Mojave National Preserve Mountain-Bike Camping Bicycle 2000
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Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping Trip 2000 Day 9: Goffs, California, Mojave National Preserve, to Providence Mountains State Recreation Area (Mitchell Caverns)
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Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping Trip 2000

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Fenner, California is mostly just this big gas station serving freeway traffic from Interstate 40

Fenner, California is mostly just this big gas station serving freeway traffic from Interstate 40

Date: November 12, 2000

Day 9: Goffs, California, Mojave National Preserve, to Providence Mountains State Recreation Area (Mitchell Caverns)

After a hearty scrambled-eggs breakfast at the Goffs General Store lunch counter, and a great chat with the owner, I decide to ride to Providence Mountains (Mitchell Caverns), backtracking most of yesterday's ride. I usually avoid backtracking, so I must be enjoying the area.

I rode by the Mitchell Caverns area yesterday and told myself I should visit there some day, but I wasn't anticipating "some day" to be the very next day.

40.7 miles, 4:02 hours, 21 mph max speed, 10.1 avg speed. 2400 feet to 4300 feet at Mitchell Caverns, with a low point of about 1800 feet at Essex, California.

Date: November 13, 2000
Size: 7 items
After the 10-mile ride on Route 66 from Goffs to Fenner, I take note of a dirt road leading to the Providence Mountains

After the 10-mile ride on Route 66 from Goffs to Fenner, I take note of a dirt road leading to the Providence Mountains

I could shave a few miles off today's ride by taking this road, but it would be much slower than the longer ride on pavement via Essex due to its soft texture. So I continue on Route 66 after a snack stop at the Fenner gas station.

Date: November 13, 2000
I'm back at Essex, California again, after riding 16.5 miles down historic Route 66 from Goffs, California

I'm back at Essex, California again, after riding 16.5 miles down historic Route 66 from Goffs, California

I'm standing near the Essex post office looking northwest up Essex Road. It's amazing how the freeway traffic on I-40, which I crossed a while ago at Fenner, is so visible from here at Essex, even though it's 6.5 miles away.

Date: November 13, 2000
Looking southeast from the Essex post office, down Sunflower Springs Road, a dirt road that rises up over the mountains

Looking southeast from the Essex post office, down Sunflower Springs Road, a dirt road that rises up over the mountains

There's a lot of remote territory to explore back there, including several Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Areas.

Date: November 13, 2000
Crossing over I-40 again on the Essex Road bridge

Crossing over I-40 again on the Essex Road bridge

That "tube of civilization" that I photographed yesterday is below me, and Mitchell Caverns is up in the Providence Mountains is behind me.

Date: November 13, 2000
Back at the junction of Essex Road and Black Canyon Road, I ride straight through toward Mitchell Caverns

Back at the junction of Essex Road and Black Canyon Road, I ride straight through toward Mitchell Caverns

No need to ride back up toward Hole-in-the-Wall or Mid Hills Campgrounds today.

Date: November 13, 2000
The final five-mile stretch of Essex Road to Mitchell Caverns (Providence Mountains State Recreation Area)

The final five-mile stretch of Essex Road to Mitchell Caverns (Providence Mountains State Recreation Area)

There's no traffic and I can't see yet where the State Park sits at the end of the road in the shadow of the mountains. The road rises from just under 3000 feet to 4300 feet elevation.

Date: November 13, 2000
The last mile or two before Providence Mountains State Recreation Area gets steeper

The last mile or two before Providence Mountains State Recreation Area gets steeper

I'm in the shadow of the mountains now. After some more pedalling that gets slower and slower as the road steepens, I finally arrive. I buy a box of wood at the Park office for a campfire later on, a luxury I wasn't expecting.

Date: November 13, 2000
   
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Other bicycle camping trips on drycyclist.com:
  • Mojave National Preserve Lanfair Valley Loop Bicycle Camping, Fall 2012 (8 days)
  • Mojave National Preserve Hiking and Bikepacking, Spring 2012 (15 days)
  • Cady Mountains, Sleeping Beauty and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bicycle Camping, Fall 2011 (8 days)
  • Mojave National Preserve and Area Hiking and Bikepacking, Spring 2011 (15 days)
  • Route 66 and Kelso Dunes Wilderness Bikepacking, Fall 2010 (eight days)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bikepacking and Hiking, Spring 2010 (14 days)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping and Hiking, Fall 2009 (eight days)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bikepacking and Hiking, Spring 2009 (16 days)
  • Henry Coe State Park Bikepacking 2008 (eight days)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bicycle-Camping and Day Hikes 2008 (two weeks)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping Xmas 2007 Trip (one week)
  • Henry Coe State Park Mountain-Bike Camping 2007 (eight nights)
  • Death Valley Bicycle Camping 2007 (two weeks)
  • Henry Coe State Park Bicycle Camping 2006 (four nights)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping 2006 (two weeks)
  • Mojave National Preserve Bicycle Camping 1999 (one week)
Contact mojave2000 at priss dot org