Hiatus

Trip is on hiatus.  Left the bike in Fresno ... will resume the trip on June 17.

Day 15 - Fresno CA

Miles today: 459

Miles total: 5345

Headed out today at 7 am and it was already 80 degrees in Furnace Creek (yesterday it peaked around 100 but it wasn’t unpleasant).  Rode northwest out of Death Valley on CA-190, climbing a few thousand feet to cross the ridge and exit the park.  

In the valley on the other side I took this picture of the Sierra Nevadas.

To me this view was even more impressive than seeing the Front Range from Colorado Springs.  The elevation of the valley at the spot I took the picture was 3500 feet.  The mountain peaks are over 14,000 feet.

Rode south for a ways on US395 before getting on CA-178; climbed to 5300 feet to cross the Sierra Nevadas at Walker Pass.  Not much to see on the eastern side, but as you descend on the western side you pass Isabella Lake and the road then follows the Kern river in this steep, winding mountain gorge for the last 30 miles or so to Bakersfield. A fun road but very twisty with few guard rails. 

After Bakersfield I headed due north on some ugly highways to pick up CA-198 and entered Sequoia National Park. The goal was to visit the General Sherman tree but after having ridden 350 miles already I was unpleasantly surprised to see the crazy twisting road I had to ride to get there (look at Google Maps and see for yourself).  The road climbs up to 7600 feet to get to the General Sherman parking area.  

As if that’s not enough, you then have to hike 1/2 mile and 200 vertical feet to see the tree. The tree is pretty cool though ... look at the people standing near the base for scale.

Day 14 - Death Valley CA

Miles today: 377

Miles total: 4886

Left Blythe at 6:30 and headed west on I-10 (my only option) to the Cottonwood entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.  Got gas at a combination Chevron/General Patton museum.

Joshua Tree was a nice ride with almost no traffic.  The only downside was that coming up from the south is probably not the best way to see the park; I exited out the north entrance at Twentynine Palms but there is more to see if you continue going northwest. Still a worthwhile ride.

A prime Joshua tree

Cactus forest

From Joshua Tree I zigzagged up to Death Valley. Rode Amboy Road, passing a chloride plant, and briefly went east on the old Route 66 (National Trails Highway) before turning north on Kelbaker Rd.  Kelbaker turned out to be an outstanding road, rode it for about 60 miles through the Mojave to Baker.

Paid $5/gal for gas in Baker.  It’s a sellers market out here.

From Baker rode north on CA-127 and entered Death Valley on CA-178.  This is the hardcore way to see Death Valley, riding up the middle instead of cutting across it on CA-190.  Riding through the desert is one thing but Death Valley is like being on another planet.  Nothing but rocks, sand and heat.

Made it to the lowest point in North America

Day 13 - Blythe CA

Miles today: 362

Miles total: 4509

Last night I checked the route for today and it showed 441 miles and 8+ hours ... that’s not gonna happen. The original idea was to circumvent Phoenix by riding the mountains northeast of it, circling counterclockwise and then riding west/southwest.  Decided to bite the bullet and ride through Phoenix on US60 to shave an hour and a half off the ride.  It’s not like I need any more mountain riding, and there was nothing specific to see on the original route anyway.  My back and knees thanked me.

Rode north out of Tucson on AZ-77 and AZ-79 — actually the same “historic” US80 again from Day 4 — to US60, followed that to Vicksburg AZ, crossed into CA at Parker, then rode US95 to Blythe.  The stretch through Phoenix wasn’t too bad, just some traffic lights for about 30 miles.

On AZ-79 I stopped to take a picture of the desert at a roadside table.  This time it happened to be the spot where the actor Tom Mix was killed driving his Cord in 1940.

It was all pretty flat, straight desert riding on some lonely stretches of road.  About the only moderately interesting bit of scenery was the Colorado river at the AZ/CA border.

Day 12 - Tucson AZ

Miles today: 167

Miles total: 4147

Rode AZ-80 to Tombstone.  As expected it’s a bit of a hokey tourist trap but the historic district does have numerous historical plaques as you walk along the buildings.  Most either say who-shot-who on this spot, or that the original building at this location burned down in 1882.

Next stop was the Titan Missile Museum.  Overall a better ICBM museum experience than the Minuteman museum in North Dakota because the silo and control center are at the same site (the Minuteman control center operates 10 remote silos).  An interesting fact was that it took 2 years of negotiations with the Soviets/Russians to not count the museum’s missile as part of the strategic arms treaty. Part of the compromise was to cut a section of the nose cone out and make that permanently visible to overflying spy satellites to prove it’s inert. 

Next was another museum: the Pima Air and Space Museum.  Huge. Among the best aviation museum collections anywhere.  I won’t bore you with a bunch of pictures except the B-36 since, unlike the one in the Air Force Museum, you can stand back and see it in its entirety.

And at last I finally got to see some real saguaro cacti, in Saguaro National Park.

Day 11 - Bisbee AZ

Miles today: 403

Miles total: 3980

Rode north to Truth or Consequences (yes that’s a real town name), and on a whim decided to take a detour on a nice county road through the desert. The road eventually led to the entrance of Spaceport America.

I couldn’t go in, it’s not open to the public.  Too bad I was a day early ... tomorrow Virgin Galactic has a test flight planned.

Got a nice view of the Elephant Butte dam on the Rio Grande while entering Truth or Consequences.  I was surprised at how old the dam is (completed in 1916).

My original plan was to ride NM-152 through the mountains but it was closed because of smoke from nearby wildfires.  Had to detour on 26 to Deming, then US180 to Silver City, then NM-90 and AZ-80 to Bisbee.  On the way I stopped at a roadside table in the middle of nowhere ... which happened to be the spot where Geronimo surrendered to General Miles in 1886. A completely random find.

In Douglas AZ I got within a few hundred yards of the Mexican border.

Bisbee is a gem of a town. An old copper mining town, it reinvented itself as a sort of mountain tourist town.  Lots of well preserved buildings, restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, etc.  

To give you a flavor of the place, my historic little motel has a working telepoem booth:

Inside is a list of phone numbers; dial a number and get a poem.

Day 10 - Las Cruces NM

Miles today: 427

Miles total: 3577

Left just before sunrise, continuing west on US90 through Valentine to Van Horn.  Passed the sort of-infamous “Prada Marfa”.

From there Rt 54 north to US62, passing by the Guadalupe Mountains National Park ...

... to Carlsbad Caverns.  For someone with limited time the Caverns are great: take the elevator 750 feet down, and from there you can walk through it in under an hour (though you’d need a few hours if you wanted to see the bats too). They also limit capacity so you’re not jammed in there with a lot of people.  Pretty crazy rock formations!

Rode north, turned left at Artesia, took US82, climbed to 8600 feet at Cloudcroft, then came down the other side of the mountains to Alamogordo. Passed a ranch called “Muerto Springs” - says it all. I also stopped at this roadside stand to get something to drink.  As I parked I discovered the stand also had, bizarrely, a petting zoo.  With a zebra. 

Last notable stop before Las Cruces was the White Sands National Park, which is inside the White Sands Missile Range (there’s a large sign on US70 warning drivers that the road is closed when the range is active).  Couldn’t get into the park visitor’s center, they were limiting entry to one family at a time.  I did get out to the dunes though ... so I can at least say I’ve been there ... 

Day 9 - Big Bend TX

Miles today: 388

Miles total: 3150

Rode through Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park.  US67 south to Presidio then east on TX-170 and 118 all the way to Rio Grande Village. Then doubled back a bit and returned to Marfa via Alpine on 118.

Rio Grand from BBR State Park

Heading towards Rio Grand Village in Big Bend

The road to Chisos Mountains Lodge was under some construction, and the lodge wasn’t open for lunch, so I only went part way up the road.

Overall the best stretch of road in the park was the road that goes to the Santa Elena Canyon overlook.

And the Santa Elena Canyon itself (Mexico is on the left, the US on the right)

Big Bend has some incredible roads and vistas, not unlike the best roads in northern Arizona and southern Utah.