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Bill Bikes My bicycling expeditions and jaunts |
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Joshua Tree, part 1, April 2019
Sand, dirt, and sand: A Photographic Log
7 April 2019, 32 miles
When I headed for Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument with the Ogre in February, I wanted to stop in Joshua Tree National Park and spend a day pedaling off pavement in some of the most interesting and remote parts of the park. However, due to rain and snow, the unpaved roads in J Tree were closed at that time, and remained closed for weeks. Thus, I skipped J Tree on the way to Organ Pipe, but I didn't give up on finding another opportunity to get there.Meanwhile, my ace support crew had scheduled a multi-day backpacking expedition below the rim in the Grand Canyon for early April, and I had promised to accompany her to and from the trailhead. I kept an eye on Joshua Tree, and when the unpaved roads finally reopened, she agreed our route to the Grand Canyon could include a couple of days at J Tree. That would give her the opportunity for some last minute training with her fully loaded backpack in rugged desert terrain while I put the Ogre through its paces on dirt roads.
Well, I thought of them as dirt roads, but it would have been far more accurate to think of them as long pits of deep, treacherous sand.
Gotta get a photo at the entrance.
This is on the north side of the park, just above the town of Joshua Tree.
Landscape familiar and unique.
Despite the recommendation at the start of Geology Tour Road, I'm heading in with a one-wheel drive vehicle.
Perhaps I should have heeded the sign.
Joshua Tree's eponymous vegetation.
Zooming in.
Most of the trees are blooming, which is unusual. Probably due to the wet winter.
Getting closer to the enchanting rock formations.
I wandered off the road to explore some rock formations.
A few wispy clouds beginning to gather.
Good look at trees and rocks, rocks and trees.
At this point, Geology Tour Road wasn't bad.
It was relatively flat, and I could usually avoid the deep sand by picking a zig-zag course from one side of the road to the other.
That would change soon enough.
Not quite a super bloom, but the desert flowers haven't entirely faded.
Love these jumbled rocks.
It's getting more and more difficult to avoid deep sand.
Not far beyond this point, Geology Tour Road tilted steeply downward. That helped me power through the sand.
However, I met a cyclist pushing his mountain bike up the road, and he warned me it didn't get any easier going in, and he was finding it impossible to stay in the saddle on the way out. That was the only other bike I saw off pavement all day.
The mountain biker was right.
As Geology Tour Road descended, sand the consistency of granulated sugar became deeper and deeper. The Ogre sports wide tires, and I was already running at very low inflation, but there was no way to float over this stuff. The front wheel constantly sank into the sand and tried to turn hard, causing me a few abrupt dismounts.
It was quite a workout, even going downhill, to try to make progress through the sand. "What I need," I kept telling myself, "is a fat bike with electric assist."
After awhile, I realized the sandy track would continue to descend, and my only choice would be to hike-a-bike out, just like the mountain biker.
I decided to pull off the road, take a break, and ponder the situation.
At least I had some gorgeous desert scenery for my pondering.
Taking a break from the sand, I wandered around in a hidden spot and snapped some photos.
Carpet of flowers.
Yep, it's the desert.
About a hundred yards off the road, this felt like a million miles from anywhere.
If I kept descending through deep sand on Geology Tour Road, I might be permanently residing a million miles from anywhere.
Now, how is Old Grumble-Face going to haul himself out of this giant sand trap?
Perhaps I should ask that bird for advice.
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