March 29, 2008

Planned Trip D2 (see planned trips here)

Day trip to Mojave Desert.  499 miles roundtrip.

5 am Saturday.  Time to get up and head out on another adventure getting stamps.  This time it would be almost 500 miles for 2 stamps, bringing the total to 4.  I was just getting over a cold, so I was moving slower than usual in the morning.  I pulled out of the alley at 6:00.  It was still a bit dark, but I left the dark shield on because I knew sunrise was coming.  After a gas stop, and a ride north on CA-14, I caught up with Michael at the meeting place near the intersection of Ave T, Fort Tejon Road, and Pearblossom Highway.  The sun was just peeking over the horizon.  The ride along CA-138 and CA-18 into Victorville had us riding directly into the sun.  In Victorville, we went through Hesperia instead of staying on CA-18 through Apple Valley.  While I had a route from my home to Amboy via Joshua Tree programmed into the GPS, the GPS suddenly decided to skip Joshua Tree and go directly to Amboy.  As we wove our way through Hesperia, I kept ignoring the GPS's recommendation to go back to I-15.  Eventually, we got onto a straight road with little traffic, giving me the opportunity to cancel the route and then reselect it, putting the GPS back on track.  We rejoined CA-18 and in Lucerne Valley, we headed onto CA-247.  Another gas stop in Yucca Valley before entering into Joshua Tree National Park at the west entrance.  It had warmed up enough that I could remove the jacket liner and balaclava.  I also exchanged the insulated gloves for my normal gloves.  Since it was before 9:00, we skipped the visitor center in town and proceeded to the entrance gate and into the park.  We followed the park road eastward, stopping for pictures near some rock formations.  During one downhill stretch of the road, I coasted with the clutch in to see how high I could get the miles to empty reading (697 miles to empty was the highest mark).  We had been hoping for some colorful wildflowers, but not much were out along the road.  I think the southern section with its lower elevation may have had a better display, but we were heading north for Mojave, so a side trip to the south entrance was out.  After the road turned north towards the north entrance in Twentynine Palms, carpets of a pale yellow flower were out everywhere.  The were not very bright, but they give give a bit of color to the landscape.

We stopped at the North Entrance for our photos for the stamp journal.

The pale yellow wildflowers at the North Entrance.

At the Oasis Visitor Center in Twentynine Palms, we got our stamps.  But first, I had to remove my thermal long johns and shirt.  I was sweating otherwise.  I had finally lowered the windscreen while in the park for better airflow into my helmet and jacket.  The stamps done, we continued on, stopping at a Circle K for a gallon of gas and a mid-morning snack.  We took Amboy road first east then north through Sheep Hole Pass towards Amboy and Historic Route 66 / National Old Trails Highway.  Along the way we were given a chance to be a bit frisky with the throttle hand. At Historic US-66 we crossed the Santa Fe main line. Historic US-66 parallels the Santa Fe main line for much of its route through California, Arizona, and parts of New Mexico.  We paused for a photo op at Roy's on Route 66 in Amboy.  The new owner has some plans to restore parts of Roy's.  Roy's does sell gas now.  Since we had topped off in 29 Palms, we did not need any gas.  I did buy a few bottles of water to help with the cause, and reflect on how Roy's must have seemed like an oasis to the travelers on US-66 in the pre-interstate times.  The first photo is looking east. The second photo below is a view southwest of the Amboy crater.

We headed east out of Amboy on US-66.  After 6 miles, we turned north onto Kelbaker Road.  After crossing under I-40, we entered the Mojave National Preserve.  We went through Granite Pass and dropped into the valley where the Union Pacific's main line from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City runs.  As we were heading down the long straight, I see a car in the distance coming towards us.  The car slows down and makes a u-turn, and then turns on its flashers.  We slowed down to roll past the car and saw a desert tortoise crossing the road.  I hope the people in the car would help it across, or at least continue to block the road so the tortoise could make it.  The new main visitor center for the Mojave National Preserve is at the former Union Pacific depot in Kelso, built in 1923.  The depot was reopened in 2004, after being closed by the UPRR in 1985.  The railroad through Kelso was completed in 1905, as the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad, which later became completely absorbed by the Union Pacific.  Kelso was an important location for the railroad.  The steepest climb on the route was the grade from Kelso east to Cima, at 2.2%.  Kelso was a helper location, and a crew & passenger rest stop, as well as a mining town in its heyday.  The advent of diesel locomotives eliminated the railroad's need for Kelso.  While I went on by the depot in my IBA passport quest in 2003, I did not stop.  The last time I stopped at the depot had to be in the 90's when my dad lived in Las Vegas and I would take various alternate roads to get there, avoiding the repetition of I-15.  The depot was boarded up and deserted during those years.  Somewhere in my closet I have a piece of a roof tile from the depot, that had fallen to the ground.  In the late 1980's they were being sold off by the few remaining citizens of Kelso to help raise funds to keep the depot standing.  Eventually the National Park Service came to the rescue.

Photos for the Award Stamp Booklet at the Kelso Depot.

Kelso Depot from the tracks.

We looked around the depot for quite some time.  It was a very informative display.  One of the rangers there was also a rider and he knew of the Cal Parks quest.  Continuing north on Kelbaker Road, we crossed another pass and descended into the valley where Baker is.  Unlike US-66 which paralleled the Santa Fe main line, the original highway to Las Vegas, US-91, made a major departure from the Union Pacific main line, with the highway going through Baker and crossing 3 summits, cutting off a number of miles from the train's path.

A mid-afternoon lunch at the Mad Greek in Baker.  If you think the outside is wild, the inside is something else.  Well worth a stop.

After a leisurely lunch and a gas stop in Baker, it was just a blast south/west on I-15 to Victorville.  Filled the tank for the last time in Victorville, at the freeway off ramp for CA-18 west.  The rest of the route home was a reverse of the early morning, CA-18 to CA-138, then a wave goodbye to Michael at the intersection where we met at sunrise. I continued on the Pearblossom Highway, while Michael stayed on CA-138 into Palmdale.  Then it was the normal path home, CA-14 to I-5 to I-210 to Sylmar.

I arrived home at 5:45, just shy of a 12 hour trip.  The GPS says I spent 7 hours and 35 minutes in the saddle, so Michael & I spent just over 4 hours at our various stops along the way.

Below is the GPS track log of the trip.

Below is the NPS Passport pages showing new stamps, which were the Oasis VC for Joshua Tree NP in 29 Palms, a bonus Joshua Tree stamp at the same location, and from the Kelso Depot both the Mojave National Preserve stamp and the Old Spanish NHT stamp.