Home / Mojave Preserve and Desert bikepacking trips / 2009, Spring: Mojave National Preserve / Day 12: Cima Dome (Sunrise Rock) to Pachalka Spring by bicycle, Mojave National Preserve 47
I've wanted to visit Pachalka Spring at the base of the Clark Mountain Range during previous Mojave National Preserve trips; today I'm finally doing it.
From my Cima Dome campsite near Sunrise Rock at about 5000 feet, it's downhill to the Valley Wells area near Interstate 15, then up rough roads to 4950 feet near Pachalka Spring.
19.2 bicycle miles with 1370 feet of elevation gain, the last few miles of it walked. Maximum speed for the day is 30.2 miles per hour, but average speed is only 7 miles per hour due to hike-a-biking.
- It's a pleasant, breezy morning up here on Cima Dome, about 70 degrees, and a bit overcast
Some early sun heated up the tent a little, then clouds blew in to let me sleep in until around 8h45. After two mornings of Bill's cooked breakfasts at Nipton's Whistle Stop Café, it's back to lots of granola and dried fruit today (pears, plums and nectarines). As usual, I also eat tamari almonds, and drink a small pot of hot tea, in addition to a cup of electrolyte-replacing drink. - Nearby is Kessler Peak and an old mining to the north, which might make a nice hike
I toy with the idea of spending another night here. I started the day with about 5.5 litres of water, but I would probably need more to stay overnight. I could ride down to the Cima store to buy some, but there's no guarantee that it will be open. - I decide to head to Pachalka Spring as originally planned; my campsite slowly morphs into a well-packed 10-ton bike
On a future trip, I hope to do another hike in the Cima Dome area like I did last year. With only a few more days left on this trip, my goal is to make it to Pachalka Spring in the Clark Mountain Range, which I haven't visited yet. While packing up, an SUV passes by my campsite on the dirt road, the only motor vehicle I've seen back here since arriving yesterday evening. - I ride the half-mile up the dirt road from my Cima Dome campsite and reach the pavement of Cima Road at noon sharp
I hiked to Teutonia Peak ahead, and beyond over the summit of Cima Dome to Deer Spring during last year's trip. An excellent hike worth repeating some day. - Along Cima Road is a large patch of exposed rock
Somehow, a couple of juniper trees manage to grow in cracks in the rock here. - I zoom down the 12 miles of gentle Cima Road grade to Valley Wells at Interstate 15
With the wind behind me, I hit 30 miles per hour while descending from 5000 feet elevation down to 3730 feet. - On the way down the Cima Road hill, I stop at an old corral and water tank
Since there are a few ranches in the area, I'm curious as to whether these facilities are still being used. - Well, the cistern in this old corral along Cima Road is dry, so I presume the big water tank nearby is empty too
The cistern would still collect water when it rains, hence its rusty bottom, but the corral doesn't look like it's being used any more. The dirt road by the corral leads east to mining areas that I haven't visited yet. - I continue whooshing down Cima Road and can now see trucks on Interstate 15 in the distance
The lower part of Cima Road is paved with that brick-red material that one finds here and there in the Mojave. I'm guessing that it's a material native to the area, but I don't know what it is. - The bottom of Cima Road exits Mojave National Preserve; I take a break by the monument that folks see upon entering the Preserve
There is a disconnected piece of Mojave National Preserve on the other side of Interstate 15, the Clark Mountain Range area, which I'll enter in a while. - Cima Road rises up to a bridge that crosses over Interstate 15 and I stop at the gas station store here to fuel up on supplies
A large grader, or something like that, is coming down off the bridge. - I buy three gallons of water at the Valley Wells gas station store at I-15 and take a nice long break
I pour the water into my bottles, Camelbak and water bag. I also buy a can of Coke (which I rarely do) and El Sombroso salsa corn chips that are so good that I go back for seconds. A couple of big bottles of Newcastle beer max out my carrying capacity. It's a treat to find good beer out here in the desert, which is often a sea of pissy commercial beer. I buy a pack of napkins too, and bungee my water bag onto the top of my front rack, which will make steering nice and heavy. - The urinal in the washroom at the Valley Wells gas station is truly unique
This epoxy festival is unlike anything I've ever urinated into. - The Valley Wells urinal is so unique that an adjacent handwritten sign tells you that, "yes, this IS a urinal!"
They even sell postcards at the store here with photos of this urinal. - The washroom sink at the Valley Wells gas station matches the urinal in its unique epoxy tackiness
So much for privacy; the huge mirror at the sink affords a big view of the urinal behind you, the hand-washer. - Replenished with lots of water in case there is none at Pachalka Spring, I ride over the bridge above Interstate 15
After not seeing all that many cars during the past week and a half in Mojave National Preserve, these vehicles speeding down the I-15 freeway are quite the spectacle. - Looking over to the Clark Mountain Range from the Cima Road bridge over I-15, I try to discern the location of Pachalka Spring
I haven't been to Pachalka Spring before, but it should be at the base of one the mountains in the distance. The woman working at the Kelso Depot visitor centre last week didn't know if Pachalka Spring would have water or not. - 1.5 miles beyond Interstate 15, I reach the dirt road that will take me to Pachalka Spring and bear right
There are several minor roads in this area, so I've loaded my route into my Delorme GPS and am careful to make sure I take the correct road. - I stop at the old Valley Wells town site to check out the final remnants of the wall of a mud-brick building
Of course, one wonders how long ago there was an actual building here and how long it took to deteriorate this much. Was the deterioration due to weather or vandalism, or both? - Nearby is the metal skeleton of an old counter or stove
In true desert fashion, it has been shot up many times. - A big tree, partly broken, near the old Valley Wells town site
There's even a bit of small green grass around this tree, probably due to the spring nearby. Native vegetation is absent right here, so perhaps it was once somebody's lawn. - Re-entering Mojave National Preserve, this time in the smaller part of the Preserve that's north of Interstate 15
This northern piece of the Mojave National Preserve consists mostly of the Clark Mountain Range. - My road splits, and I follow the right fork leading toward the Clark Mountain Range and Pachalka Spring
This road to my right doesn't appear in the maps in my GPS, so I had to record it in advance of my trip as an off-road route. - I start riding up the fan on the road to Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve, straight toward the Clark Mountain Range
The road has been mostly rideable so far, but it's deteriorating, so I'm expecting to do a bit of bike-hiking soon. But maybe not, who knows. - An hour later, Pachalka Spring Road climbs up through a wash
I've been walking the bike off and on, but the gravel here has me in walking-only mode. I don't mind, as I was counting on a road that is absent from my GPS maps to be rough, or perhaps even impassable to some motor vehicles. - Pachalka Spring Road was climbing slowly at 3-5 percent grade for a while, but now the grade is 5-10 percent
I hike the bike slowly, but steadfastly, taking many short pauses. I keep on rolling. I'm sweating a lot, but the semi-overcast day has helped a lot in keeping me from seriously overheating like I did down at the hotter Cornfield Springs area. - As always, I look behind me frequently to see how much I've risen, to reassure myself that my work is creating progress
One feature that I keep noticing behind me on the way up this grade is the Sawtooth, that distinct little notch in the distant mountains in the centre of this photo. I haven't visited that part of Mojave National Preserve. - Pachalka Spring Road has slowly made its way up onto a low ridge
Prior to this trip, I studied this area extensively using Google Earth and it's interesting to finally see it live. The road needs to dip down into and out of a wash before it can reach Pachalka Spring. - Looking to my left (north), I see a patch of green trees, which must be Pachalka Spring
It's not apparent in this photo, but a steep gulley divides the area where I'm standing and Pachalka Spring. The road makes a gradual detour around this obstacle. - After a couple hours of hike-a-biking, it's a pleasure to remount the bike and ride down into the wash south of Pachalka Spring
This little downhill only lasts a quarter-mile, and descends less than 100 feet, but is a nice break. Clark Mountain is the peak ahead, Mojave National Preserve's highest point. - After passing through an extensive gravelly area in the wash south of Pachalka Spring, the road abruptly rises a short distance
Sharp, shiny rocks here look like a great place to get a flat tire. Some short stretches of the road along here register at 10-15 percent grade. - In the area above Pachalka Spring, I find the ruins of an old house
A bush is growing through the concrete floor of what was perhaps once the living room. In the foreground, one sees modern concrete slabs superimposed on an earlier rock foundation. - Only a small piece of the stone walls remains of the house that once stood near Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve
The remainder looks like a cold-storage room due to its concrete walls and ceiling. - Pachalka Spring Road just west of the ruins doesn't look like it gets much traffic
I ride in the more spacious left-tire track. - Im not sure yet where I'll set up my tent; I park my bike and walk down the short road toward the green trees at Pachalka Spring
I probably don't want to camp out too close to Pachalka Spring itself. I don't want to disturb the animals that visit the spring, and I don't want to be disturbed by them either. - A campfire ring by the trees adjacent to Pachalka Spring makes for an enticing place to set up camp
I haven't seen the water at Pachalka Spring yet, if there is any, but this is closer to the spring than I want to camp, running water or not. - Down in the wash below Pachalka Spring are more ruins
Remnants also exist of a low rock retaining wall and a faint road passes by at the right. - With Pachalka Spring's greenery behind me, I walk back to my bike and look for a spot to set up my tent
I notice an elderberry tree down in the wash, which I didn't know grows in the Mojave Desert (I have one in my backyard). Then I scare a bunch of quail and two small black-throated black-tailed birds on the way up the hill. I set up my tent in a decent clearing along Pachalka Spring Road, presuming that there won't be any significant traffic passing by while I camp here for a couple of days. - Before sundown, I go for another short walk over to Pachalka Spring
I walk through thick grass looking for signs of water. I have plenty of water for tonight and most of tomorrow, but I want to ascertain if there is water here that I will be able to filter later. - I hear a trickle of water somewhere nearby, so I walk past the yellow mesquite blooms into the patch of yerba mansa flowers
I keep watching for snakes, as this seems like a perfect place for them to loiter inconspicuously. I've seen several huge black bees in the area, but no snakes yet. - There it is, Pachalka Spring, bubbling up from a pipe in the middle of the yerba mansa patch
I feel reassured knowing I can get water here tomorrow if needed. The cool, clean water drops into a metal tub and the overflow creates a small downward stream under much brush and grass. - A tree that I've never seen before is blooming profusely in the moist area just below Pachalka Spring
The twisted trunk of the tree is vaguely manzanita- or madrone-like, but the leaves don't look like either of those trees. - The blossoms on this tree look almost like the flowers of a Palmer's penstemon; hummingbirds probably love these
However, the large heart-shaped leaves remind me more of a cottonwood than anything else. - Most of the day's clouds have lifted in the south and I can see that it's getting close to full moon
This view looks southeast from my tent up Pachalka Spring Road. The moonlight turns out to be spectacular later in the evening when I don't even need a flashlight to go outside to urinate. - The view northwest from my Pachalka Spring campsite provides no colourful sunset this evening due to cloud cover
The wind picks up later in the evening. I see the Kingston Range from here toward the right and a few flashes of light make me wonder if there is lightning somewhere, or perhaps just a few happy campers down by the power-line road. Supper tonight is Mountain House Sweet and Sour Pork (tasty again), some Trader Joe's teriyaki beef jerky, and those two bottles of Newcastle beer that I bought earlier at the Valley Wells store (and which are still somewhat cool). I feel like I really need all those calories. There were a lot of flies around when I first got here, but they dissipate with the setting sun. In addition to the strong late-evening winds, I listen to quail clucking around sunset, crickets throughout the evening, a bit of airplane noise from Las Vegas, and some distant freeway traffic rumbling from Interstate 15 a few miles away. After writing a journal entry for the day, I read some of Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" and finally get to sleep around 1h30. The moonlight is beautiful tonight. - Bicycle route from Cima Dome (Sunrise Rock) to Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve (Day 12)
19.2 bicycle miles with 1370 feet of elevation gain. - Elevation profile of bicycle route from Cima Dome (Sunrise Rock) to Pachalka Spring, Mojave National Preserve (Day 12)
19.2 bicycle miles with 1370 feet of elevation gain.