Orange County to Las Vegas, Oct 29 - 31, 2010: Day 2

Note:  If you haven't already, you may want to start the this journal from Day 1.

Here is the link for Day 1:   Orange County to Las Vegas - Day 1  

Day 2:  Joshua Tree -- Baker (Oct 30, 2010)

I arrived 9:30p last night in Joshua Tree, but wasn't able to get to bed till about midnight.  Refueling with food and drink, taking a shower, unpacking and repacking for the next day, washing out all water bottles, making small but critical adjustments to the bicycle and and and.  There is so much to do after a trip and to prepare for the next day.  I'm in good spirits though having arrived in Joshua Tree, literally at the gateway to the desert.  After the heart-dropping experience of being nearly hit by a fast moving car, I'm glad to leave civilization and those dangerous roads behind me for a few days.  


Day 2 is going to be the longest leg of this entire trip, nearly 140 miles (225 km).  That meant having to wake up early, i.e. only 4 1/2 hours of sleep.  Surprisingly, I'm awake and refreshed at 4:30a.  Another 1 - 1 1/2 hour passes till I'm all packed, had breakfast (bowl of pasta) and ready to go.  I take off from Joshua Tree around 6a.  It's still dark outside, but few sunrays are peaking out from the horizon, offering a spectacular view.  


I'm on the move and put an unprecedented pace right from the start.  The infamous 29 Palms Highway (CA Hwy 62), which gave me such grief yesterday is still rather empty at this early hour of the day.  I'm trying to take advantage of this favorable traffic condition as I only have to ride on this road for a few miles today.  As a result, I average on flats about 23 mi/hr (37 km/h) in spite some dull pain on my right upper knee/lower quad.  

Joshua Tree at sunrise

A last look at the infamous 29 Palms
Highway (CA Hwy 62) which gave me so
much pain and grief.  This early in the
morning it is rather empty.

I stop by briefly at a cafe to get some coffee and to swap my early morning outfit with the day outfit.  I carry two sets of outfits (set of clothes) with me -- one for the day, one for the night.  The one for the day contains a running t-shirt, a long sleeve, a light sweater, sunglasses, and shorts.  The night outfit has clear see through glasses, 6-7 layers of shirts and sweatshirts, and two pairs of long pants.  I thought this combination worked out well aside me changing clothes like Superman in a phone booth at least twice a day.

One last look at Joshua Tree National Park.  The city in front is Twenty Nine Palms.

And here it is.  Welcome to the Desert!

One remarkable characteristic in the desert are the endlessly long and straight roads.  They can stretch at times for 10-15 miles (16-25 km).  This phenomena is especially remarkable at the night.  You see the next city sometime 20 miles (32 km) or more before you arrive.  Especially from a bicycle it feels like you never arrive.  A car zooming by me travelling 55 mi/hr (88.5 km/h) can be still seen vanishing into the horizon for another 10-15 mins after it has passed.  The distances in the desert are mind-boggling and awesome, the experience accentuated from a pedaling bicycle.      

A view to the front left as I'm riding Amboy Road, the road that cuts through the desert, from Twenty Nine Palms to Amboy.

A view to the left.

Equally, a view to the front right.

At first, it seems there is not much here.  Hardly any vegetation, no trees, just bushes, sand, rocks, and rising mountains in the background.

A view back from the road I just travelled.

Even after riding for almost 30 mins -- the landscape seems like it has hardly changed.  Also, it seems there is hardly anyone who lives here.... BUT ...

Evidence shows to the contrary... Who says nobody lives in the desert?  

My bike and I take a short break.  We have been on a high pace -- average shows about
21 miles / hour (33.8 km/h) the last few hours since we took off from Joshua Tree.

HA!  Finally the endless stretch of straight road comes to an end!  A curve!  Can you believe that?  I thought the straight road would never end....

... and immediately begins with an incline to the pass (seen on the left).  

A look back to the Joshua Tree Mountains.

Once you climb higher, an amazing view of the valley where Joshua Tree, Twenty Nine Palms and Yucca Valley are located emerges. 

One last look before I leave this valley behind me...

A quick self-portrait to prove that I was here!  Otherwise, people may think this
whole journal is some kind of elaborate Hollywood production, my whole trip
some kind of scam and I'm scanning and posting pictures on this blog from
pictures taken from a book. Hahahaha. 

The mountain range in front is called the Sheep Hole Mountain HP (High Point).  I'm not sure I get the "sheep hole" connotation, but the view is impressive nonetheless.

A closer look at the Sheep Hole HP -- I was diligently looking for "sheep holes" (whatever they are) on the sides of the mountain range, with no luck. The walls were rock-solid and not a single sheep to see.

The landscape changes in subtle ways as I leave one valley and enter the next.  Each valley, it seems has its own colors and contours.  I found out the desert comes in many shapes and forms.  What I found fascinating here is that the mountain ranges don't have a single piece of green on their slopes, probably because the walls of the mountains are just pure rock where absolutely nothing can grow and insufficient moisture and virtually no rain exists in this area.

Endless... timeless... The mountain range in the far back are the Marble Blue Mountains. 

I'm able to see mountain ranges which are 50-70 miles (80 - 112 km) away...

An unnamed mountain range in front.  In the back, the Ship Mountains HP (High Point). 

What fun to ride down this mountain pass (this shot is taken looking back).  Straight, well-paved roads, little
wind (at this time) provide ideal conditions for a high-speed ride.  I achieve my personal record on this stretch of
road -- 43.6 miles / hour (70.1 km/h) !!!!  And that speed is achieved with applying breaks and sitting upright
while biking!  I'm sure I could have reached at least near 50 mi/h (80 km/h) here, but didn't want to take that risk
by pushing my luck.  Plus my gear hasn't been tested for such speeds yet.  But it's an exhilarating feeling
to reach such speeds.

This road ends after few hours in Amboy, where one is greeted by a some white dust in the sand... I'm curious.  What is this?  Why is this so white?

It turns out it is ... salt.  This whole desert -- this entire valley is a dried out salt-lake as this whole region used to be undersea hundred thousands / perhaps million years ago.

It's quite remarkable to see all the salt lying around in the middle of nowhere.  It turns out this salt found here is actually industrially harvested in massive amounts and used as road-salt all over the country.  So when you buy a bag of salt from the hardware store to de-ice your sidewalk in the north or other colder regions of the U.S....well, here's where it probably comes from.

And this is how the salt is harvested.  Huge machines dig long ridges into the ground, which immediately fill with salt water.  Yes, underneath this valley in this desert is water -- but it's salt water, for which reason almost nothing substantial (such as trees) grow on the surface.  The water then evaporates, leaving the salt behind.  The salt then is collected, cleaned and processed through various steps and shipped through freight trains all across the U.S.

Technically what is harvested here is Sodium Chloride and Calcium Chloride -- road salt.

The earth dug up pile up over time forming these neat small hills next to these salt-ponds...

Indeed, the wind has picked up for some reason and I'm getting constant headwind.

I'm almost in Amboy, which is known for various attractions.  One of them is a volcano / crater, which allegedly erupted less than 500 years ago -- a blink of an eye in geological terms.  I'm in a rush to get to Baker, so I don't stop by at the crater. 

City Limits of Amboy on Route 66!  

This is what Amboy is known for -- Roy's Cafe on Route 66 -- an icon from the past.  I heard the Pixar movie "Cars" was mapped after this town in many ways.  The white houses in the back are renovated houses for a future motel (as it used to be).  It is a costly endeavor and will take another 4-5 years.

Inside the Cafe, it's cool and cozy.  Friendly staff/people who are eager to help.
A great place.  On the right some German Tourists.  Indeed, I have seen more
German and French tourists in this little town than back home in Orange County.
Not shown, but there is a TV that shows some football games -- and among all possible
games they could have put their TV on, it's Michigan football (I'm a Michigan Alumni)!  

I have to say, people here are much more friendlier
than I have seen elsewhere.  For one, when you bicycle
on the roads here, most people wave!  Inside the cafe,
people help you out in any way they can.  The cafe
still is about 2 years away from being allowed to
serve real cooked food.  Even coffee they are only
allowed to serve instant due to strict sewage
regulations.  Right now they only serve ready-made
food (such as chips, pastries, and bread).  But I think
it is already a great place.  The fellow here
is one of the staffers who helps me out to supply me
with water and food.

Memorabilia from the past.  Amboy was bought few years ago by the Millionaire Albert Okura, who owns the El Pollo Loco chain, for about 1/2 million dollars.  Albert still shows up about once a week here and personally delivers supplies to this town I was told.  He is working hard today to make a renaissance of this town possible.  For people not familiar with Route 66: long before the Interstate freeway (in the 40s and 50s), almost all traffic heading to the west passed through this town as it was bustling and hustling with activity then.

Danny, who has been the proprietor of Roy's cafe
the last few years.  I think he is doing a great job to revive this place. 

Riding on Route 66!

Amboy itself is a small small town/village.  Some argue that population in this city is 4.  I didn't see much to the contrary.  But it has a post office in the front and a church in the back and perhaps a house or two on the right (not seen).  Aside from the Cafe, that's pretty much it for the city.

Right outside passed Amboy there has been a dead tree for many years where people from all over the world made it to a common practice to hang up their shoes to let the world know they have been here.  I know this tree was up just a year or two ago.  It must have finally caved in to the weight all these shoes have been creating over the years...

After a good hour break in Amboy, I'm finally continuing with my trip and it immediately begins to climb.  A final look back to the town of Amboy at the end of the street and the Amboy volcano/crater in the background.

I don't stay on Route 66 too long, but have to take a street north, called Kelbaker Road which will bring me to Kelso and Baker, straight through the heart of the Mojave Preserve.  My knee has been bothering me quite a bit, probably from the high pace I have been riding so far.  Not a good time to go uphill.

Kelbaker Road is well paved (and red!), but with my knee in pain, temperature moderately high and the road a constant uninterrupted 4% for the next 20 miles (32 km) it becomes an absolute torture and ordeal.  My uphill speed drops to about a third of the speed that I usually ride for a stretch of road like this, to about 4-5 mi/hr (6.5 - 8 km/h), and every pedaling step shoots a pain into my upper knee.  I'm taking big time, and to avoid getting permanent damage to the knee I'm taking frequent breaks to give my upper knee a rest.  This slows me down even more.  This uphill portion of Kelbaker Road, which I usually would traverse in about 1- 1 1/2 hours, became a 5 hour painful torture session.   

Ghost rider... that's how I felt ... like a ghost hallucinating
in the desert.  I'm huffing and puffing, not trying to think of the
pain in my knee/lower quads, drinking water as much as I can
while forcing myself to eat something to keep my sugar level
from dropping like a rock.  I feel the stress in my mind not
to take too many breaks so that I can arrive in Baker at a reasonable
hour.  The pace is agonizingly slow.  It's a never-ending torture session.

I take many breaks and take them as an opportunity to take pictures and to blog my progress on Facebook!  Since this road is close to the I-40 freeway, I'm getting cell phone reception.

... and then ... all of a sudden I get to meet the three stooges in the middle of the desert!!!  I tried to ask them what made them show up in the desert, but they weren't in a mood of talking, and instead preferred to stink instead... 

Abandoned -- for some reason -- in the middle of nowhere for ...?  I guess I'll never find out.  Perhaps some tourists with a small bladder liked the idea of having a bathroom handy when travelling to the desert.  If that were the case, I'd say "Dude, you have the whole desert where you can pee, why bother?" 

Kelbaker Road, after few hours of constant uphill riding crosses the I-40 and with it, enters the Mojave National Preserve.

High speed traffic zooms by the freeway, which I gladly avoid...

One last look back of the constant 4% grade which was so torturous with my painful knee... but I think the view it offers is nonetheless spectacular.

I'm finally at the Mojave National Preserve.  As far as I know, it is called Preserve and not National Park, because hunting is allowed here.  But as far as I know, it is still a federally protected land.

I think this sign isn't so bad.  From the other side of Kelbaker Road when you enter the Mojave National Preserve from Baker, there is a sign saying that there is no service for the next 76 miles (122 km)!  It's about 5 / 5:30p, and I still have 57 miles to go to Baker.  Next stop to get water is Kelso, which is still about 22 miles (35 km) away.  But till Kelso, there hasn't been a single darn thing the last 20 miles since Amboy (except the 3 stooges). 

Late afternoon at the Mojave National Preserve.

Mojave National Preserve -- Granite Mountains.

Those granite blocks are huge...

Some lie right next to the street...

The Mojave offers a landscape, I think, that is unique in the desert.  In the front, the ghost rider taking pictures while riding up the hill.

Clipper Mountains HP -- outside Mojave, but still breathtaking.

Reminds a bit of the Grand Canyon, doesn't it?

The sun is dropping fast and so it the temperature.  The setting sun covers the landscape with a reddish hue, transforming the landscape again...

Time to switch back to my night gear/outfit.  I stop here briefly
to change.  Thankfully there are only very few cars travelling
in my direction, perhaps 1 or 2 the whole afternoon.

Right after I switch my outfit, nightfall covers the entire Mojave National Preserve and everything becomes pitch black.  I'm still about 13 miles away from Kelso and I'm freezing cold.  I can already see the lights in Kelso depot this far away, but it takes me another 30-45 mins downhill riding to get there.  I arrive in Kelso around 7p, exhausted and my right knee/upper quads hurting from the repetitive pedaling motion.  


Kelso is a renovated ghost town -- there is a visitor's center which provides people with some drinks and restrooms, but there are no other services, no motels and I am not getting any cell-phone reception.    The following pictures were taken few days later driving back with the car the same portion I rode my bicycle few days earlier so that I could take pictures where I couldn't take before. 

Kelso (Depot)

I think they did a nice job renovating this place.

It turns out Kelso used to be a booming town during the 40s and 50s, when it was a major railway station along the east-west coast supply line.  With the advent of freight being transported commonly by trucks and planes these days and end of World War II, Kelso lost its significance. 

A view from Kelso south to the Granite Mountains I just passed.

I take a break at this restroom stop for almost an hour.  Riding in pitch
darkness is strenuous.  I feel I constantly have to concentrate to make
sure I don't overlook a pothole or some other obstacles that can
send a bicyclist straight to the ground.

When I take off from Kelso to Baker, it is virtually pitch black in all four directions while millions of stars cover the sky.  In one direction though I see vaguely in the far across the horizon a dome of light -- the vague reflection from all the lights that illuminate Las Vegas.  In a way, it's creepy to ride in this pitch black darkness and I feel cold.  I consider staying in Kelso for the night, but decide not to.  I have about 32 miles ahead of me, 12 of them uphill and 20 miles downhill.  I feel I have a good deal here.  All I have to do is survive with my painful knee some 12 miles and then essentially I'm in Baker.  I bundle up, wear nearly 6 layers of clothes to climb the 12 miles on a road that is paved, but definitely on the rougher side.  


It's pitch black except a narrow beam from my bicycle light that shines a mere 50 yards ahead of me.  I'm sweating and my balance on the bike is erratic, but fortunately, there is not a single car in my direction and only 2 or 3 cars coming from the opposite direction during the remaining 32 miles for the rest of the night.  The 12 miles seemed to never want to end.  After each curve there is another curve and another curve and every single one keeps going up.  I see shadows of ghosts flying around me -- ghosts that seemed to haunt me in the desert.   But I prevail and all the hallucinations dissipate after time, while I'm listening to the slow but steady rhythm of my breathing.  One pedal after another I get closer to the top of the hill, approaching the magic 12 miles from Kelso that will get up to the top of the hill.  Similarly, as I did in Kelso, I drove back here 2 days later with the car to see the place which I rode with my bicycle few days earlier when it was pitch black. 

On Kelbaker Road between Kelso and Baker, facing south to the Columbia Mountain and Mitchell Blue Mountain

A panoramic stitch-work of several images to provide a 180 degree view.

I finally arrive at the top of the hill.  I take a deep breather, put some more clothes on and get ready for the long 20 mile ride down the hill.  I achieve -- even in darkness -- speeds nearly up to 26 mi/h (41.8 km/h), but I watch carefully every spot where I am riding.  The last thing I need is a crash riding down this hill high-speed.  I see Baker appearing in the darkness nearly 11 miles (17.7 km) away like a city coasting weightless in the darkness of space.  The I-15 freeway looks like slowly moving arrangement of lights along an invisible string.  I ride the entire time downhill -- for almost an hour -- without pedaling once, which allowed me to rest and save my knee.   The ride is exhilarating.  All the ghosts have disappeared and I'm feeling more and more comfortable and perhaps even enjoyable riding in the desert at night.  In the end, I'm beginning to feel safer here at night in the desert than among thugs and thiefs in a major city.   


It's 11p.  I finally arrived in Baker, exhausted, but safe, after traversing over 140 miles and 17 hours after I departed from Joshua Tree this morning.  I'm tired and hungry, but I'm excited.  I made it.  The longest day is over.


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Click here to continue the Journal on Day 3:  Orange County to Las Vegas - Day 3