the stream that I want to follow
- It's fun to explore randomly, but I'm also here to fetch more drinking water
- While getting ready for today's hike down to Piute Spring, I have my first and only sighting of humans for the day
- This part of the Piute Gorge Trail is marked by rocks, but there are few footprints here to keep the trail alive
- As I gain a little elevation, I can see the rounded corral that I rode past yesterday
- On my way up the hill, I pass by this engraved rock
- And here's another one...
- The Piute Gorge Trail joins the Old Government Road and I approach the crest
- Nice views across the next valley toward the Dead Mountains Wilderness area, outside Mojave National Preserve
- From here, I'll start winding my way downhill toward the Piute Spring area
- Today, not much remains of the Old Government Road except for some rock build-up
- Sometimes, the old trail is washed out
- I arrive at the wash headed toward Piute Creek and follow it downward
- At the bottom of the wash, I walk around looking for P G s that are indicated on one of my maps
- I start filtering water at Hackberry Spring at dusk, and finish just before dark
- I park the bike and go looking for the spring: I know it's here somewhere!
- I reach a relatively smooth patch of the road and can ride again, looks like I may make it to the spring before dark after all
- Now the fun begins, a bit of rough rolling-road mountain biking overlooking Lanfair Valley
- I turn on the road to the old Rattlesnake Mine site
- I ride west on the pipeline road toward the old Rattlesnake Mine area
- A bright and sunny morning overlooking Piute Gorge
- I arrive at the end of the road, happy to make it before dusk
- Elevation profile of bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine
- Round-trip bicycle route, Piute Gorge to Hackberry Spring via Rattlesnake Mine
- Just a few hundred feet further...
- I've just finished filtering my water and it's getting dark; time to ride back to camp at Piute Gorge, in those distant hills
- I ride 2 miles on Ivanpah Road before turning off on the Mojave Road to head back to Piute Gorge; I arrive home a bit past 21h
- I want this campsite!
- I'm almost at the spring, but it's much easier to walk up this rocky stretch than to try riding up it
- I come around a corner, and the sun is behind the mountains now
- Rocky hills along the road into the Hackberry Mountains
- Fine gravel!
- This private property in the Bobcat Hills area is marked by plastic pumpkins
- My road ends, and I scoot across Ivanpah Rd to start riding the road into the Hackberry Mountains
- The first part of the road into the Hackberry Mountains is a bit sandy and bit rough
- I pass an old corral in the Hackberry Mountain foothills
- Predictably, I have to walk the bike across this sandy wash crossing on the way into the Hackberry Mountains
- It looks like signage has been recently re-erected to remind people to not drive their 4WD vehicles in the Wilderness area
- This stretch of the road is pretty soft, and I have to walk the bike a bit
- This short, steep and eroded piece of road makes me wonder if it will get worse
- The road almost becomes invisible in a few spots on the way up the hill
- One thing I enjoy about this road is the changing landscape
- A scattering of Joshua trees dot this transitional Mojave landscape
- Sunset will be a couple of hours from now; I'm trying to decide whether to go all the way to Hackberry Mountain, ahead at left
- This unusual metal grate over a mine hole is apparently intended to keep the mine shaft open to bats
- The views from the Rattlesnake Mine rooster-comb extend all the way across the Lanfair Valley to the New York Mountains
- From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I still have views across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
- I take a look at some crumpled structure remains near Rattlesnake Mine before continuing my bike ride
- Everyone loves a good historic desert can dump, don't they?
- Beyond Rattlesnake Mine, the old road gently climbs another 200 feet or so
- From the Rattlesnake Mine site, I have a clear view across the valley to my Piute Gorge campsite, that slot in the distant hills
- A little further up Rattlesnake Mine Road, I decide to go for a short walk up to the top of the rooster-comb ahead
- A few yellow flowers (Encelia farinosa perhaps) bloom at the old Rattlesnake Mine site
- This part of the old Rattlesnake Mine site has great views over to both the Castle Peaks and the Castle Mountains
- I take a look down into the canyon at an old discarded truck before heading out on today's bicycle ride
- Shortly after I start today's bike ride, I ride past an old circular corral
- Inside the corral is a fire ring
- Just before I start riding up the pipeline road here, I run into Bryan and his sons in their pickup, and we have a great chat
- I have to walk the bike across several sandy wash crossings on the pipeline road
- Hiking down Piute Canyon is like entering another world
- I push my way through the willows and locate Piute Creek, then filter some drinking water just before dark
- Riding by Piute Gorge, looking for a campsite
- A walk around Piute Pond
- Riding toward the Piute Range
- Morning at The Lost Campsite
- Elevation profile of Piute Canyon/Piute Spring hike
- Hiking route: Piute Canyon to Piute Spring
- About two gallons of water filtered from Piute Spring, I hike back up the canyon to my campsite
- Elevation profile of bicycle ride to Piute Gorge
- Big boulders in Piute Canyon
- Piute Canyon: down we go...
- A half-moon looks down at me while hiking Piute Canyon
- It must be dramatic when water gushes down this well-worn drainage in Piute Canyon
- This huge ball of rocks seems to have tumbled down the hillside in Piute Canyon
- I should be close to Piute Spring now
- I come around another rocky bend and arrive at trees, mostly willows: Piute Spring is here somewhere
- I pass a few coyote melons on the way back up Piute Canyon and arrive at my campsite just before total darkness
- Here's a little rock shelter in Piute Canyon
- Colourful layers of earth are exposed in Piute Canyon
- Some of the layers are tilted
- Layers exposed by erosion
- This rock-wall segment in Piute Canyon has a crumpled appearance
- Rust and grey-blue in Piute Canyon
- Boulders strewn about in Piute Canyon
- Layers of sandy sediment are exposed here and there in Piute Canyon
- A couple of steep steps down here in Piute Canyon
- I pass through a slot in Piute Canyon
- Piute Canyon opens up a little